"I've never heard of that book!"

Wow, then I should give you a list of books I am sure he has never heard of before..lol

I've already got one. All the books I've ever brought to school with me. Eventually I'm just going to tell him that I'll be shocked if he has heard of what I'm reading.

Surprise! A book everyone knows about (and wants). lol (Can't say I've ever been there) It's not the not knowing about a book that bothers me... it's the fact they feel they have to tell me. (I have one friend who's super over-dramatic with it too. He goes "I've NEVER even HEARD of that book!" like it's a crime for me to ever read something he hasn't heard of. )

First of all, I do apologize, ally, for not going through the rest of your discussion before posing my viewpoint. And your response still makes me feel that just because of that one guy at your college, you've got prejudiced against one and all who asks this question. You do hide your irritation, of course; mask it with the air of politeness on your part. But you shouldn't have to do that. Even though they do mean disrespect to your choices, it should not bother you at the slightest. What you like to read is none of their concern, nor will you be changing your favourites if that is not according to their tastes. I'm telling you all this because I have gone through these experiences frequently, when people have ridiculed me in more open terms than this for liking Harry Potter or even for that matter, Lord of the Rings. They say that they fell asleep on the very second page itself, and could not bear the movie for more than 15 minutes!!! But why will I feel hurt or challenged by the opinions of others? They like something, I like something else. That does not make me a weirdo. If they critcize me for that, it only shows their narrow-mindedness, not mine.

Most of the time when I get this comment it's kind of a huff... almost like, "How dare there be a book I've never heard of!" or "How dare you read a book I've never heard of!" And like I've said a million times already in this discussion, it's not the fact that they haven't heard of the book that bothers me... it's this comment. Up until recently I haven't let it bother me at all. Usually my response to the question would be, "Well I wouldn't expect you to, it's not very well known..." and then describe the book. Except there's this one guy at my college who always asks what I'm reading and like a true drama queen he never fails to apply the sarcastic drag and huffy tone to his "I've never even heard of that book!" Eventually I started coldly responding, "Well do you think you've heard of every book on the planet?" Which he has yet to come up with an adequate response to. And now it bothers me when everyone says it. It's just a silly overly obvious and redundant thing to say. Even if you hang out in bookstores all the time like me... you're still not going to be familiar with every book in the world. You're not even going to be familiar with most of the books in the world... you're going to be familiar A VERY SMALL portion of the books in the world. And if you want to know more about a book then you can ask, "What's it about?" just as easily. Now I don't cold shoulder everybody who says, "I've never heard of that book"... if it's a stranger or a casual acquaintance then I bite my tongue and be nice. After all, most people think it's a harmless statement. And it is... I shouldn't let it bother me. When my friends say it then I let them know (nicely, because I'm nice to my friends. lol) that it really bothers me. The only person I've ever "cold shouldered" over the phrase would be the guy at my college... but even we're still on good terms.

You're right... I'm totally prejudiced against everyone who says this just because of one person. But I think it's still going to bother me heaps for the rest of my life now. Which I shouldn't LET it bother me, it's a silly thing to get worked up over, but I do. I'm weak-willed like that. lol I've faced some book-taste discrimination myself (I guess I'm going to call it book-taste discrimination... seems like a silly title, but it works right?)... and it doesn't really bother me nearly as much as the "never heard of that book" comment. Some people think that their own personal tastes for literature and entertainment define what's good and bad for everybody... they want to look at Art like it's Math, and naturally that isn't going to work out too well. Naturally we shouldn't let the opinions of others define us or bring us down... but regardless of whether or not we should, we often do.

Most of the time, in the tone of voice, it seems like a huff to me. Which is why I typically draw the conclusion that they think they've heard of them all (or at least want to talk like they do). On the rare occasion that it isn't a huff... it doesn't bother me as much but I still think it's a silly thing to say. There's no need to state overly obvious. I mean, I love books. If I need to tell someone about a certain book in order to get them to read it... I will! And I'll do it happily. But I guess I'm not one who likes to spill out constant book recommendations, probably cause I don't take them very well myself. I don't really like people telling me what to read and what to think about certain books before I've even picked them up. I like picking up random books on the store shelves and reading the summaries until I find something I think I might be interested in. I don't really care if I've ever heard of the author or the book before, and I don't think it usually makes any difference to me. But I'm probably just weird.

