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Do people judge you?

You may find this quite a betray, but I find reading in Wales, e.g. Swansea much harder than while in oxford or Warwick.

I’m generally talking about coffee shops; I don’t tend to read in libraries, too quiet.

People tend to give you very odd looks, the "why aren't you out playing rugby" or "Strange boy" looks.
 
I'm sure I'm judged. I read a lot of fantasy, sci-fi, and young adult, and these are almost always the books that people see me reading. I'm never looked at when I'm reading "good" books. Or maybe I'm just not as aware because I think they're less embarrassing. Anyway, I also use a lot of book covers because I'm obsessive when it comes to keeping my books in good condition, so that helps hide what I'm reading.

I'm sure I judge people on what they're reading. Seems inevitable.
 
The only time I ever really have an opportunity to see what other people are reading is either in the airport, on the plane, or in a coffee shop. In an airport I sometimes look to see what they are reading; if anything, I am glad they are at least reading. For some reason, if I see someone in a coffee shop reading I have a higher expectation for their literary choices.

I remember one flight from Kansas City to Charlotte an older woman who was sitting beside me noticed I was reading The Dharma Bums. She told me all about growing up in the Beat generation and how now, looking back to then, she thought Kerouac was a huge slacker.
 
At my last job, I got judged just for reading on my lunch break. :rolleyes: People would constantly make comments about it. :rolleyes:
 
A lady from my church used to work at my local library's checkout desk. She was not the interlibrary loan librarian.The only connection she was supposed to have was when she retrieved a patron's Ill's from their spot on the shelf when they arrived to pick it up. A few years ago, I'd requested a romance by Emma Holly. The title was not too 'bad' sounding, and I'd seen the cover on Amazon, and thought it looked ok..but when I went to pick it up..this lady went out of her way to wait til my kids were all crowded at the checkout desk to point out the word 'erotica' that was part of a review blurb on the front cover. When I didn't drop the book in horror, it was her turn to react with shock. I pointed out that it was just a review and the book was for me, not the kids. Another patron was nearby and she quickly sized up the situation and we exchanged looks of exasperation...after I left, I ran into our youth pastor, and the more I thought about it, the madder I got. What if he had requested something that seemed off-color to this lady, but he intended to use it to make a point with the kids? Who cares? I went back the next day and had a heart to heart with the head librarian(well, the co-head) and asked her about their policies. She was clear that their policy was zero censorship.Period. She assured me that they would have a meeting to go over this policy. Of course, this didn't slow Dot down too much, but I didn't worry about it anymore. I figure there's not anything in print that won't offend someone somewhere. I WILL read and I will read what I want. That same librarian tried to censor my oldest dd's reading when she was in high school, and I told her that I felt it best to let the dd read what she liked and leave room for discussion if she needed it. Of course, she didn't agree with me, but I felt I'd stood up for my daughter and she(dd) knew I trusted her.
 
sparkchaser said:
What were you reading? Horton hears a Who?
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Ok, I had to google that, and no, that's not what I was reading. :p

People wouldn't even look at what I was reading; they would just walk past and say "Ooooh, look, a book! You won't fit in here!", and various comments to that effect. :rolleyes: I was new there, and I guess they thought they were being witty. :rolleyes:
 
angerball said:
People wouldn't even look at what I was reading; they would just walk past and say "Ooooh, look, a book! You won't fit in here!", and various comments to that effect. :rolleyes: I was new there, and I guess they thought they were being witty. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Sounds like a 'Mr. Hurst' moment - "you prefer reading to cards? Very singular." Of course Lizzie gives as good as she gets, and so she should, and so should you :D

I find it quite amusing when non-readers take the mickey out of - or worse still, 'pity' - us who read. If only they knew! They can keep all their electronic gadgets and computer games and endless 'bloke-talk' about FOOTBALL and CARS (boring, boring, BORING!). I'll stick to my books thank you very much.

So to answer the OP's question, yes, people probably do judge, but I rarely notice, and couldn't care less if and when they do.
 
