AITA for being bitchy about my mom reading my book?

A 17-year-old girl was excited to read a new book by one of her favorite authors but told her mom she’d wait until after exams. Her mom, surprisingly interested, offered to read it first. Worried her mom might criticize the book or mark it like her grandmother once did, the girl asked her not to write in it.

After spotting the book left unattended, she began reading it herself, frustrating her mom. Now she wonders if her behavior came off as rude and whether she should apologize. Read the original story below…

‘ AITA for being bitchy about my mom reading my book?’

One of my favorite authors just published a new book a couple days ago and I (17F) bought a copy that arrived today. However I have a lot of exams in the next few weeks so I told my mom that I’ll be reading it after I finish those exams while opening the delivery box.

My mom then immediately said “I’ll read it for you first” and I kinda not-knowing-what-to-do-ly said “sure!” I was kind of upset about it because 1) I really like the author and now I’m probably gonna read it after my mom hands it to me and says “oh that was an interesting story” or something negative (which is more likely gonna be the case) and 2) I’ve only seen my mom read one book that wasn’t work-related my whole life so that was kinda weird.

I then remembered that when my grandma read some of my books a year ago she circled and underlined a lot so I asked my mom not to do that, which kind of irritated her.

I then saw her go talk to my dad in the kitchen and left the book there with the cat near by so I picked up the book to move it to somewhere safe but then started reading it (*wrong move*). My mom saw me reading it and told me to forget about it, she was too busy for my book anyway.

So, aita for emphasizing the “please don’t write stuff in my book” thing and passive-aggressively reading the book after she said she wanted to read it? If so what should I do?

EDIT: Please understand that I’m not *mad* at my mom or wanted to complain about her. I was quite excited when she wanted to read the book and I really wish she would read it and like it. But I was also scared that she’d say something bad about it after reading so I guess I just blabbed the “don’t write in the book” thing.

I just want to get some takes on whether she was irritated by my behaviors, so I can figure out whether I should apologize to her or just put the book in her room.

See what others had to share with OP:

Accurate_Layer_4822 −  You could have handed her the book and said “I hope you enjoy it, please no spoilers, please don’t annotate the book as it is my copy”. Unsure why you are so annoyed she wanted to read your fave author – perhaps she wanted to try find a common interest or just show interest in something you love?

Forsaken-Blood-109 −  So you’re mad at your mom because your grandmother did something sometime before this? Also because she set the book down near your cat? YTA and it sounds like you need to just chill the f**k out in general to be honest

Decent-Historian-207 −  YTA. Why are you so upset that your mom would read the book before you? Are you embarrassed about the book? She was probably trying to connect with you and if you’re too busy to start reading it, then she can read it.

You’re an AH for being so n**ty to your mother over a book. What’s wrong with her saying “that’s an interesting story?”

perpetuallyxhausted −  NGL if I bought a brand new, recently published, fresh from the book store book that I was excited to read and someone said “I’ll give it a read in the meantime” cause I might take a bit to be able to pick it up, my reaction would be something along the line of “The hell you will!”

Which I do realise is unreasonable and I’m in no way gatekeeping the story, just that I want to be the first person to read my brand new book.

Minimus04 −  YTA, just a little in my opinion. Why do you care so much about what your mom thinks about your books. She probably was just curious or have something to chat to her teenager about.

Just because your grandma did something doesn’t mean your mom will do the same to your book. She probably saw you get defensive and decided against reading afterwards.

Skull_Bearer_ −  YTA for getting so wound up over literally nothing. You sound incredibly fragile, the only remotely reasonable thing to be upset over is your mother writing in your book, which you already asked her not to do. Everything else is just a big load of nothing.

ApprehensiveAd5969 −  I am just curious, do you feel like you are constantly walking on eggshells?

ZookeepergameWise774 −  NTA. If I have bought a book by a favourite author, and I know I can’t get around to reading it immediately, then it goes on my TBR pile. (That’s To Be Read, if you don’t know. Almost everyone who is a keen reader, will have one. )That’s MY book, I paid for it, I want to be the first one to open it.

If it were something else, like a box of chocolate, some perfume or a piece of clothing, would your mum consider herself e**itled to open/eat/wear it first?

kezigirl −  I’m going against the grain here but NTA my books are sacred I won’t even loan them to my best friends or family in case they dog ear the corners of the pages, write in them, rip them etc there is no way I’d allow someone to read a book I bought before me.

I have signed copies of books by great authors some not alive anymore (Douglas Adams) there’s just no way. People are protective of all sorts of collectables (records, world of Warcraft figurines, pop vinyl dolls etc) don’t see why books are any different.

KittyKatWombat −  YTA. I would be happy if my mother read/watched things I liked. My mother hasn’t read books I’m into, but has watched TV shows I’m into, and has a completely different opinion on them. I respect that and move on. As long as she’s not spoiling the plot for you – who cares?

Was she being too protective of her book, or is it reasonable to feel that way? Share your thoughts below!