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Reading Is Not A Competitive Sport

Dang it, just as I was writing about how crappy it is to shame readers about what genre and format they read, somebody at The Guardian was doing her best to insult both genre readers and the formats they read in, with startling efficiency. I am not a “furtive” ebook reader! I do not read ebooks to hide my addiction to genre fiction! And I think it’s revolting to inform readers that they SHOULD be furtive about their reading tastes- that they should buy the classics in hardcover for display purposes (instead of buying whatever they like to read in hardcover for the purpose of actually reading). Contrary to the assertion the author makes, READING IS NOT A COMPETITIVE SPORT.

If it were I would lose. I tried, but I can’t even keep track on Goodreads of how many books I’ve read this year already. The shelves you see on entering my house are not where I preserve “classics”. I am not doing my reading to impress anyone or to win anything. And I am angry that someone who thinks that displaying award winners to show how literary you are is more important that you, or me, or anyone, reading what we love. There is no shame in that. It’s something to revel in. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.