Teaser and Top Ten Tuesday (#28) (10/01/13)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt

From pg. 72

I practice making my face a complete blank.  Like I'm in one of those poker tournaments and there's a million dollars on the line, and if my face betrays my emotions, then I'll lose it all.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

 

Top Ten Book Turn-Offs

This topic actually made me stop to think about some of the books I've read that I didn't like and try to identify why I didn't like them.  Here are my turn-offs.

 Badly edited self-pub books

Self pub books in general tend to be more miss than hit with me, but when they are poorly edited or written.  Drives me up a wall.  I want to support these self-pub authors, but really, hire a fricking editor.

 Slow plots that tend to go nowhere

A slowly plotted book drives me up a flipping wall.  Not all of them of course, but a book that could be cut down by about 50 pages because it just goes on and on with no direction.

 Plots that make no sense

I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, as do most people I'm sure, but if I have to read something over and over, and there are major plot holes in your book.  You have lost me.  On a separate note, not to single this book out, but was anyone else completely grossed out that the MC was crushing on his grandfather's girlfriend?  He is planning on kissing the same girl as his grandfather.  GROSS!

Books that bash you over the head with religion

Religion in books can be done on occasion and I will like it, but when it bashes me over the head.  Yuck.

 When characters become caricatures

I can't handle the ridiculousness of characters.  Don't make them a joke or a stereotype.

Stupidity for popularity

Characters that will do anything to be popular.  Particularly when you are being a complete idiot. 

 General silliness and lack of depth

I like a fun cute book, but then there are those where I actually think I lost brain cells because it's so ridiculous.  Drives me up a wall.

Money Makers

Books that are clearly just filler to make money.  They have no purpose, and they don't move the overall plot along.  They are just there because the publisher and author want to make money and they know they can.

Books that tell me what I should feel

Don't tell me what I should be getting out of your book, or what lesson I was supposed to learn.  I'm a big girl, I don't need you to tell me what to think.  Or at least be subtle about it.

*Spoiler*  Bringing back the dead

If you are going to kill a character, have the courage to keep them dead.  Don't be stupid, you just end up ruining the book/series.