Top Ten Tuesday: Unpopular Bookish Opinions

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Hello! Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday and this week we are chatting about unpopular bookish opinions. I found this one quite hard because it’s difficult to know if my opinion is unpopular when everyone has so many differing views on books! So here are ten of my bookish opinions which I think might be unpopular! These are just my personal views and of course anyone is entitled to disagree!

1. Hermione Granger

Okay so this one is tricky to explain because I really like Hermione. I think she’s strong, intelligent and vital to the whole Harry Potter canon. However, I don’t love her as much as everyone else seems to. I feel like anytime I read opinions on Harry Potter people think she is the real star of the story and that she can do no wrong which I just don’t think is true. I think she can be patronising, stubborn and dismissive of people who don’t fit into her idea of the rational and academic. She’s a great female role model, don’t get me wrong, but do I think she’s always right? No I don’t. Also on the subject of Hermione – I totally don’t get the Harry/Hermione ship! To me it makes so little sense and Ron is her perfect partner right from the beginning! But that’s a whole other argument….

2. The Harry Potter Movies

I don’t like the movies – there, I said it! I think they’re pretty rubbish if I’m being brutally honest. To be fair, I think I had such a set idea in my head whilst reading it as a child then a teenager that I was never going to appreciate someone else’s interpretation of a series so close to my heart. I just hated when they missed out important plot points or cast actors who were completely the wrong age for the character they played! But like I say I don’t think I would ever have been happy with an adaptation so it’s not really the movie’s fault!

3. Charles Dickens

I just don’t really get the love for Dickens. I know so many people love his books but I’ve never really been able to get into them. I quite like some of the movie and tv adaptations like Oliver and A Christmas Carol but the books just feel a little overblown and dense. However, I did recently buy Oliver as it’s one of his I haven’t actually tried to read so maybe it will change my mind!

4. Lincoln in the Bardo

I bought the audiobook version of this Man Booker Prize winning book to see if it lived up to it’s rave reviews and for me it really didn’t. Personally I found it strange and the hundreds of different voices felt overwhelming and off putting. I can only judge the audio version and maybe I’m just missing the point of it but I simply don’t get the acclaim it has received!

5. ‘Women’s Fiction’

I’m 100% not insulting anyone who reads what is classified as ‘women’s fiction’ here! I feel that everyone should read whatever they like! What I do have an issue with is the genre itself being called ‘women’s fiction’ – I genuinely find it pretty offensive to imply that only women enjoy books like these. Also why is there no corresponding ‘men’s fiction’? I feel it’s pigeonholing women and is stereotypical and dated. Just to reiterate though – I’m not insulting the books themselves or their readers in any way!

6. Young Adult

I enjoy reading young adult books quite often and I would say that, being in my mid-twenties, I am a young adult. My problem with this genre is that in most bookshops, young adult books are often in the children’s section! Some of the young adult books I have read are, to be frank, in no way suitable for children so I just don’t understand why they can’t be separate in shops and in the publishing industry. I have no idea if this is an unpopular opinion but I’d love to know what you all think.

7. Pride & Prejudice / Keira Knightley

I feel like a lot of people really don’t like the movie adaptation of Pride & Prejudice – just from a lot of comments I’ve read, I get the sense that there is a real dislike of Keira Knightley in the role of Elizabeth Bennet. Now, I love the tv version with Colin Firth as much as anyone but I actually think Keira does a really good job in the role and I love the movie version just as much, if not more, than the tv series!

8. Go Set A Watchman

I love To Kill A Mockingbird and I’ve read a couple of books about Harper Lee herself but I refuse to read Go Set A Watchman. When it was being published and there was some controversy surrounding it, I just got the sense that she didn’t actually want the book published and therefore I don’t really want to read it. Reading Furious Hours by Casey Cep (which I highly recommend) recently just reinforced my view on this matter. She wrote the book before To Kill A Mockingbird and it was suggested to her by her publisher that she write about Scout’s childhood instead which ended up being her masterpiece. Something about reading a book that she originally decided not to publish doesn’t sit right with me, but that’s just me! I’m not judging anyone for reading it!

