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In the book A History of Reading, Alberto Manguel wrote something I always liked, and that was that we as individuals read everything through the lens of what we've read before. The implication is that no two people experience any book in the same way.
I'll read classics or books published last week, as long as I have some hope that they'll be good (which for me implies some sort of literary merit). When I dislike a book, most of the time I try to remind myself that it's probably more my fault than the author's, and that there are plenty more books on the horizon. I don't beat myself up if I find some "classic" or a modern prize-winner to be mind-numbingly tedious and set it aside. I've done the English degree, I'm reading for pleasure now.
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