Things about books that MAKE ME MAD!!

[@finsfables]

i also haaate the little netflix stickers that are embedded into the cover of a book. SO ANNOYING AND NASTY

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

NASTY! netflix stop being weird!!

[@finsfables]

@@AnaWallaceJohnson exactly!!

[@CeeBee781]

I’m reading Rebecca right now (meh so far) and there’s a Netflix “sticker” printed right in the cover and I hate it so so so much. It’s tacky as hell. I didn’t even realize it had been adapted into a Netflix movie until I got the book and it just bothers me because besides the incongruent sticker, it’s a cool cover.

[@ohthatdickens69]

The Oprah Windrey book club stickers drive me absolutely nuts, too.

[@macee.]

came for the drama, also stayed for the drama

[@AmandaKrutsick]

I am incredibly particular about fonts when reading physical books, so much so that it's one of the first things I look for after a cover and a blurb in the bookstore. Good fonts, good formatting go such a long way in my enjoyment of the reading process.

[@AbigailStovall-jh4gl]

Wow I didn’t consider this until you said it but it’s so true!

[@janehex]

I feel the same about hardcovers. If im reading one, first thing I do is take off the dust jacket and put it somewhere until I'm done with the book. Deckled edges are the worst and were invented by people who don't actually read.

[@xXbubbelXx]

Deckled edges weren't invented...

[@AbigailStovall-jh4gl]

I don’t like memoirs that don’t get gritty, like when a celebrity writes a book and its all about how they evolved and now see why they did that thing they did, but they never get specific because their image means everything to them… ugh barf

[@harrylew]

As for fiction, I'm not keen on novelists that omit standard punctuation. Quote marks, commas, periods, etc. are used to make a text more readable and understandable. Playing games with it comes across to me like an act of artistic pretension , something that authors dofor selfish, prissy reasons (Look at me! Look at me!) rather than to help readers engage with their work. Having said this, I do recognize that some of our greatest authors have experimented with punctuation (think Faulkner or Cormac McCarthy). But that doesn't mean I have to like it. In truth, I hardly ever do.

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

YES! When I was making my list, I definitely had that thought and forgot to insert it into the video. It's hard to criticize authors whose work I admire, but oftentimes, the extra work it takes to decode means I'm just focusing on that aspect as opposed to the writing. Simpler is better for me.

[@harrylew]

@@AnaWallaceJohnson, 100%!

[@christophergranczynski25]

Agreed. I don't just dislike when they omit the punctuation but also when they replace a quotation mark with a hyphen. And then all the way down the pages, it's hyphen, hyphen, hyphen, hyphen and no indication of who is saying what.

[@someone6774]

the intro was a masterpiece 🤌

[@nunun672]

The open endings are ending me instead 😭.I dedicated all that time for nothing.Thats my biggest ick in books.

[@vervemethod]

As soon as you said "movie cover books," I nodded my head. Yes! Get them outta here!

[@andgar7909]

my oh my, i'm with you in every single one of them! what brings out the worst in me( to the point that i side eye myself, like who are you? ) is when the book is not what they promised and i end up regretting the money and the time . also drives me nuts the people who see me with a kindle and start on: oh I could never, i need to smell the book, the pages, Kindle takes out of the reading experience .... blink blink- thank you for your opinion.

[@icarlyrocks1011]

Ana, our fashionable bookish drama queen, your accessory game is so good. Also I’m with you on the deckled edges, they make me uncomfy lol

[@ArtnSoulLife]

Endings….yes! Who would have thought that would be the thing we would miss reading a book?

[@AbigailStovall-jh4gl]

An ending can make or break a book, its terrible when you love a book so much and the author takes a huge crap on it in the end! 😭😭😭

[@Sthemingway]

I don't like hard covers either... but sometimes I can't wait for the paperback. Reference books, on the other hand, should be hardback. Other than pocket editions, I can't imagine having a dictionary with floppy covers. New rule of thumb regarding movie posters as book covers = only Criterion edition designs can be used as source material book covers. ^J^

[@aliceguimaraes8359]

Here in Brazil, after the release of Rings of Power they made paperback editions of The Lord of the Rings with pictures of the show 😢😢😢😢😢😢 Nobody seems to care how eagerly I long for the old paperbacks with those amazing drawings and old stuff 😢😢😢😢😢😢 (they keep producing the hardbacks though, which im also not a fan of)

[@sarahogborn8024]

DEATH TO THE MOVIE TIE IN BOOK COVERS! DEATH!! 👎🏼 The worst of all is if you have a digital copy or audiobook and when you got the book it had the original cover but then an adaptation comes out and they change the cover AFTER you’ve purchased the book?!?!? Outrageous.

