Petty things that have put you off a book

[RosieLemonade]

I have just finished a book based in 2017. Teenagers called Tim, Paul and Sarah. It really took me out of it.
Anyone been put off a book for a petty reason?

Only using 'said' to describe dialogue. Jack said, Amy said, Sarah said, Bill said...no one ever shouted or whispered or called or cried, they all just said. Once I noticed I couldn't ignore it and had to give up on the book!

Oh, this one is about audiobooks I've listened to, but really drives me up the pole and down again - British books, set in Britain, recorded by a British narrator (presumably in Britain!) but using American language! 'Cell phones' all over the place, 'closets', teenagers with 'sneakers' and 'zits', even the use of 'underpants' instead of 'pants' is very irritating. It's just so jarring and out of place. Presumably it's so the same recording can be used for American listeners, but isn't hearing the words other cultures use and learning what they mean just part of digesting a book? When I was little I was a bit confused by listening to Judy Blume, but eventually I learned what the words meant and was enriched for it. Its extremely patronising and insulting to Americans to assume they couldn't possibly understand/work out/look up words like 'trainers', 'wardrobe' and 'mobile phone', and I can't be the only Brit it pisses off either!

@Faircastle Hahaha, snap!

I've just finished a book where the main character almost kills someone, is convicted and jailed
He then gets a job supporting vulnerable, disabled adults 🤔
Yup, he would totally pass the safeguarding checks

@indecisivewoman81

I've just finished a book where one of the main characters was called Topher. It really annoyed me.

Was it 'Love Your Life'? I quite enjoyed that book!

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For me, it's grammatical errors and obvious typos. I work as an editor and proofreader, and my standard of work is incredibly high. I read the whole novel twice, incredibly slowly, to make sure nothing has been missed. I've read some books where there are errors - even multiple! - on pretty much every page.

I understand that it's very hard to put a 100% perfect manuscript out there. I would never claim that my work is absolutely perfect, even I probably miss things sometimes, but so many errors is distracting, and it looks as though the author hasn't proofed it, never mind a professional.

And these are published by large publishing houses that really should have the budget for these finishing touches!

I couldn't get beyond the description of a party in a garden at New Year's where a woman was topless, surely she'd be absolutely freezing cold? Theres also a boy on work experience at his job on the same day. It wouldn't happen!
It's put me off Zadie Smith completely and I cannot get past these errors in the first few pages of one book.

@SingleHandSue

Tom Cruise playing Jack Reacher. Never read another after that.

Exactly this for me too.

@Faircastle

If a novel is set in Britain, the main character is British and has lived in Britain since birth, it puts me off when they speak or narrate in American English or mention something that doesn't happen in Britain.

Examples:

• referring to the London underground as the subway and/or a character paying with a token.
• referring to universities as schools and/or a character being on a full scholarship.

I am British and went to a British university and I went to university on a full scholarship. It does happen!

Continuity errors like timelines not being consistent or someone in a bungalow coming down the stairs to answer the door. I hate that.

A famous one is Robinson Crusoe stripping off his clothes to swim to the wreck, then filling his pockets with gold.

If the author describes a facial expression with the word 'quirk', I immediately put the book down. "The corners of his mouth quirked into a smile' or eyebrows quirking or whatever. It makes me fucking FURIOUS. I go so far as to search every new kindle book for the word and I return it immediately for a refund if the word is used to describe anything to do with facial expressions.

And on a less unhinged note, I hate when American books are "translated" into British English. One book in particular I can think of was set in a small town in the American West and the location and culture were hugely important to the story but there they were noticing the coloUrs of the sunset and taking out the rubbish instead of the trash. Maybe I notice it more as I've lived half my life in each country but it's idiotic in any case.

Having enjoyed (mostly)the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People I read the book. No speech marks. What’s that all about? Turns out it’s her thing but not mine.

I read and really enjoyed a novel set in WW2 France, but the American author couldn't describe interiors without mentioning the "mismatched chairs". I think she had a vision of wartime Paris as beset by shabby chic.

Similar names here too. I can't think of an example but definitely names that begin with the same letter of similar lengths.