9. Posthumous Publication

This is kind of on a similar theme to number 8 but concerns posthumously publishing an author’s work. The issue I have with it is when they don’t have the author’s express permission but merely the permission of a family member or agent. I just feel that an author has every right to write pieces of work that they don’t want read by the general public and trust that that work will stay private after their deaths unless they have previously stated otherwise!

10. Lord of the Rings

Tolkien fans please don’t hate me but I prefer the movies to the books which is something I almost never say! I’ve read the Fellowship of the Ring and I just didn’t love it if I’m being honest. I really like the films (not the Hobbit ones) and I feel they are really well made so I decided not to read the two other books in the series and just stick with rewatching the movies! Please don’t take away my bookworm status! 😅

Well that’s it! Ten bookish opinions that I think might be unpopular in some way! I’d love to know what you think of them, whether you agree or not and I can’t wait to read about all of your bookish opinions!

xxx

55 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday: Unpopular Bookish Opinions”

  2. Maggie Stewart (@maggiereadsya) says:
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    I think young adult books should be in a separate area from younger children’s books as well, and that they deserve to have different age ratings on them. Many times I will read a YA book and find that it is recommended for ages 12 and up, and they often have material in them that is no way appropriate for kids 12 to 14 years old. I know *technically* 13 and 14 year olds are teenagers, but there is a world of difference between young teens and older teens and I think there needs to be some better distinction between books that are appropriate for each of those age groups.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Consu says:
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    I totally understando you issue with Hermione, the fandom has made her out to be a perfect girl when the beauty of her character is that she is flawed and real, though I think this is mostly the movies’ fault.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Lilyfae says:
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    Yes on so much!!
    Book Ron deserves and is worthy of Hermione, film Ron is not nor has ANY chemistry and I think THAT is what colours the whole argument.
    I prefer the Muppets version to the writer regarding Dickens- I get WHY he is important it’s just that being paid by the word SHOWS.
    Women’s fiction is insulting and Few bookshops do YA right- where I used to live the big brand bookstore has a sunken children’s section BUT YA is at the top of those stairs in the travel and new books section there- close enough but also neatly far apart.

    Liked by 2 people

    • lifewithallthebooks says:
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      That’s how I think the bookshops should do it – keep it distinct from children’s books but close! And yes I completely agree that there is a huge lack of Ron/Hermione chemistry in the movies but they have a great arc in the books! 😊

      Liked by 1 person

      • Lilyfae says:

        Totally, I’m old enough to have waited between books and I remember hoping and wishing for Ron and Hermione to get together (and the debates that raged!) , later to get over their fear of rejection/pride and admit they really loved each other.
        The fact everyone now knows they end up together kinda taints that blossoming as the books really are a love story as much as the Chosen one narrative.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. savb says:
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    I absolutely love the movie adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. Keira does a great job in my opinion. Its one of the most gorgeously shot films I’ve ever seen. I saw the Colin Firth one later in life and I really loved that one but I think the movie version is more artistically shot.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Melissa Villy says:
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    I HATE Dickens. I had to read his Hard Times in my Victorian Writers class and got 2/3 of the way through before I wanted to chuck it across my dorm room. There was a class offered soley on Dickens a semester or two later, and I steered well clear of it.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. daniellereading says:
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    Omg I had to DNF Lincoln in the Bardo. I just couldn’t get into it. I think maybe it was the weird style of writing or something but, yeah, it was a big no for me. And yessss on the “women’s” fiction also the posthumous publication.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. HannahHannah says:
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    I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t even think of women’s fiction as being problematic until I saw everyone’s post this week and yeah, now I see it’s a big problem. I guess I don’t read “women’s fiction” so I just never thought about it before!

    Liked by 1 person

  12. alisbooks says:
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    Pride and Prejudice with Keira is actually my favorite! I LOVE it!! And I totally agree that young adult should be near adult novels not childrens. In my local libraries they are near the adults not the children. While some are definitely fine for younger readers there are some with strong content that I really think should make many YA books NA.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Holly says:
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    That gif of Abraham Lincoln is WILD 🙂 Love what you pointed out about women’s fiction–I’m always suspicious of categories that target women when there isn’t a counterpart for men… just reinforcing the idea that men are the default. :/ Great list!

