BTT: Peer Pressure

I was looking through books yesterday at the shops and saw all the Twilight books, which I know basically nothing about. What I do know is that I’m beginning to feel like I’m the *only* person who knows nothing about them.

Despite being almost broke and trying to save money, I almost bought the expensive book (Australian book prices are often completely nutty) just because I felt the need to be ‘up’ on what everyone else was reading.

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?

Well, seeing as Twilight is currently sitting on the top of my tbr pile, I'm going to have to say 'yes' ... at least to some extent.

Do I feel pressured to read a book that is being raved about? No, I wouldn't say "pressured". However, it is very hard to form an opinion either way on the 'book of the moment' without having read it. If there is a book that I find coming up in conversation a lot - whether that be in person or online - I try to find a couple reviews of it to get a feel for the book before I buy it or go through all the hassle of tracking down a copy.

I am of the opinion, however, that if a book is receiving a lot of attention (whether that attention be positive or negative) then it is likely for a good reason and is probably worthy of a closer look. And being a person who likes to be able to have a good book conversation every once in a while, I do try to keep on top of some of the more popular books.

At the end of the day, if a book is being talked about a lot then I'm going to check it out, but there are far too many books that I want to read to waste time reading a book I'm not enjoying just because every one else is.