Booking Through Thursday
Question: I was looking through books yesterday at the shops and saw all the Twilight books, which I know basically nothing about. What I do know is that I’m beginning to feel like I’m the *only* person who knows nothing about them.
Despite being almost broke and trying to save money, I almost bought the expensive book (Australian book prices are often completely nutty) just because I felt the need to be ‘up’ on what everyone else was reading.
Have you ever felt pressured to read something because ‘everyone else’ was reading it? Have you ever given in and read the book(s) in question or do you resist? If you are a reviewer, etc, do you feel it’s your duty to keep up on current trends?
My Answer:
Very good question. I don't think I give in to peer pressure when it comes to books. If the book looks and sounds good, then I'll definitely look forward to reading it. As for popular books like Twilight and Harry Potter, I've read them before the hype got really intense. But I liked Twilight and not New Moon. I haven't read Eclipse and Breaking Dawn yet. So, I'm not pressured to read them the same time as everyone else!
However, as a reviewer, you can keep up with the trends if you want to but I don't think it's that important. Maybe if you're a professional reviewer and you review books for a living, then I guess it's important to review the latest books so people will come by your site and check out your reviews.
Reading books is supposed to be fun! Nobody should feel pressured to read books that they don't want to.
You nailed it: "Reading should be fun."
ReplyDeleteI agree, if you feel pressured then obviously you aren't having the fun that reading is meant for :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, especially about the professional reviewers. I suppose they've to keep up with all the current trends given their professions...
ReplyDeletesmilingsal: And so it should be. :)
ReplyDeletebook zombie: One should only feel pressured when reading school books! Haha! But then we should try to love reading school books too.
melody: It sounds fun to be a professional reviewer. Wow, reviewing books for a living? Cool! But will the earnings be enough to survive?