Unpopular Bookish Opinions
It’s time to get controversial.
Shhhh….I’m letting you in on a few secrets. Unpopular bookish opinions to be exact.
I have had completely different reaction to a book than the rest of my bibliophile friends. Sometimes, I have felt conscious to air my opinion on a book I didn’t like because everyone seems to love it. Well, not today, as I share my unpopular bookish opinions. Do not throw rotten eggs and tomatoes at me!
1. eBooks are the best thing to happen to the reading world. I love physical books and love hoarding them but I prefer reading books on Kindle.
2. Hardbacks look great on bookshelves but are awkward to read.
3. Some movies are better than the books from which they are adapted.
4. Readathons do not impress me. I like to read at my own pace, in my own time.
5. I prefer stand-alones to series. Every other book lover I know reads and obsesses about series, but I don’t have the patience to wait for the next book to be released. It’s most likely that by the time it does get published, I would have forgotten all about it.
6. The smell of old books is the smell of something rotting and it’s gross.
7. Beautiful writing does not compensate for a poor plot or uninteresting characters. I’ll read a book with even average writing if the characters and story is compelling.
8. More than 5 books in a series is ridiculous!
9. I don’t mind the spoilers. While people outrage about leaked spoilers, I believe, if a book can’t survive spoilers, it’s not a very good book.
10. I have no qualms about DNFing a book. If I am not enjoying a book, I’m totally fine putting it back on the shelf and never picking it up again.
11. I love reading DNF reviews. I like to know why it didn’t work for someone, because their idea of hell could be my idea of heaven.
12. I’m a bit hesitant to read a book written by a debut author.
13. Some classics are overrated like The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I had to wade through them.
14. Classics are good and have their place in literature, but there is nothing wrong with disliking them or not wanting to read them.
15. I do not have any book organizing pattern or rule. My books are packed like sardines in my book cupboard.
16. Multiple POV novels sometimes give me a headache.
17. Book snobs who ridicule or bash people for liking books they don’t like or agree with or approve of, are annoying.
18. I actually enjoyed reading the Twilight saga.
19. I do not like black matte book covers as they pick up fingerprints so easily, case in point Twilight series! 😐
20. I believe, people love to hate Chetan Bhagat.
Let’s compare notes. Do you share any of my unpopular opinions? What are some of your unpopular bookish opinions?
April 24, 2020 2:29 am|
I never liked readathons.
April 24, 2020 4:22 am|
Except for point number 6….because I just love the smell of the old books… Rest all points… A BIG DITTO 🙂
April 24, 2020 6:14 am|
I only like to read a series if all of the books have already been written. It’s hard to wait for the next book if the author is still writing them. It’s definitely caused me to lose interest in a series in the past. Weekends In Maine
April 24, 2020 7:57 am|
Hahaha I do love it in print. But some of your other points are really tickling. The smell of old books!
April 24, 2020 8:35 am|
I have to agree on the movie versus book-point 3. But thankful for the authors who start the ball rolling!
April 24, 2020 9:14 am|
I have to admit I agree with more than half of your opinions. I am not going to list those, but yes I totally understand your PoV
April 24, 2020 11:08 am|
Agree with many points here, but disagree with a few. Very interesting compilation. I too enjoyed reading the Twilight saga, in fact I liked the movies too. :p
April 24, 2020 11:22 am|
Loved this one Shilpa!
I agree with most of the points and I loved Twilight too
Excellent posts for the challenge
April 24, 2020 11:53 am|
Well, everyone has an opinion and are free to share it as well.
I’m new to reading books and can’t say much in this aspect but this was an eye-opener for me 😀 😀 😀
— rightpurchasing.com
April 24, 2020 12:38 pm|
My unpopular Bookish opinions are…
It’s okay to forget the details of a book that you have read sometime earlier and wonder did you ever read that part when someone describes it with full strength!
Books don’t help in pronunciation though they speak volumes. Looking it up on online dictionaries is normal!
April 24, 2020 1:00 pm|
Same to Same! Except a few points ___like I like hardcovers but I remove the jacket. And I mind spoilers. I don’t the reviews if it says *spoilers alert*. No. 12, it made me a little sad but I understand. I have read some nice debut books.
I don’t want to read Twilight because I had a glimpse of the movie and I don’t like the expressionless actors.
Enjoyed reading this post.
April 24, 2020 1:13 pm|
Finally an honest post on books. Well done Shilpa – you read my mind on every single one of those points – yeehaa!