Life is much easier now with Google though - I used to struggle with books where I wasn't familiar with the pronunciation of the names. That is 100% my problem, but at least I can get that straight in my head now at the start.

I do read lots of factual historical books, spelling mistakes really grate.
I'm ploughing through one currently that is very interesting, but I've noticed three errors in the last 20 minutes of reading.

Anything historically inaccurate annoys me (but I usually plow on anyway)
Example: book set in the 1980s London, referenced a Take That concert... just no!
Continuity errors. Read a series of books in which it was revealed in book 1 that the main character was adopted (secretly). By book four, main character finds out he has a son aged around 8- how do they know? Because the son is the spitting image of his grandfather... who he's not biologically related to. Annoyed me so much!

I couldn't get beyond the description of a party in a garden at New Year's where a woman was topless, surely she'd be absolutely freezing cold?

Oh yeah, 2 children's books that annoy me - one where a kid has run away and she sleeps in a forest 2 nights before Christmas. From what I remember she doesn't even have a coat, but somehow manages to sleep all night (and wake up in morning to crack on with her journey!) and another, an Enid Blyton book where 4 children are sleeping in a cave, 3 of which only have an ordinary blanket each for warmth, again in December! I know December in England isn't as cold as January/February but heck, it would feel uncomfortable enough sleeping out of doors like that even in July!

I know, you have to suspend disbelief, especially in children's books, but it does grate when characters don't seem affected by atmospheric conditions!

A young child witnessed the death of her twin.

The parents' response was not grief counselling but to uproot her and move to a remote and otherwise uninhabited island.

I recently read a book called The Death Chamber by Lesley Thomson. It's part of a series but I read it as a stand alone book.

Characters were called Stella and Bella and Jack and Jackie. Really confused me. I get people have similar or the same names in real life, if there is no need to confuse people in a book.

I read a book which was from the perspective of an early 20s woman. She kept calling her husband and son 'my chaps'. On and on, my chaps this, my chaps that.

Who the fuck says my chaps?! Nobody in this century anyway.

@FurrySlipperBoots

Oh, this one is about audiobooks I've listened to, but really drives me up the pole and down again - British books, set in Britain, recorded by a British narrator (presumably in Britain!) but using American language! 'Cell phones' all over the place, 'closets', teenagers with 'sneakers' and 'zits', even the use of 'underpants' instead of 'pants' is very irritating. It's just so jarring and out of place. Presumably it's so the same recording can be used for American listeners, but isn't hearing the words other cultures use and learning what they mean just part of digesting a book? When I was little I was a bit confused by listening to Judy Blume, but eventually I learned what the words meant and was enriched for it. Its extremely patronising and insulting to Americans to assume they couldn't possibly understand/work out/look up words like 'trainers', 'wardrobe' and 'mobile phone', and I can't be the only Brit it pisses off either!

Oh I know this one well...

I published a book and my editor kept pushing me to include American English because Americans hate reading terms they're not familiar with, and they're the biggest market.

Another Peter James one...

"A leggy blonde in a skirt that barely covered her buttocks crossed in front of them unhurriedly, throwing them a flirty glance and jauntily swinging a bag."

Not annoying because writers aren't telepathic, but caused a wry grin - a book set in 2019 and published late that year had a flash-forward at the end to 2020 - characters having a huge family party ... right in the middle of Lockdown 1.

A book that had too many characters in the beginning. I couldn’t keep up with who was who. Didn’t get past the first chapter. It went in the charity bag.

American authors in sci fi/ fantasy who mangle together welsh/ English/ Irish / Scots names and place names. I know it’s a fictional medieval land but still jars and I have to stop reading.

Likewise use of place names in a fictional England they’ve picked off a map with no context - Duke of Littlehampton.... um no.

A Val McDermid one that had a group of friends from a normal state secondary in mid Fife. All went together to St Andrews University

So unlikely for even one of them let alone a whole group of friends.

I'm another one who can't engage with novels written in present tense

I felt beyond irritated whilst reading a Martina Cole book which she refers to the cafe in our village. She describes the villains as being sat at the window watching the door of the bank across the road. Except that even when we did have a bank in our village you wouldn't have been able to see it from the cafe.

I wouldn't mind but she lives in the next village and knows exactly what our high street looks like!