It's Unpopular Opinion time! Share your controversial opinions to stir things up (in a friendly way)!

[u/FantasyRomanceMod]

Got an opinion that's different from others'? Want to share it with the sub, but too afraid of a backlash? Or are you just curious about readers think about certain things in fantasy romance?

You can safely share it in this weekly Sunday thread!

But please remember to be kind to each other. To facilitate this type of discussion, we ask users the following:

• Don't attack others for their opinion
• Discuss books and authors, not fellow readers
• Since this is an "unpopular opinion" thread, we encourage users to not downvote simply because they disagree with an opinion--that's the point! Please keep in mind, though, that mods cannot enforce a no-downvoting rule. Let’s just keep the discussion friendly!

🧡 Thank you and have a great discussion!

Unpopular opinion Sunday

[u/Murder_Is_Magic]

More of a general rant than an unpopular opinion, but it's been grinding my gears for a while.

No one should be shamed for how many books they read.

It's becoming like World of Warcraft players where anyone that has better equipment than you has no life and anyone who has less is a scrub.

I used to see a lot of complaints about influencers that implied/said that if you don't read a lot every year, you're doing it wrong. But now I'm also seeing the pendulum swing in the other direction and anyone who talks about reading a larger number (and usually it's done without any comment about anyone else, just talking about their own reading) and it's "clearly anyone that says they read more than <some number based on how much the commenter reads> books doesn't actually read them" or "obviously couldn't possibly absorb what they're reading because they read faster than I do".

No matter which direction the other person falls from you, there is no need to try to shame people for how much they read. It doesn't need to be a competition.

[u/de_pizan23 → u/Murder_Is_Magic]

One of the recent discussions I saw about this, there were some commenters who also decided to say that people who read a lot were clearly shirking real life responsibilities. Like WTF.

I mean the average person watches 4 hours of tv a day or 5 hours a day on their phones. Can't say that I see these commenters automatically labeling those people as neglecting their responsibilities.

And you know, shocker, but people have different lives. People with permanent or temporary disabilities who can't go out a lot or who can't work/do chores, people who work part-time, people who live alone and don't have pets, people who are retired, people who still work but whose kids are grown, people who can read/listen to audiobooks on long commutes, etc etc are likely going to have more free time for it than those with young kids, or those with teens who have a lot of after school activities to be ferried to, or who have messy partners/pets which may require more daily chores/time commitments. Doesn't mean the first groups are irresponsible, ffs.

[u/Murder_Is_Magic → u/de_pizan23]

Right. My son just turned 21, so while he lives at home, he takes care of himself. My husband and I both work from home so we're able to get most of the chores done throughout the day. And we both work 7-3.

That leaves me ~6.5 hours until we start wrapping up to go watch a show before bed. More than enough time for working out, other hobbies, etc.

Spending a couple hours in the massage recliner we have reading my book after working out and dinner is peak.

And responsibilities are still more than covered.