[@knitnkitten]

Hard covers suck - they are expensive, take up too much space, and impossible to read reclined in bed... And! make a big noise hitting the floor when I fall asleep reading☹️ But I do like deckled edge pages. I think it's fancy😊 - plus it's easier turning the pages.

[@knitnkitten]

Re: footnotes/endnotes in fiction, I hear you, Sister❣️ So annoying! Nabakov (a fave author of mine) is guilty of this pedantic offense😠

[@harrylew]

Great video, as always, Ana. One of my book bête noires is when non-fiction books lack an index. I realize a short book of essays may not need an index, especially in the case of literary or personal essays. But a non-fiction FACT-HEAVY book such as a biography or one about history or current events or politics demands an index. Why? Because sometimes I'll get halfway into a book and realize, "What did the author say on X again?" It's nice to be able to find the exact reference without having to flip through the book or reread parts of it. And with my increasingly poor memory, I find myself forgetting things I just read in the last 50 or 100 pages. So having an index is really important. However, I get that preparing one must be expensive for publishers, so they cheap out to make the book more profitable. Anyway . . .

[@JBB31787]

The publisher pushes for those stickers and covers from production companies not the other way around. Usually the production companies don’t even want to deal.

[@haleyhart9373]

I like footnotes/endnotes in general when they are used creatively, but I especially love them in Infinite Jest because the concept around them is to mimic Tennis in the same metaphysical way he writes about it. And as you continue in the book, the little Tennis game becomes addictive. 🥰☁️🎾

[@frannook]

STUHNNING!!! Things I *hate* - nay, despise!!! - in a physical book: 1. super tiny font 2. blurbs on the cover - they drive me insane, the cover is for the title and the author AND THAT'S IT. 3. rigid spines - I WANT ALL THE FLOPPINESS and this is a weird one, but 4. not numbered chapters. I want my chapters to be numbered and, possibly, to have a title!

[@tjfmd]

Ana I feel like you would really enjoy the book "Why Fish Don't Exist" by Lulu Miller. It's a book about David Starr Jordan who was a taxonomist who discovered and catalogued fish. We learn about him alongside Miller, but we also learn about Miller while she learns about herself.

[@nanimaonovi2528]

I love 'Why Fish Don't Exist' so much! Chaos vs Order, highly suspicious death, gorgeous illustrations. The crazy part is that it's non-fiction. One of the few books that I gave back to the library, then went to a bookstore to buy immediately.

[@NorthwoodsWolf]

Love this. I actually despise the “now a major motion picture!” stickers or embeds on the cover. It’s essentially advertising and looks trashy.

[@evangelinepoe8952]

the opening.....Ana Wallace in 'who's afraid of virginia wooif' coming to Broadway! I'm buying my ticket now!!

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

hahaha! i would DIE of happiness

[@ZohraMaura]

I don’t think we get deckled edges in the UK, but we also have much worse cover art/design than the US versions. ( a good example, look up Elif Batuman’s US versus UK book covers!) I also don’t like hardcovers, but my current gripe is when they sell “airport exclusive” paperbacks (when they’re still out as hardcover) but the size of the book is much bigger. I’m just trying to build a cohesive home library book shelf over here!

[@celestialkitten3484]

Loose/ no ending is the worst. They put me in a book rut. I felt Police Memory was that way, even though it was hyped up. Oh, and then I realized it was on Netflix.

[@laindarko3591]

Deckled edges are my enemy!!! I will say I love footnotes in fiction though, but only if they're at the bottom of the page and not hidden away in the back. My very specific pet peeve in fiction is when the book advertises itself as being about a relationship between a human and an animal (or a whole species/group of animals) but then you read the book and the animal basically just feels like set dressing for a completely different story, or it's written so that the animal is so obviously a metaphor for something else or the character is only attached to them because they're projecting something onto them and that's the animal's only purpose. Some examples on the top of my mind are Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy and Sea Change by Gina Chung. It just drives me crazy!!

