A Name Snob by an Ex-Name Snob

Hi everyone! It’s nice to be back on the island again.

Today I am going to talk about what a ridiculous book snob I was (hope I’m not anymore!).

Book covers grab our attention- they’re supposed to. Then the blurb is supposed to reel us in, hook, line and sinker. Of course this isn’t always the case- some book blurbs just don’t appeal to different readers. For me, while the book blurb might be appealing and the cover had my interest…if the characters had a name I didn’t like I simply would NOT read the book!

For instance if the hero was named after my ex-boyfriend who dumped me, stomped on my heart and danced away on my ex-BFF’s arm I really, REALLY didn’t want to see his name in print ANYWHERE. Least of all in a romance story getting nookie!

So books with ex-boyfriend names were OUT. This actually really sucked because when you’ve had boyfriends with common names often found in books it really begins to narrow your reading field. This for years kept me from reading authors like Lori Leigh, Lisa Kleypas and Lori Foster.

But books with ex-boyfriend names weren’t the only books I would reject upon reading the blurb. I also rejected books with stupid character names- no matter how good the blurb sounded. I can’t begin to count the times I picked up “Dark Lover” by JR Ward in book stores only to put it back down because the character’s name was “Wrath”! That to me was the most ridiculous, stupid “hero” name I had ever heard. I think I looked at and rejected this book for over two YEARS, because of the hero’s name! Then finally some wonderful bloggers told me I had to read it and I would get used to the weird names.

I broke down and bought the book, forced myself through the first few pages rolling my eyes at the vampire names until the characters began to grow on me. Eureka!! The characters were so endearing that I was finally able to overlook their bizarre names and enjoy the books. This was a major breakthrough for me because it was the first time I went against such a strong feeling of dislike to try the book anyway.

Years before I grumbled over the simple and boring (to me) name of “Harry Potter” to see what all the rage was about. I kept thinking the kid needed a more spectacular name- he was "the boy who lived" for goodness sakes! He survive a vicious attack by a horrible wizard...he was special...amazing and he had one of the most bland boring names I had come across. I was of course being my usual character-name-snobbish-self and raised my nose in perfect snobbery fashion at such a name. But...(and there's always a but isn't there?), I pressed on (like the martyr I thought myself to be) and two chapters into “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” I was ready to enroll my children in Hogwart’s School of Wizardry!

So you see, I was a terrible name snob once upon a time. And it was causing me to miss out on some terrific books. I will still get a first reaction to some names in a book blurb, but I now quickly stifle them and recall that this name snobbery has caused me to turn down great books for years only to 'discover' how great they are years later. So "once a snob always a snob" is not true! I've given up my name snobbery for good! *happy smile*

Have you ever done this? Has a character’s name in a book caused you to discard a book even though the cover and blurb appeal to you?