also, it's a phrase used to justify shopping addiction. as a shopping addict myself it's not fun, especially when you just want to watch some fun book tiktoks / reels / shorts and get bombarded with hauls and stuff. for me it's getting better now, as i finally accepted i'm an addict and i'm working so hard on defeating this addiction. but several people i met through booktok are proud of their addicition and even go into debt for it. a book - even a special edition- isn't worth that much to get yourself into debt. and when i tried to tell these people 'hey i think you might be a shopping addict' i get so many weird reactions of them trying to justify their behavior. e.g. telling me "reading books and collecting books are two different hobbies". :/
I will admit I buy hard covers of books that I’ve already read and I will find a new home for books I already have bought and I will still keep ebooks I have. I did this with Sunbearer Trails and gave it to my cousin who will see themselves represented and I did rehome Emily Wilde’s encyclopaedia to my sibling because I had the hardcover coming and I knew this was up her ally. I also like to buy books that I’ve already read in the library and I know I will reread. This is how I do things on the dark side. Also I only will ever have one version of a book because I don’t need like 5 of the same book in different covers!
I feel the same people that say this often also say "there is no ethical consumption under capitalism" when trying to defend their overconsumption. Collecting books or other things isn't necessary bad, but there is a limit.
Every industry is engaging with the fomo 'fast fashion' type of marketing. Nail polish, fountain pens, stationery, home decor, the entire business model of soap and shower gel at bath and body works. Literally everything. We live in dystopian hell.
for things like Stationary it seems kinda odd to me. why do i need 25 fountain pens? just a few ones i like the look of and like writing with is enough.
Yep. It's always been there but I didn't realize how much so until later in life, and my own part in it. Now, over-consumerism, fast fashion and constant consumption are normalized and shoved at children barely out of the womb onward, thanks to "iPad parenting" & internet in general, making a bigger ongoing problem in this area. Very concerning. (Edit for grammar)
What I find interesting though is watching a content creator post a 30-50+ book haul video and then that same content creator having a physical TBR video showing off their 200+ UNREAD book collection is so so so crazy to me...
I mean it's collectibles! I have a 1,200 books reading list on goodreads, about 30 unread at home and 500 on my kindle ready to be read in the next decade.. I will probably never get through them, but I love looking at them all and feeling the excitement 🎉😊
@@kenzashennathis is a completely fine way to do it but a lot of these creators will make comments like 'I bought this book because it's popular but I hate the genre and the plot doesn't sound interesting to me so I'm never going to read it'
@@lydiamac1771 yeah that sounds insane to me. I get buying a book because of the hype but when you already know you are going to hate it, why not check it out from the library instead? Like I wanna try some booktok books where I'm pretty sure I won't like them but I'm not spending money on them
Same! Personally I always work on my physical TBR but I currently have 5 on it and I think it’s a lot. Luckily, since I have so few books on my physical TBR, I am most likely to enjoy them since I read them in shorter span of time, then those people that have 200+ on their TBR.
Honestly, I have 64 unread books on my bookshelf rn and last night my husband said I should probably read at least 30 before buying any new books. I reluctantly agreed. After seeing this video though it was a really great reminder of where I stand on consumerism and environmentalism and I have not been practicing what I preach. Thank you.
I have a lot of unread books as well. I used to read A LOT as a teenager. I joined the army and I didn't have the time anymore. During that period of time I still bought books and just threw them in the container of books I had whenever I visited home on the holidays. Now that I'm out I looked forward to getting back into it...and started another job that keeps me too busy lol. Butttttt now I just buy the audiobook and the physical one for my book case...that way I can "read" while I'm driving...truck driver
I want to create content around books, mainly because I want to inspire more people to read and learn and I want that positive impact, but I’m so scared of this happening. I’m thinking of giving away the books, but I need to stop the habit of writing in my books first 😂
@@RickyRicardoMJFmy dad is also a truck driver who loves to read. We like to recommend books to eachother and while I know he doesn't have a lot of time on his hands he always tries to read in his down time :) I hope you're enjoying the books that you've been reading!
the 'get it now' mentality has also made these people rude as hell to library workers, lol. like if someone doesn't know how libraries works and wants, say, a colleen hoover book, they will ask us for it and expect us to have 25 copies of a popular author when in reality they are all checked out because they are, again, popular! and people new to libraries then forget to return the books as well, lol
I haven't seen one famous dark romance author in my local library in Germany and despite sometimes indulging in that genre myself, I'm quite happy about it. If people want to read crap like that, they should go out of their way to do it 😅😅 But I'm sorry that you get to deal with the kinds of people who think the exact opposite. Crossing my fingers that this trend (not just dark romance but booktok) will die down eventually.
The downside of tiktok book trends is that it inflates waiting lists for a set number of books and leaves the rest in the dust. People are bypassing the library and buying the popular books, which is a shame, because I've found a ton of hidden gems at the library.
This is so sad! I wanted to check out Caraval for the last 1-2 weeks and all four is checked out until ~mid April in the library I attend. Tough luck but at least people are still reading it! + One of my friends could lend me a copy of the book so I don't even have to wait lol.
i've spoken w/ friends how i think the "buying books and reading books are two different hobbies" has gone from a haha funny joke into literally just "i have a shopping addiction!! :-) aren't i soooo quirky?? :-)"
Yeah, I didn't bring up the shopping addiction aspect of this because I don't feel qualified to talk about addiction, but it's a real thing. And since books are "good things" to be buying (as opposed to more trivial things like clothing and makeup), people can avoid criticism for longer before they have to admit they might have a problem...
@@accordingtoalina i definitely agree. it really is just like the people who have buckets full of makeup that expires before they ever touch it, but book influencers are engaging in a "smart" activity so they can skirt around the issue. and, not to be overdramatic or anything, but i notice a lot of book influencers on the subject of potentially getting rid of some books are like borderline hoarder mentality. like, you have 100+ unread books on your shelf, some of which have been there for YEARS, and you keep buying more and more, but you can't get rid of any of them becaues "well i MIGHT read it someday!! 🥺", even though if you donated them to your local library they would still be readily available if you ever did have the urge to read them that you haven't had the last five years that you've owned them. again not to be dramatic but there are some influencers i've seen where, with the mindset that they're in, im genuinely concerned that they're only a few steps away from developing more immediately harmful habits 😭
yes! It used to be: "these are the books I'll read when I have the time" and now it's just performative. The important thing is ownership and showcasing those books, not reading and enjoyment
personally, whenever i go to a bookstore, i already have a book in mind that im gonna buy that’s already on my tbr. and yeah ofc ill look around and read the back of some books that seem appealing. and if i like it i just add it to my tbr and say im gonna buy it another day. i usually leave a barnes and noble with at most 3 books in my hand bc books are EXPENSIVE and i’m a slow reader so ik i will not be reading those 3 books in one sitting. some people are so excessive for no reason
I'm not on booktok but I can say that other hobbies definitely have productivity races like reading does. I knit and my instagram feed is bombarded with people making 20 sweaters in a year or how they knit faster this way, etc. I imagine it's like this with most hobbies but we're just not aware unless we're apart of that community. I think we just love the satisfaction of completing something and want to get as much as that as we can while indulging in our favorite pastime.
New to fibre arts and noticing this all over the place. People making a "dream wardrobe" for a video and you rarely see them wear any of that stuff again. That's not slow fashion anymore
Yes this. Also turning everything in to a business. I knit and crochet very slowly, so in the year I’ll make a couple,wearable things for me and maybe a couple of gifts. Most of us are not producing multiple items a week but social media makes it look that way
There's a similar toxic productivity race in the language learning community. If you're not learning 10 languages at the same time making 10 anki flashcard decks for each language every day you're not even learning languages
Recently started crocheting and I've noticed that too. I haven't seen a lot of artists and writers fall into the productivity rabbithole yet but that may be because the artists and writers I follow haven't fallen down that rabbithole yet. ETA: There are goals and challenges ofc, but I am referring to making or writing so much that you don't know what to do with it anymore.
As a librarian from a small language area (Finland) I have mixed feelings about booktok. Yes it encourages especially young people to read more cause it's trendy, but it also makes the life cycle of books shorter than ever. If there's a hot new book in the English-speaking side of tiktok, finnish publishers ofc want to translate it, but when that process is done (sometimes hastily, but thats a whole other discussions) people are no longer interested cause there's already a new hot book. Libraries need to make room for new books that nobody wants to read the next year
I tend to have the opposite problem - I want to read books that I loved from 20 years or more ago since I don't like most new releases but the library hardly has them and old books don't tend to get reprinted now unless it's turned into a tv series or film.
I would add that too many books are getting special editions with over-designed covers so that they can be shown off on tik-tok. I remember being gob-smacked when I went into Barnes & Noble a few years ago and saw that 'Children of Blood and Bone' had been re-released with several different collectible editions. That book was middle-of-the-road at best, but they're giving it sprayed edges and a foil cover like it's 'Lord of the Rings.'
I meeaaaan a few decades back there simply weren't paper backs, and EVERY published book, as bad as it may be, had a special gold foil edition 😅 I recently cleaned out my deceased grand father's book case and it was just tomes upon tomes of beautiful hardback, of the most mid romance novels and history chronicles
Been noticing that especially in the fantasy genre, a lot of the books I've never even heard of and have less than 1k ratings on goodreads which made me wonder if there's even enough demand to justify it
and not only that but they sometimes have different special editions so you "have" to buy the same book 4 times if you really want to show off. I get having different editions of books but if you are just buying the same story 4 times just because they have a special edition it's not really about the book anymore.
My personal rule is that I only get books I've read multiple times and love, and even then I prefer to get them second hand. I know that isn't for everyone, but it works for me, especially because where I live has good public libraries. Please guys, support your local library
I have pared down so much that I only own three physical books now! Catch-22, Fahrenheit 451, and Treasure Island (this does not count all my husband's books. He is much more of a collector than I am)
That’s how I am as well. I haven’t bought a single book in well over 6 years, only borrow from the library. I have a small collection of 15/20 books that hasn’t grown and probably won’t.
I stopped using goodreads when I noticed that it made me focus too much on finishing a book and „hitting a target“. It felt less and less like I was reading for the experience of immersing myself into a fictional world or seeing life from a different viewpoint. Now that I started reading for enjoyment and broadening my horizon again I feel way more relaxed and in the moment.
if you still want to somewhat track your reading, make a spreadsheet or set up a notion page. I track my percentage, rating and usually a small review but without comparing my stats to someone else
I set a very low reading goal. But I totally agree, I hate the little reminder on there that says something like “you’re 2 books behind schedule”. Like why do i *have* to read a ton of books? If I wanna spend 6 months on one book, I should be allowed to do so lol
It happened to me as well, and the same again with the super complicated spreadsheets where you could track everything. I decided then that everything that turned a book into a number should go xD I only use a textual log when I take notes of what I start (most of the time 😅) and what I finish (and the format) by date, no way to count the books read in total unless I do that on purpose and with external aid, but useful when I need to remember when I read (or also just started!) a certain book 😊
I like using it as a way to track what i read, what i thought of it, and for the reviews when deciding if i want to read a new book since a lot of recommendations like to leave out important content warnings :/ i don’t use the whole yearly reading goal thing for the same reason you quit using the app
Book sleeves are for when you want to take a book somewhere, and reduce the chances of it being damaged! (some people have an obscene amount, realistically you only need 1 or 2, not 20)
@@GladysHunnam I have no problem with that if they actually use the candles! But just collecting them makes no sense Ex: I am a tea drinker and like to buy literature-themed tea off Etsy, but will actually drink it in the next few months 😂
I have 2 book sleeves my mom crocheted me because my bad likes to destroy my books. One is for my softcover and one is for my hardcovers and the one for hardcovers has a handle so I can wear it
@@Feezee223that’s such a good idea! i read priory of the orange tree recently and it brought me back to struggling to haul around the later harry potter books when i was in like, 3rd or 4th grade. why do hardcover books have to be so anti-transportation friendly 😭
I have two book sleeves. I love them. Great for taking my books with me to appts or work in my work bag. No damage done and im less like to set a book down and lose it. I love being able to take my book places on bad weather days. Where i live it rains a lot so dropping my book could spell death (insert dramatic scream here)
Yes, I want to start a book social media platform but without pressure to do 24 hour reads, because reading is not a race it’s an escape from the pressures of society. I want to express my love for literature the foundation of creativity and art. I thank you for speaking out on this! Also fellow Romanian here, and I would like to say ca eu te ador și te apreciez mult ❤
I think you should go for it! Do whatever type of videos you like to make and I'm sure you find your audiance ^^ No need to do 24h reading to make videos interesting! I honestly not enjoy does type of videos so much because it looks exhausting and not fun pushing through a book within a certain time frame 😂🙈
I hope you do start a book social media platform! Just a friendly reminder- reading, acquiring books, annotating, etc. is not a competition. Reading is subjective and should never be about who reads the most books, who buys the most books, who does the most challenges, who annotations are the most esthetics. Books are for one's own enjoyment, happiness and their joys in wanting to share it with others. There shouldn't be any pressure to "perform" or "crank out content" every single day. Wishing you all the best!
