Don’t be a book snob. Reading is Reading.

Snob:  n [snob]

a person who believes himself or herself an expert or connoisseur in a given field and is condescending toward or disdainful of those who hold other opinions or have different tastes regarding this field: i

I was at an event for the book community. It was a volunteer thank day you for those who were helping out for an upcoming event, all rampant book lovers.  Some were actually part of the book community (privileged to work at publishing houses, as book agents, etc.), while others, like me were merely avid readers (and most likely aspiring book-aternity insiders.)

I was getting to know one of the other volunteers, chit chatting away, and I mentioned a few of the books that I’d read in the months prior.  She looked at me askance, and I could tell by her face that she wasn’t impressed.  Then, she asked me if I’d read a book.  It was Chekhov, or the Odyssey, or another tome like that. A volume that was really smart, most possibly obscure. So obscure, and written as a long poem, about someone’s endless journey, that I cannot (probably because of a mental block created to avoid boredom), remember for the life of me who the author is. 

At that moment, though, for one single drawn out breathe, I felt ashamed of my literary, book-obsessed self.  Because I hadn’t read this one book.  Because this one lady disapproved of my taste and was able to cause me to doubt my valued membership in the ‘Read-a-thon Club’.  Me, who read adult novels at the age of 9.  Me, who read Pygmalion, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights FOR FUN when I was in High School.  Me, who has read over 100 books already this year. 

What would a comment, a look, an intimation of ‘not-good-enoughness’ do to someone who is just falling in love with reading; to an adult who has just gained their literacy or a child with dyslexia struggling to read.  

I know one boy who only reads anime comics.  A friend of mine gets her reading on with People Magazine.  My husband reads the newspaper, and magazines, blogs, and websites related specifically to his interests.  Should I judge them because they’re not reading actual books, or what I think are intelligent or ‘worthy’ literature?  Should I be a ‘book snob’?

This is the way I look at it. Instead of worrying about, and even judging, what folks are picking up to read, why don’t we just encourage the simple act of putting letters together to make words, words to sentences, sentences to paragraphs, and so forth. It doesn’t matter whether its a sign, a flyer, a book, or even subtitles in a movie.  Every time someone enjoys the written word, a literacy star is born.  Instead of book snobbery, why don’t we promote book love and literacy? I mean who cares what someone ELSE is reading?  I know I don’t.