Hmmm...I don't think I have ever been judged by anyone for what I was reading in public. If they were judgin' I was too busy readin' to notice. However online, I've had some difficulties. If I am reading a 'classic' they make like a person would only read one of those to impress other people, which is silly. I've always preferred classics, perhaps because they composed the bulk of the family library when I was growing up. Also, I was homeschooled, so I never learned to dread the classics do to required reading.

If I am reading a modern book, they assume I am shallow, and recommend classics. :rolleyes:

Me personally, I don't care to judge people on what they are reading. I figure that as long as they are reading, they are perfect just the way they are, regardless of the material.
 
*You* are being judged just being on this forum and sharing your thoughts on books. I've been judged more times than I can count.

The trick is to know yourself, and you'll live an emotionally calmer reading life. This I learned from the more matured set of members of this (and others) forum.
 
I do judge people by the books they read, but often feel they are a kindred spirit no matter the title.

Zephyr.
 
i was worrying about this the other day cause i was in a psychology lecture early and pulled out the very bright pink romance book i was reading at the time. i opened it and lay it on the desk before anyone could see it. which is weird i guess, cause really who cares what i'm reading? but i usually hide what i'm reading in public if it's not a classic or whatever cause i worry what other people will think.

whenever i see someone reading i always try and see what it is. but usually i don't recognise the author :eek:
 
alicks said:
whenever i see someone reading i always try and see what it is. but usually i don't recognise the author :eek:
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That has been the case for me more often than not. When I am sitting in an airport, I notice four book reading groups:

-Oprah's book club
-Dan Brown
-Something I never heard of with a pink cover
-Stuff i don't recognize
 
I don't know if my librarians take any interest in what people check out or not. About a third of my reading is science fiction, and some of the cover artwork is tacky enough to make me self-conscious. Every so often I'll use the self checkout if it's particularly cringeworthy.

The cashiers at the local thrift stores recognize me as the book and video game guy.

I'm still laughing at BeerWench's story, just picturing how uncomfortable that lady must have been. :D Sounds like the same type that goes around playing the foot-in-mouth version of Russian roulette by asking strangers when their baby is due.
 
I remember in 10th grade, when I was transferred to the honors english class, the teacher said that everyone had a personal reading book they were working on for a book report. She asked me if I was currently reading a book and I said "Yes," even though I knew the kind of book I was reading really didn't have a place to have a report written on for honors english....When I told her that it was "The Demon Awakens" by R.A. Salvatore, she chuckled, gave me this odd look, and kind of rolled her eyes in superiority and lead me to her bookshelf to pick a "more appropiate book."

I know that fantasy isn't appropiate for schoolwork, but wtf? She didn't have to be like that...I know in this instance she wasn't to judgmental, but later that year when I was reading "A Clockwork Orange," she was like "oh, maybe you should try some books with better prose." :confused: wtf man....no matter what I read, she was on me...
 
Feeling guilty, I thought I'd add to my last post.

I also judge people by what they read.

Like if I see someone reading a Danielle Steel book...I'd turn to my friend and say "Oh hell naw, that b**** is reading that shit? What a waste of her time."

Two years ago if I saw anyone reading The Da Vinci Code..."Sheep."

Same thing for anything by Janet Evanovich, J.A. Jance....

Help...I don't want to turn into one of those literi assholes....:(
 
I think it's natural that people judge others...be it by what they read, how they look, etc. It does seem, though, that one can be grossly misjudged by someone who looks at one book they are reading. I know that I myself read a great variety of books, as do many readers.

I do have to say that I would be embarrassed to be seen reading a romance (I've tried to read a few...but in the privacy of my own home and I never quite got into them), but on the whole, I really don't care what people think about what I read. Of course - these days, the people who see me reading most often are my 7th grade students who are right now amazed at the size of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - though they know about the many types of books I read, as I've read quite a few since school began. Actually, I want to encourage them to read, so I share books with them and get ideas from them constantly, as my reading tastes are greatly different from our Language Arts teacher.
 
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