Book Discussion | The Importance of Genre, or Not?

A discussion type idea I've had about why people seem to be so concerned by other peoples opinion on their choice of book.

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[TheReadingRhodes]

I really agree with all of the points you make here - it really has to come down to being comfortable reading what you want to read and not letting other people's opinions get in the way of that. Personally, I do get kind of self-conscious about what I read sometimes. For some reason it's really easy to worry about what other people think about you in general. But the way I look at it is, is that the people that generally judge you for anything (book tastes, clothing choices, all interests in general, and appearance) are the ones that are truly self-conscious about themselves. What is the point of looking down on anyone for any reason at all? Let alone something as arbitrary as what books you like to read? It's all personal preference. I mean, I personally don't enjoy all that many young adult books (though sometimes I do), or new adult books, or romances, or westerns, or really old-fashioned books. But I try really hard to not judge any one for what they read, because that's just silly. I've actually seen several booktubers - the ones outside of the YA spectrum mostly - put down YA readers just as much as they put down YA books. And that's baffling to me. It's just what those people enjoy reading...shouldn't you just be happy they're reading in the first place? Who cares what genre it is? Reading is a beautiful thing and everyone has the right to enjoy whatever they want to enjoy. People like to feel high-and-mighty sometimes, I think, because they read what they claim to be more intelligent books or whatever. I mean, yes, some books are more complex but...reading is just a great thing and people like different things. Judging someone on a personal level is unnecessary.

I completely understand, though, that people that don't enjoy the same books have a hard time communicating with one another about books (which is why people subscribe to certain booktubers over others). And that's fine. You don't have to talk about books with those people cause you're obviously going to have a clash in tastes. But there's no need to judge. Anyway, this was a really great video with a lot of great points and examples - really glad to see stuff like this on booktube!

[AaronKoelker]

This was a real great video man. My opinion on genres in general is that they are just a necessary evil. Judging readers based on what books they read is just one step above judging the quality or content of a book based on its genre. Of course they are there to give the reader an idea of what's contained inside, but I think is just as much eliminates so many books from even being considered worth our time because we had some sort of preconception about particular genres. It'd be kind of nice if genres just didn't exist in my opinion, however unrealistic that might be.

[ancientnovel]

I really enjoyed your video. I have certain genre's that I enjoy & when I go to the bookstore or library I tend to spend my time looking over books in my favorite genre. Yet I really love watching book tubers who talk about different types of books. I had never given much thought about Fantasy genre until I came across +enchantology on YouTube. I enjoyed her videos and she got me thinking about some Fantasy books. I gave a few books a look & really enjoyed them. So for me, it's important to keep an open mind and try some things that I had never given much attention to. It has opened up a whole new world & way of thinking. Great video & timely topic (^_-).

[enchantology]

I think it can be bothersome when people judge you based on a genre that you read just because it's often a conversation killer. It's great when I can actually talk about something I like - reading as a perfect example - and then it's sort of disappointing to tell someone that you like YA or fantasy or whatever and then suddenly, it's not open for discussion anymore. They're no longer interested in having that conversation. Knowing that the reason for it being a conversation killer is probably one that could be avoided if someone was not relying on false stereotypes of readers is absolutely maddening to me.

I've had some negative reactions to being a fantasy reader, so I thought I'd mention it since it seems you haven't had that experience. Being a fantasy reader has lead to me being called frivolous and impractical because what I'm reading isn't 'real'. If anything is frivolous, it's people's needs to belittle other people because of what they choose to read.

[Scottistaller]

I get what you are saying that people get judged on the genre that they are reading and it is very annoying! However, I do think that it is quite important for us, as readers, to see what others are reading as it can give a great first impression on whether we want to speak to them about books. This could be me being too judgemental but I will genuinely work out which Booktubers to watch simply through scrolling through their reviews... its shallow I know. And in the same way I have had people start conversations on public transport with me because they saw me reading fantasy and history books... which was awesome.
But I do agree that it is all first impressions and that it would be impossible to judge someone simply on what they are reading as then I would have never read a lot of books which I love because of pointless stereotypes... and as the old saying goes "you can't judge a book by its cover." :)

[ethanbrookes]

Never mind it could just be ear phones