[@samdor935]

I used to think open and vague endings were good because they were realistic. Sometimes (rarely) that’s still true but now I also hate them, because it almost always feels lazy. Like the author couldn’t find an intriguing conclusion to tie things together, which is a lot harder than introducing more and more random drama.

[@sarah.emmanuelle]

Amazing novels with actual endings that (after following you for like a year and loving your top recommendations): Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel (travelling actors in post apocalyptic North America btwwww), the whole My Brilliant Friend series (I started loving it at the second one and the ending is wow, and there IS an ending too. Packed a punch as much as East of Eden. It should be read as just one really long novel actually cause that's what she intended it as), The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

[@j.f.sebastian5052]

I also despise the movie ads blasted across the cover. Trying to find a copy of Oil by Upton Sinclair without a movie ad on the cover is like trying to find a leprechaun. I also hate when the authors name takes up 80% of the book cover and the spine.

[@vulpix90]

I'm with you on the footnotes in fiction books. I started reading Carmilla yesterday and it has little footnotes describing details such as the location of cities, the origin of quotes and the colour of the sky. I guess they're meant to enhance the story and paint a more specific, almost cinematic picture, but they're honestly just distracting.

[@Chloe-jn5dr]

Books with reeeeeally thin margins that are almost non-existent to the point where the words are falling off the edge of the page.. and small font.

[@bailagringacovers]

I agree with you about movie poster book covers lol

[@javaguy5783]

Deckled edge pages in a book are maddening. I do love it when they sew a ribbon into the book, so you get a built in bookmark. All books should have a sewed in bookmark. :)

[@turnleftthengargle]

Only if the fabric is not synthetic.

[@tesskealoha]

first few seconds was literally me yesterday when jack in the box said they were out of buttermilk ranch

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

lmaoooooooo very true and very relatable. me anytime sour cream costs extra

[@tesskealoha]

@@AnaWallaceJohnson because why does it cost more when it’s just technically older cream 😭😭😭😭

[@hx0ad5]

i find the idea of hardcovers (and by extension any books being kept in pristine condition forever) being "the way authors want their books to be seen" so odd. like... surely authors would rather see copies of their books that have obviously been READ than copies it looks like no one's touched...? i always think of the little Q&A section in my copy of good omens where the authors talk about how happy it makes them to see beat-up taped-together wrecked copies of their book because that means it's been much loved!

[@hashtagdag]

Forthwith, I recommend "Another Roadside Attraction" by Tom Robbins, "Revenge of the Lawn" (short stories) by Richard Brautigan, "The Stones of Summer" by Dow Mossman, "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" by Annie Dillard, "Wiseblood" by Flannery O'Connor, and "The Sheep Look Up" by John Brunner.

[@maria83maria]

Tiny font drives me crazy, how should we read the pages, with magnifying glass?

[@sylviaeneriz4808]

If I pick up a book and the writing is microscopic, I put it back and I don’t even need reading glasses. Something about constantly staring into screens and then reading tiny type makes my eyes hurt.

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

lmaooo absolutely!!! My eyes are great, but not that great, baby

[@maryhough8041]

The footnotes in fiction is a MAJOR side eye to The People In The Trees, very cool in terms of aesthetic considering it's trying to present as non-fiction. Still, I only read them when absolutely necessary.

[@literarylayer]

Haha this video is so relatable. I don’t like deckled edges either but I see so many ppl that love them

[@valis14]

OMG, I can't stand deckled edges either!!! I recently got a new paperback copy of 'TRAVELS WITH MY AUNT' by Graham Greene and I couldn't get through the first 20 pages the deckled edges bothered me so much. Kept slipping from my fingers, I couldn't grip the book properly. From a texture and tactile defensive perspective, deckled edges have to be right up there with cracked egg shells, chewing an unexpected bone in meat, steel wool and tags in clothing as the cringe of existence. And there's no audio version of this book so I'm pretty much screwed until I get another copy.