I put this together when “booktok” became a thing. I was very happy to see ppl excited to read, but then, like everything else on social media. It turned toxic. Between everyone reading a book because it’s trending, or have the same opinion about said book so they can get more views… I just started to ignore all of booktok last year because it was just ridiculous. Reading is supposed to be relaxing. Something you can get lost in. A story and a world that consumes you… I miss when people took reading seriously. Because this is just sad…
I saw a library haul video once and it was so refreshing! I need to get some things with my library account sorted out but I think I’m really going to make more of an effort to support my local library in the next year. This video inspired me. I also really do not understand the FOMO people get over books that don’t interest them! I kind of understand it if you’re a content creator and you’re trying to stay relevant and get views, but I don’t understand the pressure that non-creators feel. If it sounds like a book you would get nothing out of, don’t bother reading it!
I live in Australia where books are crazy expensive I'm talking over $20 each. I started going to the library this year because I was spending far too much on books and could not afford to continue spending so much on books that I sometimes only read once or twice. I love going to the library so much I've been able to read so many books that I've been wanting to read without feeling shit if I don't enjoy it and don't want to continue it. Not only that but they have a large DVD selection so I've been able to watch so many movies and shows that Netflix doesn't have. I could not be happier going to the library, I haven't bought a new book in months and have read so many amazing books.
@@thelostgirlsclub7254 I live in Mexico, where libraries don't have that much funds to find a lot of things, or they're far, but still I want to try it. Because sure I love possessing books, but from all the ones I've read I only keep the ones I loved and continue reading over and over, the ones I didn't loved I usually gift them on Christmas to family that also like reading, so it's kind of a win-win situation, still I see all this thing about being a reader as an aesthetic thrown around on social media that it's sick, I even talked about it on a video not long ago (this is not spam, sorry if it read like it), talking about how they want everything to look perfect and more than enjoying the reading it's all about everything looking perfect and beautiful... And now that I think about it, what's said here it's also true and kinda makes me feel bad because I've seen so many trash books getting published, with tons of mistakes and dumb arches or structure, and it makes me question if there's space left for me on that writing world, since everything is now going that way of fast processing
Library haul sounds more fun - I want to know what's on the shelves in people's libraries way more ngl. I kind of honestly don't care about books some stranger brought that they might never read. I'd rather hear about them after they've read them otherwise. Standard book hauls - looking from afar, at least - seem akin to those "decorative" books people will buy online as a form of furnishing, and it really makes me feel uncomfortable. It comes across to me as someone undereducated desperately trying to look smarter than everyone without doing the work. My mom has her books on shelves, but they're all definitely books she's loved for many years. She considers reading very important.
It is very important to remember that these people read as their primary source of income. Their 9 to 5 is reading books and posting about them! So it is silly to compare our reading habits to their 35-book monthly wrap-up video. I type this as a hypocrite bc I too have felt like a ''fake'' book lover in the past for reading 20-30 books a year.
no but you are so right, most booktubers *need* to read a lot to keep their channel going and therefore the money coming. no one can compete with that (and no one should try to do so!!!)
I could never turn a hobby into a job. It would suck the enjoyment out of it and there are times when I don't touch a hobby for days/weeks. I'm very mood based, so if I'm not in the mood I won't do it, or will do it slowly
As somebody who worked in a bookstore for a year, nothing made me more angry than seeing all the booktok books I had to display. I was in charge of the English YA and NA section of the store (European here) and whenever someone asked what book I would recommend - I didn't have an answer most of the time because 90% books were just so bad. And let's not talk about supposedly YA books with atrocious smut, it physically hurt me to see them. Also I had to warn 13 ish year olds, and younger, about the content. I know that they have Internet and probably had already found something, but that is for free. I can't believe teens are buying something that you can get for free on AO3 or even Wattpad.
Yeah, I feel you. I kinda avoid the booktok section in the bookstores I go to. In the beginning I looked at what people read and even picked some up, found maybe five good books in the beginning, but it changed quickly and now I completely avoid it. I enjoy a well written book, mostly fantasy or science fiction, but now I started to not get interested in new published books or authors I didn't know before anymore, because I had such bad experiences and that just from the bookstores since I don't even use TikTok anymore. And there is a lot of stuff with smut. I have one author I am okay with reading smut because the rest like writing and world building is amazing, but a lot of authors just don't write as well and/or the book is so full with smut scenes thst everything else is missing. It's sad. I'm probably going to stick to some older books for now. I'm also from Europe btw☺️
One of the problems I started noticing (Urban Fantasy was the worst, and this was about 15 years ago, now) was that I was getting disappointed with most of the new books that I picked up. Urban Fantasy is notorious for having bad smut scenes in them, but it just seemed that every fantasy or sci-fi book that I picked up then was poorly written, and this was mainly in the adult section. I read a few YA books, hated the writing, so didn't bother again. I noticed a downturn in the quality of writing of even authors I enjoyed because there was a lot of pressure on them to write more than one book a year and it was very apparent that the number of books that they brought out impacted on the quality of the book you got, and it's sad to see a good author deteriorate in their writing. I now stick to books that were written in my favourite period of publishing from when the Hobbit came out to the early 2000's (before e-book self publishing took over) as that is where I find most of the books that I enjoy the most. There will sometimes be a good new author who comes out but the race to publish, and produce seems to have taken over from telling a good story and perfecting the draft, proof-reading and editing before a book is published - I'm sure a lot of books published now would be great if people took the time to perfect it and didn't publish their first National Novel Writing Month draft.
I stopped reading YA long ago for various reasons but if I hadn’t already I definitely would have now after seeing the “variety” offered, and that’s a very generous description. There is almost no difference between most YA/NA books. It’s all the same story with same characters just different names. It’s exhausting and disheartening to see. And it’s 90% smut. There is nothing wrong with smut if that’s what you’re into. But when we are at the point where the first question someone asks about a book is if it’s “spicy” or how much seggs is in it, there is a problem
@@AmbersDangleenAnkle YA in publishing doesn't mean a young adult, it means 13-18 years old. That's why YA novels have characters who are generally 13-18 with themes that align to that time in life and coming of age in some capacity.
i've been in the book commnity long before booktok and let me tell you bookstagram and booktube had just the same problems even like 8 years ago 🙈 huge monthly book hauls were a standart video format that all big booktubers did and they almost always had more views than wrap ups (which is where all the books people read get reviewed - which really should be more interesting if you think about it)
I am only part way through, but often I find phrases like 'just let people enjoy things' are used to shut down any forms of criticism, even ones that are very true and needed to be said. And it happens too often when the criticism is discussing discrimination in a certain group. Yes, let people enjoy things, but also let people criticise and have these important discussions that are needed to be had.
People have been using that sentence as well as "it's their money, they can do whatever they want with it" to justify and defend people overconsuming, specifically skincare, clothes and home decor, and the cognitive dissonnance is deafening.
I bought a book sleeve awhile back now, and I no joke use it every day to bring a book with me in my purse without worrying about my wallet, keys, etc. wrecking the pages or cover 10/10 would recommend if you travel most days with a physical book
yes, but just one or two, not 30 like I've seen some people own on bookstagram 🫥. I have two that I made myself, one big and one smaller (for small paperbacks) for when I take my current read out of the house 🙂
another big issue i find in non-english-speaking countries is that most books you find are either now in english, or translation of american/ english literature. the decrease of books published by national writers or from other non-anglo-saxon background, specially among younger generations, who don't have the abillity to fully undeerstand a book in a foreign language, is problematic. In my country, I've heard people say that they feel awkward reading in their own language and that books in english are generally cheaper and easier to read (probably cause they only read easy tiktok books)
Omw yes! I've literally read like 5 books in my home language, while I've read multiple English-language ones. It got so bad that it started affecting my speaking ability for my home language, and I was once one of the best undergrad language students in my year. The UK/ US focus of book content ultimately creates a homogenized cultural experience, irrespective of one's background and language.
Oh yesss, sadly. There is that pressure on reading books in other languages, mostly english to "get better with it", that sometimes I feel ashamed for reading in my native language - although I very much do prefer it. I can immerse in the story more and just enjoy the beauty of language and words itself. And I've read books in english of course (for example the majority of the Wings of Fire series, because only a few first volumes got translated. And it was a great read, also due to the words not being that much complicated, which made it flow). And although I perceive my english as pretty okay, I feel worse for not reading all of my books in english. I just don't like it if I don't have to do it. But I do feel worse. Like I'm supposed to get every opportunity to improve my skills - and reading doesn't seem as appealing anymore. But the good thing is that in my country there are lots of books from independent native authors being published in the recent years and the trend seems to be getting even more popular now :D
oh, i feel you! that's why I have a gull of my own to read a book in my mother tongue after reading a book in English. Another big problem is that this American capitalist "easy" literature fills our shelves, leaving less space for native authors or authors from small neighbouring countries! literally kills me
I mostly read in English even though I'm Portuguese mostly because it's cheaper to buy books in English than to buy them translated into my language. Also, the booktoks I've read that were translated into Portuguese lack quality in translation, mostly because they're probably trying to translate them as fast as possible to launch them before people move on.
As a writer I find this new trend honestly terrifying just from the fact that I know that my genre of writing is much different from what social media wants to move away from where all they want are writers who will make the next weekly grab romance book that may take less than 5 months to make. In small terms they simply do not want to wait for an author to spend years upon years to finish books.
If the finished book is powerful, people will realize it was worth it. There's a place for the super fast candy romances but there's also still a place for thoughtful books that are true art.
As a fellow writer, I can relate so much. My genre is Science/Space Fantasy, so pretty niche as many Fantasy lovers prefer High Fantasy and SciFi fans prefer stories of human exploration, neither of which are themes of my project. On top of that, I despise writing or reading romances, let alone "smut", so I am probably the least marketable writer out there... I want to become a published author one day so badly, but sadly the project I love dearest will be the one that has the smallest audience...
If it is any comfort to you, I think the type of reader who enjoys that kind of book (Game of Thrones, Outlander and other are now taking over 30 years, phew) seem unfazed by this and are still very much patiently waiting (if they haven't died of old age, that is. Tiny joke, sorry). I think it will die down and they will chill out eventually and grow out of it. Not so sure about Colleen Hoover fans tho.
You evoked this fear in me also, as a fellow writer. I just hope that when I'll finally publish the series I've worked on for more than 2 years now (and I'm only editing again now) the marketing team will do a great job (i don't have the marketing skills to self-publish but i think my book deals with important topics)
Booktube was like this too. It seemed like everyone was always doing haul videos every month and had a backdrop of a huge bookshelf completely full. None of the people I watched back then make book videos anymore. Some make different videos and some make none. I don’t really read much anymore either. I was getting sick of over hyped young adult books being on everyone’s lists. Anna and the French Kiss was so bad and everyone loved it. It’s the same thing with Colleen Hoover on booktok.
I‘m guilty of loving storyGraph and loving to add a book to my „read“ pile but to be fair I‘m like this with everything. I keep track of my spotify stats, reading stats because I‘m just really into that kinda stuff for some reason. But I will have months where I don’t read anything because I don’t try go push myself. Pushing yourself is the best way to spoil a hobby for yourself imo
i love libraries because i cannot even contemplate buying a book if it didn't read and like it already... like I would feel so duped and upset about my money betraying me
And I feel less guilty about not finishing a book, because you can just return it (and pick it up again later if you change your mind), and just get a new, more exciting one instead!
I just finished reading The Bell Jar. I struggle to envision how a book like that could be condensed into a TikTok clip. Scary to think that if Sylvia was trying to get published today, we might not get the chance to read her story because the topics aren't marketable or trendy. I subscribed to your channel after finishing this video! Can't wait to see what you talk about in the next one.
The popular books of today are just not of great worth, so much so that I think the negatives of consuming those books outweigh the positives of the reading.
I think that collecting massive amounts of books, obsessively updating your Goodreads status, and setting wild Goodreads goals reflect the present-day neoliberal subject. This concept equates an individual with an enterprise. And just as an enterprise has to invest money to upgrade its production process to gain more profit, so must a booktoker invest in himself/herself (by buying books, reading, and making content) to elevate their cultural/social capital and, with that, their financial capital (more booktok videos = more money).
Reading what you just write... You know what it reminds me today social media content... Black mirror, that episode on the first seasons where you have to post everything and in the reaction depends your grade, and kinda dictate your "value" watching it be real in one way it's so f-ing crazy to me
@@salem_ness It's almost as if Black Mirror is literally commenting on these modern cultural phenomenons and destructive nature of the current social order.
omg i wrote something about this too! it's crazy how most "bookworms" nowadays focus more on how to look like a cute reader than actually immersing in the art of reading and appreciating books :(
This video has voiced what I've been thinking about for weeks now. I live in New Zealand and the impact social media has had on books, or rather the intense boosting for specific books through Instagram and TikTok especially, is really changing the book climate here. Buying overseas to not only keep up with the trends based in America but also keep up with the number of authors who get published from middle-tier or lower-tier publishing houses (or self-published, not shaming anyone at any level btw) means that both local bookstores (independent and locally owned chain stores) are constantly having their stock contested with due to cheaper prices elsewhere. It also is starting to silence the voices of local authors and the themes and experiences we have which are far removed from the American experience. Loved your analysis and the perspective you have!
