Cutting through unhelpful opinions…

And focusing on joy.

In the bookish world, you can find a lot of opinions. That’s great when talking about honest (and respectful) book reviews. I enjoy seeing how the same book can impact readers in different ways. Every book is not intended for every reader. We all have personal tastes. But there are also a fair number of judgmental opinions about books/reading that has me scratching my head. So for the record:

Read any kind of story you want. If you love classics, literary fiction and/or nonfiction, good for you! But other genres aren’t “less than” these. In addition to an entertainment factor, genres like SFF, romance, mystery, horror, etc., can also have interesting and important insights into the human experience and create discussion about controversial topics. Also, do your own homework about content before you read. Don’t ban books you don’t personally approve of. Clean reads aren’t better/worse than spicy ones. Violent books aren’t better/worse than tame ones. Read what you want. There are more than enough books for all of us.

Listening to audiobooks counts as reading a book. I don’t know why this is still a conversation. Don’t be an ableist snob and narrow the definition of the word ‘reading’ to that of human eyes interpreting words on a physical page (paper or eReader). Don’t say the audiobook narrator’s interpretation of the book is what I am listening to, as if that narration is clouding a more sincere/genuine experience you’d get from reading a physical copy/ebook. The consumption method of a story doesn’t impact the consumer’s ability to enjoy it, think about it, discuss it with others, etc. It seems so silly and exclusionary that people actually debate this.

Reading goals/challenges should be personal and fun. Don’t compare yourself to others. It’s not a competition. Whether you read one book a month or two, or ten, or twenty, enjoying the reading experience is what matters. Which leads me to my final comment…

You don’t have to finish every book you start. Some people really struggle with this. If you are the curious type that has to finish a book to see how it ends, even when you aren’t enjoying it, then by all means, keep reading. The rest of us can close it and move on to a different book. I happily mark books in Goodreads as DNF (did not finish) and move on. Again, there are more than enough books in the world and life is too short to waste time reading something I’m not enjoying. So what if it’s a classic, or the latest bestseller, or hyped all over social media? If I don’t like it after 50-75 pages or the 12-15% mark, I quit without FOMO. It’s not for me and that’s ok. I’m glad so many others enjoyed it, but I’m going to find something else.

Reading is a joy. I refuse to let it be anything else.