“Should” makes me grumpy. It makes me look at books I definitely otherwise want to read and suddenly feel resistant. It makes me think I don’t want to read things. I get this cranky kneejerk response to being told I should read things, even though, like every other enthusiastic book recommender on the planet, I have absolutely gushed, “Holy CATS you should TOTALLY read this book!” more than once in my life. More than many times.
I love this. I'm as guilty of anyone saying I "should" read something (nonfiction, a big author, whatever), and as the writer notes here, the "should read" mentality is often internally driven as much as being told by other folks what to do. And like her, I've also been that person telling other folks how much they should read something, something I might need to keep in check.
The whole piece is worth a read.