Read Whatever You Want, You're Still a Reader

I'm pissed, so there will be swearing. A LOT of swearing.

I have been in the book business off and on since 1994—more on than off, to be clear—and I have always read genre fiction. This made me an outlier and, to be perfectly honest, an outcast among independent booksellers for a long time. I always found kindred spirits with whom I could talk Romance or Science Fiction or Mystery, but we were like Catholics during the Reformation, recognizing each other by secret hand signals and fearful of exchanging more than whispered recommendations for fear of being caught out by our more literary-minded peers. In time, that started to change. I not only found more indie booksellers who read what I read, but more and more booksellers who may not share my tastes, but accepted and respected them nonetheless.

But, the Old School Independent Booksellers are still out there. They're still gatekeeping. They're still trying to make me feel lesser because I don't read and love the "right" books. (They're still pretty much all older white men.) And in the last couple of months, I've experienced several of them. Today, it just got too much and I cracked. Not in public, because I still have to deal with these assholes in my professional life and I'm not quite ready to be a pariah. But, FUCK THEM. How dare they fucking try to tell me I'm not a reader or a bookseller because I don't swoon over the Dead White Man Canon. How dare they fucking judge me because I like happy endings and magic and shit blowing up. HOW FUCKING DARE THEY.

I'm done. I'm done being quiet. I'm done apologizing for what I choose to read. I'm done sitting back and pretending it's okay that industry newsletters don't review the books that I like to read and sell. I am starting a fucking revolution that shouldn't even need to be a revolution. I am declaring, here and now, that YOU ARE A READER and YOUR BOOK CHOICES ARE WORTHY.

You love Hemingway? Great. Let's have a conversation about why you do and I don't. You haven't read Nora Roberts? Let me try to convince you why you should and why she is a fucking goddess. You don't like Nicholas Sparks? Neither do I, but Jane Doe does. Let's ask her what it is about his books that works for her. We don't have to agree on books or authors. The world would be really boring if we all did that. Instead, let's celebrate the fact that we are all readers and we have found each other. Let's have each others' backs and protect our fellow readers from the scorn of the gatekeepers and tastemakers and anyone else who dares to try to make us feel lesser.

We are the revolution. We read whatever we want. We reject your scorn and your judgment. You have no power over us or our choices. WE WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO MAKE US FEEL LESSER.

Bite me, motherfuckers. Your time is so fucking up.