Do you feel embarrassed about reading certain books?

No not really because most people don’t even read traffic signs! So, the fact that you are reading anything would be something to be proud of! :)

yeah. That’s why I don’t go out and by porno books lol

No, I don’t hide my young adult fiction. I even check it out of the public library quite openly. However, I do tend to read the picture books at home as they are too big to fit on those tiny coffee shop tables.

Do porno books have text? Or are they just pictures?

I guess they could be like erotica books and paint the picture…

After my husband’s divorce (from a previous wife), he was going through a bunch of crap that she left in the basement when she took off and found a hardcover copy of some Reader’s Digest mystery stories. Under the paper “Reader’s Digest” jacket was the real cover, which was Mein Kampf.

Yeah, I’d rather be seen reading cheesy mysteries than Mein Kampf any day, too.

If you are embarrassed, you can pick up cool book covers from Book City Jackets.

I think Young Adult Literature has been on the rise in the past few years and there is nothing to be ashamed of. No need to hide your books. Even some of our more adult contemporary authors have made the switch to writing young adult literature including Dave Barry and James Patterson.

The Harry Potter series was a children’s book and you can see how well it crossed over. Now we have the Twilight series crossing between young and adult literature.

I think you should not be ashamed to read any book in the book store.

My name is Supermouse and I have read just about every single romance novel by Andrew Greeley, there is a soft spot in my hear for Sean Cardinal Cronyn. I typically try to read these in the comfort of my own home, curled up next to a fire.

I work in a library & many adults check out young adult books. There’s certainly nothing to be ashamed of there. Juniper, read them & enjoy them.

Nah. Young adult, old adult…who cares? I would leave the illustrated Kama Sutra at home, though ; )

Wow, good to hear.

So, you don’t think people cast any judgement based on others’ reading material?

To be honest, I do make judgements (in my head). It may not be fair, but if I see someone reading a ‘bodice ripper’ romance novel or Mary Higgins Clark past high school age, I’m not likely to think highly of their reading choices. Doesn’t mean I’d discount them as worthwhile people though.

What are some good adult fiction books to get into?

Ha! That’s exactly what I mean, Augustian! I do the same thing. ;)

Hrm….

@babyg: What kind of books do you like to read now? Mystery, romance, slice-of-life? If you let us know what you enjoy in young adult fiction, we could give you some ideas.

@babygalll, did you mean young adult?

@juniper: Yes I did.
@augustian: Romance, mystery..anything that keeps my mind wondering what’s going to happen next.

@babygalll: Yay, favorite topic! I recommend Sarah Dessen’s early stuff, Libba Bray’s trilogy (A Great and Terrible Beauty, etc.), His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, and A Northern Light, by Jennifer Donnelly.

well, I have read Mein Kampf, and it was the most boring thing I’d ever read. The book I like to leave lying around the house in plain sight is The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices, because it embarrasses my guests, not me.

@babyg: James Patterson’s Maximum Ride books are loads of fun!

Thanks guys! I’ll lool into those.

Absolutely don’t be embarrassed by your young adult fiction – a lot of it is better than the adult stuff! When I go into a bookstore, the first place I go is the young adult section (in my mind, the mark of a truly excellent bookstore is one that has the YA sci-fi/fantasy section separate from the rest of the YA fiction – I could spend all day there!)

@babyg: If you like fantasy, I just finished Sorcery and Cecelia , which is sort of a cross between Jane Austen and Harry Potter – I’d definitely recommend that one. Also, anything by Diana Wynne Jones is excellent – she wrote Howl’s Moving Castle and the Crestomanci books, among many others. Oh, and Madeliene L’Engle, of course – A Wrinkle in Time is one of the best YA books ever!

I’ll read anything and everything, and I’ll openly admit to all of it. Young adult fiction, psychology textbooks, historical nonfiction, erotica, classics, current bestsellers, ANYTHING. But if I’m going to be reading in public I’ll be a little selective about what I bring along. For example, the Qur’an was turned down as my train reading when I went across the country in April.

Actually, it seems that a lot of the best fiction being written these days is YA. One theory is that all these authors have children, and they are writing what they are living. Half the time the science fiction reviews in F&SF seem to be about YA novels.

Well, as they say, good writing is good writing. It comes from all genres.

I used to read my weekly comic books on the train on my way to go teach at a local college. Been reading them since I was 12.

Despite being an adult, married, father, educated, 2 jobs, well-travelled, etc. – I refuse to be embarrassed about reading Daredevil or Spider-Man in public.

Some people have rolled their eyes and given me looks. Little do they know I’m probably teaching their kids.

When I read my witch books and vampire books, not Twilight and stuff like that, but books about actual vampires, I tend to be careful about where I read them and in front of whom I read them. My young adult books, however, I read them everywhere in front of everyone and even try ti push them on my friends.

