I like to read; nah, I LOVE to read; however, even I have limits. I can not consume a lot of books in a year. It is mainly because, yes, I do in fact have other hobbies and a family and a full-time job. I do not understand how other readers can blatantly judge someone on how many books they consume in a year; I sort of blame GOODREADS for it. I am lucky if I can truly get to 15 books by the end of the year, yet I noticed in certain environments readers with numbers in the higher digits look down upon readers like me. I have been told not to call myself a bookworm, that clearly I do not enjoy reading, that I am a fraud.
Why? Since the rise of BookTok and other things, I have seen so much judgment in the reading community. It is disgusting.
examples:
e-books vs. physical books
audiobooks vs. visual readers
genres vs. genres
ebooks vs. ebooks
how fast one reads a book vs. how slow someone reads
indie bookstore shoppers vs. big box store shoppers
authors vs. authors
DNF vs. must finish it
People say reading makes you smarter...so I am sorry, why are we fighting over trivial matters such as these? If someone consumes a book and enjoys it, let it be. Share their joy in it. It is not that hard. Judgement should not be anywhere near the reading community, in my opinion.
I will stand by the fact that if you read a book and enjoyed it, be proud of it. Claim it. Talk about it, and if you can not find someone who will be happy with you, find me; I will be happy with you.
