On the Threshold, Edmund Blair Leighton (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” We are told this all the time. What it really means, of course, is “Get to know someone before you decide whether or not you like them.” Because, when it comes to books and movies, we all judge them by their cover. We do not read a book before we purchase it. We look at the cover, the title and the blurb, and decide from that. It is similar with movies. We check out the teasers and the trailers and use them to decide whether to bother seeing it or not.
Most of the time, these methods work. After all, we all know what we like, right?
Sometimes, though, we could be missing out on something good.
When I first joined BookCrossing, my reading tastes were quite limited. I loved reading, but most of the books I read were from the same few genres. Being a part of BookCrossing has meant exposure to many books I would not have looked twice at before. One thing that surprised me was how much I enjoyed reading Regency Romance. I hate Mills & Boon type novels, so I thought that I would dislike all romance. I was wrong.
The same applies to movies (well, anime, anyway). I was shocked to discover that I actually enjoy watching yaoi. The reason this is so shocking is because I have absolutely no interest in watching live action gay porn. I have also found that, by watching films that interest other people, I have found some real treasures that I would have turned my nose up at before.
So, when you hear the phrase “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, apply it literally as well as figuratively.
Have you ever been surprised by a book or movie?
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