Monday, April 14, 2025

*Top Ten Tuesday* My Unpopular Bookish Opinions



Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Joood - Hooligan of Platypire reviews bossed me into doing this, so I guess this is a thing I do now. 

This week’s theme is my unpopular bookish opinions, which can include things such as opinions around being a book reviewer or opinions about books that seem to differ from the majority. This will probably be a mix of things, and we'll see if I can even get to ten. Let's go. 

Unpopular Opinion #1: I like movie edition covers on books. That doesn't mean I go out and buy an extra copy because it's the movie tie-in edition (they're not cool special editions with sprayed edges and extra content after all), but if I find them at the thrift store I will buy them, even as an extra copy. 

Unpopular Opinion #2: While we're talking about cool special editions with sprayed edges, I hate seeing sprayed edge books placed "backwards" on the shelf to showcase the sprayed edges. I get it, you bought that edition for the pretty edges, you want to show them off. I want to see the title of the book. And I am secretly judging you for doing that (well, I guess it's not a secret now). 

Unpopular Opinion #3: I don't like how it seems like every book released now is getting multiple special editions. Don't get me wrong, I love getting extra exclusive content by purchasing at a certain location, but I'm not trying to throw elbows to get the Target exclusive Onyx Storm, and deciding exactly which special edition of How My Neighbor Stole Christmas to buy was not my idea of a good time. I also suffer from FOMO, so special editions make me feel like I need to buy the book new (so mission accomplished for the publisher) instead of waiting to find it at the thrift store or just as an ebook. 

Unpopular Opinion #4: Audiobooks are a lesser form of book. Now this doesn't mean that I'm judging you if you only reading audiobooks, because I also read audiobooks, just not exclusively. What I mean by a lesser form is that while you still experience the story with an audiobook, it does not have the added benefit of helping to solidify the spelling of words like a physical or ebook does. And I view them differently for myself and prefer to keep audiobooks to only 1/3 of my reading. I'd still prefer people read audiobooks than not read anything at all though. 

Unpopular Opinion #5: Dog ear-ing books should be punishable by dismemberment. Even if they are books you own, you should lose fingers at the very least for not using a bookmark in a book. This is a hill I'm willing to die on. 

Unpopular Opinion #6: It is absolutely valid to judge books by their covers. There are far too many books in the world for me to agonize over what I should read next based on the book blurb. It is much quicker to pick the cover vibes that are speaking to me at a given time. And they usually don't let me down. 

Unpopular Opinion #7: Not all book clubs are created equal. I'm actually working on a post reviewing all 13 book clubs that I'm currently in, because I need to cut back some and getting it on "paper" will help me decide which ones have the worst vibes for me, and obviously those will be the ones to go. 

Unpopular Opinion #8: Supporting authors with problematic political views is the same thing as supporting those political views. Even though I love the Harry Potter world, I no longer purchase Harry Potter merch since finding out what a terrible human being J.K. Rowling is. Other authors I will not support because they are problematic include Neil Gaiman and Jamie McGuire. 

And I think that's it. I'm really struggling to think of any other unpopular bookish opinions I have, so we're leaving it at 8. Feel free to argue with me in the comments. You're wrong, but you can argue with me anyway. 

What are some of your unpopular bookish opinions? If you're stopping by from the linkup, please be sure to drop a link to your post below so I can check out your list of (potentially wrong) opinions. - Katie 

22 comments:

  1. Hey, Audiobooks are books! I love listening. I am a auditory learner. I have to hear something to learn. Guess that is why I love them.

    My list is off-topic: https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2025/04/ttt-excerpts-from-new-to-me-poems-i-like.html

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    1. I don't deny that audiobooks are books. They are absolutely a valid form of reading. But like I did super good at spelling in school, partially because I was such a big reader as a kid and all the reading taught me spelling. Thanks for stopping by. - Katie

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  2. A great list. I love your closing comment 😂

    Special Editions annoy me if they come out later. I will only buy one copy of a book so I will get upset if a later prettier one comes out 😂
    Have a great week!

    Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
    My post:
    https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2025/04/15/top-ten-tuesday-my-unpopular-bookish-opinions/

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    1. Yeah, that's also annoying. Especially if it's a book that they knew was going to be popular to begin with. At that point, it's just a cash grab. It works, but it's a cash grab. Thanks for stopping by. - Katie

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  3. I'm not a fan of movie book editions either. Happy reading! My TTT https://readwithstefani.com/my-unpopular-bookish-opinions/

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    1. They are certainly hated by some. Thanks for stopping by. - Katie

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  4. While I love the HP world, I have stopped buying merch and have asked others not to get it for me as gifts. They understand, and respect that request.
    Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
    https://readbakecreate.com/books-that-dont-deserve-the-hype-my-unpopular-opinon/

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    1. Yes. And it makes me so sad because I do love the world, but I can't in good conscience consume new items from that world. Thanks for stopping by. - Katie

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  5. Wow, you’re in a lot of book clubs. I can’t even keep up with one of them. 😂

    Here is my post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-underrated-books/

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    1. And I joined another after posting this, so now it's 14...you know, after I said I need to cut back. My first meeting with the new bookclub is this Wednesday, so we'll see if it even gets a second visit. It'll be interesting, because the book club organizer is someone who I've known about because of the bookish community for years. Thanks for stopping by. - Katie

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  6. I totally agree on #3!

    My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2025/04/15/top-ten-tuesday-books-on-my-tbr-i-avoid-reading-and-why/

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    1. It's really getting to be too much. I will never financially recover from this! Thanks for stopping by. - Katie

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  7. I'm with you 100% on the dog ear-ing page corners dismemberment! I just don't see how people think that's OK. You're absolutely correct about judging books by their cover, the cover is just as important as the synopsis to me at this point :)

    If you'd like to visit, here's my TTT: https://thebooklorefairyreads.wordpress.com/2025/04/15/top-ten-tuesday-unpopular-bookish-opinions/

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    1. A guy I'm in a book club with read this post before we had our monthly meeting, and told me he dog ears his books. So I obviously looked him in the eye and said he should absolutely be dismembered. LOL. Thanks for stopping by. - Katie

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  8. I don't get the hype with the special editions myself. It's fun to have bonus content, but I don't want to pay extra for it.

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  9. How does one even find 13 book clubs! 😂

    I agree that audibooks are a valid form of reading, and I really enjoy them, but they are not as good a format as text, for me it's because it's very difficult to go back and reread a section and copy or highlight passages! I only read on audio books I don't think I'll be interested is doing a close reading of!

    Here are mine, we don't agree on special editions 🙊https://thewallflowerdigest.co.uk/books/top-ten-tuesday/unpopular-opinions-on-books/

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    1. Facebook is how I found 13 book clubs (14 now actually). It also helps that I live near a city of 400K people. There's definitely room for a lot of book clubs, and not a single one of my clubs is a library bookclub, but each branch of our local library (there are several) also hosts a book club, so I could totally be in more if I had more time. Thanks for stopping by. - Katie

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  10. I don't display my sprayed edges but not for the reason you mentioned (or not only) but because I fear them becoming washed up with the light exposure!

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    1. That is a very good reason to not display the sprayed edges. I'm glad to hear I don't have to judge you. Thanks for stopping by. - Katie

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  11. Wow, 13 book clubs? I was in 1, but it fell apart because we were all too busy to find a meeting time.

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    1. It's 14 now. I added a new one on Thursday, I'll be attending my first meeting this Wednesday, started the book and everything. Most of my bookclubs meet at the same time every month (like my Thrills and Chills bookclub always meets on the third Sunday of the month at 2:30, so we met today even though it was Easter). Having that set schedule helps keep the club going I think, because even if there's one month you just can't make for some reason, it's easier to plan around when you know it's happening in advance.

      Thanks for stopping by. - Katie

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