Books, General

T5W: Bookish Things I Like To Grinch About

We are well and truly into December now. Blogmas is going well, I am enjoying opening my advent calendar(s), and we are planning on putting our tree up soon. Annnd I have started to wear my every growing and ever more epic collection of Christmas jumpers, my favourite of which brings me onto this weeks topic: Bookish Things I Like To Grinch About. I love books, and I am hugely respectful of the fact that some people have managed to put their work out there for others, BUT there are some things that just do my swede in.


  1. Stupid Inner Voices/Monologues:
    I don’t know whether this is a recent trend, or whether I have just started reading more genres where this is a prevalent feature, but I just cannot cope with the amount of plot points, unnecessary commentaries, and irritating monologues that come from inner goddesses, and silent motivational speakers inside the protagonist’s head.
  2. Female Protagonist’s Height:
    Have you ever noticed that either: a) a female protagonist is short, small and pixie-like, or b) tall, and statuesque? Most women/girls are, by the law of averages, at neither end of this spectrum. Where are all the normal, average height women (like me) in stories?! C’mon guys!
  3. Differently Sized Books: 
    We all love a good set of books, and love collecting a new series that we’ve fallen for. I think I can speak for the majority of us when I say that there are very few things more beautiful that a pretty cover/a set of pretty covers in a library. D’you know what’s annoying though? When they’re all different sizes, it ruins the aesthetic. When they’re all different sizes in the allegedly same edition, I get annoyed that the publishers are just punishing me for being loyal and stealing my money. I just don’t want 56 different sized books by the same author in a row looking like a mismatched hodge podge.

  4. Extraordinary Lives on Ordinary Wages:
    Why, in stories, do characters always have enough money to live in a fancy schmancy apartment, in a up and coming but not down and out area, with enough money to buy new clothes for an interview/party/hair appointments/beauty treatments, and can always afford a posh coffee , meals out, and heavy nights on the town drinking, when they are interns or assistants on a less than meagre salary? That’s not real!
  5. Love Triangles:
    I would like to say straight away that I like a good love triangle, where there is a conflict of emotion and the opposing characters are equally vying for the affection of the split party. That said, there are more love triangles, where the point of the triangle is missed. An obvious triangle is deeply frustrating, when there is an obvious ending from the beginning (often because the second character has not been developed enough to get a look in). Be better with your writing, or leave it out. I also don’t like it when the points of the triangle are effectively the same choice. That’s not a triangle, it’s a poor plot point.

Urgh, grumble over! What bookish things do you like to groan and grinch about?

6 thoughts on “T5W: Bookish Things I Like To Grinch About”

    1. They’re literally the worst, especially when they start changing the shape half way through a series and you have the make that decision about whether you want to start collecting again in the new editions, or accept the fact they’ll never match!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Exactly. They always live in trendy areas, getting wasted in trendy bars with trendy drinks wearing brand new trendy clothes, and recover with a stupidly expensive coffee from a trendy coffee shop!

      Liked by 1 person

Leave a Reply


You are commenting using your account. Log Out /  Change )

Google photo


Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Connecting to %s
