Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Judge not, lest ye be judged


So, okay, I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but can't I judge a person by the book she loves? Say, a full grown woman who swoons over a YA book featuring a luminous boy? I know, this says more about my being judgmental and snobbish than the other person's anything besides her tastes in books.

Do you? Judge people by the books they rave about?

And what books do you love that you're afraid to admit to? Or books you're supposed to like but don't?

18 comments:

Bibliolatrist said...

I think "judge" might be too harsh of a word, but what a person likes and dislikes certainly says a lot about them. So while I hate to say that I "judge" a person based on their raves, I'll at least know whether or not to listen to their recommendations :)

Natasha @ Maw Books said...

I think that what a person reads certainly says a lot about heir personality and what they like to spend their time with in the spare time. Sure, I probably do it from time to time. Ideally, I wish I didn't. As long as they're reading right?

Leontine said...

I do not judge people of the books they read, why should I? Reading and the passion for it is universal regardless of genre. However, I will connect easier with people who I have at least some commonalities in genre/sub-genre with.

Neither am I afraid to tell if I loved a book which others may not, I love the genre/sub-genres that i read in and will tell so. I believe in honesty about my feelings regarding a book, not bashing but if I have problems regarding a novel I will say so and important, why.

Corey Schwartz said...

Good question. I'm sure I do make judgments based on people's tastes... in everything (movies, books, TV shows)

Unknown said...

I don't judge anyone by the books they read. I am a reading freak, read almost anything, I give my love away freely. Does that make me a book whore? LOL! I guess it does! But I don't care, I read what makes me happy, YA, Urban Fantasy, Mysteries, Paranormal, Romance - both subdued and hot and spicy. I think of myself more of as a book connoisseur, reading and writing for pleasure, enjoying the best of all the worlds. (btw, I love the simmering luminescence you speak of...lol)

Picked up this feed from twitter, hope you don't mind that I joined in.

Dottie :)

Yat-Yee said...

Thanks for dropping by and telling me what you think! "Judge" is a strong word, isn't' it? But I'm glad to meet new fellow book lovers. Read on!

Unknown said...

Ohhhh....I judge. I judge harshly.

Yat-Yee said...

Hehe, Beth!

tanita✿davis said...

Luminous. Boy.
Oh, no.
I cringe. Whether or not that counts as full-on judgment, I don't know, but I sure do cringe.

Yikes.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

I'm happy that people still read, that bookstores are full of people in all the sections. I gravitate often to YA because I write it, so I read it. I do hope no one judges me for hanging out in YA or children's sections. That would suck. I think the reason I enjoy those books is the sense of wonder they hold. I still read adult lit, too.
Thanks for this provocative post, and thanks for visiting my blog!

Yat-Yee said...

I hang out all the time in the children's and YA sections and feel no embarrassment. But I do hesitate to admit that I laughed out loud during Dumb and Dumber (I am a sucker for loyalty in friendship stories, however dumb). And I cringed as I notice I'd inadvertently written "less" instead of "lest" in the title of this post.

CL said...

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I judge harshly based on music taste. Hey, nothing against a bit of High School Musical here and there (ahem, haha) but I'm pretty sure that people who listen exclusively to the Jonas Brothers and Rihanna are not loved by God. hah.

MG Higgins said...

Big confession here. Yes, I was harshly judging "luminous boy" readers (that's hilarious, BTW). I read the first in the series. Didn't care for it. But I read the second because I'd gotten my new iTouch for Christmas and thought it would be the perfect "throw-away" novel if I didn't like the tiny reading format. Well ... I guess I got hooked because I've now finished the entire series. It's not great literature, but I sure wanted to find out what happened next! It was a very good lesson for me in not judging what other people read.

Yat-Yee said...

Zac Efron: acceptable, Jonas Bros; no? Got it.

MG: that's a good story. I wonder if I could be reformed into a luminous boy fan...

jenn said...

Uh, my blogger username is "BookSnob" and the url for my blog is booksnobbery.blogspot.com, so it would be pretty difficult for me to convince anyone I don't judge people based on the books they love!

: )

Yat-Yee said...

lol, Booksnob, welcome! I like it when someone can stand up for what they believe and feel strongly about! And can back up their assertions.

John the Scientist said...

I have a good friend from grad school who holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry.

She reads bodice-rippers.

I have to admit my opinion of her dropped a smidge when I found out about that, but then there is the whole Ph.D. in a mathematical science thing to counterbalance the bubbelgum. I mark it off to her brain blowing off steam after too much time cranking out solutions to partial differential equations on the mainframe.

But I don't think I would cut someone else as much slack - I'm afraid I am a judge. :D

Yat-Yee said...

Hi John. Yeah, I don't think I can stop myself from the initial "what!???" judgmental reaction. But I'll just have to refrain from discounting other attributes of a person.