I came across an Australian book that I wanted to check out but the publisher only ships within Australia. It's a shame because I would have found it quite interesting, but I agree with the American (and in some cases, Canadian) perspective. The only UK book perspective books I get to read are historical ones, or James Herriot. There's very little modern day perspective books. I also find the North American perspective books to be very cookie cutter and varies very little from book to book - every character drinks and adores coffee, every character drives, every character loves guns, every character wears designers clothes, every character owns a beautiful big house, every character hangs around nightclubs and bars, every character has an insanely active sex life, every character is filthy rich, every character went to a top university like Harvad, or Yale (Berkeley or California if they are a trendy lefty or woke), every character says they respect people from less privileged backgrounds but rarely does anything to help or behaves in the opposite manner.
Interesting take, however when I lived in New Zealand I found the prices of books insanely expensive (hell everything's way too expensive in NZ). Local NZ literature also gets a lot of support from readers and institutions, though it's usually mainly the "hip" books written by younger authors that get much more traction (whether or not they're actually good).
As a German I was shocked when I found out that Americans buy our German TikTok famous books e.g. Fourth Wing JUST because of the sprayed edges. These editions are usually very limited and rare, they're meant for German speakers, but now Americans buy them out without even being able to read them, just to display them like some sort of trophy. It's absolutely crazy to me! And us here in Germany have to wait for ages to get our own books since they sell out so fast!
I saw a post about this on Facebook - some girl had bought the German copy just for the design and I was absolutely shocked that people were so supportive of her… she already had 3 other copies! I left that group because I just couldn’t believe people felt comfortable buying 4 copies of the same book, including 1 they couldn’t physically even read
@@TashieaI learnt english mostly through books...and one of my all time favourite books is by a german author...So I'm gonna get it in german...because I want to enjoy it in its own language...would I be able to read it? Not yet, but I really want to learn german anyway and I think this would help...Still keeping my translated copy as well... It's normal for me that I get the og english version next to the translated one - and I'm reading both copies...Sometimes I even have different translations for books - again...I read them all (but I'm trying to stick to single translations because books are expensive and I won't have space to keep doing it)...I'm a rereader so for me having 2-3 copies of a book is not that weird... I guess my case is somewhat different because I don't collect them for the sake of collecting them but to read them several times. (Mainly getting second hand copies because it's cheaper usually - or ebook, sometimes I get my second "copy" in ebook.) Oh yeah also: our libraries only have the old books - classics, scientific ones, essays and nothing new...And I can buy several classics in ebook for the price of a library card, which I couldn't even use enoguh because I just don't always want to read classics. 🤷🏻♀️
This was so insightful! I must admit that I also have been influenced by booktok by continuously setting unrealistically high goals for myself, and feeling stupid when I have difficulties understanding a book (especially classics). I find it absolutely terrifying how easily our perception of intelligence is moulded by social media. Our time and ability to read books should not be a reflection of our intelligence. At the end of the day, we are all blobs of flesh on a floating rock in the middle of nowhere. We should not beat ourselves up for not "owning enough books" or "reading enough books", because it doesn't even matter! 💗
It's only the social media aspect of reading that is like this. Most people that read are not actually active in this community. They simply read in their own time and that is that. How we all used to do it when we were kids lol. We share everything now so its made reading this more complicated kind of sport instead of a simple hobby.
The tiktokfication of things became very apparent to me this last month with the premiere of the ballad of songbirds & snakes movie. I got to read the book like a year after it came out, and no one on tiktok was talking about it, just a few ppl on booktube, and when the trailer came out it was shocking to see the THG craze coming back and everyone talking about it again, but then came the edits with the "hot MMC". What got to me the most was seeing most of the ppl absolutely not understanding any of the messaging of the book/movie, and taking everything at face value, & i think basically thats what has been happening to a lot of new readers, reading books for the sake of saying "ive read --" but then proceeding to skim over the actual content and not getting the message the author was trying to put out
Media literacy in general is in the toilet. Being able to understand themes and symbolism and anything other than the most literal interpretation of a text is basically dead in today’s era of hot takes and skimming. Nuance is dead as well.
I am a self-published author. I have never been on book toc before, and this video validates my personal outlook. I labor in obscurity to put out a quality book. I think i’ll stay there.
@@cassiemckechnie yes they are. Thanks for your interest! The first two, how JoJo got her mojo back, and paradise point has been revised with new covers. book 3 I am hoping to have out this week, and book four hopefully by the end of July. both of those will have been updated revised with new covers. if you have interest in any of those, I said, until the final product is available. Thank you.
In my opinion, nobody can force you to do or buy anything and we all need to hold ourselves accountable for how we either help or further the problem. It’s a lot easier to blame an app but at the end of day, everyone is responsible for themselves and their actions.
I think the problem is more about influence. There’s so much pressure to be in the same lane as other people or relate to others that you’ll feel pressured to consume products in hopes you’ll fit in. Social Media has a grip on most users.
that's why i'll always be a diehard e-reader stan! ethics aside regarding consumption, there's just something so cool and futuristic about being able to carry around my entire library of 400+ books on a tablet that uses freakin' e-ink technology, like what?! not to mention i moved recently, and even my very small cache of physical books was a pain to move. i can't imagine having to box up and haul some of the book collections i've seen on the internet. if i really like a book, i'll spend my money on a pretty physical copy to covet, otherwise it goes into the digital realm where it belongs. (it also helps if you're a 🏴☠but we're not gonna talk about that!)
as a diehard physical book enjoyer (it keeps me much more focused if i'm not looking at a screen/have pages to turn) this is something i think is so underrated about ereaders! i have a massive book collection i've been building since i was a child and i DREAD moving bc i know it's gonna be a nightmare.
i def focus better with physical books, but e readers are sm more practical and cheaper 🏴☠️, if i need to i’ll get the book from the library. and i’ll buy books i reread
@@tomdelongjohnsi love your username! 😂 and i definitely don’t envy you if you ever have to move! i ended up sorting my books into several smaller boxes and even those were quite heavy to lug around since i have primarily hardcovers. hopefully you can save up to hire a moving service when the time comes! another underrated reason for owning an e-reader? i’m sure you know all too well the pain of trying to choose the reading material to bring on a trip with you… not with a handy dandy e-reader! i can bring my entire library with me, and it feels so darn cool. i definitely think it’s worth giving one a whirl if you ever get the chance, as i was also concerned about not being able to focus as much as i would with a physical book, but realized i enjoyed it just as much (albeit for different reasons ofc!). i think it helps that an e-reader is nothing but an e-reader, versus something like a tablet or a smart phone. then again my adhd brain really enjoys having a clearly defined separation between activities, so being able to associate my kobo with nothing other than reading has pavlov’d my brain into hyperfocus mode whenever i have it in my hands. as soon as it comes outta hiding, i’m immediately like “ooh, is it reading time again?!” and that’s all i can think about!
Libraries as the last bastion of community is so true, I believe at least 80% of the books I've read in my life are from my uni or public library and it is so precious to see what old mysterious books might be on a shelf somewhere in the corner of the library
Really well put! That distinction of booktok focusing on "books" as an object to be consumed rather than a medium of art has always turned me off. I love good frothy romance fantasy but that sort of novel is generally a lot easier to power through than say, Middlemarch or a non-fiction book about Inuit culture. It makes all the bragging about huge numbers feel silly. And omg the booktok trends are the worst, the immense pressure to make a book that'll sell is really pushing the wrong authors to the top. It sometimes feels like quality of writing doesn't matter so much as the beats the story can hit.
I read a lot of non-fiction for self-education purposes, and the idea of crushing a book a day isn’t generally plausible. Forget annotating, forget dwelling and contemplating, probably no re-reading passages - forget learning. IMO, people who claim to crush a book a day are lying about it. Who’s holding these content creators accountable to that? I care because reading can be incredibly rewarding.
As someone who was avidly on Booktube as a teenager, and still loves reading, this is so dystopian to me. Like what are you gaining from reading 40 books a month? Are you enjoying the books? Are you even processing them? Are you doing anything else with your life? What is the point of it all??? Someone help me understand the motivation please
Lately I went to an independent book store in London that was going viral on Tiktok. It really shocked me just how many of the books were already famous on Tiktok they had, the book collection just felt very curated for the platform which felt unsatisfactory cause I really wanted a personal recommendation or something i wouldn't normally read. But i guess the bookshop also do need to make a profit of it's competing against Bezzos'.
Every time a global book community changes platform (blogs, tumblr, UA-cam, and now TikTok) (yes, I am not the youngest) the same debates and questions come up on a specific timeline, with a new layer for each platform (elitism, ethnocentrism, ethics, etc.) but with the same fear: everything is become the same because only a few popular themes drive up the sales. A few centuries ago, there was a debate about bourgeois having beautiful books on their bookshelves but not reading them. It was ~the~ thing to do to flaunt money and establish your economical status. The question of overconsumption nowadays does add a very interesting new layer. We know now how algorithms work and how we can use it to our advantage. In my opinion, it is up to us to put our money (or library card), likes and support where we preach. And I firmly believe that even though the book community has one share interest, reading, we are all so different that homogenization will never actually happen. Yes, there will be tendances, major running themes, etc. but never homogenization.
I'm not even on tiktok, but seeing books advertised as "tiktok sensation" or the like, now only serves to give me pause. I've seen some of the most mid books getting hype, and have realised that the most popular tiktok genres (romantasy, dark romance to name some) really aren't my cup of tea. It reminds me of the hype around twilight (which teenage me enjoyed, admittedly) and later fifty shades (not for me) which it felt like "everyone" was reading - only now it's many more books and the "trend cycle" moves a lot faster bc of tiktok. Fast fashion certainly seems like an apt comparison!
I feel you. There's this ebook app in my country that was created to make reading more accessible, since the premise is that you don't need to pay anything to have the opportunity to get a new book to read since they have ties to our most popular internet service providers, and they are the ones who pay the editors to allow the books to remain in the app catalogue, you just read the damn thing. And everytime they offer me my monthly free read and I see through all of the options, EVERY. TIME. I see TikTok mentioned in a summary, I click away. There are some booktok books I find interesting - I've been reading The Song of Achilles recently, along with The Illiad and doing my own research on the Epic Cycle so I can find the differences - , but most of the time, seeing the app mentioned is an instant turn off
I think people see reading as a nurturing and productive hobby because it helps develop your critical thinking skills, the "read once and forget about them" books that are pushed by tik tok because they sell quickly and a lot, are not helping you develop anything, which is fine, not everything you do has to be productive, as long as there's room for all kinds of books in the publishing industry, but the waste that book overconsumption could potentially create is worrying
Currently I have 175 books unread on my shelves. I fell down the rabbit hole of buying to mush books last year, when I felt super sad, exhausted, stressed and just bad in general. And buying books was a coping mechanism. This year I finally faced the problem. I track all the books I buy to make sure that I read more than a buy. I donated 30+ books that I will realistically never get to reading. And seeing this small change in my life makes me so happy. And also makes me realise that I am in a better place now.
I am not on booktok but I was totally on booktube when I was in middle and high school. This video is so well made and has really got me thinking about my own book consumption, about meeting personal quotas because numbers are apparently indicative of success, and how doomed I feel we are as humans sometimes. I am still so conflicted about personal libraries especially if those libraries are stocked with exclusively newly printed books and not used copies of books that have been out for a long time. But I also feel like personal libraries can also be beautiful, especially if they're filled with books that are very special to you. I feel like I romanticize non-consumer ways of reading (like ebooks and libraries) and only owning a handful of your all time favorite books; but on the other hand, I don't know if this is just another image to fulfill instead of actually doing what feels right for you. Ahhhh just so much to think about!! But I really appreciate this video sparking this conversation.
It's easy to get lost in between "I want to read more" and "I have to read more". I have a job, I am a mom, a wife and a person. I love reading books, but I have a life and responsibilities. So 12 books a year sometimes is overwhelming for me. And sometimes 20 books a year feels like a breeze. If I have time, I read. If not, well... I don't read 😃 There are things to worry about already so worrying about number of read books is a luxury. Well, at least to me. I remember watching a video where one Booktuber said that they want to like a certain popular series, but couldn't. She came up with excuses why it's so hard for her to love the series even though a lot of people like it. And I was sitting there thinking "what? Now you HAVE to like certain series/books to count as a reader?" This mindset blew me away.
A conversation I had with my boyfriend about a month ago. ”Man I wonder if this author will be present at the next book fest, I will really love if I could get a signing from him.” ”Eh probably not, his community is not that big.” ”What do you mean, his books are literary in the ”popular now” section.” ”Yes, because its NEW and has a cool cover. That is why people buy it, but few actually read it. They buy it because its cool to buy it and take a picture to brag you found a copy.” And my brain froze. The idea of a buying a book because its cool to buy it but you have no interest on the subject feels unproductive and stupid. I have no issue with people who buy books because they liked the cover. I did that in the past. Some were became my favorite others I stop reading after 40-50 pages because I found them poorly written/not what I expected. But at least I had the intent to read them. I think literature is like food. Everyone has their preferences and everyone consumes it at their own pace. Reading trends feel like the most in your face marketing scheme ever.
