Today, we see more acceptance and movements to be who you truly are. Something that I would like to see is more acceptance in the literary world. Some of my favorite books are Anna Karenina, One Hundred Years of Solitude, and The Bell Jar. While they may be famous works of literature that you read in AP Lit, none of these books are works of scholarly research, and that’s okay. I often see people on Instagram, YouTube and even Tiktok posting about how they love to read research papers in their free time, or how they consume mass amounts of what is considered “classic” literature. This is not for everyone.  

While I mentioned some of my favorite books that fall under the category of “classics,” I also enjoy books like House of Leaves, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, and Diary of an Oxygen Thief. These have all come out in the last 20 years and I consider them to be on the same level as my previous picks. I love books that mess with my head and make me think critically about my values and even how I read. No one should be shamedashamed offor what forms of entertainment they prefer or whether it is superior to another. At one point in time, even Pride & Prejudice was shunned for not being a classic piece. Reading is all about finding new forms of entertainment and subjects that you are interested in.  

Whether it is John Green, Sarah Dessen, or a comic book series, all book preferences are valid and give their readers the same feeling of happiness. Everyone, at some point or another, is guilty of feeling superior for their taste or looking down on someone else for what they read, or what they don’t. By getting rid of this way of thinking, we will encourage more people to read and find the genre or books that speaks to them. There are 129,864,880 books in the world, one of them must be for you!