Book snob

Callistermon, CarolPaint another Stephanie Plum fan here, bagsy Ranger!

Hear hear. I keep so many books, but will part with one I wouldn't recommend . There's always someone out there who will enjoy it.

I detest book snobbery - I read a combination of fantasy, sci-fi, erotic romance, historical fiction, crime and historical and computing non-fiction. As my husband said - his English teacher at school said "it does not matter what you read - so long as you read". I have never read a book yet that has won awards that I have enjoyed - Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel was truly awful, and I like historical fiction.

I rarely find a book in a charity shop that I want to read, and have not already read. I own several hundred "real" books and several hundred more ebooks - my real books (and some of the ebooks) are those that I will read again, and again. I do agree about 50 shades though - the writing is absolutely terrible (reads like a 13 year old wrote it) and it gives a terrible impression of consensual BDSM (which I do know something about) - its more the portrayal of a dysfunctional and abusive relationship. For those who have read it - the tampon scene was just disgusting, urgh!

I find the selection of books often/usually depends on which charity shop I’m in. I’ve been (very slowly) culling my literally thousands of books, and after asking their staff, donate certain genres/authors to certain shops.
I’m definitely not a book snob, enjoy many different genres/authors, and agree with others that it’s (probably) better to read any book than no book. I would make an exception for The Shades of Grey books however. I read a few bits of the first one one day when I was in Tesco, and couldn’t stop laughing, it’s so bad. Annoys me that E.L.James has earned so much money when there are far superior writers selling far fewer books/earning a lot less money.
The nemesis of my book collection is Ulysses, I’ve tried reading it every few years, get a wee bit further on each time, but will have to live to a very, very old age if I’m ever to finish it.

I have got a very diverse collection of books, I’m not sure a stranger looking through my book shelves would know what to think of me.
I absolutely agree that reading something is better than reading nothing.
One of my daughters started at a very academic girls school (mistake, but that’s another story) the English mistress was very sniffy about her Jacqueline Wilson habit, and said she would be expecting her to be reading Jane Austin, it was never going to happen, still hasn’t.

My bookshelves would reveal more about reading phases I’ve been through or favourite authors, than what I like to read now.
It seems most of us have a bit of book snobbery in us though, dismissing E L James, chic lit, detective stories, etc. because we don’t rate them.
My bit of BS is dismissing celebrities’ books unread, but my mum loves Alan Titchmarsh’s books, some friends can’t wait for Fern Britton’s or Ben Elton’s next books and one DGS found his way into reading pleasure via David Walliams.
If you like it, read it and enjoy it.

I quite enjoy scanning other people’s bookshelves - the fact that they actually have shelves full of books speaks volumes (sorry?)! Anyone scanning mine would see feel-good romantic reads keeping company with Roman and mediaeval detectives and Hilary Mantell; The Number One Ladies Detective Agency doing it’s stuff alongside both the Anglo Saxon and the Plantagenet Chronicles and some vintage Rupert annuals; blood and thunder Bernard Cornwall and Simon Scarrow; cerebral C.P. Snow; Mary Renault, Ray Bradbury, Bill Bryson, the female perspective on Greek myth and history from Pat Barker, Madeline Miller, and Nathalie Haynes (wonderful writers, all!), among others - oh, and the book that really got me reading all those years ago - Five On a Treasure Island!! It doesn’t really matter if you’re reading the cornflakes packet, as long as you’re reading. And to the poster who said she read Dennis Wheatley - I devoured his books as a teenager. My father was aghast!

Oh no! Greyduster, my go-to scary books were Dennis Wheatley. I collected them from the library for my Granddad and read them. So exciting, but my Nan said such stuff was wicked.

I remember reading the Dennis Wheatley books Mollygo scared me to death at the time but couldn't resist them.

I agree about books being over hyped SueDonim I've been caught out a few times and found them dire. I try to be more selective now but I read a lot so it's not easy.

Annanan

I was a teacher for many years. At the end of each term many of us, exhausted and too tired to plunge into any vigorous holiday activity, would turn with a sigh of relief to the novels of Georgette Heyer. We lent them to one another and enjoyed finding again the heroes, heroines and wit of an author whom many might regard as being lightweight froth.