Oh, and juniper, I have read A Great and Terrible Beauty, His Dark Materials and A Northern Light and they are all excellent books. You have some great taste in literature.

I actually read the first and last in my high school book club. :)

@sdeutsch & daloon
Point: Young Adult Books Will Save Science Fiction
Counterpoint: Stop Writing Young Adult Science Fiction

I am often careful about what I read where, but not because of embarrassment. For instance, I did not take The Audacity of Hope with me on Thanksgiving break when I went to visit some relatives who are all very conservative. I just didn’t want to deal with the potential conflict, and I also didn’t want to stress anyone out over it. There are enough health problems there without added stress.

In contrast with that, I was very open about reading His Dark Materials back when a fair number of people on my Christian campus were getting all boycotty about the movie coming out. In that case, I was eager to engage in dialogue with people who thought that it was all Satany evilness.

@aidje I’m in a similar situation really… my family are all christians and whilst they are very open minded ones i still find that if i’m reading a book by Eckhart Tolle for example or Oriah Mountain Dreamer they think i’m a bit bonkers…. which does kind of make me feel a bit…not embarrassed about it…but conscious let say. Although i am beginning to feel more and more strongly like i shouldn’t give a ****.

i also read a lot of Nancy Friday stuff and Anais Nin, which is really good adult sex fantasy (for anyone who doesn’t know) and adult fiction respectively and have been quite open at times (be it after a few drinks) with family and friends that i read this kind of stuff…. and am perhaps a little embarraessed but also think its kind of fun and we should all just relax into a little more!! (yehhhh maaaaaan!!!)

Having said that…i wouldn’t read Nancy Friday on the bus…. if not for anything else but the fact that it might create certain unsatisfiable sensations…if you know what i mean…

;-))))

@lynneblundell: Lurve for “yehhh maaasaan!!!”.

I totally heard that in my head.

I recently found a stack of old Remo Williams books at my local used book store – I felt vaguely embarrassed paying for them, but it was worth it in the end. They’re utter thrash, but knowingly so.

@aidje: thanks for the links to the articles. In one of those “what goes around, comes around” moments, one of the articles referred to an essay by a friend of mine. My discussions with her about this topic certainly has informed my opinions. Of course, she’s one of the writer with a child (a very precocious one at that—reading Harry Potter at age 6 or so) who is about to enter the demographic that YA is aimed at.

I suppose if you have a child around, that offers you some cover for reading YA. My wife is reading the Twilight series, and I’d like to read it, just so I know the world my daughter inhabits…. well, that’s if it’s bad. If it’s good, then just for fun.

It was also my impression that graphic novels have entered the mainstream, and are no longer shameful to read. Erotic novels… well, if it’s Anais Nin, that’s classic lit, but other stuff with lurid covers—not so much. I think you’d be looked at as a perv if you read porn on the bus.

Obviously, these things are all contextual. There will be places where, if you’re seen reading Proust, you’ll be looked at askance. Don’t do that at a romance novel convention.

I guess that what you read is taken as as much of a statement of self as what you wear is. Both, obviously, can be misleading. What you want to be seen as depends on where you are and where you want to go. Some people carry around books they’d never read, and others hide the books they want to read inside the covers of books they want to be seen to be reading.

I apologize for an analytical answer when the question calls for personal experience. It’s just the way I tend to go after a while.

Good. Read. Read, read, read, and treasure your books, whatever they are.

For some reason, I’ve always felt that my reading list is private information—especially those books that I really love. When I share that with strangers it’s as if I’m exposing a part of myself that I’m not sure I want to expose.

Here ya go.

I’ve never felt afraid of reading anything. My tastes are very broad, and I’ve read everything from dull scholarly books to erotica. My parents never censored my reading, and I would be loath to censor the reading of any adolescent.

The freedom to read what I like is important to me.

Me! Yes, please! When I’m going to be out and about, I’m usually sensitive to what I’m reading. I’d rather not be seen with a trashy romance, say, on the train. I’m far less embarrassed by my no less trashy, but trashy in a different way Rogue Angel. I can deal with really bad mystical archeology on the train, but not the occasional sex scene.

I’ve read Mein Kampf.
Though Mein Kampf hidden underneath another cover is kind of creepy.

I must admit, I do read historical-fiction romance novels by Johanna Lindsey. I hide them under my bed in a box. If my parents/sibs ever saw them, I would be laughed at.

I’ve always liked reading books about WWII and the Holocaust (I like history) but I’m scared to get Mein Kampf. My mother is German and she still feels ashamed about the past. I don’t know if she’d understand my reason for reading Mein Kampf (which is that I’m too curious)

@seekingwolf:OMG. JL is who I read when I want to read a trashy romance. As for MK, check it out from the library, then use a different dust cover. Thus, it looks like you’re reading Harry Potter or whatever, but you can read MK in peace.

