Eclectic Taste

I've always thought that I have pretty eclectic tastes in reading. Lately I've realised that my tastes, are only mildly eclectic, are restricted in the main to novels, and fall into the general categories of "Contemporary" , Sci-Fi, Detective and Cult fiction. For all that, it seems diverse to me.

A couple of days ago I was reading a comment from Bookslut about Nick Hornby's article. "I like Nick Hornby, but was anyone actually waiting for his permission to read whatever they want? I'd say: Read what you want and develop a thick skin." You know what though? I think some of us actually were waiting for someone like Nick Hornby to say that it's okay to read whatever you enjoy. Yes, that's a bit sad. But the book world is set up like that - some works are considered more "worthy" than others.

That's not to say that I don't want critical reviews on books, because I do. But there's a difference between the critics giving a constructive opinion, and readers (or other critics) belittling what other people want to read. Every reader, his or her book, right?