[@jibby1986]

This list of book hates seems pretty reasonable to me. I’m on board with all of them. Re movie cover designs, I will say that the exception that proves the rule for me is “A Very English Scandal.” The cover with Hugh Grant from the adaptation is actually quite good and captures what Jeremy Thorpe was really like.

[@jibby1986]

And no joke, I was thinking earlier this morning how I can’t stand steam of consciousness. It’s almost like ahem you were reading my conscious. Ok I’ll see myself out.

[@margaretcummings4146]

Related to the open endings point, I've read a couple of books where I got to the end and it was like...surprise! Actually none of that was true!! This person was actually someone completely different and they made it all up! Soooooo WHAT DID I READ THIS STORY FOR?? I have read one where this device was used really well to cast doubt on the reliability of the narrator in a really spooky way, but I've also encountered it where it felt like the author wanted to insert a ~twist~ just because.

[@jollyknuckles2138]

When non-fiction authors use paranthesis in almost every page, or when they present false history to prove a point or to convince the reader they are from a lineage that isn't real (context: I read a lot of occult books).

[@thackblanos]

I can't unsee Millie Bobby Brown, Slightly older (age part is not an insult).

[@fburger9953]

I disagree with about half of what you're saying, but you're fun and interesting to listen to, and i enjoyed hanging out for a bit 😊

[@dilaraguney]

Yes to the footnotes. If I wanted to read footnotes, I WOULD’VE READ A DAMN ACADEMIC ARTICLE

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Absolutely! I came to chill and vibe, not require a syllabus

[@officialyza]

beautiful as always. love your necklace!!!

[@AaronEdwards]

Footnotes are often times there because the author doesn’t think you’re smart enough to “get them.” A really great example is the poetry of Ezra Pound.

[@alannothnagle]

For me (among other things) it‘s books that start with a list of characters, like a theater program, let alone an entire family tree. If it‘s fiction, I really can‘t be bothered paying attention to all that. Related to this, novels that are longer than 500 pages. I figure that if you can‘t tell your story in under 500 pages, I should start charging you by the hour to read the damn thing!!

[@KayBurkhardt-xw8gv]

Really enjoy your videos@!!@ keep up the great work!!

[@brokenbells4]

Oh my gosh your house is beautiful

[@turnleftthengargle]

I will not tolerate sloppily bound books! If I can easily see the signatures that hold a book together I will not even continue reading that book. I also have an extreme dislike for traces of glue that seep out of the binding. The last thing I want to complain about is price tags that leave behind a great amount of adhesive.

[@jazzgirlie]

I used to love deckled edges, but then one day, I was reading a book and i accidentally skipped like 4 pages because the edges were stuck together. They had been deckled shut. And then it happened to me again!! Same book different chapter. Never again.

[@sylviaeneriz4808]

I haaaaaaaaaaate movie theater covers and the fact that you can only find them after a film has been made. I will not buy a book with the show cover. I also won’t buy a book with an embarrassing cover i.e. something that looks like a cheap romance novel that you’d buy at Target (think curly script, pastel backgrounds and cartoon illustrations of people). I agree with you that reading a paperback is more comfortable than a hard cover. Finally, Please Anna, please let us know when a book does not have a clear ending. These books drive me crazy. I feel like time is so limited when you’re an adult only to devote precious free time to reading a book that just leaves you hanging. It feels like the author taking the easy way out.

[@ameliareads589]

I actually love deckled edges. Of course not on every book, but I also don't mind with novels. The only advantage I see in hardcovers is the binding. It's not really that much of a problem in the US, but the binding of a lot of paperbacks over here is a crime. The stickers, the movie covers, and absolute disgrace.

[@rosieevans8960]

The hardback covers really get me because I'm not looking to collect books? I read a lot but I rent and don't have the space for book shelves so I want to buy cheap paperbacks that I can put in my bag and not worry about the cover or bending the spine and donate or resell them cheap after. It's especially annoying having to wait for the paper back to come out. I assume it's because publishers can raise the prices on hardbacks as people buy them to keep and display?

[@ARG09876]

The footnotes had the intended effect. It’s supposed to be a disruptive experience, pulling your attention back and forth. It’w okay not to like that device, but you did indeed experience them as intended.

