Writer In Progress: Happy New Year Book Rant

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Happy New Year Book Rant

Happy New Year.
Lieutenant Dan's face is pretty much how I feel right now about the new year.

I'm trying to be as incredibly optimistic as all the assholes on my social media feeds who are posting narcissistic "selfies" (what a horrible "word" added to the dictionary, by the way) of themselves getting ready to go out and get so trashed that they forget about all those resolutions of how they're going to be a better version of themselves in the new year. All these "millenials" who are finally old enough to drink are at the bar drinking themselves deeper and deeper into their delusions of entitlement.

All the while, I'm getting grumpier and grumpier by the second. I've tried to distract myself by doing some writing on this bullshit I call a book and it's not working. Something was bothering me and I wasn't sure what it was until I got on Bloglovin' and started perusing other book blogs. I came across this Perpetual Page Turner End of the Year Survey on Cuddlebuggery.com where I saw a comment about Fifty Shades of Grey which lead me to this Review of Fifty Shades of Grey which summed up my feelings on that book so well that I thought I was Pennsatucky for a minute.

And then it hit me. That's what's bothering me. From the book blogs to GoodReads to Amazon, I keep seeing these damn books that are thinly veiled mimics of Fifty Shades of Grey and that sparkly vampire shit Twilight. Billionaire abusive assholes who prey upon "plain" looking, insecure girls because they have some tortured past does not a book make. Oh, but as an author I can fix all of that by making him good-looking. You'll forget every single one of his negative traits and abusive behaviors as soon as I describe his chiseled jaw and washboard abs. You'll loose all of your cognitive senses and be hypnotized by him.

Shut up. Just shut up. I seriously cannot deal with this level of bullshit. Emotional abuse and manipulation is never okay. Being good looking does not excuse that. Can please all remember that Ted Bundy was a good looking guy?

I LOVE reading. I LOVE writing. But I REALLY hate this new trend I've noticed in popular books. It's shit. Pure shit. And more shit. And this is probably not a popular opinion and will probably alienate some people from this blog but that's okay. I'd rather be honest and have 1 reader than be fake and have a lot of readers. I am TIRED of vampires. I am TIRED of werewolves. I am TIRED of billionaires. I am TIRED of whiny, anorexic, hypocritical bitches who manage to land themselves as the lead of one of those shit stories. Not every book I read has to change my life. I sometimes read purely for entertainment. That being said, I want to be entertained not verbally assaulted by terrible writing. Is that too much to ask?

Is anyone else suffering from an overload of book bullshit or is it just me?

Comments (13)

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Georgia May · 534 weeks ago

Nice rant! I'm sure I will be suffering from an overload of book rubbish too! Loving the gifs. Thank you for commenting on my discussion post. 😊

1 reply · active 534 weeks ago

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EllaDrayton 56p · 534 weeks ago

Thank you! I'm glad someone understands. LOL and I think finding the gifs was my favorite part of writing the post. Thank you for stopping by! :)

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sissybearla 37p · 534 weeks ago

I totally understand...and wish I could rant so eloquently. All of your ranty-ness is why when I started out on this book blogging journey I made clear I would not read anything vampire or werewolf. I very much felt then, and still do really, that authors jumped on the bandwagon and followed on the coattails of those like Stephanie Meyer. This past year I also got really turned off of dystopian novels, and in a broader sense YA in general because I felt a little bit of that encroaching.

3 replies · active 534 weeks ago

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EllaDrayton 56p · 534 weeks ago

Oh, yes to dystopian novels!! My oldest is obsessed with them and I'm one of those mothers who has to read everything my kid is reading and sometimes I want to burn books. Especially (and my blog will probably end up digitally burning to the ground if this comment gets read by the wrong people) the City of Mortal Instruments books. I could probably write a two page rant about those books alone. They're not even written well. If you're going to jump on the bandwagon and crank out these books, at least write them well. Ugh. LOL

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2ndRunReviews 81p · 534 weeks ago

Ella and Charlie, I agree on all points. I'm over the paranormal beings and the dystopian novels! None of them seem original any more. Some of the more original stuff I have read is coming from self-published and/or indie presses. They seem willing to take a chance that larger publishing houses are not.

Terri M., the Director
Second Run Reviews

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EllaDrayton 56p · 534 weeks ago

I've noticed that lately too! The Indies I've read lately have been more original and imaginative and I think it's sad that larger publishing houses are passing them up. And I can't speak for all larger publishing houses but I know there are some that would rather pump out quantity instead of quality so they can cash in quickly. Great comment!

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Jamie · 534 weeks ago

I think there are a lot of genres that get old quick. Once a couple titles make it big, suddenly that is all anyone seems to talk about. So when the top most popular books come out, that genre just blows up for a few years.
And for basing a book off how a guy looks, yea that tactic has never worked with me. Even the covers with the good-looking men on the cover. If that is what I see and that seems to be the primary selling point with a lacking plot I have zero interest in reading it.

1 reply · active 534 weeks ago

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EllaDrayton 56p · 534 weeks ago

You're so right! And good looking guys never draw me in either because I'm a weirdo and I don't want you to give me a picture of what he looks like. I need to imagine in it my head. I'm probably the worst book critic ever because I'm so picky about silly stuff LOL

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Ctorretta 1p · 534 weeks ago

I agree and disagree. For the most part I've enjoyed a lot of the books I've read lately. That being said, I couldn't even get through the first Fifty Shades so I am certainly not going to read anything that looks like it. I love reading and I read a lot so normally I'm just reading for fun but every once in a while you just have to realize that you have to put the book down! I just did that actually. 25% in and I just couldn't enjoy myself. Don't let the books conquer you!

1 reply · active 534 weeks ago

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EllaDrayton 56p · 534 weeks ago

It used to take A LOT to get me to put a book down. I've finished some truly awful books just for the sake of finishing it because I always held out hope that maybe, just maybe, I'd get to the end and the book would redeem itself. Here lately, I just can't do it. If I get a few chapters in and feel like I'm reading something I've already read, down it goes. I don't want to waste anymore time on drivel. I refuse to be conquered!! :)

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nmhewitt 98p · 534 weeks ago

While I'm not necessarily sick of all of the things you mention, I do feel your pain. It's become a really saturated market, and a lot of books are starting to look the same. Hopefully we'll start to see some originality in 2015 - we can always hope, right?

Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

1 reply · active 534 weeks ago

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EllaDrayton 56p · 534 weeks ago

I have to admit I *MAY* have been a little over-dramatic but I was apparently really cranky about the whole thing. LOL And yes, I am holding out hope that 2015 will be a lot better. :)

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Elizabeth · 521 weeks ago

I would be suffering from an overload of BS if I ever read any of it. I haven't touched a Twilight or other vampire book, nor 50 Shades or anything else calling itself erotica. What I AM sick of is the bandwagon-jumpers who rarely read but want to tell me everything I'm missing by not reading these books.