I've all her novels stashed away in a chest. They used to be my go to if I was unwell. The only one that I've read recently was on offer on kindle which is my preferred source of fiction these days. I regularly trawl through the 99p lists and download books by authors with who I'm familiar. The problem is that Amazon don't reduce the price of series in order. I enjoy the Shardlake novels but only have 3 or 4 and am waiting for the rest to be reduced.

I read Dennis Wheatly books too and Jean Plady historical books. I used to go to the libary all the time when I was small, my favs was The Little Mermaid, Emil and the 40 Thieves. Ashamed to say forgot to take them back and the man came round to collect them and for the fine about a penny a week. My mum was furious but told the man that we had had chicken pox and that it could spread in books so he said ok. Never took them back late again. Still love reading.

Callistemon

Nice, Paperbackwriter
Why swear at me for a jokey post?

£9.99 for Kindle version? For that much I'd like a proper book.

Presumably you are an author, but not Lucinda Riley.

Apologies for the FFS, but I get SO sick of people's sense of entitlement when it comes to trying to avoid paying for authors' work.
And no, I'm not Lucinda Riley. Tragically, she died very recently, at far too young an age.

My favourite books are fantasy. Before my move had over 500 books not just fantasy but horror , thrillers and detective books. Have whittled it down to just over 300 but they are my favourite authors and books that I want to re read. What I do is fill my book case and start at the top once I have read the first book it goes on the bottom once I have read the whole bookcase put those books back into there books and fill it up again. That way it takes me a few years to read them all. But am guilty of buying new ones. ?

I love the feel of a book in my hands.

As to charity shop books, I think a lot of 'better' books get passed from person to person before they ever get donated, especially if they are recent release hardcovers. I know I pass along books to friends and my daughter; and only a few get donated.

Perhaps I'm a bit of a snob. I have on occasion picked up a book to read and can't get 30 pages in without putting it down for being silly, and wondering how on earth it made it to being published. But like others say, at least people are reading for entertainment and that is good.

On bookshelves - we have a political news commentator who is frequently on the news. During covid he has filmed from his office instead of a studio, and he often changes the titles on his bookshelf behind him to give subtle messages or bring issues to the forefront. It is quite entertaining and people have caught on, to the point that it becomes a discussion on twitter, and people will purchase the titles he shows. On the day above, he has "Soap and Water', "Safe at School" (a book on covid protocols for children, and "Murder by Milkshake' which was a cold case mystery that recently had some new evidence in the news. He changes his shelf every time he is on the news.

grannydarkhair, ditto Ulysses, and also War and Peace. I'm an English teacher and feel I SHOULD be able to read them, but always give up.

I don't agree greyduster, about bookshelves being revealing. It's very middle class to have hundreds of books, yet I know quite a few of those middle class people with the obligatory books, none of which are read. Whereas I have probably only a couple of hundred albeit and eclectic mix of books for work, books I love and books that hold sentimental value. My mother is the same. She probably has no more than 20 books but reads for hours everyday and uses the library weekly.

Although I agree in general about charity shops, Cambridge charity shops are fantastic for books! I've picked up many out of print niche books there. I still have a few and should imagine they are fairly valuable, despite having paid 20p for some of them.

*an eclectic

I always go to the bookshelves in the op shops and have found some really good books. I also go to the local library for books but have found lately it is harder to find a good read there. I loved that Hilary Mantel book about Cromwell,thought it was well written and well researched but I once taught history in the past so maybe I have a bias towards those sort of books. I
have read most of the Philippa Gregory books which are a little bit lighter and enjoyed all of them.

As an ex bookshop owner I rather agree with “ book snob “ You have to decide where your market lies . I went for the upper end and left the rubbish to W.H. Smith which was just down the road . Consequently it worked well , like Jack Spratt and his wife . We both had our slice of the market .

grannydarkhair, ditto Ulysses, and also War and Peace. I'm an English teacher and feel I SHOULD be able to read them, but always give up.

I read Ulysses very many years ago because I thought I ought to but don't ask me anything about it because I can't remember.
It obviously didn't have a lasting impact.

Some books did - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, for instance.

Some books we've passed on which might have been worth quite a lot of money today! but we still have far too many.