Have you ever found yourself face to face with the Book police? I have. And it got ugly. I was on the train and opposite me two girls were chatting. Somehow they got onto the subject of books. My iPod battery had died and I did what most people do: I tried to be entertained by other people’s conversations (“I’m on this new diet, I eat three ryvita biscuits during the day and then when the sun goes down I eat whatever I like” or “Like I told her, she is beautiful but she is too flat chested. It was never going to work out.”). Girl A, let’s call her Smurfette, says to girl B, let’s call her Minnie Mouse: “What’s your favourite book?” Minnie responds: “Oohh I love Twilight.” I assume she was referring to the vampire series rather than the time of day or the Weisel novel. “It’s so romantic” she added (yep, definitely not the Weisel novel). With that, Smurfette turns into evil Smurfette and starts telling Minnie off for reading trash. Uhm... What? Who made her the book police? No. Really.
What was even worse, Minnie got completely flustered and started backtracking. Minnie, if you like Twilight then you like Twilight. Ditch Smurfette and find some less judgemental friends. And maybe get some backbone as well. That can come in handy. Mind you, Minnie, it can get you into trouble sometimes, but life is more fun.
Don’t get me wrong. I read the Twilight series and I have formed my own opinion on the matter. An opinion that I will happily discuss with anyone interested. You can like or dislike a book. As long as your reasons include anything other than: Somebody told me it’s uncool (is that even a word?) or “it’s for kids” or something equally unimaginative like that (right, just checked the Oxford Dictionary, it is a word, who would have thought!).
But all this got me thinking. How many books do people read because they were told they are literature gems and how many people are too embarrassed to pick up a book that everyone calls trash. There is nothing healthier than having an opinion about something you read. In fact, I’d be worried if you didn’t because that is the whole point of books. What is unhealthy is appropriating other people’s opinions or trying to force your opinion on other people. No. Just no.
I used to read because I liked it. So many random things would make it onto my reading list. “Trash” and “literature gems” had the same likelihood of showing up. Then something happened and I stopped reading very much. To be fair, I suppose the thing that happened was life, and a job, and weird timetables…And I lost it, I lost the love of discovering new things. When I did find time to read I chose the exact same genre, probably even the same author I’d read before because I just didn’t want to risk not enjoying the time I spent reading. Which meant I quickly got bored of the genre and could guess the whole plot by page 50. Not good. And with me getting bored, I completely lost that enjoyment that I used to get from reading altogether. Well I’ve decided this has to change! I have to get my mojo back! I set myself a challenge. A stupid one, but a challenge nonetheless! 100 books in one year! That’s the challenge. I don’t actually think I can do it, because lately I’ve discovered I’m a slow reader, but I really don’t think I used to be a slow reader so maybe that will get better with time? A hundred books though sounds scary. The rules are simple, anything can make it to the reading list, preferably books I can find in the library, because I don’t think I’d be able to afford it any other way. The most important rule is to read new books, not re-read old ones. And write about it, even the tiniest paragraph. The reason for posting all this? Simply to make sure I do it. I will be honest, I have very little faith on myself. But I will try...
So here it goes...
365 days remaining - 100 books left
What was even worse, Minnie got completely flustered and started backtracking. Minnie, if you like Twilight then you like Twilight. Ditch Smurfette and find some less judgemental friends. And maybe get some backbone as well. That can come in handy. Mind you, Minnie, it can get you into trouble sometimes, but life is more fun.
Don’t get me wrong. I read the Twilight series and I have formed my own opinion on the matter. An opinion that I will happily discuss with anyone interested. You can like or dislike a book. As long as your reasons include anything other than: Somebody told me it’s uncool (is that even a word?) or “it’s for kids” or something equally unimaginative like that (right, just checked the Oxford Dictionary, it is a word, who would have thought!).
But all this got me thinking. How many books do people read because they were told they are literature gems and how many people are too embarrassed to pick up a book that everyone calls trash. There is nothing healthier than having an opinion about something you read. In fact, I’d be worried if you didn’t because that is the whole point of books. What is unhealthy is appropriating other people’s opinions or trying to force your opinion on other people. No. Just no.
I used to read because I liked it. So many random things would make it onto my reading list. “Trash” and “literature gems” had the same likelihood of showing up. Then something happened and I stopped reading very much. To be fair, I suppose the thing that happened was life, and a job, and weird timetables…And I lost it, I lost the love of discovering new things. When I did find time to read I chose the exact same genre, probably even the same author I’d read before because I just didn’t want to risk not enjoying the time I spent reading. Which meant I quickly got bored of the genre and could guess the whole plot by page 50. Not good. And with me getting bored, I completely lost that enjoyment that I used to get from reading altogether. Well I’ve decided this has to change! I have to get my mojo back! I set myself a challenge. A stupid one, but a challenge nonetheless! 100 books in one year! That’s the challenge. I don’t actually think I can do it, because lately I’ve discovered I’m a slow reader, but I really don’t think I used to be a slow reader so maybe that will get better with time? A hundred books though sounds scary. The rules are simple, anything can make it to the reading list, preferably books I can find in the library, because I don’t think I’d be able to afford it any other way. The most important rule is to read new books, not re-read old ones. And write about it, even the tiniest paragraph. The reason for posting all this? Simply to make sure I do it. I will be honest, I have very little faith on myself. But I will try...
So here it goes...
365 days remaining - 100 books left
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