Book Snobbery

Submitted: 19th July 2026

Book Snobbery

A subject that has followed me through my entire life. Why should someone tell you want you can or can’t read. What books are better or more worthy than others? Reading is reading. You read what you want when you want. No book snobbery is allowed anywhere near me. I read a whole range of books, genres etc. I consume books whether they be audio, print, ebook etc….

But a few things I remember from my reading life

A teacher telling me I should read something more ‘highbrow’ than Stephen King. So the next day, I took in a stack of Stephen King books and put them on my desk in front of her. She looked at me, said nothing then told my mum. My mum treated me with ice cream and the Stephen King I didn’t have.

A relative once told my mum that she should encourage me to read more literary and classic books (her teenager went to private school and read only the classics and literary novels apparently). Mun again took me to the library and we took out a huge selection of books including Great Expectations where the main character Pip desperately tries to shed his working-class roots after coming into wealth, behaving as though he is above his working class family. We gave a copy to this relative for Xmas. Haha my mum was BRUTAL!

Learning about banned books and then asking my mum what they were. ‘Sometimes people only want to see their version of the world.” I’ve never forgotten this and always tried to put myself in others shoes when reading and in life in general. I may not always agree with what they think and do, but understanding where they come from is a skill for life. That Christmas I was given a selection of banned books with ‘ Love Mum’ on it and asked if I could tell why they were banned. So a serious subject made into a game AND presents. Top parenting!

Sometimes, if you are from a working class background, people will judge what you should and shouldn’t read. I think that’s why sometimes children struggle to read and be interested in books. Yes, it’s all well reading Jane Austen but what about books relevant to children today? Why not read and study a selection? We don’t all have two parents with good jobs, go to private school and go to university and think we ‘have a job more worthy than someone else’s’.

Books are a way to level the playing field and give everyone the chance to open their world.

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