No Time for Toxic Readers
I’m a lifelong reader whose childhood personal library was tiny and very carefully curated by suspicious, non-fiction-reading parents. I had a few fiction classics (thank you Scholastic!), quite a number of acceptable Christian fiction (some of them handed down through a couple of generations), an old book of Anderson’s and Perrault's fairy tales, and a selection of non-fiction biographies that I read repeatedly throughout my elementary and high-school years.
The Little House (9 Volumes Set)The Early Works of Grace Livingston Hill (26-in-1). Marcia Schuyler, Phoebe Deane, Miranda, The Best Man, Lo Michael and more!: Classic Christian Romance!Love Comes Softly/Love's Enduring Promise/Love's Long Journey/Love's Abiding Joy (Love Comes Softly Series 1-4)Growing up, I didn’t care if the books on my shelves were fiction or non-fiction. I just cared about whether or not they were interested. I wanted to get pulled into the story, into the experience. I wanted to live vicariously through the writer and characters. In short, I wanted to read. Everything.
When I left home, used bookstores became my favorite places to shop. I started collecting books. All kinds of books. Every genre. I also visited libraries and read widely and deeply. I developed an absolute love of books.
I always knew that there were people in the world who weren’t as enamored of books as I was. I grew up in an atmosphere where “secular” books were viewed with suspicion and to be read only after careful scrutiny and determination that nothing in them was “inappropriate.” Even Christian literature (of every genre) was chosen based on others’ recommendations. As an adult, ready and able to make her own choices, I reveled in the freedom to read what I wanted based on my own understanding of the texts and shared my love with other readers — most with different tastes and preferences, but with enough common ground for enjoyable conversations.
It wasn’t until I joined a half-dozen book groups on Facebook, that I discovered that there were readers who claimed to adore reading but actually delighted in shredding authors and their books. It surprised me. I didn’t expect that kind of behavior from people who willingly joined a book-themed group.
Even though it’s been a couple of years now, it still bothers me when someone writes the odd posts about how if they find a grammatical error it “ruins the entire book for me!” Or how [insert popular author’s name] is a talentless hack and anyone who reads [the popular author’s] work is borderline illiterate and should be ashamed of their reading choices.
I’ve written reviews of books I thoroughly enjoyed written by authors whose talent moved by, only to have those reviews criticized and the writers I respected raked over the coals. Sometimes the commenters hadn’t even read the book to which I was referring but were furious that anyone had the audacity to suggest that the author they hated had talent.
Now that I’m writing full-time, I’m on the receiving end of reader reviews and they’ve been overwhelmingly generous. I did, however, get a two-star rating. Since I try to be a conscientious author, I wanted to read why I receive the low rating, but there wasn’t a review attached. Just two stars, no explanation. Okay. Some people don’t like to leave reviews. Later, I discovered that the same person’s rating was also on Goodreads, along with their profile. It turned out that they had read only one book — mine. Which made me wonder, did the person start a Goodreads account just to give me a bad rating? Considering the subject matter that I write, I assumed that sooner or later I’d be stepping on somebody’s toes, so I shrugged off the two-stars and chalked it up to that.
The sad truth is that there are people in this world who take great delight in pulling others down. For some reason it makes them feel better. A critique is fine — great even. It can open a dialog and an exchange of ideas. I’ve had some amazing conversations with people I don’t agree with. Usually, we can find the middle ground and explore ideas on the topics we’re discussing. What doesn’t work, is the immediate dismissal of someone else’s creation or opinion.
I’m learning to avoid those people. Of course, embarking on my new career as a writer of contemporary Christian fiction means that sooner or later those toxic readers will find me. In the meantime, I’ll keep writing, keep connecting with my supportive readers, and keep bopping around the new Imagine Dragons song, No Time for Toxic People.
https://medium.com/media/4f8214936ef8b919edd152cdbb4f3514/hrefIf you’re a lover of books, remember that every book was created by an author who put their heart and soul into their work. Maybe you don’t care for their genre or subject matter or their use of language or cadence, and that’s okay. Offer the critique. But be kind.
