The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme with a prompt featuring a book related question. The hop begins on a Friday and ends on a Thursday and should hopefully give people the opportunity to learn something new about the blogger.
The Book Blogger Hop can be found on Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer and obviously my answers can be found here!
Well thanks. Now this is in my head…
And now it’s in yours. You’re welcome.
The main thing that drives me bonkers is when I nip to the loo for fifteen seconds and return to find that my cat has made a home for her bum on my pages. Why do you do it Willow?!
Here’s a picture of her – not on any of my books but on my bullet journal that I was actively using at the time.
But I don’t think this is really want the person asking the question meant…
I think what drives me crazy is when there is a use of tropes that I despise. I did a post last year on tropes I hate which can be found here. I really, really, really, can’t stand the top one which is…
Ugh.
I’ve gone into it on my previous blog post as to why I can’t stand it but ultimately it’s because I believe it to be deeply rooted in misogyny. It pains me that this appears in so many books, especially so many YA books where the authors should really know better.
If I come across anything like this I do have a moment where I want to throw the book across the room. I don’t because I’m a grown ass woman and have respect for my own things but I will roll my eyes and flounce dramatically out of the room.
Only to return and… get your botty off my book, Willow!
Would I ever tell the author though? Probably not.
If it was a case of asking an open minded and welcoming author why they wrote ‘you’re not like other girls’ and we were in an environment where there was rational discussion on the impact of what those statements may do to younger readers then – maybe.
But I wouldn’t come at an author on their social media platform – not unless they specifically requested feedback on something and were open to it.
Why wouldn’t I say anything via social media you ask? I’m actually a little fearful of some writers and their fans (stans?) but that’s another conversation for another day.
Aimee @ Aimee, Always has reviewed The Gilded Wolves as part of its blog tour and has enjoyed it so much that she’s doing a giveaway!
Hamad @ The Book Prescription has asked ten of his favourite bloggers to recommend him a book based on their knowledge of his preferences. Such a good idea! I wonder how well those recommendations will go!
Bree @ Jasper + Spice discusses a topic close to my heart which is mental health days and also late night creativity.
Aurora @ Aurora Librialis opens up on the top 5 reasons as to why she thinks she’s a bad book blogger (she’s not, FYI).
What drives you bonkers? Is it the fact that I linked you to Dizzee Rascal, you pressed play and are now afraid that this song will never ever leave your head?
If it isn’t that what’s the thing that drives you crazy about books you’ve read? Would you (unlike wuss me) tell the author? Have you told an author? How did they respond?
Until next week!
The BookNook UK 
I used to think that the “not like other girls” trope was something that made a heroine cool, but then I came to realize (as you said) that it IS rooted in misogyny, something that is propagated by the patriarchy. We don’t even realize it, but we tend to bash other women to gain standing with men when in reality we should be trying to gain favor with each other. That trope DOES speak to how women are raised to compete, and it’s infuriating, yes.
Btw, I have never called out an author either, but I think it’s a good thing. Call-out culture is getting toxic nowadays, and I believe we should pull someone aside when we have an issue with them and tell them (privately) the issues with their book rather than shaming them. I mean, if someone isn’t open to learning, they’re not going to change regardless of whether you do it publicly or not imo. *sighs* I have a lot of feelings on this issue, but long story short, I think it’s not good to publicly call someone out, especially when it’s just over a book.
All that darkness aside, your cat is CUUUUTE. As is her name, Willow. Perhaps she’s sitting on your bullet journal so you’ll have no choice but to pay attention to her? I wouldn’t know since I don’t own a pet, but I used to do that to my mom as a kid whenever I would want her to stop working lol. 😂
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I think the trope was genuinely used to raise the character in question up and when I was younger I never even questioned what it was based on because I was always like, ‘well she’s an awesome character.’ It’s only when I started getting older and the penny dropped that I realised it was all about raising a character up by putting others down and that’s when I greatly disliked it. It’s funny but reading tastes change as time goes and there’s stuff now I never would have noticed once.
I’m wondering if you’re referring to the recent twitter drama involving Blood Heir? That was very shocking for me as someone who is not actively on twitter but who lurks to get an idea of what’s going on. I have complicated and messy feelings about it because yes, I think if someone writes something that could be damaging/ derogatory then yes call them out but I really didn’t like the way that whole thing was handled. It was, I think, nastily done. I think it calls into question people like editors, agents and publishers though and what they should be doing in their industry.
Oh she’s such a floof! She sometimes wants attention on the bullet journal and other times she just likes to sleep there. She’s like Ariel. She just wants to be where the people are.
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I agree! The “not like other girls” is trying to get at the fact that you should embrace your unique qualities, but when other ppl are being dragged into your sense of empowerment, it’s not you embracing yourself, it using ppl to pull yourself up. Big distinction there.
