I love reading classic novels and plays. Literary fiction is my absolute jam most of the time. This definitely started as with a younger, less wise version of me who just wanted to seem smart, but after reading more and more, I honestly think that there is a lot of value in reading older books as well as newer fiction. A good is book is a good book regardless of genre. The way I see it, it is important that we read books with diversity in mind. That means both diversity in place, race, and gender, but it also means diversity of time period. There certainly are people who read classics and make it really annoying and pretentious. However, I do think that most people would do well to read books that predate the current, commercial fiction landscape every once in a while. To me, it becomes pretentious when people act like classic authors are seen as infallible. This is not only annoying, but it prevents readers from honestly engaging with the ideas and dialogues that books can offer.