‘Now a series on Netflix’. I don’t have Netflix any more – ridiculously, I ran out of things to watch, because nothing appealed. Therefore, a mention of Netflix is not going to persuade me to read a book. The single exception to this is The Queen’s Gambit, as I enjoyed the series a few years ago and have recently read the book.

‘Tik-Tok made me buy it’ or any other reference to this platform that I have never used. I also find that books endorsed by Tik-Tok influencers don’t appeal to me anyway. Moreover, I don’t like the suggestion that someone is ‘made’ to buy a book, as if viral videos are controlling their life.

Anything with these words: ‘brutal’, ‘bravura’, ‘searing’, ‘bestseller’, ‘masterpiece’, ‘heartbreaking’, ‘romantasy’, ‘cosy crime’, ‘devastating’, ‘gory’ and probably a lot more that I could think of. I instantly know that this will not be my kind of read.

‘An instant classic’. As I have mentioned before in my post about ‘classics’, this doesn’t make sense. A book has to prove itself over time to become a classic.

References to book club picks, usually hosted by celebrities. I have read very few books with a book club designation. The kind of books they choose tend not to be the ones I’d choose! And if a celebrity endorses a book, I do not care at all.

Describing a book as Bridget Jones. This is getting old. I also find that they tend to mean the film version of Bridget, who is more of a pathetic, bumbling comedy figure than her book counterpart.

What phrases put you off reading a book? Or maybe everything I’ve mentioned is appealing for you?