It's not personal (apparently)

This morning I had the pleasure of catching up with ladies from the book club the U3A runs in Daylesford (Victoria). We moved from Daylesford three and a half years ago, back to Melbourne, for several reasons, and I dropped out of the book club. It was great to see everyone again. I hadn’t read the book the group discussed but listened intently to the discussion. The book they read : The Porcelain Thief by Huan Hsu seemed to have an interesting premise. However, what interested me was the different perspectives and opinions people had of the book. Before being a published author I wouldn’t have thought twice about people’s different opinions – it’s what book clubs are about. But today was different.

Of the ten people in the group, four of them didn’t finish it: they decided life was too short to spend time reading something they didn’t enjoy. Of the other six, four enjoyed it because they’d visited China and could relate to the story. The remaining two said it was an okay read and they finished it.

So the other day when I found a review on Amazon and Goodreads (same review) from someone not enamoured with my first book (but giving it four stars) and not finishing my second book, I was disheartened, shattered even. I know, don’t take these things personally, everyone is different. 

Today made it easier to come to terms with that.