Sorry, I’m on the bandwagon of “neither of these words are that rare or difficult”. Your vocabulary is probably smaller, which isn’t an insult or anything

Genuinely curious: Do you tend to stay within your comfort zone when you read or interact with the world?

I’m in the small camp of people who didn’t like it; I didn’t find it hard to read, I just found the whole thing boring

I ended up DNF-ing it

When Twilight first came out, I was in highschool and reading 1-3 books a month (I was a snob, though, just to keep it fair). I was also neck deep in reading and writing fanfiction on ff.net 😭

I borrowed a copy of the first Twilight book, read two pages, and gave it back

I tried again when I was around 25-ish, still didn’t like it

But hell, the movies are fun hot trash, it’s like the equivalent of eating junk food for your brain but for some reason, I can’t commit in written form lol

The very short chapter featuring a conversation between two leaves on a tree from Felix Salten’s Bambi

I cried for probably ten minutes before I picked the book back up

I have; I’ve done a lot of work in warehouses and the like, very physical manual labour, and while there are plenty of different kinds of people who do these jobs, there’s definitely at least one person who is quite proud about not reading at all

It usually comes up when movie discussions turn into, “Did you read the book at all?” Someone’s bound to be like, “Fuck reading”

In my heart of hearts I feel slight disappointment because it’s something I like to bond over; obviously it’s not a feeling that affects my day to day life or more than a mere second of, “Oh, well that’s a shame” lol

I also feel like they’re missing out. I don’t ever tell this to people because it’s not my business and there’s no better way to really push someone off of anything than to try and convince them why they should

As others have mentioned, the people who brag about not reading or the only reason they give as to why they don’t is something like, “it’s stupid”? Immediate human ick

I’ll probably come back to expand properly when it’s not super late and I’m super sleepy but I want to bring attention to a portal fantasy book series I wish more people knew about

The Unicorn Chronicles by Bruce Coville

It stars a female protagonist for the lists all are making of boy v. girl versions lol However, it’s a 90s Scholastic Book Fair classic

I think female protagonists are possibly more popular than male (I honestly cannot say what is true, I don’t know) when it comes to this specific genre is a mix of what everyone else has said but here’s my specific take (please take with a grain of salt, I’ll reiterate I’m posting under the influence of sleep):

(Also note I was born in 1990 Ontario Canada a cis woman, so this is my specific perspective)

In the same way that men/boys are socially allowed to have adventures and don’t quite need another world nor a portal to make a name for themselves and be a hero, men/boys aren’t typically socially allowed to have these adventures the same way women/girls do

You know those jokes about how people expect girls to play vs how they actually do? How majority of western girls can attest to the drama they put their toys through, the very adult themes girls can act out through play as young as 6-7yrs old, it’s not coded into boys

Girls are, inadvertently or not, taught to be more emotionally mature/intelligent from the get go. We’re caretakers and peacemakers and we’re always told to let things go or get over it, don’t rock the boat, be easy and flexible because a boy needs to be loud and rough and tumble (I hope that by now these stereotypes are being thrown away; I’m not a parent, myself)

Boys can get away with anything and always get what they want. They’re boys, it’s expected that they’re mean, dirty, strong, leaders

Portal fantasy means to me, as the young girl I was and the woman I am today, the penultimate escape fantasy. Even when things are dangerous and difficult, it’s never BECAUSE you’re a girl but it resonates with you for that reason

You are your own person, you are a hero, you are liked and loved and hated and despised and it’s because of who you are, not what your biology is

It’s permission to be the boy, to experience what it’s like to be the center of attention on the forefront of everyone’s mind and there’s magic or something?? Hell yeah

I don’t feel like I’m explaining myself well enough so I’ll stop here lol

Honestly, The Never Ending Story (book of course) is, imo, more like a girl portal fantasy despite being a male protagonist

It’s more about relationships, self image, emotional/mental growth, consequences, confidence, SO MUCH weight to that story lol

This was how I felt when I first read Pride and Prejudice in high school 🤣

I haven’t read Blood Meridian before but I’ve heard great things!

My advice: read it twice

I did that with Austen. As soon as I finished it I read it again immediately and it was much easier to understand, especially when every single speaking character is referred to as Miss Bennet and there are three of them 🥲

It’s like your brain is processing in the background so when you do it again your brain is like, “Oh, I know this!” and you can follow the cadence better