It they're not readers, why even bother saying they haven't heard of the book? Because if they don't read, there'd be a very very small number of books they'd ever heard of. Even huge readers can't hope to be familiar with every book out there. Like I've said before in this discussion... it doesn't bother me that they haven't heard of the book... it's saying "I've never heard of that book!" like they should have before. I don't expect everyone to have heard of what I read... but I'm miffed that some people think they've heard of everything.

Maybe it's not a big deal... but it does still bug me. I really don't need any encouragement in order to gush about a book that I love... hearing "I've never heard of that book" doesn't really hinder me... but it drives me nuts. (On the inside Well... sort of. )

It doesn't bother me that they haven't heard of the book... it bugs me that they feel they have to say it. Or that it's the only response they can come up with. I'm also an avid reader, and I like to know what other people are reading. When someone brings up a book I've never heard of then I don't say I've never heard of it. I think that the majority of the time I haven't heard the book, and it goes without saying. It just seems like an unnecessary and almost huffy statement to me. I don't think it needs to be said and it really bothers me that people seem to feel a need to say it.

I will lead a rebellion into the nook and kindle warehouses before I lay down and let those monstrosities take over the publishing industry. (Why do you even have to bring that up anyway? That's so off-topic.) I bet you haven't heard of my favorite books either. It's just the way of things. There are LOTS of books in the world. The reason someone saying they've never heard of a book bothers me is because I think it goes without saying. I'm going to assume you haven't heard of the book unless you tell me otherwise. If you tell me you haven't heard of a book then I want to respond, "Really now? You've heard of EVERY book out there?!?!?"

lol, I feel that way too sometimes. Except I think my odds are 19 times out of 20 they haven't heard of it. I read some obscure literature. I think goodreads.com has about 6 million titles listed... (and they're pretty thorough... I've found old out-of-print books and self-published titles that only sold 200 copies on their website) so I don't think that millions is too far off. Even so... 6 million is a big number... much bigger than you're likely. Especially if someone who reads 2-3 books a week like me can only possibly read 10,000 books in a lifetime (yes... I did the math. I alloted 80 years for my lifetime... I might have cut myself short... but still I can't ever hope to even read a tenth of one million... let alone all six million.)

I don't expect them to have heard of the book before. I think it goes without saying most of the time, that's why it bothers me. If someone says, "I've never heard of that book!" then I want to answer "Do you honestly think you've heard of all ten million something books in the world?" Yes, I would assume that you hadn't heard of it unless you said otherwise, and I would tell you about the book and you'd be hearing it about it now.

I should forgive them and be a forgiving person. There's this one guy I go to college with who asks what I'm reading and always says he's never heard of it like it's a crime for me to be reading books he hasn't heard of. Gotta admit... it's getting on my nerves, and there's no shortage of others who'll say the same thing. I assume people haven't heard of what I'm reading by default. I don't see why they need to mention it.

I know one particular guy (and I've already mentioned him in this discussion) who when he says he's never heard of the book I'm reading... it's not really an invitation to tell more. It's more like an insult. Almost like, "How dare you read books I've never heard of?" Most of the time I feel like people who say, "I've never heard of that book." aren't trying to find out more... they're just kinda huffing a little. It's all in the tone of voice. I don't think saying "I've never heard of that book" is a good way to ask for my opinion. I actually don't like it when people ask for my opinion on a book in any manor now that I think about it! I think people should pick up more than classics and best sellers and get their own opinion. That might sound a bit mean. But it kinda bugs me that some people won't read something unless someone else tells them what to think about it.

Even if they do read a lot, then I really think they should realize that there are so many books they haven't heard of. Most of the books I see other people reading and that my friends are reading, I haven't heard of. And I'm a big reader. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's bothered by it!