When people in BOOK GROUPS are complaining that they can't read Stephen King because his books have "too many words" we have a problem. I had to leave most of the book groups because people bashed amazing books for "too long", "I'm on page 15 and it's so boring, should I read on?" And of course there are boring books. But these people were complaining about wonderful passages describing the setting. And every time I asked them what the issue was they'd say "I like a fast paced read that grabs from the first page". I read a wide variety of books. I don't think that one genre is better than others. In fact, I can read Hugo and Homer and some funky horror paperback. But lots of people read absolute trash and have no attention span. My niece is 9, she reads bigger books than many adults
As someone who works at Thalia (Germanys biggest book retailer) , I 100% stand behind everything you said in this video . I have a pretty big collection of books due to my job, but with so many new releases being published every year, mainting a big collection (that you've actually read) is becoming harder and harder. A thing that people could start doing, is giving away the books, that have been sitting on the shelfs unread for years and years, to local libraries or shelters. The librarian at mine is always extremely happy about new donations and genuinly helps a lot of people, who love reading but don't have the money and space for large book collection. I don't know if my comment makes a lot of sense, but in short, I really appreciate this video and the message you're trying to get out into the world.
I bought one book ( from throne if glass) ywo times and I knew that our local library had the first ones but not this one so I went there and gifted it.... a few days later my friend ame to me and said that she got a really good deal at the library because they sold the book for 1€ ... so I got my suspicious and when I got there the next time I asked about the book and they said they don't have it!! I was so disappointed and angry ( because then I could just have gifted it to my friend) that I never did it again
I live in Germany as well and I get most of my books at Thalia. I have a good amount of unread books but I read classics so it's not like you can fly through them. I don't know in which city you live but I always put my books into the buses. They have this little shelf where you can add and take books from.
What I have notice about some content creators in booktok is that they don't even really read the book, they just want to talk about a book because it is hyped at the moment, but when you listen to them, you realize that they have just skimmed through it to create content, without taking the time to really completely read it, so now I think it has become more about being in the hype and "popularity" than about reading.
i feel attacked, setting high goodreads goals & loving the idea of reading certain books However i’m a pretty slow reader & only enjoy books when i read them slowly, i really have to stop comparing myself to ‘booktubers’, and not having to own books i’ve read from my kindle/ library great video, thank you for your research!!
Like most things in life, I think it comes down to balance. Set a goal if it motivates you, but don't beat yourself up over it. Buy books if they make you happy and you plan to read them but not just to impress others. Read things you enjoy and not just to "look smart". I enjoy setting a reading goal for the year, because it keeps me reading at a comfortable steady pace. It gives me a little extra boost when I'm deciding between watching more UA-cam shorts or picking up a book haha. I also buy physical books (mostly used) and probably in an amount more than I should, but I have genuine intentions of reading all of them. I'm in the process of scaling back though. I also genuinely like looking at my bookcases. Sometimes, I just sit on my bed and admire them LOL so I like to think since they bring me happiness they're a bit more justified. I support my local library by checking out ebooks occasionally and going to a local bookclub.
Thank you for pointing out that reading is first and foremost entertainment. People forget that the likes of Shakespear and many of the literary greats were considered "low brow" entertainment in their day. Bram Stoker and Charles Dickens published many of their works in serial newspapers. Books used to be what television currently is to the masses. It was an easy affordable way to entertain yourself. Classic literature is great but we need to remember its roots. Shakespear wasn't aiming for his work to be analysed in english lit classes he was aiming to get laughs, tears, and applause from his audience. What we consider low brow popular culture today will likely be being studied in universities in 100 years.
It depends. It may have been considered “low brow” entertainment, but the works were very clearly thought out and many of the deeper themes studied in them today were very intentional. I highly doubt something like Harry Potter would be studied in an English class in the future.
@@MysticOceanDollies Yeah sorry no. The amount of dick jokes in Shakespear or the fact that Dracula was one giant euphemism for oral sex says differently. And pretending Harry Potter isn't going to be studied in Children's Literature circles in the future is choosing to be wilfully blind. It isn't about them being all that spectacular it is about the undeniable cultural impact they had and the fact that they changed the way Children's Literature and Young Adult Fiction was treated in the publishing world. Just because you don't like something doesn't change the impact.
Yeah but we also forget that a lot of books that became popular with the masses in the past are practically forgotten now, while a lot of what we consider "serious literature" didn't necessarily do well commercially when they were first released. A lot of the commercially successful crap that was published long ago has since disappeared.
Thank you for this video! I unsubscribed from so many bookish channels which started to upload mostly book hauls/book subscription boxes but very few videos about books they actually read. There is definitely a place for both, but the proportions are so often so wrong.
I personally love tracking my reads and my books - but I've always been someone that tracks and plans my hobbies, I think that's what's part of having a hobby to me. I tend to be more of a 'collector' in spirit, if I were a mythical creature I'd be a dragon if that makes sense, I find interests and then I hoard around them - that's just what brings me joy. So originally me tracking, observing and reviewing as a part of my hobbies became a way to appreciate them in a way that was more than buying them, storing them and then letting the novelty wear off. I think with books it's so easy to buy a book and skim read it without actually... *reading* it. I track them with stats of how long they are, how long it took me to read it, what I would rate it, writing a review, etc - is so I have a checklist to make sure that I am actually finding myself sitting down with the book and reading it. I love looking back at last years lists and with my top reads and worse reads I'll often re-read them the year after to see if I: a) remember it b) hold the same opinion on it Just some thoughts I had when you mentioned the goodreads bit :)
By the end of 2023, I finished The Lord of the Rings (for 3 months) and War and Peace (5-6 months) plus a few shorter books like The Song of Achilles and several classics. That's just less than 10 books the whole year. It doesn't matter if a co-worker of mine managed to finish 85 books, because the books I have read made a huge impact in my life. For me, reading and understanding what the author wrote and reflecting on what I have just read gives me more satisfaction than having read lots of books but can't even remember the characters, places, or even the plot.
So I read A LOT! I listen to audio books, I have stacks I am working on. I was so happy when I found booktok and it slowly turned into annoyance/hatred. I think I have purchased a total of 9 books from booktok recs, and each time I was left thinking "Did they read this at all?" Some of the books people RAVED about were so hollow, and so terriblly paced I was left floored. I reached a point where I never turst reviews anymore. I know reading is subjective but it feels terrible to be the odd one out and wonder if any of the 300 people commenting read the book.
This is such a good video! Sometimes I consider jumping on these "niches" and making some content with them, but this kind of lets me know that the initial bad vibe I had about it not coming from the "right" place was rooted in something I couldn't put my finger on. Thanks for this!
I think there’s definitely variety across the communities. There are so many lovely booktok creators who sadly get overshadowed by these sensationalist haul tiktoks that go viral 🥲
@@accordingtoalina most definitely! but a big chunk of booktok is why i can’t trust reviews (the books that are most liked I usually despise) which is why I appreciate channels like yours - YT seems a bit more trustworthy in that aspect
As someone who has never been on TikTok, this video and trend explanation explains the gradual increase of the book sections at the thrift stores near me!
As a mom, a book sleeve is a life changer when putting my books in my bags. My child will either want to put things in my bags or takes things out and its saved a book or two. But i agree with this video so much
I get a lot of my books at thrift stores, library book stores, Little Free Libraries, Half Price Books, Book of the Month, and then Amazon but I rarely pay full price.. Only time I do is if it's a new release or pre-order that I know I'm going to love. I do some Unhauls as well but they tend to be the cheapest books and ones that I read but don't like enough to have them taking up space. I don't read e-books for different reasons and I have a hard time listening to most audiobooks.. having a book collection makes me happy so I prefer to purchase rather than rent from the library... also I like to tab, annotate/write, highlight in a lot of books so it's better for me to purchase them. Also this way I have a lot of books to lend out to friends and family! ☺
This is the first video I have watched regarding overconsumption taking in book form, and it felt as if everything was covered really nicely. It makes me so sad how people think 'trending' books are the only good books, the library has so many hidden gems if you take the time to search for them. I really loved your video!!
I notice this problem as well. I would watch many different booktubers, and enjoy their content but then I realized the constant hauls being uploaded. There are channels who would post 30+ haul every other week, and constant Amazon wishlist hauls, subscription boxes. It was genuinely becoming overwhelming
Funny how we went through the uncluttering phase already but people still can't stop buying. I feel like the best choice if you're an avid reader is getting an ereader. Not having the clutter and commitment of buying and keeping a possibly bad or average book allows you to try different genres without being responsible for every single book you're bringing into your house.
Have you considered using apps like Libby? They are free to download and you use it by linking your library card to the app. It allows you to access your libraries ebook and audiobook collection without having to physically go to the library.
the unhaul thing its so true.I see people getting rid off books so easily and here I am with books that I also want to unhaul but can not get rid of them because I paid for them with my own money,it hurts.How is it so easy for this people?????
I also struggled with unhauling but realise that many people cannot afford new books. I am happy however to give someone the pleasure of reading a book I no longer need as I have outgrown it. As I am always extremely happy when I get a second hand copy of a book I have been looking for because I cannot afford new books.
@@nightshadepurplebroom3516 i agree with you but what i am talking about is the easiness this people have to "throwing away" 100 plus books.That to me is not normal.
Thank you for this video! I think more people need to understand how over consumption is even in their own hobbies. I started to read again in December 2023. I joined booktok and book groups on Facebook. I started to pressure myself to read every day, set a goal, download so many apps to “track” my books because of the aesthetic, shopping all the time for books, etc. Ever since I deleted social media, I realized how influenced I was to buy this book or that book every day. It threw a lot of money down the drain, honestly. Now I have a whole bookshelf of unread books. But knowing this, I now have let go of that societal pressure and genuinely enjoy reading now. I don’t worry about the streaks, goals, or anything that takes away from the enjoyment of reading. I hope more people will start to look at themselves and how often you can actually sabotage everything you do in life!
thank you for this video! my goal was to read 25 books this year, but looking onward for the remainder of the year, it’s looking like i’ll be about 8-10 books off. it had me wanting to pick up short reads or start an audio book, but then i reminded myself this was the first year into adulthood where i started up reading again. 25 was just a random number, still not really knowing my reading habits. i knew the next few books i wanted to read were thick, and so those are the ones i’m going to slowly consume. right now, i’ve still read 16 books more than i have in a year during adulthood. i’ve had so much joy and a range of emotions from the experience of reading my books. and that’s what matters to me.
@@laurapeterson12this is the reason why I enjoy (and use the Storygraph) because I'm a mainly fantasy reader and I can assign a separate book goal and a pages goal, knowing the average book length (for me) is 600-800 pages but it's still only one book!
10:47 I feel this very much. I'm not a writer, I will never be able to put into words what makes a book great or why I loved/hated it. I see these articulate reviews on Goodreads and I'm flabbergasted. At some point in life I came to a conclusion about myself when it comes to that. Which is: I don't have thoughts about books, I have feelings about books. Don't ask me to discuss a book, because I'll be completely tongue tied. I know how I feel about a certain book and that's enough for me.
This was so well-done and thought provoking. And yes, as someone who's been an avid reader for nearly 40 years (aside from the first few years after university when I was burned out), I love the surge of Bookstagram, BookTube, and BookTok, but it has definitely increased the number of books I buy when I used to be happy going to the library. On the positive side, it's introduced me to books I ended up absolutely loving. And yes, if BookTube/Tok/etc. starts only promoting and discussing books published by TikTok's new company, I am OUT for sure.
I agree with everything. There is also this fact that a normal wage earner is simply incapable of buying 20-30+ books at once because books are EXPENSIVE. Even paperbacks. Hardcover prices with foil lining and stuff are through the roof. And when you see influencers buy so many of these beautiful books, a normal reader is bound to feel inferior and longing…..in some way?
I may have an unpopular opinion here, but I don’t understand how people buying books is problematic. My understanding is that one of the biggest problems with fast fashion is the waste that it creates. These books aren’t being wasted. They are being read, collected, donated, read second hand etc. Are they ending up in landfills? I am sorry I don’t understand the comparison at all.
I worked in a UK charity shop back in 2015 and the amount of books that were donated exceeded the amount purchased to the level that the hallway and under stairs was filled with stacks of crates maybe 8 high of books that would never hit the shelves. They would be sold for pence a book to a company that went round all charity shops obtaining books like that. I'd be very surprised if they sold even 50% of them and the rest weren't sent to landfill/recycled. I also get surprised when I go to charity shops that there often aren't any of the booktok books in there, I wonder if that's because people keep them, distribute them among friends, simply throw them out rather than donate them, they're immediately purchased when they hit the shelves or charity shops don't track booktok and so they end up in these crates never getting a chance to be purchased. (I'm also not anti book buying, I've always loved buying books even when I didn't read much but tend to get them from charity shops unless they're something I know I'm really likely to love, largely because I don't want to spend money on something I might hate when I'm still unsure what I look for in a book. I honestly adore books as both home decor and as entertainment)
This is so true, I saw a tiktok of a woman ‘turning around all the books on her shelf that she hadn’t read’ and im not joking she turned the entire shelf around, and she had probably 300 books on there.
