I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that some people enjoy reading as a pastime. It's not always analyzing a text to death the way we're taught to do in our high school English classes. I personally find reading a book just as enjoyable as watching a good movie or tv show. In school, we were praised by our teachers for reading.

However, not everyone loves reading, and that's okay. If the most you want to read is Facebook post that's fine. You are not lesser just because you don't want to read a 300+ page novel.

However, something I will not tolerate is reader shame. Doesn't matter what kind it is, whether it's shamming someone for the format they read, the genre they read or just reading in general, that's not okay.

First of all, why would you shame someone for reading? Especially if it's something that brings them joy and happiness (and the occasional tears over dead fictional characters). Unless that person is smacking someone over the head with their book, they're not hurting you or anyone with their reading.

Making fun of someone for their taste in books is also not cool. Two genres, in particular, seem to be seen as "lesser" by some people in the book world: romance and young adult. What's wrong with romance? Most of us want to find love, so why not read a book about someone finding love?

Also, side note: I don't understand why young adult is considered a genre. The term young adult is used in the publishing industry to target a certain age group, not a specific genre. Within young adult, there's romance, fantasy, science fiction, contemporary fiction. You can't put all young adult books under one cap.

I know more adults than teenagers who read young adult and have been shamed for reading it. I myself sometimes feel the need to shield a book I'm reading in public just because I'm reading a book that's considered "for teenagers" and I'm in my 20's now and should be reading "adult books." Well here's the thing, I haven't run into many books that I'm interested in that are about college students. I go to school, I hang out with my friends and I still rely on my parents for support. I relate more to the characters who are still in high school and are uncertain of the future rather than the ones who own a house, pay a ton of bills and sent their kids off to school. Besides, there are young adult books that deal with mature topics and have compelling stories and characters (I'm looking at you the Hate U Give).

Another kind of reader shame that I don't see often but does exist, are shaming people for the way they read. For example, shaming someone for using an e-book rather than reading a physical book. Now I will always choose a physical book over a digital one for personal reasons, but I don't think it's fair to discredit someone who likes the e-readers. After all, they are convenient since you can download hundreds of books. Plus you can adjust the font and this can be a huge help someone who might have vision problems.

Also, audiobooks count as reading. You're still consuming the same story that was written out, you're just listening to it being told to you rather than seeing the words on the page. Some people prefer this method. Some people are visually impaired, is it fair to expect them to read a physical book?

Anyway, my point is that you should never shame someone for reading because then you are shaming them for doing something that they love. And shouldn't we all be able to do the things we love without being worried that we'll be harshly judged by others?