Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover

Hello! 

So, today's post will be a little different. I'll still be talking about books, but I'll be sharing some tips and kind of a personal anecdote as well. 

Let's go back in time a few years to me in eighth grade. I read just as much then-----if not more, as I do now, but the types of books I read were very limited. I pretty much exclusively read middle grade sci-fi and fantasy and scoffed at the idea of branching out. Classics? Ew, those are old, boring books that are too hard to read. Romance? No way, I'm too cool for that sappy stuff. Nonfiction? Boring. I even completely discredited the whole YA genre. For some reason I thought ALL of the books in one genre were bad.

Yes, I was an extremely judgmental eighth grader. 

And then.......I found some YA books that I liked. So I assumed that it was still only the speculative fiction that I liked. And then I found a good romance book and a classic that I liked and even some really good nonfiction.

Basically, I'm trying to learn to not say that I'll never do something or I'll never like something because I usually end up liking it [except for math. I still don't like that]. I'm not entirely sure why I thought I wouldn't like these genres. I'm pretty sure the romance and YA thing was based on me being a not like other girl. I have no idea where the dislike of nonfiction and classics came from. I probably just thought it would be boring. So, does this post have a point behind just my rambling? Yes, because I have some advice for people so that they don't make my mistakes. 

#1: Just Because A Book Is Bad Doesn't Mean The Genre Is Bad

Reading Twilight might have been a contributing factor to my dislike of romance and YA. Because I didn't like it, I assumed that meant that romance was bad. But [thankfully] not all romance books are like Twilight. Just because one book in a genre is boring or problematic or just not to your tastes doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the genre. 

#2: Pick Books Based On Your Interests

Like I mentioned above, there will be things that you just won't be interested in, so my tip is to figure out what you're interested in and read books based on them. For example, if you like biology, read books about that. If you like slow burn romances, read those types of romances. People like all kinds of different books, so it's important to find out what kind of books you like.

#3: With That Being Said, It's Fine To Have Genres You Don't Like

While I do think trying new things is a good thing, sometimes people have tried things and it just doesn't work for them. Maybe horror freaks you out and worsens your mental health. Maybe------no matter what the book is-----you just don't think romance is interesting and that's cool. It's not my intention to make anyone feel bad for their reading habits, just sharing what works for me.

And, with that, I'll end this post. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.