I have a lot of chats with people about books, and usually what happens is that things are going along fine until the person in question finds out that I teach capital-L Literature at a post-secondary institution. Then the conversation shifts and the person feels this need to apologize for their reading taste. “Oh,” he or she will say. “You know, these Tom Clancy books. They’re silly but… Haha. Sorry!”

They’re silly but what? You love them? Awesome! I am stoked that you have a thing you like. Let’s talk about why books are great!