The whole "read books as fast as you can" rubs me wrong tbh. I'm a slow reader.. VERY slow. And YT seems to really want me to speed up. The Count of Monte Cristo is my favorite book. It is like... Big.. if I wanted to read as fast as I can I would've never read it. But it just completely blew my mind. If that was the only book I read in a year, I would be very happy that it was such a good one.
you are so eloquent & well-spoken on this topic and i agree with everything you’ve said. i have been trying to de-influence myself from everything social media feeds us about bookish topics and videos like this are so helpful
I'm so glad someone is articulating this as well as you are. This is what turned me off completely from booktok and even trying to film my own content because I can't keep up with how much it's turned into a collection competition. It's so easy to get caught up in reading books you don't actually like just to keep up with the trends.
I'm a BookTube creator and yes it's easy to get caught up in all the pressure to make more content, read more books, BUY more books. But at the same time I do feel that BookTubers (I can't speak to BookTok, I don't go there) genuinely just really love books. Personally I like Unhauls more than Hauls, because people haul books they never read all the time. I try to use the library or buy used books 90% of the time
I was gifted a book sleeve by a friend and also thought I won't use it. Let me tell you, they're very good at preventing damage to your books if you like to take your book everywhere, including the pool. I'm bad, I know, but I shove too many things in my back pack and often used to bend and damage pages as a result. That book sleeve actually prevents that. Also, when I go to the pool, I usually only take a single bag, and even if a wet towel slips out of the plastic bag, it won't get my book wet. So yeah, they're useful. I'd have never thought so, but they are.
This is such a lovely video. As an English major, I love reading, but there’s this pressure to read quickly that ruins the experience of reading. Even within my major, in which we are supposed to savor books, we are always rushing to read big chunks of text in such a short amount of time. This mentality has ruined the way I read to the point that I rather not. Reading for pleasure has become this unattainable thing since I should be reading something for school every time I crave to read a book.
Getting views is a major factor in this. At least on Booktube, people who post reviews and in depth analysis about a book barely get views and comments. While those who do huge book hauls and show fancy editions of books they bought get all the likes and recognition. When I try to find reviews all the algorithm recommends is hauls. I really can't believe we've started to treat something so valuable and educational that is a book like it's just a decoration for our shelves and nothing more.
I used to get joy from getting 30+ used books and having a big collection. I started to notice I read only 15% and got rid of most of them. I stopped when I realized it was a pain to move with all those books, and got rid of most
I have a lot of problems with booktok honestly, since the begining I always saw it as a 2010s booktube but worse: the massive bookhauls, the trends, and the unrealistic amount of books read every year. Booktok does all of that but to an extreme. Personally, one of the things I dislike the most about booktok is that almost everyone recomends the same books over and over again, without giving an actual review, they just hype the book barely explaining the plot.
this is a really interesting topic that i think about often as well, especially as someone who has often thought about starting my own channel but was discouraged exactly bc i felt like i did not have the means to keep it "interesting" - i can't afford 10 books each month for a book haul, i don't have a shelf or a cool wall set up in my room to film, and i understand that 90% of content being me reading on my bed would just not be enough of an incentive for someone to watch and subscribe when you have creators constantly animating, exciting, entertaining. i'm a library user and i largely only buy book i have read and loved, to make a collection. however, this is where your point about booktok not wanting you to read easily available books really hits. i'm not in america, and my public library is limited with its options. the english sections is maybe two shelves out of hundreds. 500 books in all genres and publishing years isn't the same as buying or reading 100 books published this year. also, influencers (which is who you see) live off starting trends or being ahead of them at least. they need to find that underground book, that indie self-published gem, and so many of the latest tiktok trends were exactly that. i think that this does however skewer perceptions for many people, bc the booktok/booktube creator lens doesn't really allow you to be someone who reads on the lower scale of books per year. you can't really be in a book influencer position and only read a book a month, although you can be just as passionate about reading as someone who's going through 200 books a year.
but maybe you can be that "lower-scale" creator you speak of! There's definitely a shift in the type of book/reading content people are searching, so who knows, you could be everyone's favourite chill, slow-reading content creator! I'd subscribe to that x
My mom has loved reading for many years, yet she hardly has any books at home. She does buy them, but after reading them she gives them away to friends, colleagues or even me. She always says that books are there to be read and not to be kept in the cupboard. She only keeps books that she knows she would read again and she is happy when she can make others happy by giving them her books.
This is all so relatable! As someone who posts random videos on TikTok (mostly about books cause reading is something I do a lot), the only videos that gained a lot of traction were reading wrap-ups and mini hauls. Videos that had nothing to do with reading, or videos where I showed ebooks that I had downloaded for free didn’t even get a third of those views. That’s why I felt obligated to read as many physical books as I could because that’s what got peoples’ attention, but I don’t live in a country where mass consumption of anything is possible due to inflation. I’m also only 17 and have no time or motivation to read after a long day at school. For a long time it made me feel like I was failing, but I slowly realized that the people who blow up on booktok (usually) have the time and privilege to buy and read all of these books in a very short time. Thank you for addressing this issue!
i’ve never been involved in booktok, however this situation sounds eerily similar to the manga-tiktok craze of 2020-2021, which was something that i participated in i remember my fyp would be filled with creator after creator buying 10 or 20 manga volumes per haul, and like a lot of other people did, i fell victim to the craze 😭😭 my manga collection of about 30 volumes grew to about 120 in the span of about 4 months, and even though i read and enjoyed most of my manga at the time, most of it is now just sitting on a shelf in my room collecting dust. i think the fast fashion comparison is so accurate its a little scary 😭😭 anyways i really enjoyed the video!
people fight me so hard when i tell them to use the library instead of buying books they don’t even know if they like yet. it drives me nuts. why is it so normal?
I think I've read maybe 3 books this year. 2 were Murderbot books by Martha Wells, a fantastic, very light series. Some people look down on that kind of reading, cause it's sparse, and light, and easy to read. But you know what? Since March of this year I've had a 24/7 migraine, a real banger of an aura having, science defying, crazy making status migrainous. Screw 'em. You can be temporarily abled, or you can be disabled, but either way whatever energy you have for books is a precious blessing and shouldn't be wasted on NOT ENJOYING IT. So sad to know people have been reading like other folks like, work out or eat healthy. Jeez people, you can be happy, it's ok to be happy.
I work as a bookseller. The amount of people I see buying stacks of popular BookTok books makes me wonder how many are making these "haul" videos. I'm sure at least some of them have been influenced by it. I honestly find the "flash in the pan" nature of popular books frustrating. We'll get hundreds of copies of the latest hot BookTok read only to be left with a bunch of unsold copies when people inevitably move on to something else. These unsold books take up tons of inventory space and usually end up being discounted to get rid of them. It's frustrating, and I feel like it's a point not many people take into consideration
I think my max is 40-45 books per year, including graphic novels and audio books. Regular novels, probably closer to 20. I don't know how people can read 100+ books per year and actually remember what happened in the books they read.
I’ve been thinking about the overconsumption of books and performance of reading because I noticed myself looking for ways to reach my Goodreads reading goal. I have never read a lot of books but the ones I have read in the last couple years I remember and can tell you about. I have never actually reached my Goodreads goal, and so this year I started listening to audiobooks 1.5 and looking for short books that I can log. As I noticed this happening, I have downloaded Libby and started going to my library more. I want to foster a reading habit without over consuming, give myself a chance to try new genres without cost, and find what kinds of books make me want to read more. This is part of my journey to find hobbies to replace (some of) the scroll, so I can feel better than I do after falling in a TikTok rabbit hole. I started crocheting bc of TikTok but it was a good way to replace the scroll and have actively trying to avoid over consumption of yarn as well. I have to stay away from crochet content creators and only watch when I’m looking for a pattern.
A few years ago I saw a video on "how to read more" by chance and it changed my life. I've always loved reading and I didn't do it out of laziness because it's easier to be on my cell phone than reading a book. Anyway, the video said that if you kept reading 1 book a year for the rest of your life you only had 60/70 more books left. I had never thought about it like that and considering that my TBR at the moment was 100 books I decided that I had to get my act together.
I think the idea that hauls are content that's interesting is partly pushed by the fact that social media is an advertising platform not a social platform. Like, mini hauls are fascinating when they include those random curated things you find and treat like treasures. Mainly, it is interesting to see things you're not familiar with and to see someone with good taste essentially curating a collection that is related to their interests. But it becomes less compelling when it's just "stuff". I have done reading challenges to find my personal limits on quantity. Everything blurred together after awhile. More recently I've started a reading journal to take notes from library books I'd love to own but just don't have the space for right. Reading content that shows how to deeply engage in reading is far more interesting than quantity focused content, it just takes longer to produce. Which seems to be the across the board challenge with creators on social media.
"Reading books and collecting books are two different hobbies" is an often used phrase in the booktok community and i think it sums it perfectly
also, it's a phrase used to justify shopping addiction. as a shopping addict myself it's not fun, especially when you just want to watch some fun book tiktoks / reels / shorts and get bombarded with hauls and stuff. for me it's getting better now, as i finally accepted i'm an addict and i'm working so hard on defeating this addiction. but several people i met through booktok are proud of their addicition and even go into debt for it. a book - even a special edition- isn't worth that much to get yourself into debt. and when i tried to tell these people 'hey i think you might be a shopping addict' i get so many weird reactions of them trying to justify their behavior. e.g. telling me "reading books and collecting books are two different hobbies". :/
This made me laugh, it made me think of something my mom told me, “doing crafts and buying things for crafts are two different hobbies” hahahah
I will admit I buy hard covers of books that I’ve already read and I will find a new home for books I already have bought and I will still keep ebooks I have.
I did this with Sunbearer Trails and gave it to my cousin who will see themselves represented and I did rehome Emily Wilde’s encyclopaedia to my sibling because I had the hardcover coming and I knew this was up her ally.
I also like to buy books that I’ve already read in the library and I know I will reread.
This is how I do things on the dark side.
Also I only will ever have one version of a book because I don’t need like 5 of the same book in different covers!
@@AutsiticAlien007 I feel like this is the healthy version of collecting books.
I feel the same people that say this often also say "there is no ethical consumption under capitalism" when trying to defend their overconsumption. Collecting books or other things isn't necessary bad, but there is a limit.
Every industry is engaging with the fomo 'fast fashion' type of marketing. Nail polish, fountain pens, stationery, home decor, the entire business model of soap and shower gel at bath and body works. Literally everything. We live in dystopian hell.
Indeed we do
for things like Stationary it seems kinda odd to me. why do i need 25 fountain pens? just a few ones i like the look of and like writing with is enough.
Its the taylor swift effect
seeing all this unfold in the last few years has actually pushed me away from buying so much!
Yep. It's always been there but I didn't realize how much so until later in life, and my own part in it. Now, over-consumerism, fast fashion and constant consumption are normalized and shoved at children barely out of the womb onward, thanks to "iPad parenting" & internet in general, making a bigger ongoing problem in this area. Very concerning. (Edit for grammar)
What I find interesting though is watching a content creator post a 30-50+ book haul video and then that same content creator having a physical TBR video showing off their 200+ UNREAD book collection is so so so crazy to me...
I mean it's collectibles! I have a 1,200 books reading list on goodreads, about 30 unread at home and 500 on my kindle ready to be read in the next decade.. I will probably never get through them, but I love looking at them all and feeling the excitement 🎉😊
@@kenzashennathis is a completely fine way to do it but a lot of these creators will make comments like 'I bought this book because it's popular but I hate the genre and the plot doesn't sound interesting to me so I'm never going to read it'
@@lydiamac1771 yeah that sounds insane to me. I get buying a book because of the hype but when you already know you are going to hate it, why not check it out from the library instead? Like I wanna try some booktok books where I'm pretty sure I won't like them but I'm not spending money on them
The comments often turn into borderline bragging about a shopping addiction, meanwhile I wish I had the money to spend on something I'll never touch
Same! Personally I always work on my physical TBR but I currently have 5 on it and I think it’s a lot. Luckily, since I have so few books on my physical TBR, I am most likely to enjoy them since I read them in shorter span of time, then those people that have 200+ on their TBR.
Honestly, I have 64 unread books on my bookshelf rn and last night my husband said I should probably read at least 30 before buying any new books. I reluctantly agreed. After seeing this video though it was a really great reminder of where I stand on consumerism and environmentalism and I have not been practicing what I preach. Thank you.
my pleasure! happy reading xx
I have a lot of unread books as well. I used to read A LOT as a teenager. I joined the army and I didn't have the time anymore. During that period of time I still bought books and just threw them in the container of books I had whenever I visited home on the holidays. Now that I'm out I looked forward to getting back into it...and started another job that keeps me too busy lol. Butttttt now I just buy the audiobook and the physical one for my book case...that way I can "read" while I'm driving...truck driver
I want to create content around books, mainly because I want to inspire more people to read and learn and I want that positive impact, but I’m so scared of this happening. I’m thinking of giving away the books, but I need to stop the habit of writing in my books first 😂
@@RickyRicardoMJFmy dad is also a truck driver who loves to read. We like to recommend books to eachother and while I know he doesn't have a lot of time on his hands he always tries to read in his down time :) I hope you're enjoying the books that you've been reading!
