✨ Welcome back to another week of LTB! ✨
Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and co-hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits and myself! In this discussion meme, participants get to talk about certain topics, share opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! Learn more about LTB, past topics and future topics HERE.
This week’s topic is:
Guilty Pleasure Reads
Prompts: Do you agree with the term since it has a somewhat “negative” connotation? Should you feel ashamed or “guilty” for enjoying a certain genre or non-traditional type of book (i.e. graphic novels, manga)? What books do you love or are on your TBR do you think would be considered “guilty pleasures” by others?
Do you agree with the term “guilty pleasure” since it has a somewhat “negative” connotation?
I used to use the term “guilty pleasure” a lot until a couple of years ago when someone mentioned how the term is always used with a negative framing to justify liking or enjoying something that the majority don’t. Once they pointed that out, it got me thinking about why we feel guilty for liking something that others don’t, and since then, I’ve pretty much stopped using it because I don’t feel guilty for liking these things and if I enjoy them, why should I feel guilty? 🤷🏻♀️
Should you feel ashamed or “guilty” for enjoying a certain genre or non-traditional type of book (i.e. graphic novels, manga)?
Emphatically, no, you shouldn’t ever feel ashamed or guilty for enjoying a genre or type of book. If you’ve been around the book community for any amount of time, you’ll probably notice that there is always book drama around people policing how and what others choose to consume. Like clockwork, these arguments are recycled at least twice a year because people can’t mind their business. Many in society are incapable of letting others enjoy what and how they read, especially if it doesn’t subscribe to their idea of what constitutes “real reading”— whatever that means!
Oof, I’m getting heated just thinking about it! 😬
From personal experience, I used to feel ashamed for reading romance and/or YA as I used to think that people wouldn’t take me seriously when I’d say “I’m a reader” and they learned those were the genres I read. Looking back, it’s really so silly because why does it make me any less of a “real reader” just because I read certain types of books? It doesn’t. I don’t like how the term “guilty pleasure” reinforces those negative ideas and that’s a big part of why I’ve stopped using the term (and not just for books either but for all things that I enjoy).
Unfortunately for all of us, there are always going to be people who think books that aren’t classics or non-fiction aren’t serious and therefore, are a waste of time to read. There are also going to be people who don’t think certain books count as reading if consumed differently (i.e. audiobooks, graphic novels, etc). So, honestly?
Read whatever you want however you want. Devour those erotic romances and enjoy the heck out of those swoony characters and their steamy moments! Pick up those middle-grade books that bring you joy. Check out those graphic novels and how amazingly they bring stories to life through incredible artwork and illustrations. Listen to those audiobooks and read 20, 30, or 40 books a month because you can fly through them and yes, it still counts as reading! And (once again) no, you don’t have to feel guilty for enjoying them!
What books do you love on your TBR do you think would be considered “guilty pleasures” by others?
I think most of the books I read would fall under what people consider to be “guilty pleasures” because I’m mainly a romance reader. I’m highlighting several that I don’t consider guilty pleasures but I’ve seen others call them so. I rated all of these 3+ stars (most are 4+) and I would recommend them if you want to check out historical, erotic, monster, or alien romances! 😉
Don’t forget to check out the other bloggers who joined the discussion this week! 👇🏽
Lin @ Lin’s Perspective
Emma @ Pages of Emma
Elle @ Unwrapping Words
Leyre @ Read You Leyre
Yolanda @ Past Midnight
Raji @ Worlds Unlike Our Own
Abyssal Librarian
Laurie @ Laurie is Reading
Rachael @ The Green Tea Librarian
Shoto @ Magic & Maybes
Felice @ Tea and Cats and Books
Julie @ Bookflowerpath
If I’ve missed your post this week, don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments and I’ll add you to this week’s list of community posts ASAP!
That’s it for today’s guilty pleasure topic! I got a bit heated in my answers and I’m sorry but I just want people to enjoy reading whatever they want however they want without others making them feel guilty for it. Do you like the term ‘guilty pleasure’? What books do you read that would be considered guilty pleasures?
dinipandareads 
Totally agree with you! The phrase riles me up haha. I’ve never used it myself because I have never had any shame with what I choose to do or read, and I think it just adds to the barriers that stop people picking up books!
