This week's prompt from Booking Through Thursday:
Have you ever felt pressured to read something because ‘everyone else’ was reading it? Have you ever given in and read the book(s) in question or do you resist? If you are a reviewer, etc, do you feel it’s your duty to keep up on current trends?
Hm. . . I haven't really felt pressured to read anything just because other people are reading it.
But then again, I may be weird that way. I was one of just about two or three girls in my sixth grade class who didn't like New Kids on the Block-- a "boy band" from the late 80s/early 90s. Or at least I was one of the few who didn't at least pretend to like them. (shrug) I was also never "peer pressured" into smoking, drinking, or doing drugs. Whether this is because I've always been a strong-minded individual who refuses to be made to do what I don't want to do or merely because no-one wanted to "peer pressure" me, I can't say-- but obviously I prefer the former explanation. (g)
(As far as the alcohol and drugs go, it probably helped that I was never in a situation where underage drinking and drug-use were happening, as far as I can recall. Frankly, I probably would've been scared to death, if I had been, so thoroughly had it been pounded into my brain that those things were dangerous.)
With that said, I have read (do read and will read) books that I see are popular. I figure that if that many people enjoy them, I might, too. However, I don't feel obliged to pretend to like them, myself, if I don't-- and I'm likely to be more cautious with praise of a popular book than I am with something more obscure.
This holds true for other things, too. For instance, I like some Beatles songs, but I'm less likely to ooh and ahh over The Beatles than, say, The Wailin' Jennys. Why? Someone has to act as a counterbalance for all the silly people who worship things simply because everyone else is doing it. ;o)
Oh, and I'm not a reviewer, so maybe I needn't bother with that part of the question, but no, I don't feel that it's my "duty" to read anything I don't want to read. Maybe back in school, this was more of an issue, but as things now stand, no.
. . . I think this wandered far enough from the original topic. . .
