I planned to read The Mummy Case, the third in the Amelia Peabody mystery, by Elizabeth Peters this week. However, I got hung up on formatting issues with the ebook copy I got from the library and was unable to continue.
In my case with this particular ebook, it was a space between paragraphs that I couldn’t get past. I felt like I was reading a screenplay, which oh, yeah, is another format I don’t like, well, in a novel, for example, Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Or mixed-media formats like The Illuminae Files series by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. I wanted to buy into the hope for those critically-acclaimed books, but I just couldn’t get over the hump of how they were formatted.
Even in print books, I have issues with formatting, with another example being italics. I especially loathe italicized flashbacks, although I did read one book recently that was pretty good despite the use of italicized flashbacks. That was The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware. However, most of the time I find it lazy writing.
This leads me to the question this week for you all: Do you ever stop reading a book because of how it is formatted? Share in the comments.
Still an unfinished person... 
I don’t really stop reading a book for formatting issues if the content is good. But if it is really bad I will add it to the review.
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Yes. For fun, check out the Look Inside feature on Amazon for House of Leaves. Sometimes the text is even in a circular pattern. Story was fantastic but I could not deal. https://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764
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Hmmm. I feel like I have but I can’t think of any examples. Also, I love to read Barbara Michaels, she is a comfort read for me, but I haven’t read her Elizabeth Peters books!
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I didn’t even realize she was Barbara Michaels until recently.
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I’m not sure if I’ve ever dumped a book because of formatting. I’ll forgive anything if the story has grabbed me !
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I wish I was as forgiving. 🙂
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Yes I do… but mostly if the typeface is too small to read as my eyesight is wonky even with glasses. I rather like the audiobook versions of the Amelia Peabody mysteries. They’re read by Barbara Rosenblat. She does a great job with the characters. My weekly update
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Yeah, I’m not a big fan of most mass market paperbacks for that reason. Why I prefer ebooks. As I mentioned to another commenter, I wish I liked audiobooks but my commute isn’t long enough and I want to read at my own pace, not at the pace of a narrator, which is too slow for me.
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Yes I give up if the formatting makes it hard to read – some cheap editions I saw in the USA had print so close to the binding I couldn’t make out the words
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Are you saying something about our country? 😉
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Just stating a fact based on a few experiences 🙂
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Yes, I’ve dumped books due to format. Sometimes I’ll make allowances for ARCs since it probably isn’t the final version of the book, as long as it isn’t too annoying, but a book I’ve purchased or from the library? I don’t understand how major publishers, a decade into ebooks being a thing, can’t produce decent formats.
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I don’t get it either. Many ebooks you can change fonts from the publisher defaults. You should be able to change other things like paragraph spacing too.
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I don’t mind italics etc but In a lot of e-ARCs I read the formatting is pretty awful, PDFs especially. I’ve had to tell the publisher at least twice I wouldn’t be reading it solely due to the formatting they left it unreadable.
Have a great reading week
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I don’t read e-ARCS and I guess a good thing I don’t. 🙂
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Daisy Jones is fantastic — it will be among my best of the year — but I think it only works in audio, which was my choice for this one. I hear (no pun intended) what you’re saying about the formatting. It can be a bit annoying at times.
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I wish I liked audio. Another format I don’t like, sadly, and also because I have a five minute commute. If I had a long commute, maybe? I just want the narrator to get on with it, I think that’s it too.
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