A conundrum of technology.

[Ashlynn]

I know the topic of racy cover art has come up in the forums but it occurred to me last night, that when reading in public I tend to feel more comfortable with my Kindle cause there is no smutty cover art. Yet thanks to GoodReads I have no problem showing all of Facebook exactly what I am reading. Just thought it was kind of a funny that strangers judging my book by it's cover seems more troubling than my friends and family doing the same. Though I suppose I'm never really that bothered by the whole thing anyway. When I was younger I was more embarrassed to be reading something with dragons on the cover than I am now to have people see half naked couples. But still there is a certain stigma which is sometimes attributed. I was just wondering if anyone has else experienced this? Or had any thoughts on the matter.

[Vicky]

You know... I never thought about it like that, but I do a similar thing.

I still live with my parents (and for a short time my great-aunt) and I was in the habit of turning my books upside down on the table when I left them outside of my bedroom so they didn't see them.

However, my Grandmother is on Facebook and sees my Goodreads feed there.

I don't do much reading in public, but I think that reading novels with racy covers (or doing anything outside the "norm" for that matter) around strangers is more likely to make you feel judged. Strangers are more likely to stereotype you based on what they see you reading or doing. People you know probably know you well enough not to push you into the stereotype corner.

[Ashlynn]

I think perhaps it speaks a lot to the "anonymity" of the internet. We tend not to think about what we put out there on the internet quite as much as we do if we were face to face. Now ultimately in this case I don't really care who knows what I'm reading. I just kind of thought it was interesting to think about.

[Corvus]

I will say one thing: using my kindle or even the kindle app on my phone makes it easier to read certain types of books at work...^_^

[Leesa]

When I was younger and read romance novels a lot, I didn't care about the cover.

Then I quit reading romance novels for about 15 years.

Slight tangent: I borrowed an urban fantasy book from a friend (one of the Dresden Files books). Since I take a book with me everywhere, I would be pulling the book in and out of my purse and as a result the books would get beaten up. I beat up the borrowed book so much, I was embarrassed to return it in its present condition, so I ended up buying my friend a new book.

Right after that, I went and bought a couple of book covers at B&N, which solved the problem of beat up books really well.

And now back to how this relates to this topic, it now serves to keep the cover away from nosey and judgmental eyes.