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Sara @ The Bibliophagist says:
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    I totally agree about “women’s fiction” — I hate that name for the genre! I mean, are men not allowed to read those books? And I also agree about posthumous publication. Especially if it was a well-known author, I feel like if they wanted it to be published, it would have already happened.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Curvy Constellation says:
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    I also find the term “Women’s Fiction” offensive. I don’t understand why it’s a thing.

    I also loved both the movie and TV adaptations of Pride and Prejudice. I thought they were both great in their own way, but I did enjoy the TV show a bit more!

    Great list !!

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Lisa says:
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    I agree about so much here! Definitely with you on “women’s fiction” — it feels like such a patronizing, condescending title. Kind of belittles the readers, and who wants that? I agree too about the Harper Lee issue, and posthumous publication in general. I don’t believe author’s unfinished/unpublished works should be made public unless there’s something that shows that that’s what they wanted.

    Liked by 1 person

  19. dinipandareads says:
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    This is a great list, I agree with so much of it!
    SO MUCH YES for Keira Knightley’s P&P. Sure, I enjoy the “original” but I honestly loved this one more. I don’t know, there was something about it that made me feel more emotional and connected to the characters.
    Also absolutely agree with the YA books not belonging in the kids section. I always shake my head and don’t understand that 🤦🏻‍♀️

    Liked by 1 person

  20. mahmarino says:
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    Omg this is such a great list!!
    Besides the different POV about the Harry Potter movies, I totally agree with you in most of them!

    Btw, LOTR is much better on movie format… but I still love the books!!

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Davida Chazan says:
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    About women’s fiction – I think a whole lot of people misunderstand what that really means. The problem is, I think it means different things to different people, and that’s a mistake. For me, women’s fiction is simply books where the main protagonist (or one of the main ones) is a woman, and/or a story from a women’s prospective. I read a whole lot of it, and so does my husband. It doesn’t mean books FOR women at all, if you ask me. That’s something else altogether (like romance novels).

    Liked by 1 person

    • lifewithallthebooks says:
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      I understand what you mean – it’s a very broad term which is easy to interpret in lots of different ways but it’s just that there is no corresponding ‘men’s fiction’ which really gets me! I know what you’re saying though 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      • Davida Chazan says:

        My question is, do we need a corresponding “men’s fiction” genre? I mean, women’s stories and female authors were ignored or shunned or ridiculed for so long that surely there is still a need for a genre called women’s fiction. Just look at the biggest prizes for fiction – the Pulitzer and the Nobel Prize – they’re still dominated by men… just saying. Asking for a “men’s fiction” genre is kind of like saying why don’t we have a straight pride parade?

        Liked by 1 person

      • lifewithallthebooks says:

        I do get what you’re saying and of course female authors should be given the recognition they deserve and the prizes being dominated by mostly white men is absolutely a serious problem! My point though is more about the fact that I’ve never seen any of the dark gritty thrillers I read by women like Karin Slaughter or Tana French labelled as women’s fiction because it’s a certain type of story that is usually classified as such and I think it just reinforces the stereotype that women prefer to read a specific kind of book and I take issue with that. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • Davida Chazan says:

        Very true. But personally, I would call them women’s fiction, IF they have a major protagonist that is female. So for instance, P.D. James’ had Dalglish, so although she was a woman, I wouldn’t call her books women’s fiction. Agathe Christie’s Miss Marple and Tommy and Tuppence books are women’s fiction for me. See what I’m saying? We’re not applying the label of women’s fiction properly, and that means that people see it and think chick-lit or bodice ripping romance, which isn’t at ALL women’s fiction, if you ask me.

        Like

  23. lifewithabookworm says:
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    Great post! I agree with your comments about Women’s fiction, it’s not inclusive and implies that only women will enjoy these books. It’s about time that publishing caught up! I also really like your point about YA. I’m 26 and YA is mainly what I read, the looks I get when I’m walking through to the kids section! I definitely don’t feel like a ‘full’ adult just yet, and I wish that we would see some older protagonists in YA!

    Liked by 1 person

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