And yesssss, I may have unconsciously been referring to that whole nasty drama. I will admit that it wasn’t so much them calling out the author publicly that bugged me so much, but rather the fact that they were being so smug and judgmental about it. I consider myself a progressive/liberal, but oftentimes we jump into this self-righteous mode where we bash ignorant ppl when we really should be trying to be educate them in a kind manner. No one’s going to want to change when you’re being preachy, so I felt the ppl involved weren’t helping the cause in the least; they were just calling out the author to feel superior. And of course at that point, pack mentality took over.
Again, I have so many feelings on this issue because cases like this reveal the ugly sides of people who claim they’re trying to do good. It makes me sad. *sighs*
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I must admit the whole twitter thing did make me re-think joining twitter and being part of the twitter book community. I know I do rant negative reviews and have opinions and if someone came on the attack I would defend with fists raised BUT I am genuinely not here for drama. Discussion and debate? Hell yes. Drama and as you correctly put – pack mentality – nope.
I feel for the debut author because she seems really young and instead of a mentoring approach it was almost a drag down approach and I’ve read some posts and tweets of hers where she was watching her dream start to come true and then… this.
It was because it got quite personal, quite quickly and if something is genuinely damaging then sure, point it out but I read so many tweets that seemed to be attacking her as a person and I just… I don’t know. All I could think about was how she was probably going to bed in tears.
If this was treatment that applied to *all* writers that did this stuff than I’d be like, ‘ok we have some crazy YA twitter culture here’ but (and I’m sorry to anyone who is her fan) but SJM doesn’t get dragged through the dirt like this. Not that I would want her to be because I think the approach was cruel but why do some authors get a pass and others don’t?
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Yes, I don’t do Twitter for that very reason. Just minimally I engage (mostly for animal gifs lol) cuz the drama/bullying mentality is NOT something I ever want to be dragged into. People really need to learn how to cool their heads, but Twitter isn’t the most conducive environment for that imo.
lol tbh, SJM is one author I think could afford some dragging because I’ve heard rumors that she’s quite defensive and catty about criticism (rumors of course), and it would make sense why she hasn’t improved in her writing/content at all. Though to be fair, she does have her fair share of anti-fans now who are finally learning that her books are kinda toxic, so I’m not too bitter about that. But yes, it’s sad that just because certain authors are more hyped than others, they don’t get dragged by the community whereas the defenseless newbie authors (who don’t have platform to defend themselves) are the ones who get stoned. It’s sad really.
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hahaha my cat would lay on my thesis work consistently and it cracked me up. I hate that trope SO MUCH, but not at much as conflict that could be resolved by people talking to one another
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I swear paper has a magnet for cat bottoms in it. I could drop a Very Important Piece of Paper, turn around and she would find it in seconds.
Oh god yes, miscommunication! It drives me barmy but at the same time I’m oddly addicted. In real life though it would drive me nuts!
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Hello, pretty kitty! I love her name, so witchy ❤️
All sexist tropes annoy me, but NoT LikE oThER GiRls is the worst. At this point it almost makes me more sad than mad though, cause like the internalized misogyny must be staggering. I wouldn’t say something to an author about it either, especially on social media. I try to do the opposite instead and tell authors how much I love it when they write beautiful female friendships and complex female characters who are allowed to be as feminine (or not) as they wish.
Thank you so much for sharing my posts, I really appreciate it 😊
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I think what annoys me the most about it is that its more common in YA fiction. But I don’t even know why! And it’s the worst message to be peddling to teenage girls when we should be inclusive and embracing differences and shouldn’t be trying to steer female friendships into a strange competition. It’s my humble opinion anyway 😛
You work off the ol’ positive reinforcement approach, I like it! I’m more of a ranter but I would never rant to a writer. Not unless they specifically asked for feedback but that’s never going to happen.
Ah you are welcome 🙂
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Oh, kitty! What a majestic fluffy tail ❤ 😀
It varies what drives me nuts. Some tropes can, but then comes an author who writes in a cool way and i'm fine…
I can't stand grammatical errors though, or repeated words. But that's more like an editing thing, not author specific.
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Tehehe! She does have a pretty floofy tail.
I read that a lot of the time people think its the editors fault for repetition and grammar errors (I did!) but that apparently writers can reject any editorial changes if they so wish. Personally, I think some definitely do because I’ve read appallingly written books in terms of grammar. I mean I know my blog posts can be desired but I’m no professional 😛
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Oh, i see. Well, i guess it makes sense. It’s like when i warn my clients when they are about to do something stupid and they do it anyway, and then of course it’s my fault 😀
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Haha! I’m in HR and yes, this sounds like a familiar issue 😉
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Thanks for the feature! I also wonder how will it go!!
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Keep us updated!
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I will in the review of those books 😀
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That trope drives me absolutely crazy too! I have never told an author that I had a problem with their book, though. I can’t even imagine doing that.
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It’s my most hated one! I think some people probably do though and I’m absolutely fascinated by it! I want to know how authors respond to them!
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