Top 5 Wednesday: Characters On The Naughty List

We all have characters we hate.  The ones that just get under our skin and make us want to smack them.  This Top 5 Wednesday is my list of characters I think belong on the Naughty List.  As always the T5W is hosted by #ThoughtsomTomes and the Goodreads group can be found here.  O don’t mean to offend anyone with this list; if I dislike your favorite character, I’m sorry, but these are my opinions.  Let’s get into the list! 

1. Dolores Umbridge (Harry Potter by JK Rowling)

  I simply had to include one of my least favorite characters of all time.  We all love to hate her and do so with a feiry burning passion.  

2. Levana Blackburn (The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer)

  This bitch.  I cannot describe to you how much I hated this evil queen while reading The Lunar Chronicles.  She’s ruthless and psycho and a fantastic villian, but good Lord did I hate her. 

3. Gavin Bayar (The Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima) 

  F**k this guy.  I can’t even.  He’s horrible and I wish every hardship on him.  

4. Warren Barber (The Heir series by Cinda Williams Chima) 

  Just a self-serving dick who enjoys hurting other people.  He made me feel bad for a character I disliked because of his treatment of her.  Hate him.  

5. Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter by JK Rowling) (yes you read that right) 

  I know a lot of people will want to crucify me for this, but I can’t help it.  Whole I definitely don’t hate him as much as the other characters on this list, I cannot brimg myself to like him.  Defend him if you want, but in Half-Blood Prince he admits that he knew of the Dursley’s mistreatment of Harry and he did nothing.  He left Harry to suffer every summer.  Now it’s true that the Dursley family deserves a spot on this list as well, but I cannot abide by knowingly allowing a child to stay in an abusive home.  

  I hope you guys liked this T5W!  If you did please leave me a like and a comment and let me know some of your disliked characters!  See you all in the next one!  

Top 5 Wednesday: Bookish Things I’m a Grinch About

A shameful amount of time has passed since I did a top five Wednesday.  I really have no excuse; I just never got around to making the lists.  One of my goals for the coming year is to be more active on this blog and I think top five Wednesday is a good way to ensure that I post at least once a week.  

The Goodreads group for top five Wednesday can be found here.  It is hosted by @ThoughtsonTomes and is a lot of fun, so join in!  I am very excited for the December topics, so without further ado, let’s get into my list! 

1. Cover changes in the middle of a series

 Come on publishers.  No one in the history of ever has uttered the phrase, “I really hope they change the covers midway through the this series so my covers don’t match!”  Look.  We are booknerds.  We tend to take great pride in our bookshelves and want them to look pretty.  When the cover changes and the books in a series don’t match, it throws off our #shelfie game.  Even when the previous books get new covers, it is irritating because now we have to go out and buy new copies of books we already own.  

2. Dog-earring and binding breaking 

If you damage my books, you’re dead to me.  I work hard for my money and it’s not very often that I get to spend it on new books.  For this reason, (and just because they’re amazing) my books are very special to me and when someone damages them, simply by being careless, it makes me angry.  I don’t come in to your house and scratch up your Blu-ray discs.  It’s common courtesy to treat other’s property with respect, so please be nice to books. 

3. Love triangles

Don’t get me wrong, there are some well written love triangles out there and I do enjoy them.  The love triangles that bother me are the ones in which the protagonist is stringing one or both of the love interests along.  The Twilight-y ones.  This trope is also extremely overdone and I feel that there are far better plot devices to spice up the story.  

4. Characters that don’t know how to breathe 

If I read the line, “I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding” one more time I might crack.  Why are all YA protagonists unable to tell when they are depriving their brains of oxygen?  

5. Cliffhangers

Need I say more?  I’m looking at you Rick Riordan.  The end of The Mark of Athena destroyed me.  This one I’m not necessarily a Grinch about unless I have a long wait for the next book.  

I hope you guys liked this post!  If you did, please leave me a like and a comment, I would love to discuss your Grinchy tendencies!  See you in the next one! 