Nowadays, if I can get it from the library, I don’t buy it.
the 'get it now' mentality has also made these people rude as hell to library workers, lol. like if someone doesn't know how libraries works and wants, say, a colleen hoover book, they will ask us for it and expect us to have 25 copies of a popular author when in reality they are all checked out because they are, again, popular! and people new to libraries then forget to return the books as well, lol
I haven't seen one famous dark romance author in my local library in Germany and despite sometimes indulging in that genre myself, I'm quite happy about it. If people want to read crap like that, they should go out of their way to do it 😅😅 But I'm sorry that you get to deal with the kinds of people who think the exact opposite. Crossing my fingers that this trend (not just dark romance but booktok) will die down eventually.
The downside of tiktok book trends is that it inflates waiting lists for a set number of books and leaves the rest in the dust. People are bypassing the library and buying the popular books, which is a shame, because I've found a ton of hidden gems at the library.
This is so sad! I wanted to check out Caraval for the last 1-2 weeks and all four is checked out until ~mid April in the library I attend. Tough luck but at least people are still reading it! + One of my friends could lend me a copy of the book so I don't even have to wait lol.
Gosh.... This sounds so sad. I loved my library when I was younger.
People aren't new to libraries we've all had to be in one as kids. They're stealing on purpose, which is sick.
i've spoken w/ friends how i think the "buying books and reading books are two different hobbies" has gone from a haha funny joke into literally just "i have a shopping addiction!! :-) aren't i soooo quirky?? :-)"
Yeah, I didn't bring up the shopping addiction aspect of this because I don't feel qualified to talk about addiction, but it's a real thing. And since books are "good things" to be buying (as opposed to more trivial things like clothing and makeup), people can avoid criticism for longer before they have to admit they might have a problem...
@@accordingtoalina i definitely agree. it really is just like the people who have buckets full of makeup that expires before they ever touch it, but book influencers are engaging in a "smart" activity so they can skirt around the issue.
and, not to be overdramatic or anything, but i notice a lot of book influencers on the subject of potentially getting rid of some books are like borderline hoarder mentality. like, you have 100+ unread books on your shelf, some of which have been there for YEARS, and you keep buying more and more, but you can't get rid of any of them becaues "well i MIGHT read it someday!! 🥺", even though if you donated them to your local library they would still be readily available if you ever did have the urge to read them that you haven't had the last five years that you've owned them.
again not to be dramatic but there are some influencers i've seen where, with the mindset that they're in, im genuinely concerned that they're only a few steps away from developing more immediately harmful habits 😭
i see this with lots of things.. when people makes jokes that equte to haha i can't stop overconsuming, i just feel really bad for them
yes! It used to be: "these are the books I'll read when I have the time" and now it's just performative. The important thing is ownership and showcasing those books, not reading and enjoyment
personally, whenever i go to a bookstore, i already have a book in mind that im gonna buy that’s already on my tbr. and yeah ofc ill look around and read the back of some books that seem appealing. and if i like it i just add it to my tbr and say im gonna buy it another day. i usually leave a barnes and noble with at most 3 books in my hand bc books are EXPENSIVE
and i’m a slow reader so ik i will not be reading those 3 books in one sitting. some people are so excessive for no reason
I'm not on booktok but I can say that other hobbies definitely have productivity races like reading does. I knit and my instagram feed is bombarded with people making 20 sweaters in a year or how they knit faster this way, etc. I imagine it's like this with most hobbies but we're just not aware unless we're apart of that community. I think we just love the satisfaction of completing something and want to get as much as that as we can while indulging in our favorite pastime.
I stay away from the crochet community for this very reason. Unless I'm looking for a pattern and getting ideas for a color scheme, I stay away
New to fibre arts and noticing this all over the place. People making a "dream wardrobe" for a video and you rarely see them wear any of that stuff again. That's not slow fashion anymore
Yes this. Also turning everything in to a business. I knit and crochet very slowly, so in the year I’ll make a couple,wearable things for me and maybe a couple of gifts. Most of us are not producing multiple items a week but social media makes it look that way
There's a similar toxic productivity race in the language learning community. If you're not learning 10 languages at the same time making 10 anki flashcard decks for each language every day you're not even learning languages
Recently started crocheting and I've noticed that too. I haven't seen a lot of artists and writers fall into the productivity rabbithole yet but that may be because the artists and writers I follow haven't fallen down that rabbithole yet.
ETA: There are goals and challenges ofc, but I am referring to making or writing so much that you don't know what to do with it anymore.
As a librarian from a small language area (Finland) I have mixed feelings about booktok. Yes it encourages especially young people to read more cause it's trendy, but it also makes the life cycle of books shorter than ever. If there's a hot new book in the English-speaking side of tiktok, finnish publishers ofc want to translate it, but when that process is done (sometimes hastily, but thats a whole other discussions) people are no longer interested cause there's already a new hot book. Libraries need to make room for new books that nobody wants to read the next year
totally unrelated to your comment but I was wondering if you could recommend some finnish authors?
Well but how we can see gen alpha can't read and more young people are reading?
I tend to have the opposite problem - I want to read books that I loved from 20 years or more ago since I don't like most new releases but the library hardly has them and old books don't tend to get reprinted now unless it's turned into a tv series or film.
@@craftyhobbit7623 Same … I love the classics but the library never Carrie’s them…it’s all just fast fashion James Patterson type stuff
Exept that they rarely read
I would add that too many books are getting special editions with over-designed covers so that they can be shown off on tik-tok. I remember being gob-smacked when I went into Barnes & Noble a few years ago and saw that 'Children of Blood and Bone' had been re-released with several different collectible editions. That book was middle-of-the-road at best, but they're giving it sprayed edges and a foil cover like it's 'Lord of the Rings.'
I noticed that on Instagram too
I meeaaaan a few decades back there simply weren't paper backs, and EVERY published book, as bad as it may be, had a special gold foil edition 😅 I recently cleaned out my deceased grand father's book case and it was just tomes upon tomes of beautiful hardback, of the most mid romance novels and history chronicles
Been noticing that especially in the fantasy genre, a lot of the books I've never even heard of and have less than 1k ratings on goodreads which made me wonder if there's even enough demand to justify it
*cough* Fourth Wing *cough*
and not only that but they sometimes have different special editions so you "have" to buy the same book 4 times if you really want to show off. I get having different editions of books but if you are just buying the same story 4 times just because they have a special edition it's not really about the book anymore.
My personal rule is that I only get books I've read multiple times and love, and even then I prefer to get them second hand. I know that isn't for everyone, but it works for me, especially because where I live has good public libraries. Please guys, support your local library
That's what I try to do too!❤
I would do this if my library had the books I liked lol
@@Procrastination21345 You can request books from the library! Find out the ISBN and request it at the library!
I have pared down so much that I only own three physical books now! Catch-22, Fahrenheit 451, and Treasure Island (this does not count all my husband's books. He is much more of a collector than I am)
That’s how I am as well. I haven’t bought a single book in well over 6 years, only borrow from the library. I have a small collection of 15/20 books that hasn’t grown and probably won’t.
I stopped using goodreads when I noticed that it made me focus too much on finishing a book and „hitting a target“. It felt less and less like I was reading for the experience of immersing myself into a fictional world or seeing life from a different viewpoint.
Now that I started reading for enjoyment and broadening my horizon again I feel way more relaxed and in the moment.
if you still want to somewhat track your reading, make a spreadsheet or set up a notion page. I track my percentage, rating and usually a small review but without comparing my stats to someone else
I set a very low reading goal. But I totally agree, I hate the little reminder on there that says something like “you’re 2 books behind schedule”. Like why do i *have* to read a ton of books? If I wanna spend 6 months on one book, I should be allowed to do so lol
It happened to me as well, and the same again with the super complicated spreadsheets where you could track everything. I decided then that everything that turned a book into a number should go xD I only use a textual log when I take notes of what I start (most of the time 😅) and what I finish (and the format) by date, no way to count the books read in total unless I do that on purpose and with external aid, but useful when I need to remember when I read (or also just started!) a certain book 😊
I like using it as a way to track what i read, what i thought of it, and for the reviews when deciding if i want to read a new book since a lot of recommendations like to leave out important content warnings :/ i don’t use the whole yearly reading goal thing for the same reason you quit using the app
I also deleted my goodreads because of that. It felt too much like social media and not like a personal tracker
Book sleeves are for when you want to take a book somewhere, and reduce the chances of it being damaged! (some people have an obscene amount, realistically you only need 1 or 2, not 20)
And people that have an obsene amount of bookish candles with their favourites characters or whatever? 🥴It's ridiculous!!
@@GladysHunnam I have no problem with that if they actually use the candles! But just collecting them makes no sense
Ex: I am a tea drinker and like to buy literature-themed tea off Etsy, but will actually drink it in the next few months 😂
I have 2 book sleeves my mom crocheted me because my bad likes to destroy my books. One is for my softcover and one is for my hardcovers and the one for hardcovers has a handle so I can wear it
@@Feezee223that’s such a good idea! i read priory of the orange tree recently and it brought me back to struggling to haul around the later harry potter books when i was in like, 3rd or 4th grade. why do hardcover books have to be so anti-transportation friendly 😭
I have two book sleeves. I love them. Great for taking my books with me to appts or work in my work bag. No damage done and im less like to set a book down and lose it. I love being able to take my book places on bad weather days. Where i live it rains a lot so dropping my book could spell death (insert dramatic scream here)
Yes, I want to start a book social media platform but without pressure to do 24 hour reads, because reading is not a race it’s an escape from the pressures of society. I want to express my love for literature the foundation of creativity and art. I thank you for speaking out on this! Also fellow Romanian here, and I would like to say ca eu te ador și te apreciez mult ❤
Aaaah merci de comment Alexa, sper sa te vad vorbind despre carti in cel mai chill fel posibil curand xxx
I think you should go for it! Do whatever type of videos you like to make and I'm sure you find your audiance ^^ No need to do 24h reading to make videos interesting! I honestly not enjoy does type of videos so much because it looks exhausting and not fun pushing through a book within a certain time frame 😂🙈
I hope you do start a book social media platform! Just a friendly reminder- reading, acquiring books, annotating, etc. is not a competition. Reading is subjective and should never be about who reads the most books, who buys the most books, who does the most challenges, who annotations are the most esthetics. Books are for one's own enjoyment, happiness and their joys in wanting to share it with others. There shouldn't be any pressure to "perform" or "crank out content" every single day. Wishing you all the best!
@@johannalehto9154 Thank you for your encouragement 🤍
@@unruffledcat_ So sweet 🥹
I put this together when “booktok” became a thing. I was very happy to see ppl excited to read, but then, like everything else on social media. It turned toxic. Between everyone reading a book because it’s trending, or have the same opinion about said book so they can get more views… I just started to ignore all of booktok last year because it was just ridiculous. Reading is supposed to be relaxing. Something you can get lost in. A story and a world that consumes you… I miss when people took reading seriously. Because this is just sad…
Agree 100%
I saw a library haul video once and it was so refreshing! I need to get some things with my library account sorted out but I think I’m really going to make more of an effort to support my local library in the next year. This video inspired me.
I also really do not understand the FOMO people get over books that don’t interest them! I kind of understand it if you’re a content creator and you’re trying to stay relevant and get views, but I don’t understand the pressure that non-creators feel. If it sounds like a book you would get nothing out of, don’t bother reading it!
Yesss go get that library account!!
I live in Australia where books are crazy expensive I'm talking over $20 each. I started going to the library this year because I was spending far too much on books and could not afford to continue spending so much on books that I sometimes only read once or twice. I love going to the library so much I've been able to read so many books that I've been wanting to read without feeling shit if I don't enjoy it and don't want to continue it. Not only that but they have a large DVD selection so I've been able to watch so many movies and shows that Netflix doesn't have. I could not be happier going to the library, I haven't bought a new book in months and have read so many amazing books.
@@thelostgirlsclub7254 I live in Mexico, where libraries don't have that much funds to find a lot of things, or they're far, but still I want to try it. Because sure I love possessing books, but from all the ones I've read I only keep the ones I loved and continue reading over and over, the ones I didn't loved I usually gift them on Christmas to family that also like reading, so it's kind of a win-win situation, still I see all this thing about being a reader as an aesthetic thrown around on social media that it's sick, I even talked about it on a video not long ago (this is not spam, sorry if it read like it), talking about how they want everything to look perfect and more than enjoying the reading it's all about everything looking perfect and beautiful... And now that I think about it, what's said here it's also true and kinda makes me feel bad because I've seen so many trash books getting published, with tons of mistakes and dumb arches or structure, and it makes me question if there's space left for me on that writing world, since everything is now going that way of fast processing
Library haul sounds more fun - I want to know what's on the shelves in people's libraries way more ngl. I kind of honestly don't care about books some stranger brought that they might never read. I'd rather hear about them after they've read them otherwise.
Standard book hauls - looking from afar, at least - seem akin to those "decorative" books people will buy online as a form of furnishing, and it really makes me feel uncomfortable. It comes across to me as someone undereducated desperately trying to look smarter than everyone without doing the work. My mom has her books on shelves, but they're all definitely books she's loved for many years. She considers reading very important.