April 24, 2020 1:44 pm|
Wow! I agree with so many points of these points. The smell of really old books can make me sneeze! I haven’t read Chetan Bhagat yet and I don’t think I will, either. Some classics are overrated. Wow! That’s a great book collection. I’m kind of an organized freak, so I have them arranged alphabetically. It also helps that most of books are ebooks! In that case, I don’t bother arranging them. I love Kindle and all that it has to offer too!
April 24, 2020 2:22 pm|
A well written post. I liked the twilight books. I loved the movie as well. I love to read paperback books. I love the smell of the books but I don’t attempt to read very old books. Once I pick up a book I make sure to complete it.
April 24, 2020 3:22 pm|
Hahaha I’m quite impressed with your frankness! Actually I don’t agree with most of your opinions but I do agree that one can have wildly differing opinions on the same book!!
April 24, 2020 3:48 pm|
What a fun post, Shilpa. Yes, I enjoy ebooks on Kindle too. Yes, agree, hardcovers are also heavier. I’m giving them movie vs books idea some thought. For example, I loved Eat Pray Love the movie but there was so much more depth in the book. Same with My Sisters Keeper which made me cry like a baby both times around.
**Oh goodness, I had to look up DNF and POV so I could understand those points. Hehe. For those who are as un-sussed as I am, DNF is Did Not Finish and POV is Point of View. Take this as my little footnote at the end of this post. 🙂
April 24, 2020 3:50 pm|
PS. Oh yeah… and totally agree about some classics being over-rated!
April 24, 2020 5:03 pm|
My Bookish opinion is related to kids book. we don’t need books with words all the time. A nicely illustrated picture book can also be a good read. In fact, I feel, it gives us the freedom to think of a new story every time.
April 24, 2020 7:22 pm|
I agree with most of them. I hate spoilers. That is why I only read reviews that I know would be spoiler free.
April 24, 2020 8:05 pm|
Nowadays, I enjoy reading eBooks more. My reading speed increases. I prefer standalone books to series. And I hate book snobs.
Enjoyed reading this post, Shilpa
April 24, 2020 8:08 pm|
I also can’t understand how come the Great Gatsby has become such a cult classic.
April 24, 2020 9:07 pm|
Ahem!!! 2, 3, 5 7, 8, 9, 14 and 17 I agree. On Bell Jar, I completely beg to disagree. And CB is not even an author as per my standard. No opinion on Kindle as so far didn’t use. I loved the honesty and courage in this post.
April 24, 2020 10:40 pm|
This is hilarious and touches upon so many of my unpopular book opinions as well. I’m with you, sister. And I also enjoyed the Twilight books, haha.
April 25, 2020 9:00 am|
I agree with 3, 5, 6,8 shilpa . I admire your passion for the variety of books you have read. You are an inspiration and motivation for all book lovers. Love the image of your shelf filled with colorful and variety of books.
April 25, 2020 11:44 am|
Point 4, definitely. Reading is my personal space. I don’t want others butting in
April 25, 2020 12:00 pm|
hahaha…like sardines in the cupboard! Love the Wodehouse collection there. And, yeah even I do not like readathons…I love my pace and freedom to enjoy a book. Also, hardcovers are so awkward, plus heavy when one is carrying around the book or packing during house transfers.
April 25, 2020 2:38 pm|
I like CB as a writer and probably not as a columnist. He is the reason I started to write fiction and made young India read, though last 2 books were disappointing. I still prefer a book on the shelf but over the year kindle, helps particularly in lockdown. I agree, movies are better and series can be quite meh. I never finished Twilight, but Harry Potter yes coz I am a fan 🙂
April 26, 2020 11:34 am|
I agree with almost all the points you’ve made here. Esp about twilight it’s my comfort read. I do disagree with some points too like I always find that movie doesn’t do justice to novels eg Harry Potter & LOTR the books are so vivid and better but they have to finish it in 2-3 hours so can’t expect a lot from movies.
April 27, 2020 11:14 am|
Fun list! #5 = I love series especially from my favorite authors with recurring characters. I love crime fiction so that works in this.
#15 – yes, yes, yes. Messy sardine type arrangement!
I don’t quite agree with most of the other points but that’s the exciting thing about books! What really matters is enjoying books and having the reading habit!
April 27, 2020 10:49 pm|
Oh yes! I agree with these unpopular opinions. I in fact like the books more than the movies. Fifty shades of grey for an example or GOT.
June 13, 2020 11:27 pm|
Hi Shilpa,
I loved your content and this is the kind of well researched and well drafted content I want to have for my blog https://www.bookishsanta.com/blogs/booklings-world
Would you be interested in contributing guest posts for our blog and newsletter ? Looking forward to a favorable response from you.