Dreamybee, Thank you so much for your clarification! That makes complete sense to me. I certainly didn’t mean to “argue” like a “book banner” but if that’s how “book banner”s argue, I guess I did! I don’t know much about book banning, so there you go. As for the one line, I responded too soon and should have thought more about a longer response. But, I guess I didn’t think she’d be so “angry” about it.

Kim L, I know people don’t agree with me (I’m opinionated), and that was my first angry comment. I guess it’s my blog, so I should figure out what I should do for the future….Other than blog about it

I’ve never had a real critical comment on my blog, but I guess if it was another blogger I’d come to know and respect I’d handle it differently than if it was some random stranger.

Wow! Isn’t it crazy how something that you think is going to be totally innocuous (like saying you didn’t like an author’s writing) can turn into something else altogether! While I totally agree with everybody else who says you are certainly NOT a book banner just because you decided Stephen King was not for you after reading only one of his books, I would like to suggest that perhaps Beth (your angry reader) meant something different. She said you *argue* like a book banner. I think she was referring to your response to her comment, not so much your post in general. She made a fair point in her first comment (that perhaps you should read some of King’s other work before writing him off (no pun intended!) as a writer), even though the tone of it might have been a bit rough. You responded with a one-line reply saying that you HAD read one of his books. I think for her this was the equivalent of someone saying, “I read X and didn’t like that it had some dirty words in it so all of this author’s other writing is sure to be vulgar and therefore not worth exploring”…which seems to be the way book banners think (maybe not all, but surely some).

Of course, this is pure speculation; nobody except Beth really knows what she meant or why she was so angry, but I thought I would throw out my interpretation.

I still think her second comment was a bit over the top, and she could have taken the opportunity to engage in a more intelligent discussion rather than banning your blog from her reading list for having one “bad” argument! Too bad she’s not still reading-she sparked a good conversation!

I don’t agree with this at all! You can read a representative sample and come to conclusions. Reading excerpts can give you a very clear idea of the quality of an authors writing. You don’t have to read their entire oeuvre. Besides, Stephen King writes popular trash no matter how many people are entertained by it. I don’t need to read all 7 million Danielle Steel novels to know that they’re garbage…the fact that they’re are 7 million of them tells me everything I need to know.
The commenter was having a major failure of logic. Don’t doubt yourself so easily.

Now that I think of it, I actually have blocked about 6-7 IP addresses from even being able to leave comments on my blog. Mostly from what I believe are adolescent teenagers having a little to much fun leaving vulgar comments.

Chris, thanks for your insights!

As for comments, I haven’t had any really angry ones. I think I’d leave them up because more than likely the commenter will regret leaving it and it will make them look like an a*se. Not that I want my readers to feel like that but if you’re going to say something like that it’s going to stay for all the world to see! Unless, of course, they ask to have it removed (haven’t we all said something we wish we could take back?)

I’m really rambling now!lol!

I do want to clarify to all of you that I don’t have a problem with her main argument: that I should read his books (or some others) before saying that he’s not a good writer. I agree (even though I’m not going to read his books anytime soon). What I had a problem with is her tone and personal attack, as some of you also noticed.

ak, yes, the personal attack was quite odd. Even more amusing to me because I’ve been out of the country for more than a year so I really don’t know anything about Sarah Palin (or the other candidates for that matter)! I know I can delete comments but it feels weird since she was telling me I was a book banner: wouldn’t censoring her comment just make her point?

Kim, I pretty much have let go already; I just kept wondering about book banning and wondering how on earth I was banning books. I’m glad the consensus is that I’m not!

Natasha, I like the idea of a comment policy. How does one do that with out sounding mean?

Nymeth, I’m glad our difference of opinion doesn’t turn you off from my blog! I certainly don’t want people to avoid me, but I’m not going to hold back if I don’t like what I read! Thanks for your thoughts.

Amanda, LOL! Go for it! I dare you to read it. I, on the other hand, probably will read Joyce Carol Oates but never again Stephen King. Isn’t it great that there are books out there for everyone?!

Amy, Lisa, and SmallWorld Reads, thanks for the reassurance that I’m not banning books! I intend to keep reviewing books I don’t like!

In regards to book banning, that’s just a ridiculous argument. You’re not stopping anyone else from reading it for crying out loud.

I personally read classics for the most part. I generally ignore modern fiction and genre fiction because 99% of what I’ve read, I don’t like. I have no particular plans to read, say, Joyce Carol Oats, because I’ve simply got no interest in her. I wouldn’t say that makes me a book-banner. Unless book-banning involves making decisions for yourself, and that argument is just flat-out silly. Book-banning is a legal thing. Or like removing books from libraries and schools in order to prevent people from reading them. Recommending or not-recommending is NOT banning. I don’t think anyone reading this blog will be UNABLE to read On Writing if they wanted to. You haven’t done anything to PREVENT us from picking up the book. One day, I might read this book. I’ve heard from another friend that it’s good, and there are a rare few of King’s books that I think are well written (like one of his non-horror books, Insomnia). YOU CAN’T STOP ME FROM READING IT! haha

Regarding comments, if we get comments on our group blog that are spam, pure hate-mail, or filled with the sorts of stuff we don’t want our kids to read over our shoulders, we will delete them. While we don’t have a comment policy, in our review policy we state the same basic guidelines we expect our members to follow. So far, we haven’t had to deal with anything except some spam comments, thank goodness.

That comment was completely unfair. You know, I think you and I have very different taste in books, and I often find myself disagreeing with you, but that’s one of the reasons why I enjoy reading your blog. You express yourself intelligent and politely and you are more than entitled to say what you think.

I haven’t had to deal with comments of this kind so far. The only times when I had to face a bit of hostility, it was the polite kind, and I dealt with it in the same way.

I think that in this case I’d have done the same thing you did.

As far as comment leaving, it helps if you have a comment policy posted on your blog. I’ve read several blogging articles about comment policies and cane send you some links if interested. I don’t have one myself yet but it’s been on my to do list forever. Having a comment policy gives you the freedom to moderate comments without feeling guilty over it. Readers of your blog should feel that no matter what they have to say, they can say it. Letting it show displays that you’re not intimidated and can take the heat. It’s not fun though. I’ve been called a prude once. Oh well . . .