This Week's Topic
Things I Could Do Without
Happy Friday! I know we all have our pet peeves, and I have a list of things I see in books that I could without. I see these things mentioned so often in books that I have an imaginary bingo card when I check them off. These are things that are not really part of the plot, nor do they move the plot forward, but they are things the characters will lament, over and over.
Recently, I had a run of books where the character could not stop talking about their student loans. In all the books, the characters were referring to their graduate school loans. Most people do not have the money to pay for college outright. My family didn't. When it was time for me to apply to college, my parents made me face reality.
Some of these characters needed to have that talk with their parents. In one book, the character kept crying about her loan debt for her tuition at CORNELL. Well, hon, if you didn't have Cornell money, you should not have gone to Cornell. My parents had state school money, and that is where I went.
In another book, the character kept complaining about having to pay the loan back. To help some of these characters out, I will share the definition of a loan.
The biggest reason it gets on my nerves is because these are romance books! A mention, I could let slide, but I seemed to be encountering a slew of books where they beat the horse here, and it isn't like their debt drove them to a live of crime or any sort of plot point, it was just something they kept complaining about.
Fictional characters' student loan debt kvetching is something I could do without. Is there something you see often in books that you could do without?
Now it's your turn!
What things exhaust you in books?
Let us know in the comments!
Let us know in the comments!
Recently I read two books in a series where the main character keeps thinking about her ex/the man she could've married but didn't - it was so annoying having her drool over that man (though he is never physically there) plus she seemed to think of him and what might have been whenever someone mentioned their husband and it's not even a romance.
ReplyDeleteI have read tons of things that I could do without in books though I had forgotten most of them. I think it's the repetition, the constant focus on that one thing, that drives me nuts.
Have a lovely day.
I agree. The fixation gets to me. I read an old Debbie Macomber where the heroine kept harping on this one thing. Drove me nuts!
DeleteThat's interesting, Not sure that I have found things like this that are pet peeves for me in books. I mostly just overlook things that bother me and keep reading.
ReplyDeleteI can let a mention or two go, but the books I read, the author was so fixated on it. You would have thought that was what the book was about. I finished most of the books because I liked the other stuff, but it definitely made me like the story less than I had anticipated.
DeleteI'm sure I have pet peeves, but I'm drawing a blank right now, lol! This would be annoying for me too. Yes, if you don't have Cornell money and don't have a scholarship, don't go to Cornell!
ReplyDeleteI guess it's good they are not annoying you so much that they are always on your mind. I hate to be the bad guy, but I had to tell my own kid that sort of thing. She was lucky to get a full scholarship to Syracuse otherwise she would have had a lot more undergraduate debt.
Delete"and it isn't like their debt drove them to a live of crime or any sort of plot point"
ReplyDeleteLOL! That would have been fun! (OK, maybe not in a romance novel, but still). That's an odd trend though, to be mentioning student loans etc. so often and in more than one book...
I don't know...can't think of anything right now.
There are certain topics unrelated to the plot that seem to be required for a certain age group of authors. I have what I refer to as my millennial bingo card and student loan debt is one of the topics that gets checked often.
DeleteMy pet peeve is so many characters having "wild, curly hair." Is it just me or is curly hair like actually kind of rare? How is it that every book character has it?
ReplyDeleteNow you have me wanting to track curly hair with red hair and green eyes. Google says one third of the world's population has curly hair but it is very dependent on ethnicity. I am not surprised by that last part.
Delete