Bookish Pet Peeves

Pet peeves. We all have them and no matter how insignificant they may seem to other people, pet peeves drive us as individuals crazy. For book lovers, our bookish pet peeves can be some of our worst. I am a pretty high-strung person in general, so it’s not surprising that I have several pet peeves when it comes to my books and reading life. I’m sure most of you have heard at least some if not all of these annoyances as they are pretty common within the reader community, so I hope you can relate to my bookish pet peeves! 

THINGS OTHER READERS DO THAT ANNOY ME: 

1. DAMAGING BORROWED BOOKS

I know this irritates a lot of readers. We lend out our precious books to a friend or family member we believe we can trust and then it’s returned in less than stellar condition. Broken bindings, bent back covers, dog-earred and (gasp) torn pages. Book damage is one of a reader’s worst nightmares. Now, I’ve been known to damage my own books (accidentally of course), but if I lend a book out to someone, and they return it damaged because of carelessness…I can’t even. If you borrow someone else’s property, treat it with respect. It’s common courtesy. When I borrow books, I treat them like a priceless treasure, because I know how upsetting it is to have a damaged book returned to you. If you damage my book simply because you don’t care about it’s condition, you will never borrow another. I’m not completely unreasonable. Obviously, this doesn’t apply to genuine accidents, but avoidable damage done by carless handling is something I cannot handle. Just be nice to my stuff. Please. 

2. INTENTIONAL SPOILING

Why would you do this? Why? This is the epitome of rude, especially if the individual being spoiled really cares about the book (or show/movie) in question. I’ve had people intentionally spoil me for things because they think it’s funny when I get angry. It’s not funny; it’s rude and disrespectful to completely disregard someone’s feelings like that. While you may not care very much about a story, I am probably emotionally invested and it’s so not cool to utterly devastate my feelings by ruining the ending for me. If I’m going to be emotionally destroyed, let the characters do it. Geez. Accidental spoilers suck, but must be forgiven. Intentional spoilers are evil and if someone spoils you on purpose I give you permission to seek revenge by spoiling something they love. 

3. SHAMING OTHER READERS

No one should ever make anyone feel guilty or inferior about what they like to read. Reading is about enjoyment and whether you enjoy hardcore erotica or children’s books, you are a valid reader. If you were the only person to enjoy a certain genre, it wouldn’t exist as a genre. If you’re that person who looks down on the girl reading 50 Shades of Grey, maybe you should take a step back and think how sucky it would be if someone made you feel inferior for enjoying something that you love. Don’t shame each other. Have good discussion about what you do/don’t like. Remember, if someone is reading something you don’t like, it’s not hurting you. Let them to them and you do you. 

4. “AUDIOBOOKS DON’T COUNT AS READING”

Yes. They. Do. Why wouldn’t they? Now, I know someone’s going to be thinking, “well, technically it’s not reading, it’s listening,” and that statement is correct. However, invalidating someone’s reading experience because of the medium they choose/have to use is very ableist and wrong. That small technicality seems to make some believe that people who primarily listen to audiobooks can’t be real book lovers. Listeners and physical readers are consuming the same story. Why does it matter how the words are absorbed? Instead of bickering over meaningless differences, let’s all just gush over mutually enjoyed stories. Then everyone wins. 

5. BASHING YA

Young Adult books have a bad reputation in some circles. I think most of this stems from the fact that for some people “young” equates to “stupid.” I am beyond tired of hearing that young adult books are not good enough for adults to read. I am an adult woman, but I still primarily read YA. Don’t let the idea of a young protagonist prevent you from enjoying a story. This goes for middle-aged as well. I didn’t read Percy Jackson and the Olympians until I was 22 years old and it is now one of my all time favorites. YA books can be just as (sometimes more) impactful as adult books. It is extremely important for teens and young adults to feel represented and understood. Speaking from personal experience, sometimes the only place teens feel accepted is between the pages of a book. My favorite characters have been my best friends and have helped me through countless tough times. I will forever and always read YA. 

I hope you guys enjoyed reading about some of my bookish pet peeves. If you guys agree or disagree with me or have some of your own irritants to discuss, leave me a comment! I’d love to talk. I’ll see you guys in the next one!