Murder by Death

So I woke up this morning to someone calling me a "literary bigot".

My cozy mystery group is doing the PopSugar 2015 Challenge and many members are signing up but saying they might not be able to do them all because one prompt or another was going to trip them up.  A particular member is very passionate about this challenge and the importance of doing ALL of them.  Earnestly passionate, and eager to recommend books to anyone struggling to find ones that fit.

When she told one member if they weren't going to do all of them, they shouldn't bother doing any of them, I commented that I totally got what she was saying, but that any attempt at the list was a win, because the reader was expanding their horizons.  I said, I too, was going to struggle to do them all because none of the pulitzer winners looked interesting*, I dislike books set in the future (generally speaking), and I HATE books that make me cry and I'm not going to read one on purpose.  She replied with several recommendations for SF books for the future setting (which was very kind) and I replied back with thank you, but I really dislike SF more than I dislike future settings.

Then I woke up this morning to the literary bigot comment.  I don't think she meant it as confrontational as it came across (although how can 'bigot' NOT be confrontational?) - I think, from context of the whole post, she was under the impression I had never tried SF before, or maybe only one or two books and I just wasn't giving it a chance.  I was un-necessarily limiting my reading scope based on ill-informed prejudices.  I think.  She went on to recommend more books (she's very well-read).

I responded kindly (I hope) and thanked her again, but told her my feelings about SF were based on trying many SF books and pointed out that words like "bigot" were very loaded and probably shouldn't be used as a label just because someone doesn't like something you like.  

Overall, an interesting way to start my day.  I always expected I was judged for what I read, because, come on, cosy mysteries, but I was rather taken aback to be labelled for what I didn't read.  I guess I shouldn't have been, but I was.

Luckily, the whole thing felt, strangely, very mild, unlike some of the things my fellow BL'ers have had to endure and hopefully the whole thing will end as peacefully as it began.

* - I have since found two possibilities for the Pulitzer category, both non-fiction:  Guns, Germs and Steel or The History of the Atomic Bomb.  Anyone read both?  Opinions on which one?

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UPDATE:  The person in question has since replied back to the group, and me, allowing that 'bigot' was the wrong word to use and apologised for any offence.  She was very high-class about it, so this ended as well as could be hoped, given where it could have gone.