A few days ago I encountered one of my classmates reading an installment of the "Gossip Girl" series.

The Gossip Girl books, written by Cecily von Ziegesar, follow the story of several teens living the high life in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The story is narrated by an anonymous character who goes by the name Gossip Girl and keeps an online blog about the lives of the main characters.

Having read most of the books myself, I stopped to ask this classmate what she thought of the book. As soon as I mentioned the book, many female heads turned in my direction and some even walked over to join the conversation.

Some days later I saw someone else reading another Gossip Girl book, and I stopped to ask the same question. Surprisingly I got the same result. It was then that I realized how many people had actually read the series and enjoyed it.

In general, these books seem to be frowned upon and seen as trashy novels that promote poor ideals. Even when I was reading them, there were times when I felt a little embarrassed. This is why I was surprised about the number of girls in my class who had read the books and liked them. Many admitted that once they had started, they had to put everything else aside until they finished.

If you are still in denial of the popularity of these books, just look at the impact this series has had. A TV show based on the books has just started this fall.

Even Uni has been affected, with its very own gossip girls (yes, there have been multiple ones), who even went as far as naming the most attractive girls and guys in each class.

One has to understand that these books are just like gossip themselves. Once you start, you can’t stop. You have to know more. So the next time you see someone with a Gossip Girl book in their hands, try not to judge too harshly.