Anyone else super picky with what they read?
Anyone else super picky with what they read?
I'm always amazed to see how some of my friends are just able to read any book recommended to them with no hesitation at all; whereas with me, I need to research what kind of book it is, what ideas the book will be wrestling with, the author and their writing style. Like currently, I am struggling to give "Being and Time" by Martin Heidegger a try as I am more of a fan of Bertrand Russel and analytical philosophy which seems to be scientific in nature -- especially when compared to that of Heidegger, so I've heard. I feel that if I am spending my time reading something, that I should come away at the end of the book having learned something of value (to me, that's a pretty subjective statement). I think this is a good thing, as just about every book I've chosen to read has been an enlightening and somewhat euphoric experience that cannot be replaced. I wonder though, does anyone else relate?
I will pick something up without knowing anything about it, but I am pretty quick to give up on a book if I don't like it.
One time this backfired on me : I started the book 'Gone Girl' and gave up in the first chapter because I couldn't stand the smug yuppie narrator. Later I saw the movie and read other books by the same author. I realized she was really good at creating unlikeable characters.
I'm willing to try any book - if I can find it at my local library. But, if I'm not captured within the first couple of chapters, I'll stop reading.
Last book I dropped was Red Rising. It was recommended to me by a friend who I convinced to start reading Sanderson, so i figured it was worth a try. Turns out I'm not a fan of the edgy YA fiction, Hunger Games but Horny and Violent genre.
lol heidegger is one of the most notoriously cryptic writers ever
that, and he was a nazi https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/is-heidegger-contaminated-by-nazism
I feel the same way about media in general. I see posts about the latest Steam Sale and people freaking out over "OMG! I just bought 40 games!" and my reaction is "So... do you just have no taste? Or you legit can't tell what's going to be good and what will be bad by what you can find out about it?"
You wouldn't go to a bar and order 1 of everything, the same goes for media.
It's not really a matter of poor taste, just unrealistic time management. There are way too many good games out there for me to ever actually play them all. I only played like half a dozen games last year. I bought...more than that.
I have a fairly large Steam catalog, most of which I have never played. However, I'm pretty sure they are almost all good games and I will definitely get around to some of them.
My bookshelf is similar. I've only read roughly half the books I have staring me in the face every day.
But on the plus side, anytime I'm bored, I have a wealth of options!
You wouldn't
Well certainly not at once, but I've definitely made my way around the menu over time.
The books I read are probably a lot lighter than the ones you're talking about, but I definitely am choosey with the ones I do pick up.
I'm pickier about petty things in fiction but it's because cliches and shorthands rip me out of the flow of reading. I refuse to read a fiction book with too many apostrophes on the first page because that usually indicates the author spent more time on world building and making the elves/aliens different than writing a decent story and I'll spend more time being distracted than invested. Another one that annoys me that I forget the name of is using strange words when a normal one would do, like younglings instead of children.
Non fiction-wise, I'll do a little more research on if the author is a horrible person, like I wouldn't read a book by Jordan Peterson (not trying to drum up politics, just getting that recommendation from a former friend was a sign of them disappearing into the far right) if it were recommended to me, as a low hanging example. Getting a gist of the overall ideas of the book to make sure I'm not walking into known BS territory is usually on the list as well.
When I do find a good book, it's great, but separating wheat from chaff has definitely slowed and reduced my reading.
I feel like I am the pickiest reader I know. I prefer reading light, humorous type books. But as it turns out, writing things that are genuinely funny is a difficult ask; generally, at least to me, a lot of "funny" writing comes off as trying too hard and failing miserably.
I will also just stop reading whatever if the book has any one of several items that piss me off. This includes, but is not limited to: bad/unrealistic dialogue, unnecessary romance/sex, cliche or unrealistic plots, or unlikable characters that I am supposed to root for.
I have started so many books - ones that were recommended by trusted friends or that were on a bestsellers list - only to put them down within the first few chapters because I just couldn't stand whatever the book was doing or trying to do.
I'm actually genuinely sad I don't enjoy reading more, but I refuse to slog through books that I just don't like, so the end result is that I don't read very much. It's frustrating.
I read things on here, so I guess I can’t be that picky.
I’ve been like that my whole life. Sometimes I’ll read a chapter or two and put it down if I don’t enjoy it.
I'm not really picky with what I read. Problem is that my "to read" list is pretty long and is just getting longer so maybe I should be more picky.