this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2026
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What’s funny is I 100% agree with both of you and I still enjoyed that book. I read it as a vacation book a few years back. I refer to it as a popcorn book; quick, easy to read, mostly forgettable once done. But when it cringes, it cringed so hard.
And Snow Crash was definitely better
For popcorn books I point more to like The Expanse series or something. Quick easy reads, nothing groundbreaking, but still relatively competently done.
I think part of my hatred for Ready Player One is just how many people raved about it as this new amazing book that was the pinnacle of modern sci-fi when a much better example already existed instead of just the vacation book you read it as.
Actually hold up. Why haven't we gotten a Snow Crash film yet? Dang it Hollywood
I have to disagree with The Expanse as a popcorn book. I’ve read all the books 2-3 times, all the novellas, all the graphic novels, played the Tell Tale game, waiting on the next game, I own the tv series, and have Detective Miller as my desktop background. It’s a universe that, if you really want to, you can get obsessed with it. That’s one of my all time favorite science fiction series, but I do agree they are fairly easy reads.
Yeah, RP1 was definitely not groundbreaking scifi at all, it was way too hyped up. It was alright and even when I recommend it to someone I think would like it, I always include caveats of the cringe and other weird stuff. Like, I know Watts is a younger guy but some parts are just 🤢 And don’t even get me started on RP2, just ugh! Bad bad bad!!
Snow Crash was far better and I’m glad I didn’t read it as a vacation book. I absorbed more of it reading it at home rather than while traveling. I remember way more of Snow Crash than I remember Ready Player One. We absolutely deserve a Snow Crash show!
I consider John Grisham books as vacation/popcorn books. Easy to digest, don't stick around, don't need deeper consideration, etc. Read it and leave it at the beach 🤓
Personally that's exactly what I look for in popcorn (well, honey mustard pretzel) books. Something I can read easily and not have to think about, but if I chose to, there's more hidden there. I know "popcorn book" is often used to kind of write something off but for me it's not like that.
I actually read them all along with a friend and we discussed a lot of what was in them, our thoughts about the implications of the stuff (being vague to avoid spoilers for others), how accurate the science actually was (he was a Kerbal nerd and I did jet propulsion sim work ages ago), and what other life might actually look like and different moral frameworks (I'm a utilitarian, and I think he is more deontological so was an interesting discussion).
I just could also see a world where I binged them by a lake in a week and never thought about them again while move on to House of Leaves (which is the exact opposite of a popcorn book and required actual homework).
Ah! That makes total sense. Our definitions differ and that’s ok! I also giggled at “honey mustard pretzel books” 🤣
I agree it’s usually used as a write off of poor or simple literature, but that’s not how I define it either. To me a “popcorn book” is more synonymous to a vacation book, something that is quick and I can finish an entire story in a week. I don’t typically consider series as popcorn books since I can’t go start to finish in a single week. I’m a slower reader, so that probably changes my definition a little bit.
To me, books like Dark Matter and Run by Blake Crouch or The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi or some of the Star Trek novels are popcorn books. I loved the story and absorbed the entire thing within a few days. But they anre also one and done books. I’ve reread Dark Matter and recommend it frequently, especially to those new to scifi-ish stories, and I would never look down on them.
I don’t personally consider “popcorn books” a write off or insulting either.