What are YOU reading?

So writing my intro led me to thinking about how we judge people by what they read. What is worst book you have ever read? What is the most insignificant book you've ever read? What was the most disappointing? These are questions people love to answer, and we share a quasi-sadistic delight in ripping into books that we hate, shredding their plotlines, piling scorn on uncharacteristic character traits. These otherwise infallible authors; we see a weakness and we pry it open, we are the royal subjects mocking the queen, not caring how bloody angry she'd be if she heard us.

The worst book I have read in recent times is The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (2007). It's a book I was expecting big things from, it had international acclaim, huge sales, and topped the American bestseller lists. For a book about one of the most saddening periods in human history it promised much, and delivered something I found rather empty, something that later my brain (of its own accord) picked apart; at least all the elements of the book that didn't work for me. Anyway, it was and still is a popular book and a particular favourite of Waterstones, and seeing strangers read it I really wonder: how is it playing out for you? Does it really work?

When doing work experience for a children's publisher I recall a few of the publicity girls gathered around a printer discussing how fantastic the book was... At these times I feel I'm just another cynic outside the walls of Eden, only the gate is open but I just can't bring myself to go inside. And I HATE literary critics. Joseph Heller wrote about a character in his novel Closing Time who knew 'everything about literature except how to enjoy it', and reading book reviews from the broadsheets of today you can understand what Heller was writing about all them 10 years ago. The review for The Book Thief in The Guardian praised the book, but The Times was brutal in its assessment, even giving away the ending by the 4th paragraph, like a car dealer pricing you out of a sale before you've even opened your mouth. Was it horribly snobbish or was it just refreshingly honest? How much opinion can you afford in a broadsheet newspaper review? Well, lots these days to be honest, and I agreed with the guy, just not the way he went about saying it. People like the book, and it needs to be acknowledged in some ways why this is the case. Critics may pine for the literary classics of yesteryear but they have to at least be aware of the trends of modern pop culture, and how quickly it can change direction: yesterday's necessity soon turns to today's joke. Though in all fairness to our critic looking at our celebrity obsessed culture and the books that it spawns you could almost sympathise with Heller's character. In fact if you dragged him kicking and screaming into the 21st century and force-fed him Twilight you may even feel a bit sorry for the guy.