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Loved that book?

Every now and then people create major buzz around a book that they expect everyone to be wowed by.

Often, when this happens, I find myself:
a) Avoiding the book because I want to read it on my own terms and in my own time

b) Reading the book, only to end up being disappointed because the book failed to live up to its expectations; and

c) Following point b, I am left feeling guilty when people who love the book make me feel like a cretin because I don't harbour the same enthusiasm for their latest favourite book.

This happened to me when I had the "audacity" to admit that I thought Stephanie Meyer's Breaking Dawn was the worst instalment in the Twilight series (Just so you know, I'm going to avoid trying to have a decent book debate with a Twilight fanatic in future. I didn't even say I hated all the books and yet the girl was just about ready to sic the Volturi on me. Scary people, those Twi-hards).

What many people seem to forget is that reading is such a personal experience and that each and everyone experiences a book very differently. I know that when I read a book, I never start out with the intention of outright hating it.

It's the way in which the book develops and the actual ending that affect my opinion, nothing more, nothing less. And surely having different opinions about the book makes for far more interesting discussion?

But, that's just me though.

I asked you lot to share your thoughts on the subject. Here's what some of you had to say.
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