Buying books: words or phrases that can turn a 'yes' into a 'no'?

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

You know that feeling. Something or another brought you to a book's page, you start to read through the description and see that annoying thing that makes you decide the book isn't for you (or at least has a strike against it).

For me, there's several. Of course none of these are a 100% no, but man, the book better have something major going for it if it has any of these:

A book where the writing or characters are described as 'snarky'.

A book that says it is perfect for fans of XXX (in a blurb, it's different).

A description that ends with an exclamation point.

Full of snarky characters in adorkable situations, perfect for fans of Dan Brown and Tennessee Williams. First in a heartwarming new zombie series!

What are some major red flags for you?

I don't about red flag words or phrases. It's really more of a feel than anything else. I look for something that indicates that the writer has some sort of creative spark, so really anything that indicates that the writer isn't creative is a turn off.

[SeaBookGuy]

Multi-generational (spanning generations) doesn't work for me.

[haertig]

"Romance" is the killer for me. Wouldn't touch it. I am just not interested.

Also, anything that appears to be for a cause. e.g., when the description prominently says "gay/lesbian" then the book is most likely promoting that cause above everything else. I don't care if the story is about gay/lesbians - that's not a bother as long as it is incidental, not the main focus of the story - but what is a bother is that the book is advertised as being for a cause. Same thing for a religious book. Personally, I am religious, but when I'm looking for a novel I don't want to be beat over the head with a cause, even if it's a cause that I happen to agree with.

[ I picked these two examples, "gay/lesbain" and "religious" simply because you see a lot of both of these books advertised. There are other causes of course, and I don't like their "cause books" any better, but these two are prevalent in today's publishing and everybody has run into them. ]

I want to read a story for fun. Content is what matters. When you throw in pushing for a cause - doesn't matter if I like or hate that cause - then the book is simply not for me. If I accidentally stumble into a book like that, more likely than not I'll abandon it and move on to something entertaining, not preachy.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Books under 200 pages (that goes for individual books) will not be bought by me.

Why not? That used to be the norm 50 years ago. Or are you only referring to new books under 200 pages?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by rkomar

Why not? That used to be the norm 50 years ago. Or are you only referring to new books under 200 pages?

No. I dislike it in any book. Yes, I read those older books when there wasn't anything else to read, but nowadays I prefer newer books. There often isn't enough room for proper world and character development in short books. They're all plot (unless the author was/is a genius).

Edit to add: most older books I read as a child and as a teenager were far more than 200 pages. The Three Musketeers, Count of Monte-Cristo, Mowgli, Deerslayer, Jane Eyre and many others. All were nice fat doorstoppers.

[DNSB]

I often read stories that are under 200 pages. Some authors produced their best work in the short story/novella/novelette format. All too often, you find books with lots of pages which consist of a decent short story and a mass of filler. Bulwer-Lytton emulation at it's worse.

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford

Perfervid turgidity as practised by an expert.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I often read stories that are under 200 pages. Some authors produced their best work in the short story/novella/novelette format. All too often, you find books with lots of pages which consist of a decent short story and a mass of filler. Bulwer-Lytton emulation at it's worse.

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford

Perfervid turgidity as practised by an expert.

Well, yes, that's the other extreme, of course. I detest both short stories and empty meandering. The best fiction is between the two, imho. YMMV, as always.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Well, yes, that's the other extreme, of course. I detest both short stories and empty meandering. The best fiction is between the two, imho. YMMV, as always.

Given that I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy in the 60's and a large part of that reading was SF & F magazines, I came to appreciate a well crafted short story.

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Books under 200 pages (that goes for individual books) will not be bought by me.

Interestingly, for me at least, is that what got me started on Westerns was a collection of short stories, The Morrow Anthology of Great Western Short Stories, edited by Jon Tuska and Vicki Pickarski. My library sells used donated books for $0.50 apiece and I saw this one and decided to give it a try. I put little plastic Post-It flags on each story that I liked and it turns out to be about half of them. A definite bonus is the cover art, the painting Open Range by Maynard Dixon.

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Given that I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy in the 60's and a large part of that reading was SF & F magazines, I came to appreciate a well crafted short story.

Same here. I think it's because as I said before, SF is about an idea and therefore unlikely to have deep characters which take time and space away from the clever idea.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Given that I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy in the 60's and a large part of that reading was SF & F magazines, I came to appreciate a well crafted short story.

I grew up on novels, there weren't any SF/F magazines in my country at the time. And most of those novels had more than 200 pages. So that's the cause of my preference, probably.

[arjaybe]

Originally Posted by hobnail

Late in life I discovered Westerns, where the plot is often a good guy vs a bad guy with a woman for the good guy to fall in love with (for example, see Bat Wing Bowles which I recently uploaded).

Sounds like a lot of Elmore Leonard westerns.

I probably wouldn't buy a book that involves a quest for glory.

[arjaybe]

Anything with thrones, kings, queens, sages, mages or wizards.

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by arjaybe

Anything with thrones, kings, queens, sages, mages or wizards.

Lol, that's at least 3/4s of the type of stuff I typically read.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

Multi-generational (spanning generations) doesn't work for me.

You beat me to this one.