Paperback's Pondering's: The Reader Vs. The Non Reader (The Reader's Point of View)

Paperback's Pondering's is a weekly discussion when I take a topic and well, ponder about it! This week's topic is more of a debate, and will be in two parts. This is all about the arguments of a reader vs. a non-reader. Let's get started:

I know I've mentioned this many times before, and that is that there aren't many people in my life who love to read. I have one cousin who reads, and that's it. Now even though my other family members don't read, they are active in watching book to movie adaptions, enjoying quotes from famous authors, and other various pop culture activities that could be linked back to reading. Now we all know that this can really grind a bookworm's gears. Who are these imposter's sweeping in and becoming big fans of a book they haven't read?! But we've never really heard what the non-reader's point of view is. That is why in this two-part debate, I will talk from a reader's POV, and then next week my twin sister will guest post on the non-reader's POV. This won't be a place to fight, just an honest confession of utmost feelings.

I can't help but be jealous when  non-readers start obsessing over a book when the movie comes out. I've noticed this especially with John Green's novels, when all of these teenage girls will suddenly come down to earth and start wearing Okay? Okay. t-shirts because Augustus Waters is just oh-so-hot. I'm not going to lie and pretend like I'm just a non-judgemental person and that this stuff doesn't bother me. It does, a lot. But is it the right thing to do?

What mostly pisses me off about this whole situation is just that I feel that people are so quick to judge bookworms: we're nerds, who the hell likes reading anyways?! Or loners with nothing else better to do with our time. However enter a popular teen movie featuring a drop dead gorgeous star, and suddenly these book quotes are spreading on tumblr like wildfire. It almost seems like these people are being hypocritical.

We all know that most of the time, the book's are better. So when people start obsessing over a movie adaption, us bookworms are sitting here in a corner critiquing the entire thing for what was left out, while everyone else just thinks that it's the best damn movie of all time. I think another reason why us bookworms get very protective over books is because we feel like people are missing out if they haven't read the book. It might seem like that people aren't seeing the true beauty and meaning of the book, because they are too focused on the flashy aspects.

What I'm trying to say is, that it's no secret that readers and non-readers of pop culture do not always get along. Speaking from a bookworm's point of view, and I can't speak for all bookworms here, but personally I just don't like the idea of someone not seeing the true message behind a book. Books are truly a work of art, and it is frustrating sometimes when this full beauty is sometimes commercialised to just show what society wants to see, and not what it means to the beholder.

So that's my rant on the subject! Stay tuned next week for part two in which my twin sister will talk about what it's like to enjoy book related topics as a non-reader, and about some of the things she wishes would change.

What's your opinion? Do you get easily annoyed at book pop culture, or do you not mind either way? Join the debate!

Emily @ Paperback Princess