It helps that your library is good mine barely has anything new.
It is very important to remember that these people read as their primary source of income. Their 9 to 5 is reading books and posting about them! So it is silly to compare our reading habits to their 35-book monthly wrap-up video. I type this as a hypocrite bc I too have felt like a ''fake'' book lover in the past for reading 20-30 books a year.
no but you are so right, most booktubers *need* to read a lot to keep their channel going and therefore the money coming. no one can compete with that (and no one should try to do so!!!)
Makes sense when i was a kid i was reading hundreds of books a year cause i had time now its barely 20
I could never turn a hobby into a job. It would suck the enjoyment out of it and there are times when I don't touch a hobby for days/weeks. I'm very mood based, so if I'm not in the mood I won't do it, or will do it slowly
As somebody who worked in a bookstore for a year, nothing made me more angry than seeing all the booktok books I had to display. I was in charge of the English YA and NA section of the store (European here) and whenever someone asked what book I would recommend - I didn't have an answer most of the time because 90% books were just so bad.
And let's not talk about supposedly YA books with atrocious smut, it physically hurt me to see them. Also I had to warn 13 ish year olds, and younger, about the content.
I know that they have Internet and probably had already found something, but that is for free. I can't believe teens are buying something that you can get for free on AO3 or even Wattpad.
Yeah, I feel you. I kinda avoid the booktok section in the bookstores I go to. In the beginning I looked at what people read and even picked some up, found maybe five good books in the beginning, but it changed quickly and now I completely avoid it. I enjoy a well written book, mostly fantasy or science fiction, but now I started to not get interested in new published books or authors I didn't know before anymore, because I had such bad experiences and that just from the bookstores since I don't even use TikTok anymore. And there is a lot of stuff with smut. I have one author I am okay with reading smut because the rest like writing and world building is amazing, but a lot of authors just don't write as well and/or the book is so full with smut scenes thst everything else is missing. It's sad. I'm probably going to stick to some older books for now.
I'm also from Europe btw☺️
One of the problems I started noticing (Urban Fantasy was the worst, and this was about 15 years ago, now) was that I was getting disappointed with most of the new books that I picked up. Urban Fantasy is notorious for having bad smut scenes in them, but it just seemed that every fantasy or sci-fi book that I picked up then was poorly written, and this was mainly in the adult section. I read a few YA books, hated the writing, so didn't bother again. I noticed a downturn in the quality of writing of even authors I enjoyed because there was a lot of pressure on them to write more than one book a year and it was very apparent that the number of books that they brought out impacted on the quality of the book you got, and it's sad to see a good author deteriorate in their writing. I now stick to books that were written in my favourite period of publishing from when the Hobbit came out to the early 2000's (before e-book self publishing took over) as that is where I find most of the books that I enjoy the most. There will sometimes be a good new author who comes out but the race to publish, and produce seems to have taken over from telling a good story and perfecting the draft, proof-reading and editing before a book is published - I'm sure a lot of books published now would be great if people took the time to perfect it and didn't publish their first National Novel Writing Month draft.
I stopped reading YA long ago for various reasons but if I hadn’t already I definitely would have now after seeing the “variety” offered, and that’s a very generous description. There is almost no difference between most YA/NA books. It’s all the same story with same characters just different names. It’s exhausting and disheartening to see. And it’s 90% smut. There is nothing wrong with smut if that’s what you’re into. But when we are at the point where the first question someone asks about a book is if it’s “spicy” or how much seggs is in it, there is a problem
YA stands for "young ADULT" so 13 year olds shouldn't be reading them. Young Adult means 18 to 25. Nothing wrong with smut for adults.
@@AmbersDangleenAnkle YA in publishing doesn't mean a young adult, it means 13-18 years old. That's why YA novels have characters who are generally 13-18 with themes that align to that time in life and coming of age in some capacity.
i've been in the book commnity long before booktok and let me tell you bookstagram and booktube had just the same problems even like 8 years ago 🙈
huge monthly book hauls were a standart video format that all big booktubers did and they almost always had more views than wrap ups (which is where all the books people read get reviewed - which really should be more interesting if you think about it)
I am only part way through, but often I find phrases like 'just let people enjoy things' are used to shut down any forms of criticism, even ones that are very true and needed to be said. And it happens too often when the criticism is discussing discrimination in a certain group. Yes, let people enjoy things, but also let people criticise and have these important discussions that are needed to be had.
I normally say, “let people like things,” but there DEFINITELY is a line and book tock has crossed it..
I feel the same way. It feels like it's become something people use to dismiss any concerns someone might have
🎯
People have been using that sentence as well as "it's their money, they can do whatever they want with it" to justify and defend people overconsuming, specifically skincare, clothes and home decor, and the cognitive dissonnance is deafening.
A book sleeve is actually really handy to protect the pages when you put a book in a bag 😊
I bought a book sleeve awhile back now, and I no joke use it every day to bring a book with me in my purse without worrying about my wallet, keys, etc. wrecking the pages or cover
10/10 would recommend if you travel most days with a physical book
That and hiding whatever you are reading from public eyes ^.^'
yes, but just one or two, not 30 like I've seen some people own on bookstagram 🫥. I have two that I made myself, one big and one smaller (for small paperbacks) for when I take my current read out of the house 🙂
i bought one about 2 years ago. i still use it all the time!
Yeah but you don’t need like 50 is the point! Buy 1-2 that you love and use them like hell!
another big issue i find in non-english-speaking countries is that most books you find are either now in english, or translation of american/ english literature. the decrease of books published by national writers or from other non-anglo-saxon background, specially among younger generations, who don't have the abillity to fully undeerstand a book in a foreign language, is problematic. In my country, I've heard people say that they feel awkward reading in their own language and that books in english are generally cheaper and easier to read (probably cause they only read easy tiktok books)
Omw yes! I've literally read like 5 books in my home language, while I've read multiple English-language ones. It got so bad that it started affecting my speaking ability for my home language, and I was once one of the best undergrad language students in my year. The UK/ US focus of book content ultimately creates a homogenized cultural experience, irrespective of one's background and language.
In my country it's the total opposite. The english books are 2x pricier than the ones in my native language
Oh yesss, sadly. There is that pressure on reading books in other languages, mostly english to "get better with it", that sometimes I feel ashamed for reading in my native language - although I very much do prefer it. I can immerse in the story more and just enjoy the beauty of language and words itself. And I've read books in english of course (for example the majority of the Wings of Fire series, because only a few first volumes got translated. And it was a great read, also due to the words not being that much complicated, which made it flow).
And although I perceive my english as pretty okay, I feel worse for not reading all of my books in english. I just don't like it if I don't have to do it. But I do feel worse. Like I'm supposed to get every opportunity to improve my skills - and reading doesn't seem as appealing anymore.
But the good thing is that in my country there are lots of books from independent native authors being published in the recent years and the trend seems to be getting even more popular now :D
oh, i feel you! that's why I have a gull of my own to read a book in my mother tongue after reading a book in English.
Another big problem is that this American capitalist "easy" literature fills our shelves, leaving less space for native authors or authors from small neighbouring countries! literally kills me
I mostly read in English even though I'm Portuguese mostly because it's cheaper to buy books in English than to buy them translated into my language. Also, the booktoks I've read that were translated into Portuguese lack quality in translation, mostly because they're probably trying to translate them as fast as possible to launch them before people move on.
As a writer I find this new trend honestly terrifying just from the fact that I know that my genre of writing is much different from what social media wants to move away from where all they want are writers who will make the next weekly grab romance book that may take less than 5 months to make. In small terms they simply do not want to wait for an author to spend years upon years to finish books.
If the finished book is powerful, people will realize it was worth it. There's a place for the super fast candy romances but there's also still a place for thoughtful books that are true art.
As a fellow writer, I can relate so much. My genre is Science/Space Fantasy, so pretty niche as many Fantasy lovers prefer High Fantasy and SciFi fans prefer stories of human exploration, neither of which are themes of my project. On top of that, I despise writing or reading romances, let alone "smut", so I am probably the least marketable writer out there...
I want to become a published author one day so badly, but sadly the project I love dearest will be the one that has the smallest audience...
If it is any comfort to you, I think the type of reader who enjoys that kind of book (Game of Thrones, Outlander and other are now taking over 30 years, phew) seem unfazed by this and are still very much patiently waiting (if they haven't died of old age, that is. Tiny joke, sorry). I think it will die down and they will chill out eventually and grow out of it. Not so sure about Colleen Hoover fans tho.
You evoked this fear in me also, as a fellow writer. I just hope that when I'll finally publish the series I've worked on for more than 2 years now (and I'm only editing again now) the marketing team will do a great job (i don't have the marketing skills to self-publish but i think my book deals with important topics)
Booktube was like this too. It seemed like everyone was always doing haul videos every month and had a backdrop of a huge bookshelf completely full. None of the people I watched back then make book videos anymore. Some make different videos and some make none. I don’t really read much anymore either. I was getting sick of over hyped young adult books being on everyone’s lists. Anna and the French Kiss was so bad and everyone loved it. It’s the same thing with Colleen Hoover on booktok.
Came here to say exactly this. Same thing with bookstagram as well.
I‘m guilty of loving storyGraph and loving to add a book to my „read“ pile but to be fair I‘m like this with everything. I keep track of my spotify stats, reading stats because I‘m just really into that kinda stuff for some reason. But I will have months where I don’t read anything because I don’t try go push myself. Pushing yourself is the best way to spoil a hobby for yourself imo
i love libraries because i cannot even contemplate buying a book if it didn't read and like it already... like I would feel so duped and upset about my money betraying me
lmao I feel a similar way, books take up a lot of space so if I'm filling the little space that I have with something, it has to be something I love
I feel this if i clear out my books i usually donate them to the library afterwards in case i wanna read them again
And I feel less guilty about not finishing a book, because you can just return it (and pick it up again later if you change your mind), and just get a new, more exciting one instead!
I just finished reading The Bell Jar. I struggle to envision how a book like that could be condensed into a TikTok clip. Scary to think that if Sylvia was trying to get published today, we might not get the chance to read her story because the topics aren't marketable or trendy. I subscribed to your channel after finishing this video! Can't wait to see what you talk about in the next one.
Tbh all the weird comments about Asian people throughout that book may also prevent it from publishing in the modern age
The popular books of today are just not of great worth, so much so that I think the negatives of consuming those books outweigh the positives of the reading.
I think that collecting massive amounts of books, obsessively updating your Goodreads status, and setting wild Goodreads goals reflect the present-day neoliberal subject. This concept equates an individual with an enterprise. And just as an enterprise has to invest money to upgrade its production process to gain more profit, so must a booktoker invest in himself/herself (by buying books, reading, and making content) to elevate their cultural/social capital and, with that, their financial capital (more booktok videos = more money).
Reading what you just write... You know what it reminds me today social media content... Black mirror, that episode on the first seasons where you have to post everything and in the reaction depends your grade, and kinda dictate your "value" watching it be real in one way it's so f-ing crazy to me
@@salem_ness It's almost as if Black Mirror is literally commenting on these modern cultural phenomenons and destructive nature of the current social order.
omg i wrote something about this too! it's crazy how most "bookworms" nowadays focus more on how to look like a cute reader than actually immersing in the art of reading and appreciating books :(
This video has voiced what I've been thinking about for weeks now. I live in New Zealand and the impact social media has had on books, or rather the intense boosting for specific books through Instagram and TikTok especially, is really changing the book climate here. Buying overseas to not only keep up with the trends based in America but also keep up with the number of authors who get published from middle-tier or lower-tier publishing houses (or self-published, not shaming anyone at any level btw) means that both local bookstores (independent and locally owned chain stores) are constantly having their stock contested with due to cheaper prices elsewhere. It also is starting to silence the voices of local authors and the themes and experiences we have which are far removed from the American experience. Loved your analysis and the perspective you have!
I came across an Australian book that I wanted to check out but the publisher only ships within Australia. It's a shame because I would have found it quite interesting, but I agree with the American (and in some cases, Canadian) perspective. The only UK book perspective books I get to read are historical ones, or James Herriot. There's very little modern day perspective books. I also find the North American perspective books to be very cookie cutter and varies very little from book to book - every character drinks and adores coffee, every character drives, every character loves guns, every character wears designers clothes, every character owns a beautiful big house, every character hangs around nightclubs and bars, every character has an insanely active sex life, every character is filthy rich, every character went to a top university like Harvad, or Yale (Berkeley or California if they are a trendy lefty or woke), every character says they respect people from less privileged backgrounds but rarely does anything to help or behaves in the opposite manner.
Interesting take, however when I lived in New Zealand I found the prices of books insanely expensive (hell everything's way too expensive in NZ). Local NZ literature also gets a lot of support from readers and institutions, though it's usually mainly the "hip" books written by younger authors that get much more traction (whether or not they're actually good).
As a German I was shocked when I found out that Americans buy our German TikTok famous books e.g. Fourth Wing JUST because of the sprayed edges. These editions are usually very limited and rare, they're meant for German speakers, but now Americans buy them out without even being able to read them, just to display them like some sort of trophy. It's absolutely crazy to me! And us here in Germany have to wait for ages to get our own books since they sell out so fast!
