Spotlight Sunday Let’s Talk About What Takes You Out Of A Book You’re Reading!

When the four of us are together, in person or via the magic of the internet, the conversations almost always come back to books. We love them. We love the people who write them, the people who publish them, and the people who read them. In fact, we have so many feelings about books that we wanted to find a way to share our conversations with you! This is the third week of our new feature, hosted by Fiction Fare (Erin & Jaime) and Swoony Boys Podcast (Kassiah & Meg). Spotlight Sunday is about ALL things bookish. Each week we’ll post a topic, we’ll start the conversation by telling you some of our thoughts, and then it will be your turn to sound off in the comment section.

Welcome to a new week of Spotlight Sunday, hosted by Fiction Fare (Erin & Jaime) and Swoony Boys Podcast (Kassiah & Meg), where we dish about ALL things bookish. Each week we’ll post a topic, we’ll start the conversation by telling you some of our thoughts, and then it will be your turn to sound off in the comment section.

Have a topic you’d like to discuss on Spotlight Sunday? Fill out the form here.

This week we want to talk about …

What Takes You Out of a Book or Book World? Does it Make You Mad or Can You Easily Get Back Into It?

Erin: There aren’t a lot of things that do this for me. The only thing that really affects me in this way is if the editing is really poor and I have to backtrack or pause to figure out what the author is really trying to say. Depending on how much I am enjoying the story, it may not be a huge deal but if I am struggling with the book to begin with, it makes it tough to get back into the flow of the story.

Meg: I totally agree, Erin. Bad editing is at the top of this list for me. I also am picky about dialogue. I don’t like it to feel forced, I love banter, but not everyone can write it well. I would rather hear a character’s thoughts than have cheesy dialogue. That can pull me out of a story ridiculously fast. Have you guys ever read a character conversation that has you secondhand embarrassed for that character because you just know they wouldn’t ever talk like that?

Jaime: I am on board with the editing issues, but another one for me is word choice. I know not everyone reads romance but I do, and when an author uses words like labia or cervix during sexy times I just cringe. I’m so so so so so sensitive to certain words that if I see them and am forced to read them, I’m immediately taken out of the story. Also dialogue is a big one for me too Meg, but not so much the cheesy stuff, but the very stilted kind… like not using contractions or making the sentences sound incredibly formal. I like dialogue that sounds natural and real.

Kassiah: I agree with ya’ll about the bad editing, and I’ve read several characters that make me cringe for them, but I guess we’re not naming names here LOL. Another thing that makes me want to throw a book out the window is when authors don’t fact check, especially in a series. It drives me nuts when something happened (or didn’t happen) in a previous book, but it’s different later in the series. I think this goes hand in hand with the dialogue, too. It’s fact checking to know your characters and what they say, and this can be something as simple as the way the characters would talk. You can’t have a book set in the South without the use of “y’all” 🙂

Now that you’ve read some of our thoughts, let us know what you’re thinking in the comments below! We’ll be back next week with a brand new topic and lots more to talk about.