Dear Book Nerd Episode #9: Is Honesty the Best Policy?
Hey, book nerds! Welcome back. I am joined this week by the philosophical and hilarious Ari Scott , who is a writer for the Upright Citizens Brigade in NYC and AMC Story Notes. Ari and I give advice about to three listeners who are struggling with whether or not it’s a good idea to be honest with people when it comes to book recommendations. We cover red-hot topics such as: can I lie to my friend about having time to read this book she recommended? Should I tell my friend I think this series sucks? And, speaking of series, is it okay to hate Game of Thrones?
Don’t miss it! And thanks for joining me, Ari!
This episode was sponsored by Oyster. Thanks, Oyster!
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QUESTIONS DISCUSSED:
Dear Book Nerd,
What is the best way to gracefully decline book recommendations? I am frequently given books that I have zero interest in reading by people who seem to think I want to read *anything,* since I read a lot. Generally these are book recommendations given to me by the type of person that reads one book a year, “here, I read this book, I thought it was great because I don’t have much comparison. You’d love it, since you LOVE reading. It has words, you seem to like words, so read this book!” But I don’t want to read that book. I’m not against trying new things, but these books really aren’t my bag. I do love reading, and I spend a fair amount of time reading through reviews before deciding to commit my time to reading a particular book, and I really dislike books being dropped on me by people when I already have a 400 to-be-read-doompile. How can I gracefully bow out of reading a book that someone expects me to read?
– Becky
Dear Book Nerd,
A friend of mine recently got me a book for my birthday and was REALLY excited for me to read it. I started it and wasn’t crazy about it, but it’s part of a series and she’s already ready to give me book #2. Should I continue with this mania or risk hurting her feelings by saying “no thanks”?
– Baffled Bookworm BFF
Dear Book Nerd,
Don’t hate me, but I absolutely hated the first book in the “Game of Thrones” series. I’m a huge nerd with everything on my Nerd Resume from Video Gamer to Whovian to Dungeons&Dragons-er and beyond, but the unending exposition of Game of Thrones defeated me. How do I tell people that I hated the book and nothing short of a lump cash sum or a gun to my head is going to induce me to read more? At this point the best I’ve managed is a kind of hemming & hawing about “so many other books to read.” Help?
– Jessica
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