Let people read whatever they want!

Yes, let people read whatever they want. As someone who posts book content on social media, I came across lots of posts where readers are bullying other readers and I don't understand this hate. People are hating each other for not reading books that according to them are valuable and superior, they have problem if someone's just reading for entertainment or brainrot. Social Media bullying is normalised so much nowadays that no one even talks about it much.

I am a literature student, I read classics and I read popular romance too. I’ll read Othello for class, I’ll read Animal Farm, and other politically heavy and layered texts. As a literature student, reading classics is part of my everyday life.

But then I’ll happily pick up Twisted Love, The Housemaid, or Powerless. I can read classics and "valuable" books and after that I can read anything fictional I want. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. I don’t see the contradiction

What I do see though is a strange divide in the book community especially on social media. I’ve seen people troll each other. I’ve seen classic readers mock romance readers. I’ve seen comments that imply that reading “easy” books somehow makes you less intelligent.

And that’s where I have a problem!

Some classic readers attach morality to difficulty as if, if a book is heavy, it’s superior. When in reality, fictional writing also comes in creative writing, art, and a form of literature.

Not everyone reads for intellectual validation. Not everyone reads to dissect society or analyze political structures. Some people read to relax. Some read to laugh. Some read to escape.

And there is nothing wrong with that.

There is nothing wrong with reading Ana Huang.

There is nothing wrong with reading popular fiction.

There is nothing wrong with reading something that is simply entertaining.

In fact, the ability to move between genres to read classics one week and popular fiction the next is strong. Reading mix genres or broader themes doesn't deserve trolling and hate.

Your bookshelf does not need to impress anyone. It does not need to prove your intelligence. It does not need to meet anyone else’s standard of “serious” and “valuable”.

Let people read whatever they want - classics, romance, thriller, fantacy, young adult... As long as it's not degrading anyone or being problematic, let them be.

At the end of the day, at least people are reading. And that should be enough!