Thoughtful Thursdays: Judging a Bibliophile by Their Book Covers...Among Other Things

First off, I just want to say that I just love the book blogging community...how we come together in support of each other and the books and authors we adore.  

And we also fight together when the situation warrants, which is more often than it should be.

That said, sometimes I think we can be a bit judgmental of each other, even a little harsh at times.  

There's the trolling of reviews (on blogs and on Goodreads -- especially Goodreads).  Someone will post a dissenting opinion on a book, and of course, someone else disagrees.  That's fine...no two people will share the exact same opinion.  That's what this community is about, after all:  finding those who share your likes and dislikes when it comes to genres, authors and all things bookish.  And it's fine to share your reaction, even if it's the opposite of the rest of reviewers.  It would just be nice if everyone could do so in a way that doesn't promote such negativity.  Don't get me wrong, I love snarky and gif-tastic reviews as much as the next girl, but even those can go too far at times.  As can the comments on them.

There are also those people who judge you solely on what you're currently reading or what you've read in the past.  This type of assessment probably bothers me most because I've read a lot of YA novels that I probably wouldn't give a second glance now, but I wouldn't hold it against anyone else if they still enjoyed them then or continue to do so in the future.  (But I still wish I hadn't rated them so highly.  *sigh*  That's a conversation for another day, though.)  Hell, I still like a lot of books that others don't.  You can't please everyone, am I right?

What prompted this whole rant was a post recently on Twitter from someone who proclaimed that they wouldn't accept friend requests on Goodreads from anyone who's average rating was 4 stars or higher.  This was weeks ago, but it still bothers me to this day, so I felt the need to discuss.

I mean, my average rating is 4.08 stars.  And I feel like I'm probably in the norm, but I didn't do any checking to find out.  I honestly don't care where my average rating fits in the scheme of things.  Because, the fact of the matter is, I like to enjoy what I'm reading.  I try not to pick books that I likely won't find entertaining and will therefore rate lower.  It's a waste of my time to read something that's going to bring out the snark in me.  If it makes me all snarktastic, I'm more likely to simply DNF it rather than rate it really low. In fact, I rarely ever rate below three stars because if I've found a book worthy of a lower rating, I'm not going to finish it.  But that rarely happens because I know what I like.

I don't know...that post just irked me, and I needed to vent.  What are your thoughts?  Do you tend to not friend people because of what they choose to read and how they rate their books?  Or are you an equal-opportunity friender?

Labels: blogging community, judging a book by its cover, thoughtful thursdays