3 Books to Hold Your Attention

I love books. I love reading. It’s the sole reason why I started this blog in the first place, but there’s some things about books and the art of selling books that makes me want to tear my hair out and start a book store. Now I know that everyone has their hang ups about books and authors and publishing houses, but here I’ll outline my own hang ups about books and reading that I’ve been meaning to get off my chest for a few years.

Blurbs in the back cover isn’t helpful information.
Whatever happened to the summaries that books had in their back cover? When did we decide that it was better to replace them with blurbs? I understand that blurbs contribute to the hype of the books. It’s celebrity endorsement in nerd form, I get it, but ultimately those summaries let me know what the book was about. Not what someone in News Weekly thought about it. That’s not information I need at the moment. Now they’ve been replaced by anonymous quotes from mayor publications. As a marketing major I understand the hype and the need to get people with influence in the book world promoting the book, but that shouldn’t extend itself to the book itself. No one buys bubbled water because of what Jennifer Aniston had to say about how deliciously tasting it is. We buy it because we’re thirsty. We buy books because we know what it’s about. Or we used to, before they replaced summaries with blurbs.

Which brings me to my second point:

Why do books stores not have unwrapped books in their shelves?
I get it. Unwrapping every single book that comes into your store is not something that feasible. And most people who walk into the book store are just there because they think they saw someone walk in and decide to be creepy stalkers about it. And having people store and touch and browse books multiple times a day would be something that would wear them out quite easily. Just look at the best sellers in your local library, they’re not exactly in pristine conditions, but if you want to create a hype about a book at least give me the chance to browse through it. Especially now that book summaries were completely replaced by back of the book blurbs. There’s nothing wrong leaving at least one of the three copies most bookstores carry unwrapped. It can be the “free sample” product of the store.

Who designs book covers? 
Honestly, has the person who designed the cover even read the book? Do they even care to know what the book is about? Some covers just seem so generic. Like half naked men on a horse when it comes to an epic fantasy, or beheaded girls on young adult fiction catered to women, or abstract painting that has nothing to do with the title or the story. It’s understandable that book covers are the last thing that a publishing house is thinking about when they buy the book, but if you want the book to do well at least think of the cover. Or at the very least, expect the person who’s designing the covers to have at least read the book. 

Why don’t people care for books, especially when they’re borrowed?
I don’t mind loaning books. I actually enjoy loaning some of my books to other people because that way I cant get them hyped on the idea that reading is more than just a nerd pass time. And if they enjoy the book, we can talk about it. What I mind is when people who I’ve loaned the books too decided to use it for everything else except read them. Look, I know the book isn’t new and I know I like to write on them and highlight some passages and there might be some dog ears here and there, but that’s not an excuse to return my book like it’s been put through the washing machine. 

Why do people insist on talking to you when you’re reading?
This is a honest question to those people who do. There’s a reason my nose is buried in a book and not looking around for someone to strike a conversation with. Is it too much to ask to keep your interest about my reading interest and what the book is about to yourself? Or at least take my four letter answers as the final answer and not a prompt to ask me more questions? Doesn’t the book in my hand communicate “Don’t talk to me?” Or should I change the covers of my books to “Don’t interrupt”.

So what do you think? Have you ever experienced any of these?