Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpha o
Get marketing out of awards and read what you enjoy.
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I would agree ... except for one small change: I would say "read whatever it is that motivates you to read
more." Be it enjoyment, or entertainment, or challenge, or inspiration, or what-have-you.
Many make the mistake of believing readers are motivated by the same things; so naturally, things like "enjoy," "appreciate," "entertaining," "good," and "value" tend to get conflated. People read for different reasons (for some people, that reason might even change from book to book).
There will never be a consensus about what is "good" (especially as it pertains to award-worthy), so there's no real point in trying to achieve such a consensus.
Understanding what motivates people other than yourself to read is well and good, but it's not really all that necessary either.
Allowing/tolerating reasons/criteria other than your own is where the middle-ground comes from.
Some days I want to be entertained ... some days I want to be challenged. I don't see either as being a particularly "better" (or worse) criteria for determining a book's value.