Reading/Book Pet Peeves

[alkira6]

Just curious but why not name the book outright? I mean unless it's named The Naughty Marines and The Men Who Loved Them (And HOW)?

Gotta be honest. I'd buy the hell out of that book.

Yeah me too. I just figure most people wouldn't want to admit they read it.

I...am going to write that book. And the sequel.  BRB 

[Lynn2000]

It's Star Trek (Specifically Star Trek S.C.E.: Belly of the Beast).  For those that follow Next Generation, remember Sonya Gomez, a plucky Ensign who spilled hot chocolate on Picard?  Yeah, she's in charge of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers.   

As much as I love the Star Trek TV shows, I've often been disappointed by the novels (for all series). Some of them are quite good, but I find that a lot of them are just sort of mediocre. I don't know if it's authors being paid to write for a series they didn't conceive of and don't really love that much, or maybe executive meddling smoothing away any slightly controversial points that would add interest to the story, or what. Do people find this in novels based on other movies/TV shows, like Star Wars, Dr. Who, etc.?

ETA: This is also a reading peeve of mine, that so many novels spun off from movies/shows I like are pointless. Maybe this is only to be expected... ? Like expecting the "Avengers candy sticks" I got at Halloween to actually be good.

[Slartibartfast]

Sorry, guys, but I think the record for the world's worst title has already been filled.  (Linked title and book NSFWork, NSFKids, and NRATGAOSIH (Not Really All That Good Anyway Or So I Hear.)

[Kiara]

Just curious but why not name the book outright? I mean unless it's named The Naughty Marines and The Men Who Loved Them (And HOW)?

Gotta be honest. I'd buy the hell out of that book.

(me too)

*raises hand*

[Diane AKA Traska]

It's Star Trek (Specifically Star Trek S.C.E.: Belly of the Beast).  For those that follow Next Generation, remember Sonya Gomez, a plucky Ensign who spilled hot chocolate on Picard?  Yeah, she's in charge of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers.   

As much as I love the Star Trek TV shows, I've often been disappointed by the novels (for all series). Some of them are quite good, but I find that a lot of them are just sort of mediocre. I don't know if it's authors being paid to write for a series they didn't conceive of and don't really love that much, or maybe executive meddling smoothing away any slightly controversial points that would add interest to the story, or what. Do people find this in novels based on other movies/TV shows, like Star Wars, Dr. Who, etc.?

ETA: This is also a reading peeve of mine, that so many novels spun off from movies/shows I like are pointless. Maybe this is only to be expected... ? Like expecting the "Avengers candy sticks" I got at Halloween to actually be good.

The Section 31 books are *quite* good.  (As are the Mirror and Myriad Universe books, but they're AU by definition).

[Redneck Gravy]

I absolutely agree with those who have mentioned unnecessarily long descritpions of things that are not important to the story. Pat Conroy's Beach Music: beautiful and interesting story, but he would go on for pages and PAGES describing the food he was cooking. We get it - the olive oil is GREEN!! It not only didn't add to the story at all - it actually took me out of the story. That book could have easily been 200 pages shorter.

I am right in the middle of this book and yes, the darn olive oil is green - let's move on.  I love Conroy's work but this book in particular is full of over descriptive verbage.

[RingTailedLemur]

It's Star Trek (Specifically Star Trek S.C.E.: Belly of the Beast).  For those that follow Next Generation, remember Sonya Gomez, a plucky Ensign who spilled hot chocolate on Picard?  Yeah, she's in charge of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers.   

As much as I love the Star Trek TV shows, I've often been disappointed by the novels (for all series). Some of them are quite good, but I find that a lot of them are just sort of mediocre. I don't know if it's authors being paid to write for a series they didn't conceive of and don't really love that much, or maybe executive meddling smoothing away any slightly controversial points that would add interest to the story, or what. Do people find this in novels based on other movies/TV shows, like Star Wars, Dr. Who, etc.?

