Book pet peeves have been on my mind a lot lately. So I’ve decided to revise and repost the following story from 2023.

For all the joy I get out of reading, I also have a few pet peeves. I’m not alone. Recently, a contributor at Book Riot published a list of annoyances about books and the book world, gleaned from their readers’ comments. Complaints ranged from poorly designed book covers to the competitiveness of reading challenges and the lack of a synopsis on the back cover.

Inspired by Book Riot’s list, I’ve compiled my own list of petty annoyances. But while the Book Riot list focused primarily on the marketing of books, my list relates more to the story telling aspect. Because one seemingly minor miscue can ruin an otherwise good book.  

Do you agree or disagree with this list? Or do you have other pet peeves about books and/or the book publishing process? I’d love to hear your opinions.

• Unnecessary prologues – The purpose of a prologue is to provide some backstory, usually written from a different point of view character than the main narrator. More often than not, prologues don’t live up to that purpose. They meander or get stuck in world-building and backstory, which could just as easily been sprinkled throughout the main part of the novel. The only exceptions might be a mystery or thriller that sets up the crime or science fiction/fantasy to establish world-building that requires some detailed explanation. If the prologue can be read as a first chapter or if the information could be weaved into the main story, you probably don’t need the prologue. I rarely, if ever, have read a prologue that added anything of value to the story.
  
  
• No summary on the back cover. I’m inclined to agree with the Book Riot reader who suggested the back cover was often wasted on meaningless quotes from celebrities. That back page is prime real estate for book summaries. When used well, those summaries can grab more readers’ attention than any celebrity quotes. 
  
  
• Books that don’t live up to its premise. The premise is meant to hook the reader with an intriguing plot and conflict. But when that premise doesn’t pan out, it can be disappointing. Maybe the story meandered or ran off in a tangent to some obscure subplot, the ending didn’t make sense, or the author left some loose ends at the end. For whatever reason, when a book doesn’t live up to its promise, I feel cheated as a reader. And when I feel cheated, I’m less likely to pick up another book by that author.
  
  
• Novels that are too long. Is it my imagination, or are current novels running longer than they used to? I think the sweet spot for most novels is 300-350 pages. That’s long enough to develop a strong plot, characters, and suspense to keep readers interested. There are exceptions, of course, such as Harry Potter series and science fiction/fantasy sagas. Others, especially in women’s fiction, have gone for nearly 500 pages—too long by my standard. Maybe it’s my advancing age or diminishing attention span, but by page 350, I tend to lose interest. To push me past that point, authors better have a really good, compelling story line to keep me reading.
  
  
• Slow, meandering middles. Ugh! The book might have gotten off to a roaring good start, but by the midpoint, the story drags or heads off in a different direction. Maybe the author filled in with too much backstory or there wasn’t a surprise plot twist to push the story forward. If you’re struggling to get through that middle section, chances are, the author struggled to write it. A slow, meandering middle can kill a reader’s attention in a heartbeat.
  
  
• Unsatisfactory endings. The best endings are the ones that wrap up loose ends and conflicts in a way that makes sense for the story while also making me feel good. When I’ve spent countless hours reading a 400-page novel, I want to know that my time was well spent and that there’s a big pay off in the end. When a story ends without all conflicts resolved, or it ends differently than I expected or worse, made me cringe, it leaves a lasting impression, and not in a good way. I can think of two books that DID resolve the story satisfactorily and made me feel good: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick.
  
  
• Stories that end long before the book does. Another pet peeve is a novel with a compelling conflict that ends too soon, leaving readers with another 40 pages of narrative without anything truly interesting happening on the page. (Example: Memoirs of a Geisha.) It’s as if the author had fallen in love with their story and their characters and was reluctant to let them go. (Another example: The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman, the fourth and final book in the Practical Magic series.) So the book dragged on for an extra 40 pages before the author figured out how to end it.
  
  
• No surprising plot twists. Some of the best novels I’ve read had a major plot twist that was unexpected and surprising. Without that surprise element, there’s no momentum forward, and there’s nothing to keep the reader interested in the story until the very end. The story meanders aimlessly, and you wonder if there’s anything new or interesting up ahead to make you keep reading. Sure, there are plot twists, but they don’t come off as surprising or unexpected, and that can dampen your reading experience. For examples of novels with successful surprising plot twists, check out Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult or In Five Years by Rebecca Serle (and the aforementioned The Nightingale.)
  

Even with these petty annoyances, books are still the most wonderful creations on earth. I’m willing to put up with a few clunkers in the books I read to find the best gems.