[@ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged]

I’m not a huge fan of stream of consciousness either; however, Nobody is Ever Missing by Catherine Lacey did it well and you can finish it in a couple of days. BUT it didn’t have a definitive ending.

[@milkcatdog394]

Thoughts on kindle?

[@josryder7841]

Prefaces….Ever since my college years, where a professor included questions from the preface of a book on a test, I’ve disliked them LOL 1- because I’m typically excited to just get on with the story, and 2-Im scorned …I believe I’m obligated to now read them smh

[@annegretmuller8659]

Prefer cream paper not white paper 🫣

[@SavidgeReads]

Oooh now I don’t mind a deckled edge but I think that’s because they’re a rarity here so they feel exotic to me. Hahaha. Totally agree on those movie covers AND the stickers that aren’t stickers. I got upset with the paperback of The Rachel Incident as it had a BookTok sticker on it. Had to get the hardback. Hahaha footnotes, I hate those in most books fiction or non BUT in My Government Means to Kill Me, well, I funking loved them. My least favourite… no paragraphs and speech in italics 🤮

[@mrsnwlls8982]

omg your house is literally stunning it looks like something off Pinterest!

[@jobuckley2999]

Thoughtful and interesting. Well done!

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

hugs 🫂

[@prilljazzatlanta5070]

Imagine having James Franco on the cover of The Sound and the Fury

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

lmaooo omg I forgot he did that movie!

[@prilljazzatlanta5070]

@@AnaWallaceJohnson 😂

[@prilljazzatlanta5070]

I think he did As I Lay Dying, too

[@JacquesSauniere3]

What an intelligent and gorgeous actress you'd make! And yes I agree, those Netflix signs are blasphemous... as if they say, "Look at me, I'm here, now this book is worth reading." And you immediately rush to your gun drawer then.

[@roastbeefy0weefy]

One of my favorite memoirs only comes in deckled edge format and it hurts me

[@undeadknight108]

I thought I was the only one that didn't like hardcovers. Thank God I'm not insane

[@Momo_0_o]

You had me at deckled edges lol

[@user-ht8ot7hp3y]

I think it's more than fair to critique nonfiction books and memoirs. They're literature and should be given the same level of analysis and consideration. I'm a non-fiction writer and if someone didn't want to critique my book because it's a memoir I would be a bit offended! Agreed on deckled edges lol.

[@nissasbookcorner]

the jewelry!! absolutely

[@radiantchristina]

I love me a good, deckled edge, but a bad cover is where I draw the line. I also don't love hard cover books. I don't like how I need to take the cover off to comfortably read. Also, I HATE when there is an embedded sticker on the cover that says something like "now a Netflix movie" or something similar. Fiction hates - insta-love, foot notes and too many jumps in time ( i don't mind dual timelines but if not done well, it can be jarring). I'm also not a fan of stream of consciousness. Finally, long chapters...urghh! I am the type of reader that needs to finish a chapter so if I only have a few minutes to read and my book has long chapters, I just won't pick it up. Nonfiction hates - nonfiction that reads like a textbook and books with misleading blurbs on the back - not a fan

[@daisyt1982]

nice video again. I hate it when writers use a lot of difficult words in a book on purpose to appear intelligent to the reader. It's not that I can't follow the story, but you literally stumble over the words. just make a book readable to most people so that everyone can enjoy it. I'm currently reading Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel. What bothers me about the beginning of this book is that it is difficult to distinguish the characters from each other when they are speaking. I have read in reviews that several people think this, but that it is easier to follow later in the book. That's what I hope for. Of course it could also be due to the translation because I read this book in Dutch.

[@J.N.C.]

Oh this is so relatable! Fun video!

[@MrBookaholic99]

Those fake stickers are theeeee worst

[@0ktavio345]

I think I may have been the one who made left the comment about ‘hard covers being the way the author intends for the book to be seen.’ Funny thing is I do all of my novel reading on my IPad. Hard covers, imo, are for the illusion ( or delusion in my case) of ‘sophisticated taste’.

