(no subject)

[alexiscartwheel]

I started reading this book the other day. I was only a few chapters in and then it happened... a seance. I read a lot of different books and I'm often surprised by things I don't necessarily expect to enjoy but do (and sometimes, unfortunately, the other way around). There a couple things, though, that I just don't really get into. Circuses are one. The other biggie? Spiritualism.

I don't know why exactly it is, but spiritualism just does not interest me at all. Seances are my signal for "bored now!" Anyone else have a topic that's an instant turn-off like that?

I'll keep going with the book anyway, cause, hey, it might surprise me.

Comments

[mysticalchild_isis]

I'm quite bored by spiritualism myself, unless it's in something like Hellboy, where it leads to crazy action.

Let's see, for me it's often things like fashion, makeup, shoes, etc- if a book goes on too long about them, I tune out.

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

I've not read Hellboy, but crazy action is good!

With the fashion stuff... I'm okay with having a basic idea of how the characters dress, but I don't care what brand everything is or where they bought it blah blah blah.

[stubefied-by-gd.livejournal.com]

Seances are "bored now" unless you're looking for clues that it's a fake seance. That is fun.

I dislike descriptions of food/meals. I know a lot of people love them, including people who normally skim over descriptions in general, but for me they are a double-whammy of bored now, so bored, why is this still happening.

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

The food/meals things reminds me of the crappy Tiger's Curse book I read... I think literally every meal the protagonist eats is described. Even when it's only granola bars. If you're going to bother describing the food, at least have it be something interesting!

[carrotgirl.livejournal.com]

I love circuses. Carnivale all the way.

For me it's not so much the topic, but a certain writing style that turns me off. If the author uses certain terms or expressions it can really annoy me. For example...remember how in The Babysitters Club, the "author" would often have the character "sum up" things that had happened in earlier novels? Like Kristy would always explain how she spent half her time with her mom and half her time with her dad because they were divorced. That kind of crap has always driven me insane (even when I was 10 and reading The Babysitters Club). Assume your reader has read the fucking prequel! Otherwise, I get annoyed and want to stop reading.

Oh oh! I just thought of something that drives me insane. I hate it when authors (and this tends to happen a lot in young adult fiction and romance novels of the Nora Roberts variety) go into huge detail about what a character is wearing or what they look like. So boring. I do not care if your character is wearing "slacks" and has "almond shaped eyes."

[sea_thoughts]

Emotional manipulation. Or when the author twists the plot too far, as in The Shadow of the Wind and Her Fearful Symmetry.