6 Rules for Talking to Me About Books

I'm officially sick. I hate colds. With a fever, you get the pleasure of keeping track of how sick you are via thermometer and experiencing the weird daydream-y feeling that comes with a fever. Colds are just miserable. Currently, my nose refuses to shut up, and nothing seems to help.
   Cold or no cold, I really wanted to make a post this weekend but I never got around to it. So, here is my advice for talking to me about books:
 
1. If you don't like to read, just say so. (Although you should be prepared for me to ask why and recommend books that would be good for someone who didn't like to read.) There is nothing more annoying than having a conversations with someone who says they like to read, but doesn't seem to have read anything in their life. 

2. If you say you like a genre, you should actually be able to list a couple books you enjoyed from that genre. If someone understands why anyone would ever do this, please enlighten me. If you say you like horror, but you can't list a single horror book you have ever enjoyed, I'm going to doubt your integrity. It's even worse if the only book you can come up with is Twilight...   

3. If you like Twilight, that's fine. If the only book you have ever enjoyed is Twilight, that is not fine. Of all the books you could truly enjoy, I guess Twilight isn't the worst. I mean, if you took Lolita (a book about an oldish man being in love with a 15-year-old girl, which I've never actually read) or Mein Kampf (Hitler's autobiography, which I also haven't read) as a model for how to live your life, I would definitely prefer that you choose to idolize Twilight. HOWEVER, please, please make a point to read and enjoy at least one other book before talking to me about books.

4. If you happen to go to my school, don't say that you don't have time to read books because you have to study. You're welcome to say "I haven't been able to read much lately, because I've been really busy". However, please realize that when you say you don't read because you have to study, you are implying that I do not study. I do, in fact, study. I hope you realize that.

5. Please tell me what sort of books you like. Especially if you have been talking for a few minutes about how much you like to read. In the words of Davy from Anne of the Island, "I wanna know".

6. If I read you a passage from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith) at least try to like it. It's my favorite book (not to be confused with my favorite series or my favorite author), and it would mean a lot to me if you appeared to enjoy it. 

 

Have a nice day!

❤ Lydia

(I apologize for the brutal honesty of this post.)

Questions My Future Decision-Making Team Will Have to Answer Lickety-Split

1. Is it okay/a good idea to show someone a jellyfish version I drew of them? Does it change if that person is a guy? Or if the jellyfish is an apology gift to someone I'm not close friends with? The possible variations on this question are endless...

2. Could you explain this joke to me? I pretended to get it a few years back, but I still don't. [...] What about this one?

3. Is it bad that this is the Pride and Prejudice quote that best describes my life?:

"I certainly have not the talent which some people possess," said Darcy, "of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done."

4. What song best describes me? Is that a good thing?

5. Would it be totally inappropriate to ask people to explain their actions? Like, "Why do you always talk to me as if you are a cat? It's...um...unnerving."

6. How do I know if I'm a horrible person or not? Am I a horrible person?

7. Which college should I go to? Can I get in? How do I choose?

8. Am I wasting my/your life? Sorry...

Best wishes!
Lydia