When book recommendations go wrong

If someone’s ever told you to read a book “you’ll love” and you’ve actually loathed it, then you’ll understand the pain and suffering Guardian Book Blogger Darragh McManus has gone through:

Does this mean, when a fellow book lover gives you a book you hate, the person didn’t really know you, or had an erroneous idea of you in their mind? Does it mean you don’t really know yourself? Does it mean the self is fundamentally unknowable, at least through the contents of a bookshelf? Most importantly, does it mean you’ll have to avoid the giver from now until the day one of you dies, just to be spared that excruciatingly awkward moment where they excitedly ask how you liked the book, and you lie unconvincingly to spare their feelings?

Read the full article here