I enjoy reading a wide range of books. Most books I read out in the open, with no hesitation. However, throughout the years there have been a few books I'd rather not be seen reading. I've perfected holding the cover down low, dodging questions by co-workers about what I'm currently reading, and taking off dust-jackets to take away easy recognition.
But, why read these books if they're so embarrassing to read?
There's really only one answer: Because they're a guilty pleasure.
My balance between guilty pleasures and what I think society deems as actual good literature is a fairly 50/50 mix. After all, I think the number one reason why I read is for a sort of escapism effect. Diving into another world far from my own is something I enjoy, because many times, the more serious literary pieces I read tend to touch home in some way or another. And, sometimes, you just want a break and it's easy to jump into someone else's world.
Take Twilight for example; teen vampires that sparkle in the daylight, and a human who ends up forming a fairly unhealthy relationship with one of them. In that one sentence synopsis that seems to be thrown around a lot by Twilight critics, it's not particularly something I would think would grab my attention nor something I would typically find as "good literature." But, during my sophomore year in college, when my friends started telling me I just had to read it, I decided to give it a go.
Although while reading the books I hid them under my desk while in class, covered as much of the cover as I could while on the train, and tried not to get into any conversations about the books while in public... in the end, I loved the story of Bella and Edward.
I've never quite been a Twi-Hard. I just can't bring myself to defend the series that much. But, as someone who is a sucker for true love, and is a hopeless romantic in her heart of hearts... I have to say I actually love the series. With my rose colored goggles on I don't see their relationship as unhealthy, as much as it is beautiful. Of course, the key phrase here is "rose colored goggles," because, as I said before, it's a guilty pleasure.
I think another key reason why I like some books that are fairly embarrassing to admit to read, is because they're so different from what my personality actually is in real life.
Gossip Girl, a series I read throughout middle school and high school, was a fun way to look at another world. One in a large city, not rural Iowa. One where rich, well dressed people partied in hotels and famous clubs, not at a place outdoors on a back gravel road. It may have been completely outlandish and nothing close to reality... but it was also one of the books that made me think "what else is out there." A thought that has stayed with me ever sense.
There was hardly any substance, and it was basically a teenage magazine in the form of a fiction book, so it was most definitely a guilty pleasure. But, I don't think that just because a book is a guilty pleasure, it also has to mean the book has to substance.
The more I think about the books I read that fall into the guilty pleasure category, the more I think about how important they are in the world of literature. They're a release, and they might even offer new insight or help push your boundaries.
Every book you read has some sort of value, somewhere within the pages, guilty pleasure or not.
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