Don't Judge A Book By It's Author

I am slightly surprised when I hear that some readers won't read a particular book because it was written by a particular author. I'm not talking about the "E.L. James is a pervert and a terrible writer to boot" kind of scenario, because even I do that. I do judge a book by it's author to a certain extent. I may have previously read a book written by that author and found that I did not care for that author's writing. In that case I typically will not pick up anymore books by that author. You get one shot, is a general rule of mine, although I may make a exception if I hear something to sway my opinion (after all I may have read one of the authors least liked books). Or I just flat out avoid some authors because of the genre and a lack of interest on my part. No, what I am talking about is disliking a authors personality and passing judgement on his or her books based on that concept. I don't really understand that one. I don't need to be best friends with the author in order to enjoy, or even love their work. If you are reading non fiction, then yes, this may affect your reading pleasure, but when the author is not in the book ... then don't bring them into the book.

I have some examples for you. Cassandra Clare, author of the best selling series "The Mortal Instruments". She has a enormous fan following, but I also know that a lot of people flat out refuse to read her books or have anything to do with her because she was under scrutiny for plagiarism. Apparently before her career as a author she used to write Harry Potter fan fiction and a lot of people accused her of plagiarism as her later books resembled a lot of this previously written fan fiction of her's, people felt that it was wrong that Clare was profiting from a work that was partially plagiarized from other sources. In turn Cassandra Clare turned on them, bullying them and even resorting to stalking them. I have read a few books from The Mortal Instruments series and although I didn't exactly love them I wouldn't necessary say that they resembled other books that I have read, although people who have read her fan fiction say otherwise. Her as a person isn't going to keep me from trying her other books however, I still plan on reading "The Infernal Devices".

Sarah J. Maas, author of the "Throne of Glass" series. I hear some snippets over on the Booktube and Goodreads community on her not being a very nice person, just personality wise. I don't care, I am highly enjoying her books at the moment. She is very talented as a writer, who cares if she doesn't have the best people skills?

Victoria Aveyard, author of "Red Queen". She has a bad rap of picking fights with her reviewers and has been accused by her readers of copying content from other authors. I read this book recently and I must say that although I did see a lot of similarities to other books, I actually highly enjoyed the book itself.

I am able to read a novel without associating it with the author's misdeeds, given that the book in question is good enough for me to desire to do so. Plus, shouldn't we be giving the author in question the benefit of the doubt? Should we really shun a book based on the author's personality? Unless it is E.L. James, then you totally should.