The Green Jell-O Book Club: A Goodreads Group about Fiction Written by LDS Authors discussion

I don't mind light swearing (but never the F-bomb). I like clean romance, where bedroom scenes are only referred to behind closed doors, but not played out in detail--that will make me put a book down faster than anything. And I can take the violence, but don't usually read too many books where that comes into play (Besides medieval stories--those get pretty gruesome sometimes).

I prefer my books clean with no swearing or bedroom scenes. I will tolerate closed-door scenes and light swearing, especially if it's pertinent to the plot (sometimes it's necessary for a character's growth or in certain circumstances). Definitely no bedroom or making out details though please. It's so hard to find that sometimes, especially in YA (thank you Kasie West for always being clean!!), so I do try to be realistic in my expectations but also honest. I always include content warnings in my reviews as well.

My general rule is: if my 8-year-old daughter asked me what I was reading, would I feel comfortable sharing it with her?

After posting that, I realized my comment might have come off as a bit pretentious, so here's an expanded version.

I have read lots of books. Sci-fi and fantasy books tend to stray into violence and sensuality in various degrees. There was a time that I read books with a lot of violence in them and it never bothered me at all.

But one day something changed and I found that I was uncomfortable reading books where the violence was very descriptive. Even books that I had previously read and enjoyed, I found that reading them now made me uncomfortable.

In contrast, I don't usually have a problem with "fade to black" romance, but I have a friend who feels uncomfortable even with that, but doesn't have a problem reading or watching descriptive violence. I have another friend who can't stand to read anything that even hints at SGA issues.

Currently, I find that the types of books I enjoy the most are the upper middle grade style of books written by folks like Chad Morris and Brandon Mull. They aren't in the "Betcy-Tacy" level of intrigue and violence, but they aren't gory by any means.

A few years ago, Gregor the Overlander was an upper middle-grade series I read and really enjoyed, but when I went back to read it some time ago, the descriptions of violence didn't sit well with me, even though it was just people fighting rats. That's not to say that it isn't a great book, and it works great at conveying the theme that Suzanne Collins tries to get across in just about all of her books (the effects that war has on children), it just wasn't for me.

Everyone has different levels of tolerance for different things, largely based on our different experiences. I didn't want my earlier comment to be taken to imply some level of moral high ground on my part. I've just found that is the simplest way to describe my current feelings on violence in books.

Lee

Tressa wrote: "I prefer my books clean with no swearing or bedroom scenes. I will tolerate closed-door scenes and light swearing, especially if it's pertinent to the plot (sometimes it's necessary for a character..."

I love when people like you put content warning in reviews, since I will usually skim through a few reviews (especially in the romance genre) to get an idea if I will be able to finish the book or not.

Lee wrote: "After posting that, I realized my comment might have come off as a bit pretentious, so here's an expanded version.

I have read lots of books. Sci-fi and fantasy books tend to stray into violence ..."

You didn't come off stuffy. You just expressed your thoughts and didn't judge anyone else for theirs, which is exactly what we want. Thanks, Lee. Everyone seems to have their differing tolerances for certain things. I know my dad can take maximum gore if it's related to war. He's a history teacher and seems to suck that stuff up. I want my wars looking clean if I'm watching them (even if that isn't true to life). I just want a glimpse, not the laser eye view.

Charissa wrote: "I love when people like you put content warning in reviews, since I will usually skim through a few reviews (especially in the romance genre) to get an idea if I will be able to finish the book or not."

I've been surprised too many times with a purchase or grabbing an ARC with content I didn't realize would be there, sometimes after someone's positive review, and I just wish I would have known. Would have saved me so much time if I had. So even if I ended up liking a book that has content I don't like, I'm very up front about that. Glad it's something you appreciate. :)

I'm going to second Charissa's thank you to reviewers who mention content. Sometimes I have a hard time putting a book down once I've started, but if I know in advance that a book has something I don't want in my head, I can skip that book and pick something else to read instead.

I prefer to read novels with no f-bombs and no profanity (taking the Lord's name in vain). I can overlook other swear words if they're only used in rare instances (like when the bottom drops out of the hero's world), but if they become part of a character's normal vocabulary, it starts to bug me.

I prefer books with no sex scenes. I also won't read a book if I know the hero and heroine sleep together before marriage, even if it happens "off stage," with few exceptions. If the premarital sex is followed by hard consequences and regret, (and if it takes place "off stage"), then I might consider the book. (Les Misérables, for example.) But I don't like books that promote premarital sex as something good and romantic and normal, even when they don't go into detail. On the other hand, if married couples want to have sex, no problem. But I don't want to read about it in detail.

Violence is a little harder for me to pinpoint. A lot of it depends on how it's used. Is violence portrayed as something good, or is it portrayed as something sometimes necessary but ultimately distasteful? Is it used to show something accurately (crime, war, etc), or is it only there to shock readers?

