Do I feel mocked by literary snobs? No. Do I feel judged for my reading choices? Yes.

I read for personal gratification, so I feel compelled to read the books that reflect my fancies and to interpret those books in a way that reflects my outlook on life. Being mocked for my choice of books is irrelevant because I'm reading for myself, rather than reading for others. Yet I still feel judged because I feel as though people will define who I am based upon a single book. The thing is, a single book says as much about my literary tastes as a single meal says about my culinary tastes, and neither says who I am as a person.

There are, after all, many reasons for doing something. Sometimes we'll do something out of curiosity. We may read a book to see what the fuss is about or to see the world through someone else's eyes. Sometimes we'll do something, but experience it in a totally different way from the next person. I'm a fan of science fiction. People read science fiction for different reasons: as social commentary or precautionary tales, for a sense of adventure or imaginative extrapolation, and doubtlessly many other things. I know why I read it, but does the person doing the judging know?