When you read as much as I do, you’re bound to stumble upon things that bother you. Little things that annoy the hell out of you, that make you grumpy. Let’s take a look at my top 7 of bookish pet peeves.
7) Dogears
This first one is something I just don’t understand. I mean, bookmarks are everywhere. There are literally hundreds of Etsy shops selling them. And if you don’t have a bookmark nearby, you can always use a piece of paper you have lying around. So there are no excuses to make dogears in books, got it?
6) People who returned a book damaged
This is something I’ve seen countless times with library books and it’s the reason why I don’t like lending my books to other people. Torn pages, coffee stains, written notes in the margins,… Seeing those things is just pure horror! If it’s your own book, you can do whatever you want with it, but show some respect for other people and their books please!
5) Brand new books that arrive damaged
I like to order books from Amazon, Book Depository or Bol.com (a Dutch website). But every time, I’m also afraid of the condition these books will be in when they get here. So far I’ve seen small dents and tears in the cover. Nothing to send a complaint about, but it still breaks my heart.
4) Cover changes
This is the reason I still don’t own my own (physical) copies of A Song of Ice and Fire, for example. I have a ton of book series that I would like to buy, but I prefer to wait until all the books in the series are published. Why? Because I’m afraid of cover changes. Sometimes, publishers think it’s a good idea to change the cover style halfway through the series. I remember having to scour bookstores all over the country to find the third part of the Millennium trilogy that matched the ones already owned. And I don’t want to have to do that again!
3) Mismatched book sizes
This one is similar to the previous one. Sometimes you have books with the same cover style, but different dimensions. This is because of different publishers, I think? Anyway, one example: I bought Six of Crows for myself, and then put Crooked Kingdom on my wishlist for Christmas. And guess what? Crooked Kingdom was taller than Six of Crows. Sigh.
2) Stickers on books
I understand that bookstores have to put their labels and price tags somewhere, but I hate it when there is something sticky on my books. Or for example at a book fair where they put stickers on your books the moment you buy them, so they know you’ve paid for them. But peeling these stickers off isn’t good for my heart, I tell you. I’m so afraid of damaging my books…
1) Fake stickers printed on books
If stickers have one advantage, it’s the fact that you can remove them. In the case of printed stickers, they’re there forever. I just don’t understand why publishers do this. These “stickers” clash with the gorgeous cover and usually it says something silly like “For fans of Leigh Bardugo”. Just no. You can just put that info on the back, in regular print. Don’t ruin my pretty covers please.
What are your biggest bookish pet peeves? Did I forget something on my list? Let me know in the comments below!