Lee wrote: "My general rule is: if my 8-year-old daughter asked me what I was reading, would I feel comfortable sharing it with her?"

I've found myself getting a lot pickier since I had children.

Oh, and I want to add that I can be pretty opinionated about books and content issues, but I can also respect different opinions and preferences. :-) I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all solution that applies to everyone.

A.L. wrote: "Oh, and I want to add that I can be pretty opinionated about books and content issues, but I can also respect different opinions and preferences. :-) I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all solut..."

That's why there are so many books for different tastes.

Tressa wrote: "I prefer my books clean with no swearing or bedroom scenes. I will tolerate closed-door scenes and light swearing, especially if it's pertinent to the plot (sometimes it's necessary for a character..."

Tressa pretty much summed it up for me, too! ;)

I agree with all previous posters. I don't mind violence as much, and I can handle profanity, I just find it to be cheap writing. You could so easily replace a swear word with a something witty. I think it's interesting that books aren't required to have ratings like movies. It would make it much easier when choosing a book.

Melanie wrote: "I agree with all previous posters. I don't mind violence as much, and I can handle profanity, I just find it to be cheap writing. You could so easily replace a swear word with a something witty. I ..."

Ratings would be nice.

I love it when bloggers give content info. That's better than a rating (in my opinion, because movie ratings can be way off), but of course that only covers books reviewed by diligent bloggers . . .

I've had an interesting experience. I am extremely conservative in what I read. I don't like graphic violence, swearing, and am definitely on the conservative side with sexual content. I am the same way with movies and don't go see much at all. But with my last book, I felt impressed to write something to my students--nice kids who are growing up without any religious instruction, and very little sense of restraint. I wanted the book to be a good story, but also to have themes that might encourage self-restraint with drinking, drugs, and sex. In order to do that, though, I felt I had to show a kid who made bad choices reforming. Everything is very lightly touched on, and he makes good choices during the book, but he's tempted. And he has a troubled past. It was interesting for me to try, as a writer, to do this, when my own preferences are so strict. Very interesting experience...

Braden wrote: "I've had an interesting experience. I am extremely conservative in what I read. I don't like graphic violence, swearing, and am definitely on the conservative side with sexual content. I am the sam..."

For me, a lot of it isn't that the characters haven't done anything wrong in the past or don't go anything wrong during the book. It's more whether bad choices are portrayed as bad choices . . . or if bad choices are portrayed as cool/romantic/admirable. (The whole calling evil good thing.) So if adultery is portrayed as romantic, even if all the sex is closed-door, then I'm not interested. On the other hand, characters changing for the better and overcoming temptation (even if they trip a few times) sounds redemptive and worthwhile.

A.L. wrote: "Braden wrote: "I've had an interesting experience. I am extremely conservative in what I read. I don't like graphic violence, swearing, and am definitely on the conservative side with sexual conten..."

Yes, I agree with you on that. In my mind, the way it's portrayed that makes it immoral or moral--the scriptures show unsavory things, but focus on the consequences, and the show the outcomes as undesirable. I've been a bit surprised at the fact that some people don't seem to make that distinction, though.

A.L. wrote: "I love it when bloggers give content info. That's better than a rating (in my opinion, because movie ratings can be way off), but of course that only covers books reviewed by diligent bloggers . . ."

Good point. I'll have to start giving content info in my reviews. I do it occasionally when I read a book that has content I know my friends might not like, but I should do it for the good books as well.

This is an interesting thread. I have a higher tolerance for bad language than for sex or violence. Possibly because I picture things in my mind so vividly, but bad words don't evoke images of things for me.

I like my books absolutely sex free and if there's any violence it better be brief and mild. I prefer no language issues. Books like this are few and far between.

I started making notations in all my GR reviews about any objectionable content, but I don't specify the type of bad language used, I just say there are language issues. The comments here are making me think I should be a bit more detailed.

A.L. wrote: "I love it when bloggers give content info. That's better than a rating (in my opinion, because movie ratings can be way off), but of course that only covers books reviewed by diligent bloggers . . ."

This. I don't want ratings simply because who gets to choose what = what rating? You have the same problem with movies already where the rating is a brief guideline, but may or may not cover particular issues. I like blogs and reviews which discuss content and then assume I'm capable of choosing for myself. :)

Personally I don't really blink much at mild swearing, violence or sexuality. Kissing and PDA and what not are fine. I prefer FTB after that. The big thing is that the relationship is following the arc of the characters and not just tossed in there, and there should be changes in the relationship as various points of intimacy are reached. It should also be appropriate for the setting and societal rules the author has created. Not saying that a gritty real world should go into a crapton more detail, but I tend to accept pre marital relationships or such more readily in those situations.