Book snob

Terribull, I want to slap the Prince already and I’m only on page nineteen. ?

Oldwoman70
Thank you for sharing The Sorrows of Satan. It was written in the 1800s. I have looked it up and it seems to be somewhat of a classic with a very different plot. I am looking forward to reading it. I am 84.

Lemongrove
I have the same problem, the only way I could read ‘The Mirror and the Light’ was sitting at the dining room table!
I’m sure it spoiled my pleasure in the book because I like to curl up on the sofa.

I would be lost without a book on the go,one on kindle unlimited,one from the cloud library and a real book to read in bed.DH can’t understand how I can have so many on the go at once. Reading provides, for me at least, escapism as I have constant pain from facial nerve damage. Even without that I love reading,so many books are free to access these days even if you can’t physically get to a library. My only limitation is time,some books are good some are bad but the written word is a joy in whatever form it comes.

As an only child books kept me company and some of the books we read as children are now regarded as children's "classics" but were not then. What defines a classic, literary content, language, age, author or now days because some critic chooses to call it a "Modern Classic" ? Once I would force myself to read to the end of a book even when I was not enjoying it but now I don't, so many books to read and not enough time whether they are Classics, detective, mystery, historical, romance or chick lit, Sci-fy or a combination of any or all of those and I must not forget Cookery or food related books too.

My main problem with books in charity shops and jumble sales is that they are either books I've already got or books I would never read in a million years.

I find hardbacks to heavy to hold these days ( nearly fractured my wrist reading Wolf Hall a few years ago.)
So it’s all paperbacks and Kindle.I appreciate really good writing, but now and again enjoy something lighter, like the recent Richard Osman book ( The Thursday Murder Club.)
I am amazed by the quality of writing in books such as All The Light We Cannot See.

The reason there are so many 'trashy' books in charity shops is because they're the best sellers, so there are lots of them.

I know people who would never pick up a book with more than a couple of hundred pages in them as 'it takes so long to get to the end and it gets boring' (to paraphrase a couple of them).

I also know someone who only reads magazines 'because they're about real life, not like books

Reading is a great love of mine and I have tried many genres. I read what would now be considered chick lit when I was in my early teens.
I have tried some of the Booker Prize authors and found them dire.
Authors such as Hilary Mantel, Phillipa Gregory and Alexander McCall Smith I buy in hard back for my shelves but I do like a thrilller always in paperback.
I was a librarian so I know how much pleasure people get from whatever books they choose to read and have no time for book snobs.

I've got three books on the go at the moment - a charity shop paperback of The Twenty Three by Linwood Barclay, an audiobook from the library of This Boy by Alan Johnson to accompany my exercise and occasional housework sessions, and Shuggie Bain on my Kindle for when I wake up in the night and need lulling back off. I'm enjoying them all equally in different ways, but maybe I should only be owning up to the last one as it's a Booker Prize winner? Perhaps I should have left Girl, Woman, Other on the shelf in case any literati happen by - I did enjoy it, but not enough to keep, so someone will have seen that on our local charity shop shelf (all books 3 for a £). On the other hand The Luminaries has been sitting here on display for years, only because one of my DC bought me it, and I think that maybe one day I might actually get past the first five pages....

Welshwife The End of the Affair is a wonderful book! It made a great impression on me and I often recommend it.
The two films based on the book are a different matter, The feelings can’t be expressed in the same way.

There is a character in the Para Handy series who reads trashy novelettes. However, he did read them and I agree with Shelflife that reading is reading regardless of the material. There were no books in my home when I was a child but the library was my lifeline and I continue to use it to this day. I do confess though that I a bit snooty about Fifty Shades but perhaps I should read it and judge for myself. Off to look for a copy.

I think that the book snobs are those who occasionally see a film and then tell you that it's not as good as the book. They are two very different art forms and shouldn't be compared, IMO.

After my mother took a stroke she found the only books she could concentrate on were Mills and Boone. Normally she would have looked down her nose at them so they do have a use. I must be a snob because I was horrified on holiday with my head teacher friend. She had brought an M and B type Christian book and dipped into it.

Reading is reading! I remember my eldest daughter avidly devouring Enid Blyton . At the time is was considered poor reading material. I took no notice she read them all anywhere. Now in her mid forties she is a very keen reader. She is the only one of three children who reads for pleasure. They all had bedtime stories , visits to library , but younger two never pick a book up ! If adults are reading that can only be good 'trashy' novels or not. It is great escapism and brings it great joy. Keep reading - anything!?