ETA: This is also a reading peeve of mine, that so many novels spun off from movies/shows I like are pointless. Maybe this is only to be expected... ? Like expecting the "Avengers candy sticks" I got at Halloween to actually be good.

I loved "Q In Law".

[Redneck Gravy]

One of my pet peeves is that childhood characters never grow up - like Trixie Belden for example.

I know that these are written as children's books but Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, never age and it would be so much more fun if they did... a couple of years at least.  Maybe get them to college age or at least driving...
 

[snowflake]

Sorry, guys, but I think the record for the world's worst title has already been filled.  (Linked title and book NSFWork, NSFKids, and NRATGAOSIH (Not Really All That Good Anyway Or So I Hear.)

What?

The annoying thing about slash writers?  They seem to think they are so original by writing p*o*r*n.  Dude, it's a multi-billion dollar genre!

[CrochetFanatic]

That post about Star Trek novels brought to mind one of my pet peeves, and it's something the books are guilty of.  A massive "series", if you can call it that, where there is no real continuity.  One author will contradict another, and so forth.

Another series that is really bad about that is the Dragonlance series.  You have the original trilogy, the follow-up trilogy, and books that came after that all written by the same team of two.  You've got spin-offs written by many different authors, going in all different directions, but apparently those aren't "true" canon.  Adventures concerning the main characters are accepted as part of the series, but apparently aren't to be taken seriously.  Some of them were my favorite books in the series.  Not too many new books are coming out for that series these days, but it contradicts itself a lot.  That said...I still like it, and I'll occasionally pick up one of my old books to read for nostalgia.  Also, reading the books as an adult, I strongly believe Raistlin and Kitiara to be sociopaths, and the scary thing is that they're two of the most popular characters!

Another thing that bothers me has to do with poor editing.  The wrong character name being used, among other things.  For example, the person speaking addresses someone by their own name.  What, are you talking to yourself?  The only time I've ever defaced one of my own books, it was to correct errors like that with a pen.

[Bexx27]

Sorry, guys, but I think the record for the world's worst title has already been filled.  (Linked title and book NSFWork, NSFKids, and NRATGAOSIH (Not Really All That Good Anyway Or So I Hear.)

That's hilarious, but I'm not sure it's the world's worst title. Let's not forget Pregnesia.

[Giggity]

Oooh, you better not be bad-mouthing Pregnesia. Its epic sweep, its dramatic arc, its uber-developed characters, its polished dialogue, its complicated and logical plot ... THAT'S GOLD RIGHT THERE, MISSY.

[Kiara]

Another one that I mostly see in fanfic, but I've seen it in discussions for books too.

Folks, everyone has their favorite pairing.  Some people even have their OTP.  (One True Pairing.)  And MY favorite pairing is just as valid as YOUR favorite pairing, and vice versa.  (Even if one is slash.  Different strokes and all that.)  So can we please not get into shouting matches over how the fans of pairing X are all terrible people who clearly never read the book/watched the movie/whatever?  There's room here for all of us.

(Yeesh.  I love Avengers fanfic, but some days I want to smack the entire fandom.  Happens in Dresden and Harry Potter, too.)

[Bexx27]

Oooh, you better not be bad-mouthing Pregnesia. Its epic sweep, its dramatic arc, its uber-developed characters, its polished dialogue, its complicated and logical plot ... THAT'S GOLD RIGHT THERE, MISSY.

I'm ashamed to say I haven't read it myself, but I hear it's a literary masterpiece. And really, though the title may seem silly at first, it's actually quite ingenious -- how better to indicate that the heroine is both pregnant AND an amnesiac in just one word? Masterful.

[BabyMama]

Sorry, guys, but I think the record for the world's worst title has already been filled.  (Linked title and book NSFWork, NSFKids, and NRATGAOSIH (Not Really All That Good Anyway Or So I Hear.)

Wasn't there one of a similar name that featured Westley Crusher instead of Abraham Lincoln?