BookShaming

Veronica and Vinnie's current stack

I do read a lot, but reading isn’t about quality over quantity. 

Quality, too, is in the eye of the reader.

So please know while it’s possible that I might judge you on the state of your eyebrows (it’s okay, I judge myself the most in this area.  Would someone please drive me to the nearest eyebrow waxing facility?  This situation is getting out of hand.), I will not judge you on how many books you complete in a month or a year – even if that number is zero.  It’s also cool with me if you favor bodice rippers, cozy mysteries, Presidential biographies, or 1950’s science fiction (all favorites of many of my closest friends).  You don’t have to apologize to anyone. 

I know I’m not the first person to point this out, but every reading of a book is different based on who is doing the reading and when the reading is done.  A book I thought was crappy in high school might hit me just perfectly in my now ripe old age of 38.  Our current life experiences impact us so much more than we think, too.  When I was having my ultimate worst year – 2012 – I needed (and deserved) the fluffiest fluff book that ever fluffed.  I needed the Shopholics series.  I would’ve enjoyed The Babysitters Club series again, although they really did tackle some tough topics (We need a Babysitters Club – The Adult Years.  What does Claudia do in her adult life and what is she WEARING?).  Fast forward to 2019, and my life is probably the best it’s ever been (although I hesitate to even write that, because now a meteor will hit me in the face, but I do believe in gratitude for the now because I believe happy times provide respite and strength for when the S hits the F) – I am open to reading all of the weird and crazy stuff that challenges me (AND some fluff!). 

One thing I love about the book club I’m in is that strong opinions are welcome and embraced, and we all walk away still friends (I think).  We’ve almost always been divided in our opinions of each book.  The funny part is that there’s no pattern in terms of who typically agrees with each other and who typically are on opposite ends of the book-love/hate spectrum.  I’m finding that humor, especially, is such a crapshoot.  I can get bellyaches from a book that many of my other booklovin’ babes (and studs) are like ummm… this is pretty dumb.  While this used to practically ruin my day (how about I read it for you?  Maybe if I read this in a funny voice accompanied with some interpretive dance…), I’ve made some peace with it.  My buddies aren’t judging me for laughing at stuff they think is stupid (most of the people in my life understand that I laugh at pretty much everything – the world is a grand comedy to my sense of humor).  They just don’t read it the way I read it and that’s okay.  They’re okay, I’m okay, you’re okay.  Doggone it, people like us.

Look, I wrote a blog-ramble!  I should address this to someone and call it an open letter!

What I want YOU to know is that you should feel free to read whatever you want and read however much you want and know that it’s all good – you’re doing your thing and I don’t judge you.  When I allocate my judgments, I file what people do in their spare time under “No judgments” (unless you’re doing something mean).  I file social media posts and eyebrows as “Fair game for respectful judgment.”  I like to think that most people are with me on that.
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I’d also like to announce that I’m now going to transition my blog to discuss both everything books AND keep everyone up to date on the state of my eyebrows.  Current state:  Embarrassing and may soon cause loss of employment, as potential donors will not trust someone so poorly groomed.

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