First and foremost, this is my blog, ergo, this is my turf and whatever I say goes. Yes, I’m bossy, but what else can you expect from a Virgo?

Secondly, I love reading ROMANCES. Reading has always been therapeutic for me. It allows me to temporarily escape life’s harsh realities and rediscover the simplest meanings of joy. So, my point is, my first and foremost reason for reading is to entertain myself. That’s why I don’t mind if the book I’m reading hasn’t any “critical” or “literal” worth. I don’t mind at all. In fact, I’m uber grateful to them for giving me one more reason to like life. I’m sure many people think the same.

Stephen King is my idol. He used to be ashamed of the commercial success of his books but not anymore. Yey! Thank God he’s seen the light! Thank God he now appreciates his books the way we’ve always appreciated it. Now, he doesn’t see anything bad about writing stories that his readers like to read.

Yes, horror books are basically the same: something scary comes out and it’s up to the author if he wants the hero to live or die in the end. Romance books are the same. They talk about love. Period. But c’mon, all kinds of books – even those considered for “intellectual-heavyweights-only” can be dissected that way: they’ve discovered something new and explained about it. ‘Nuff said.

If I need to ponder about life, I just read Theo digest. If I need to learn about science, I read the Smithsonian newsletter I receive periodically. If I need to know about the news, I’ve got Newsweek delivered to our doorstep regularly. And if I need to relax, I read books that entertain me like the Shopaholic series, Davidson’s Undead, Kellerman’s Delaware series, and so forth.

I want to read a story that’s fun. I don’t think it’s a sin to read one that doesn’t teach us any new mind-boggling concept. I think it’s enough that these books just make us laugh and feel good about ourselves. That’s more than what I can say for other people.

I absolutely HATE IT when people assume readers and fans of commercially successful books are stupid. Uh, sorry, we’re not. I am not a graduate of any of the top universities and colleges but I can confidently tell you that I’m not stupid. Besides the fact that the IQ tests I was required to take in school strongly refute this all the time, I can also point out that I’ve learned how to speak conversational Japanese – fit for level 3 proficiency, with the ability to read and write Hiragana and Katakana as well as basic Kanji words – in one week…or five days to be exact. And then two weeks for conversational Spanish. Oh, and when I was in frosh high school, I read the whole encyclopedia set during the summer…in detail.

I can tell you who Kant is, narrate the synopsis of Midsummer’s Night Dream, discuss WWII strategies, explain about Pluto’s demotion, and elaborate on the ramifications of Abe’s resignation. Oh and yeah, I have a great life and I’m happy with God and my family. I absolutely do not believe that my life will dissolve into obscurity just because I’m not entirely in agreement with what the “intellectuals” and “literary critics” are telling us. I respect and admire them but that’s it. I think many of them are very biased.

If they think the works we ordinary humans like are works of “low IQ” and “immaterial” then so be it. But as long as this is my blog then it’s what this “low-IQ” female has to say that only counts.