GagaJo

GG13, I tried to read the 50 Shades books years ago but the writing was so bad I never even made it to the rude bits.

That’s something we can agree on, they were extremely badly written.

I think we are a bit similar as far as reading and keeping books are concerned Sarah

Callistemon, I ordered "The Missing Sister" from the library I got an automatic message telling me I was in a queue and was 198th, so maybe won't be reading it before the end of the year on that basis I'll probably buy it when it goes into paperback.

What a coincidence Sue. It's not that thick so I always promised myself I'd read it, especially when Rick Stein said on one of his travelogues, probably the Sicilian one, it was his absolute favourite book.

GG13, I tried to read the 50 Shades books years ago but the writing was so bad I never even made it to the rude bits.

I’m reading ‘The Leopard’, too, Terribull. I’d never heard of it until I saw it on some of those 100 Books You Must Read lists. Then it popped up on Kindle for 99p.

Whatever floats your boat for me, when it comes to reading material. I have read 50 Shades of Grey and I think it was dreadful but if you enjoy it, that affects me in no way! I have a friend who although in her 50’s only reads teen fiction. That’s not what I want to read, but it makes her happy so what’s the problem?

I think I have more of an issue with books being overhyped as ‘The next XYZ’ and then when you actually read it, it’s quite mediocre.

I'll get round to reading Lucinda Riley's "Missing Sister" before the year's out
I'm waiting for a price drop first, Terribull!

Or for a friend to lend it to me ?

I belong to a book club and find that some member choose books they feel we should read rather than ones we enjoy. One choice I found so dire I could not read it and when I said to another member she told me I should read it no matter what! I do not find chick lit books at all satisfying and after reading a couple that were handed onto me I went back to Graham Greene and - the End of the Affair - read it a few times now. Have also gone back to the Guernsey Literary and potato peel pie society a few times. I am careful about historical novels and not at all keen on Philippa Gregory but love Robert Harris - his research is so good. I loved an Officer and a Spy - about Dreyfus. I had been intrigued about him when he came up in history lessons.
I agree though that it is better to read any type of book than not to read at all. Everyone to their taste.
Some books I just could not bear to give/throw away - just in case!

Snobbery in any form is distasteful.

If I see a book or someone recommended one and I think that I might like I buy it, whatever the genre.

As for E L James Fifty Shades of Grey and it’s sequels I often wonder if those who dismiss/trash them have ever read them?

TerriBull
I agree on all points.
I used to feel I had to read a certain amount of classics, and still do to an extent, but I really read what I like, I read for pleasure, I love reading, and I love books.

I'm never without a book, my reading tastes are eclectic, whatever I fancy lots of crime/psychological Val McDermid, Anne Cleeves, Louise Candlish, Peter May type of material. The late Ruth Rendell was and is my absolute number one writer for that category of book.

Sometimes I delve into more serious genres right now I'm reading "The Leopard" by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, which I believe would be deemed as classic by some. Just prior to reading this I read "The Vanishing Half" one of this year's acclaimed novels by Brit Bennet.

Much of my reading would probably be deemed as light/non serious. Waiting for me on my shelves, for example is Lisa Jewell's latest which I'm looking forward to reading I really enjoy her stuff and I'll get round to reading Lucinda Riley's "Missing Sister" before the year's out

A Booker Prize winning book doesn't mean a thing, a couple I've read have been abysmal such as "Lincoln in The Bardo" utterly incomprehensible, I'll never know why I kept going with it. On the other hand "The Blind Assassin" from a few years ago I thought was sublime and will always have a place in my heart and on my shelf.

I use my local library, I buy books, I keep my treasured reads, I love my books shelves, homes without books are soulless places to me, If it were a choice between books and tv then the tv would be out the door first! I can't bear to part with a book I've loved but, I off load many good reads to charity shops, often I've enjoyed them but know I won't read them again and amongst those would undoubtedly be a lot of crime.

I'm not bothered what anyone thinks of my choices, books are subjective and personal. I feel sad for people who don't enjoy reading, I think some people never pick up a book again once they leave school. IMO reading is one of life's great pleasures, but only if you enjoy it in the first place.

I can’t speak for other charity shop workers but I certainly don’t decide what goes on the shelves.
I’m just pleased that ( I hope) all the fifty shades of grey books have been pulped.
I think my friend is the worst book snob ever. She maintains that every once in a while you should read a Mills&Boon to appreciate good literature ?