So many people I know have read and loved Milking Farm… it’s not my usual but gosh I am intrigued!
Here’s my post for this week:
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Yep, 100% agreeing with you. Why should the pleasure of reading ever be guilty?
I’ve really never been able to work out why some people care so much what other people are reading either…
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Great post! I love reading romance and I don’t feel any guilt LOL.
My post: https://laurieisreading.com/2025/03/21/lets-talk-bookish-guilty-pleasure-reads/
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Yes, yes. Read what ever you want and don’t ever worry about what other people might think. I’m not sure about audio books letting you fly through them though. The last one I read was hours and hours😳😳
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What a great take on this! Absolutely agreed with you, and I’m sorry to hear that in the past you were forced to feel guilty for your reading choices.
Oh, there always is someone playing judge and dictating what and when and how one should read lol I always see those people are clowns and just laugh it off not taking them seriously because why should I?
Every medium, every genre, every page, every format counts! No shame nor giult should be reinforced when it comes to reading (unless it involves sexualisation of children and it promotes any type of sexual relationship with a minor, it this is my limit and only instance when I do judge if you enjoy paedophilic content, but this is my take on it) other than that read whatever.
Greag post and topic 🙂
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I loved this topic! It’s a topic I too get heated about!!
https://acuppabooks.kimdeister.com/friday-meme-ing-2/
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[…] This meme was created by Rukky @ Eternity Books and hosted by Aria @ Book Nook Bits and Dini @ Dini Panda Reads. Check out their blogs on details on how to participate! This is this week’s post to link yours. […]
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I actually don’t think in guilty plessure.. I’d say my fave genres are this, this and this and that’s it.. 😅
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I totally agree with you! People should be allowed to read what they like without feeling guilty over it.
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I didn’t even think about YA when I wrote my post, but absolutely, there is a lot of shame around reading or writing it.
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I agree with you! You should definitely not feel guilty for loving something. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned not to give an F about what people think. I used to not share that I review romance, now I don’t. I share them with anyone who asks and even give recommendations if they ask. Some people smirk when I mention romance but I don’t really care. Life is too short to care what other people think.
This is a good discussion, Dini! I was supposed to participate, but was too busy to blog this week 🙂
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I don’t really like the terminology “guilty pleasure”. I think it as terminology used to punish yourself, like “I know I shouldn’t do this but…” Either don’t do whatever it is or make the decision to do it and be happy with your choice.
People who mind their own business. I read primarily Christian romance but that doesn’t mean that I would chastise someone for not reading it. I visit all types of blogs with all types of readers. I think it’s fun.
Great discussion!
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I agree! “Guilty pleasure” doesn’t make sense to me when it comes to books. Reading doesn’t hurt anyone, so I don’t see a reason to feel guilty.
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Hey everyone! Check out my new blog post too! I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!
https://bookfllwerpath.art/2025/03/22/guilty-pleasure-reads-lets-talk-bookish/
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Definitely agree with your takes on this – people seem to not consider certain genres as “real reading” so I also kinda saw them as less than until recently when I realized there’s no shame in enjoying the books I enjoy!
This is my LTB: https://booksandblah.wordpress.com/2025/03/21/lets-talk-bookish-guilty-pleasure-reads/
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[…] Let’s Talk Bookish: Guilty Pleasure Reads […]
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Yeah, I never know how to answer when someone asks that in a prompt or something. And I get quite agitated when someone tries to make someone feel guilty about something they read. It’s fiction for a reason.
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Wow this might be one of the best LTB topics ever! I love seeing how many of us have really strong opinions about the term guilty pleasure and how it reinforces the idea that you should feel ashamed for enjoying something that doesn’t meet societal expectations, when in reality, the only person who gets to decide what you like is you.
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I’ve never really taken the term guilty pleasure very seriously, so it didn’t upset me (and I’m guessing I’ve probably used it?), but I definitely don’t feel guilty for reading ANYTHING I want to read (in whatever form I want to read it). I can see how the term could be incendiary, though – especially when it’s used to label books you love.(I actually just went back to my blog to search and found I used this term for watching The Circle on Netflix. No actual guilt involved, but when I watched that show I was 100% watching for mindless entertainment purposes. Guess I should just say it that way!)
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