I’ll go with the low-hanging fruit: Mein Kampf. I’ve read it, cover to cover. As a piece of propaganda, it’s good. As an example of good writing? Absolutely not (though I will admit I have only read it in translation). Oh, and the whole fascist, racist, and generally shitty worldview of the author that he infuses into the text. And the fact that the author is literally Hitler. You 5-star that book? You’re a Nazi. Period. And as a Jewish person, I don’t look too kindly on them.
Would it be a valid counterpoint to say that I don’t really care what you read, but that you DO read is more important to me? I may not like Atlas Shrugged, Twilight, 50 Shades, or any of the thousands of absolute trash books that have been published, but I do commend people for taking the time to read.
My swipe left would be people that don’t read, or people that say listening to Audiobooks does not count as reading.
Particularly those who are proud of their non reading status
I know a few people like this. It’s so weird to be proud that you don’t read. I even had this one weirdo say to me “I vowed to never read another book after University” and I thought, well this is the most r/iamverysmart thing I’ve ever encountered offline.
I was about to say, unless the book is one where it displays that the person has a vastly opposing political, ideological, or other views that I deem personally important I wouldn’t judge them for any book they enjoy. Even if I don’t personally like a book, that doesn’t mean I think I’ll be incompatible with someone who does. That way of thinking is so snobby, and that kind of snobbery is what would make me swipe left.
I always thought I couldn’t date someone who didn’t read. And then I met my husband, who is a smart, articulate, educated guy who just… isn’t into novels. It ended up mattering not one bit. We have a billion other things to connect about and I have other people to talk books with.
Anyone who’s super into 50 Shades is into non-consensual kink of a kind I find creepy as fuck. So that’d be a hard pass.