Musing Monday: Judging Others' Book Choices

Musing Monday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Describe one of your reading habits.

• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

So my muse today is about something that maybe we have all done: judging other people's book choices or more specifically, the genres that people choose to read. So when I am browsing through Buzzfeed Books or Book Riot, I notice that there are certain books that almost always elicit a strong (negative reaction), namely Fifty Shades and Twilight. Usually there are several people who will chime in and say the writing is trash (their words, not mine) and they don't see how anyone could enjoy reading it. Personally, I have read both trilogies. I really enjoyed Twilight (not the movie though) and I also found myself enjoying Fifty Shades (of course, by the last one I was wondering why on earth I was reading it but that is another story). Anyway, in these discussions I find myself either denying that I enjoyed the books or just remaining silent. Why do I do this?

The reason this subject came up was because of a review I wrote on Amazon for a book, Preparation for the Next Life. I indicated in my review that while I felt the writing was beautiful, the plot was often boring and there were long stretches where nothing would happen. An Amazon customer made a comment on my review that based on my reviews of Young Adult fiction, I would not be the type to enjoy "great fiction." This really irked me for a couple of reasons: 1) the person was assuming YA could not be great fiction (Sea of Tranquility blows that notion out of the water, That book is amazing) and 2) I felt like she was personally attacking me simply because we had a difference of opinion on this book. I have actually seen a lot of people judge others who read YA.

I am not completely innocent either. I have found myself judging others' book choices as well. Like I have judged my mother because just about the only thing she reads is romance novels. Then I had an epiphany recently . . . why does it matter as long as she is reading? I used to read mainly romance novels; I get the appeal. 

Books are amazing things: they can teach us lessons or they can transport us far away. I have realized how foolish it is to judge others' book choices and that I am far more likely to judge someone who isn't reading at all than to judge someone who is reading a genre of book that I may not prefer.

Have you ever felt judged for your reading choices? Have you been guilty for judging others?