@EmpressPixie really? haha that’s awesome. I love JL and her style. It’s very erotic.

I wonder if I could find MK in the library, I shall see! Thanks for the advice! :D

That’s my “completely awkward assigned reading” advice. Good for trains, planes, and buses. I have a friend who does it with the cover from the Satanic Bible just to be left alone on the train (it helps her get a seat to herself).

i’ve always thought tabloid mags to be trashy, common, and lowbrow.

i buy one whenever there is an article about celebrity plastic surgery or celebrities in bathing suits (it comforts me to know that those who look glamorous on the red carpet look as bad as i do in a bathing suit).

i feel the need to explain to the checker that i don’t normally buy it and that i really am an intelligent person with shelves filled with books about art.

@Empress- a copy of “The Watchtower” is just as effective.

@juniper Don’t be embarassed! I read YA books all the time. I love YA books. You can’t find the same brand of fantasy, magic, and adventure in adult books as can be found in some young adult books. And sometimes you really need that particular brand of story. And there are some really well written and really engaging young adult books out there, just look at Philip Pullman’s series and, one I just finished, Jackaroo. So, yay YA! Yay Harry Potter! Never let the magic die :)

People who draw conclusions about you based on what you are reading would have to recognize what you are reading. I would not recognize any YA fiction by the author or title. (I do not consider Harry Potter to be YA fiction.) If it’s people you don’t know anyway, what do you care? If it’s people you do know, it sounds like a starting place for an interesting conversation.

I am not ashamed to be seen reading anything from Zen philosophy to a comic book, from a dictionary to People magazine (which I do in the dentist’s office to keep up with popular culcha). I read serious fiction and popular thrillers, classic literature and lame, poorly edited, self-published quasi-novels. I often peek curiously at the titles other people are reading, but not to judge them.

P.S. If I saw an adult reading something I knew to be classed as juvenile literature, I would have at least three working hypotheses: (a) it’s a book with solid, mature enough content to interest an adult; (b) the person is working on improving his or her literacy and has reached the YA reading level; (c) the person has juvenile tastes. I would consider (a) most likely in the absence of evidence to the contrary and would regard it as a compliment to the author.

I was wrong to say I wouldn’t recognize any. I wouldn’t recognize most. I’ve read Pullman, Gaiman, and others whose work does stand up to the attention of a literate adult.

Just for the record: Today I went to the library. I left with 8 books. Three are for adults. Five are YA. You see, I was re-reading my old books when I was home for Christmas and you know one of my authors just kept writing so I had to check out the rest of the series. My interest in what happens to the main character—it was renewed!

Anyway, I was reading on the bus with a fierce opinion of “this is amazing! I don’t care what you think!”

I had sort of had an embarrassing moment with some of my reading materials.

I DID start reading Mein Kamf. I downloaded it (for free, of course) onto my Kindle (it’s an ebook reader) and I’m working my way through it.

Today, my nutty uncle at dinner became fascinated with my Kindle and asked to see it. I “hid” Mein Kampf by making it go on the bottom of my list (back several pages) and doubted he would see it. (he’s horrible with electronics) But he started going through the WHOLE thing thoroughly, and BAM.

He had a look on his face and then brought up Hitler and how he was horrible and by god I wanted to die. That is the LAST time anyone is touching my ebook reader.

@seekingwolf—Tell your uncle that just because something is horrible doesn’t mean it isn’t worth understanding and/or knowing about.

@MacBean

You know, you’re totally right. :) My uncle and his family left that evening back for Canada so if he brings up Hitler next time again (he remembers things and dwells on them, so it’s possible), I’ll mention that!

I just hope that he doesn’t think I’m a budding Nazi or something. He’s a Scientologist and is aware of my dream to be a psychiatrist. I don’t want to fan the flames.

I finally read the infamous “Twilight” so many people have been touting. I am now officially embarassed. It is a YA bodice-ripper to the max.

Why would anyone want to fall in love with some guy whose chest is like stone and whose lips and hands are cold? My husband’s feet are cold at night in bed and that is already more cold body parts than I want to deal with.

On top of that, Edward has venom-coated teeth and can never go with you to the beach.

I apologize to Stephanie Meyer fans, but I fear I will just have to let my daughter read the books herself without my input, and I refuse to be caught in public with any of the series.

I don’t understand why anyone would have to apologize for reading the work of one of the most influential shapers of modern history. If we understand nothing about such minds, how will we protect ourselves from them? We might as well say that the best way to avoid getting cancer is to refuse to learn about it.

What we do have to do when we read such works is distinguish fiction and opinion from fact.

there was this book called ‘m or f’ and it was soooo cheesy and lame but i loved it and read it in a night. one of those YA novels, and it was just so cute dude. haha