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

I think you were the person who left that! And I stand by every word you said

[@AthynVixen]

My prime example of the memoir thing (though I have read many that do that) is Elliott Page Pageboy . I picked this up to read about his journey and transition and it gave nothing of any real depth or insight. Likewise Chrissie Hyndes memoir which was so dull. When you think of the life she has lead and the things she has been through and the things she could have written about - growing up when she did, moving to the Uk. The birth of the punk scene, her experiences in the usic industry as a woman, marriage. mother hood.losing her band members, I was gobsmacked it was so boring. Debbie Harrys book also which could have been so interesting especially about nursing her sick partner etc.. I picked them up knowing what rich lives they have had and was so disappointed.

[@Andrea-ur2lg]

Incredibly agree about the movie book cover. Dislike that so much.

[@vickymohitemarathi]

I love the way you speak. You are funny. 😃

[@rottenapple9588]

I love your home!

[@Pabebaby]

do you have an ID on your bracelet? i love it!

[@mercedesmaddocks6295]

In books, characters always sign letters with "R" or "M" like just their first initial. WHO DOES THAT IN REAL LIFE

[@emilyj401]

I hate a deckled edge this is so validating

[@anacastillo8023]

Just found your channel, I love it!❤

[@kerisoliankina6208]

i looove paperbacks and i'm so sad in Ukraine there's barely any options for those. paperbacks just feel cozy 🙌🏼

[@samuelajah8649]

Click for the thumbo. Stayed for the intro (and I wanted to know what nail polish you’re using)

[@bethanycrenol4061]

I will never be smart and cool enough to enjoy stream of consciousness!!

[@deblawrence8341]

Speaking of aesthetics, has anyone experienced the facsimile editions? They do this with a lot of older books, or classics. They're TERRIBLE! I've ordered a few books only to discover these ... imposters! I send them right back.

[@Dmadly321]

You give me so many Elaine Benes vibesssss!

[@javaguy5783]

If you don't like footnotes, you should definitely not read " House of Leaves ". Half of that book is footnotes. Yes, stream of consciousness can be tricky, I would stay away from James Joyce and Marcel Proust. :)

[@SarkoMontaug]

The word "sidled."

[@sweetlolitaChii]

The book that was the worst written and most anger inducing for me was reading the Quran as an Athiest. More than the Bible did. The way they organized it from longest to shortest surats was a terrible choice.

[@RicardGomes76]

"I'm tacky..." Ironic 😅

[@katiehope2132]

Loose non-endings knock my enjoyment of a book down an entire star I am sick of this 😭 there are some exceptions (example: enter ghost makes contextual sense) but for the love of god wrap up your darn books ppl!

[@janehex]

Worst anticlimactic nothing ending ever: "The Little Friend." /Hot Take

[@knitnkitten]

Personally I think 'stream of consciousness' writing is a lazy device. The extreme few exceptions prove the rule imho.

[@BillyWhaler]

I curse the printing press invention when the font goes to the inside edge of the page. Why? Worse than the jackass who came up with the yogurt vacuum pack seal. Open it. Do it. See what happens.

[@DamianOHarris]

10:35 Paris, Texas 😂

[@polaridia]

two things i hate: 1 - a variation of that "sticker" but when it says "author of _____". the worst offender of this is the penguin vintage copies of john williams' books. every single book other than stoner has a non-removable circle that says "author of stoner" and it makes me MAD. even stoner has a giant red circle with "the best novel you've never read - The Sunday Times". I DONT CARE. I WANT IT GONE. PUT THAT ON THE BACK OF THE BOOK. PUT IT AT THE BOTTOM IN A REGULAR SENTENCE EVEN. WHY THE GIANT RED CIRCLE. 2 - novels with new plot things happening on every page. i wish i could get into it but i cant do super plotty books. i tried to read one hundred years of solitude and quit after 80 pages. dont get me wrong i loved the magical realism parts, it was lovely. murakami is one of my favourite writers and his books feel a little slower and spacier. BUT. books that focus much more on the plot rather than the characters are difficult for me to remain interested in. i feel less drawn to it. i tend to prefer books with more character-focus than plot points. stoner is my favourite novel ever and it's essentially just the story of one regular guy's life from young adulthood to death. the plot is interesting but the plot IS the character

[@vickymohitemarathi]

Would you like to read 'The Book of Elsewhere' by Keanu Reeves and China Mieville and review for us? 🙂🙏