First time I hear about this, sounds insane!!!
I’ve seen someone with like 10 copies of Babel. What do you need with 10 copies. One is enough.
I saw a post about this on Facebook - some girl had bought the German copy just for the design and I was absolutely shocked that people were so supportive of her… she already had 3 other copies! I left that group because I just couldn’t believe people felt comfortable buying 4 copies of the same book, including 1 they couldn’t physically even read
@@TashieaI learnt english mostly through books...and one of my all time favourite books is by a german author...So I'm gonna get it in german...because I want to enjoy it in its own language...would I be able to read it? Not yet, but I really want to learn german anyway and I think this would help...Still keeping my translated copy as well...
It's normal for me that I get the og english version next to the translated one - and I'm reading both copies...Sometimes I even have different translations for books - again...I read them all (but I'm trying to stick to single translations because books are expensive and I won't have space to keep doing it)...I'm a rereader so for me having 2-3 copies of a book is not that weird...
I guess my case is somewhat different because I don't collect them for the sake of collecting them but to read them several times. (Mainly getting second hand copies because it's cheaper usually - or ebook, sometimes I get my second "copy" in ebook.)
Oh yeah also: our libraries only have the old books - classics, scientific ones, essays and nothing new...And I can buy several classics in ebook for the price of a library card, which I couldn't even use enoguh because I just don't always want to read classics. 🤷🏻♀️
It’s called the free market, cry about it.
This was so insightful! I must admit that I also have been influenced by booktok by continuously setting unrealistically high goals for myself, and feeling stupid when I have difficulties understanding a book (especially classics). I find it absolutely terrifying how easily our perception of intelligence is moulded by social media. Our time and ability to read books should not be a reflection of our intelligence.
At the end of the day, we are all blobs of flesh on a floating rock in the middle of nowhere. We should not beat ourselves up for not "owning enough books" or "reading enough books", because it doesn't even matter! 💗
“I find it absolutely terrifying how easily our perception of intelligence is moulded by social media”: very well said
It's only the social media aspect of reading that is like this. Most people that read are not actually active in this community. They simply read in their own time and that is that. How we all used to do it when we were kids lol. We share everything now so its made reading this more complicated kind of sport instead of a simple hobby.
The tiktokfication of things became very apparent to me this last month with the premiere of the ballad of songbirds & snakes movie. I got to read the book like a year after it came out, and no one on tiktok was talking about it, just a few ppl on booktube, and when the trailer came out it was shocking to see the THG craze coming back and everyone talking about it again, but then came the edits with the "hot MMC". What got to me the most was seeing most of the ppl absolutely not understanding any of the messaging of the book/movie, and taking everything at face value, & i think basically thats what has been happening to a lot of new readers, reading books for the sake of saying "ive read --" but then proceeding to skim over the actual content and not getting the message the author was trying to put out
Media literacy in general is in the toilet. Being able to understand themes and symbolism and anything other than the most literal interpretation of a text is basically dead in today’s era of hot takes and skimming. Nuance is dead as well.
I am a self-published author. I have never been on book toc before, and this video validates my personal outlook. I labor in obscurity to put out a quality book. I think i’ll stay there.
Are your books available on Kindle .I would love to see what they are about and get if I want
Me too. I am a completely “average” writer with a 3.5 rating via Good Reads and Amazon. :) Not great, not horrible. Just right. :)
@@cassiemckechnie yes they are. Thanks for your interest! The first two, how JoJo got her mojo back, and paradise point has been revised with new covers. book 3 I am hoping to have out this week, and book four hopefully by the end of July. both of those will have been updated revised with new covers. if you have interest in any of those, I said, until the final product is available. Thank you.
In my opinion, nobody can force you to do or buy anything and we all need to hold ourselves accountable for how we either help or further the problem. It’s a lot easier to blame an app but at the end of day, everyone is responsible for themselves and their actions.
I think the problem is more about influence. There’s so much pressure to be in the same lane as other people or relate to others that you’ll feel pressured to consume products in hopes you’ll fit in. Social Media has a grip on most users.
My friend has no job and she’s trying to be a booktuber and pays for these book hauls every day. It’s kinda scary
As one legendary article says, "social media won't save you from social media"
I looked it up with google exact search, I can't find it. Do you happen to have a link? Or an author? Thanks so much in advance!
that's why i'll always be a diehard e-reader stan! ethics aside regarding consumption, there's just something so cool and futuristic about being able to carry around my entire library of 400+ books on a tablet that uses freakin' e-ink technology, like what?! not to mention i moved recently, and even my very small cache of physical books was a pain to move. i can't imagine having to box up and haul some of the book collections i've seen on the internet.
if i really like a book, i'll spend my money on a pretty physical copy to covet, otherwise it goes into the digital realm where it belongs.
(it also helps if you're a 🏴☠but we're not gonna talk about that!)
as a diehard physical book enjoyer (it keeps me much more focused if i'm not looking at a screen/have pages to turn) this is something i think is so underrated about ereaders! i have a massive book collection i've been building since i was a child and i DREAD moving bc i know it's gonna be a nightmare.
i def focus better with physical books, but e readers are sm more practical and cheaper 🏴☠️, if i need to i’ll get the book from the library. and i’ll buy books i reread
Yes this!! I only get a physical copy of a book only if I really really love it, like Song of Achilles and Pride & Prejudice
@@tomdelongjohnsi love your username! 😂 and i definitely don’t envy you if you ever have to move! i ended up sorting my books into several smaller boxes and even those were quite heavy to lug around since i have primarily hardcovers. hopefully you can save up to hire a moving service when the time comes!
another underrated reason for owning an e-reader? i’m sure you know all too well the pain of trying to choose the reading material to bring on a trip with you… not with a handy dandy e-reader! i can bring my entire library with me, and it feels so darn cool. i definitely think it’s worth giving one a whirl if you ever get the chance, as i was also concerned about not being able to focus as much as i would with a physical book, but realized i enjoyed it just as much (albeit for different reasons ofc!). i think it helps that an e-reader is nothing but an e-reader, versus something like a tablet or a smart phone. then again my adhd brain really enjoys having a clearly defined separation between activities, so being able to associate my kobo with nothing other than reading has pavlov’d my brain into hyperfocus mode whenever i have it in my hands.
as soon as it comes outta hiding, i’m immediately like “ooh, is it reading time again?!” and that’s all i can think about!
Where do yall go to 🏴☠️?
Libraries as the last bastion of community is so true, I believe at least 80% of the books I've read in my life are from my uni or public library and it is so precious to see what old mysterious books might be on a shelf somewhere in the corner of the library
Really well put! That distinction of booktok focusing on "books" as an object to be consumed rather than a medium of art has always turned me off. I love good frothy romance fantasy but that sort of novel is generally a lot easier to power through than say, Middlemarch or a non-fiction book about Inuit culture. It makes all the bragging about huge numbers feel silly. And omg the booktok trends are the worst, the immense pressure to make a book that'll sell is really pushing the wrong authors to the top. It sometimes feels like quality of writing doesn't matter so much as the beats the story can hit.
I read a lot of non-fiction for self-education purposes, and the idea of crushing a book a day isn’t generally plausible. Forget annotating, forget dwelling and contemplating, probably no re-reading passages - forget learning. IMO, people who claim to crush a book a day are lying about it. Who’s holding these content creators accountable to that? I care because reading can be incredibly rewarding.
As someone who was avidly on Booktube as a teenager, and still loves reading, this is so dystopian to me. Like what are you gaining from reading 40 books a month? Are you enjoying the books? Are you even processing them? Are you doing anything else with your life? What is the point of it all??? Someone help me understand the motivation please
I think the trick is they’re not actually reading the books.
Lately I went to an independent book store in London that was going viral on Tiktok. It really shocked me just how many of the books were already famous on Tiktok they had, the book collection just felt very curated for the platform which felt unsatisfactory cause I really wanted a personal recommendation or something i wouldn't normally read. But i guess the bookshop also do need to make a profit of it's competing against Bezzos'.
Were the employees knowledgable to recommend things for you? Because if they don't have a book in stock, they can order it for you!
Every time a global book community changes platform (blogs, tumblr, UA-cam, and now TikTok) (yes, I am not the youngest) the same debates and questions come up on a specific timeline, with a new layer for each platform (elitism, ethnocentrism, ethics, etc.) but with the same fear: everything is become the same because only a few popular themes drive up the sales.
A few centuries ago, there was a debate about bourgeois having beautiful books on their bookshelves but not reading them. It was ~the~ thing to do to flaunt money and establish your economical status.
The question of overconsumption nowadays does add a very interesting new layer. We know now how algorithms work and how we can use it to our advantage. In my opinion, it is up to us to put our money (or library card), likes and support where we preach. And I firmly believe that even though the book community has one share interest, reading, we are all so different that homogenization will never actually happen. Yes, there will be tendances, major running themes, etc. but never homogenization.
I'm not even on tiktok, but seeing books advertised as "tiktok sensation" or the like, now only serves to give me pause. I've seen some of the most mid books getting hype, and have realised that the most popular tiktok genres (romantasy, dark romance to name some) really aren't my cup of tea. It reminds me of the hype around twilight (which teenage me enjoyed, admittedly) and later fifty shades (not for me) which it felt like "everyone" was reading - only now it's many more books and the "trend cycle" moves a lot faster bc of tiktok. Fast fashion certainly seems like an apt comparison!
I feel you. There's this ebook app in my country that was created to make reading more accessible, since the premise is that you don't need to pay anything to have the opportunity to get a new book to read since they have ties to our most popular internet service providers, and they are the ones who pay the editors to allow the books to remain in the app catalogue, you just read the damn thing. And everytime they offer me my monthly free read and I see through all of the options, EVERY. TIME. I see TikTok mentioned in a summary, I click away. There are some booktok books I find interesting - I've been reading The Song of Achilles recently, along with The Illiad and doing my own research on the Epic Cycle so I can find the differences - , but most of the time, seeing the app mentioned is an instant turn off
So sad that the libraries are often forgotten. I try to use mine as much as possible.
I think people see reading as a nurturing and productive hobby because it helps develop your critical thinking skills, the "read once and forget about them" books that are pushed by tik tok because they sell quickly and a lot, are not helping you develop anything, which is fine, not everything you do has to be productive, as long as there's room for all kinds of books in the publishing industry, but the waste that book overconsumption could potentially create is worrying
Currently I have 175 books unread on my shelves. I fell down the rabbit hole of buying to mush books last year, when I felt super sad, exhausted, stressed and just bad in general. And buying books was a coping mechanism. This year I finally faced the problem. I track all the books I buy to make sure that I read more than a buy. I donated 30+ books that I will realistically never get to reading. And seeing this small change in my life makes me so happy. And also makes me realise that I am in a better place now.
I am not on booktok but I was totally on booktube when I was in middle and high school. This video is so well made and has really got me thinking about my own book consumption, about meeting personal quotas because numbers are apparently indicative of success, and how doomed I feel we are as humans sometimes. I am still so conflicted about personal libraries especially if those libraries are stocked with exclusively newly printed books and not used copies of books that have been out for a long time. But I also feel like personal libraries can also be beautiful, especially if they're filled with books that are very special to you. I feel like I romanticize non-consumer ways of reading (like ebooks and libraries) and only owning a handful of your all time favorite books; but on the other hand, I don't know if this is just another image to fulfill instead of actually doing what feels right for you.
Ahhhh just so much to think about!! But I really appreciate this video sparking this conversation.
It's easy to get lost in between "I want to read more" and "I have to read more". I have a job, I am a mom, a wife and a person. I love reading books, but I have a life and responsibilities. So 12 books a year sometimes is overwhelming for me. And sometimes 20 books a year feels like a breeze. If I have time, I read. If not, well... I don't read 😃 There are things to worry about already so worrying about number of read books is a luxury. Well, at least to me. I remember watching a video where one Booktuber said that they want to like a certain popular series, but couldn't. She came up with excuses why it's so hard for her to love the series even though a lot of people like it. And I was sitting there thinking "what? Now you HAVE to like certain series/books to count as a reader?" This mindset blew me away.
A conversation I had with my boyfriend about a month ago.
”Man I wonder if this author will be present at the next book fest, I will really love if I could get a signing from him.”
”Eh probably not, his community is not that big.”
”What do you mean, his books are literary in the ”popular now” section.”
”Yes, because its NEW and has a cool cover. That is why people buy it, but few actually read it. They buy it because its cool to buy it and take a picture to brag you found a copy.”
And my brain froze.
The idea of a buying a book because its cool to buy it but you have no interest on the subject feels unproductive and stupid.
I have no issue with people who buy books because they liked the cover. I did that in the past. Some were became my favorite others I stop reading after 40-50 pages because I found them poorly written/not what I expected. But at least I had the intent to read them.
I think literature is like food. Everyone has their preferences and everyone consumes it at their own pace. Reading trends feel like the most in your face marketing scheme ever.
Kinda crazy how The City of Dreaming Books came out on 2004 because it describes exactly this kind of behavior.
When people in BOOK GROUPS are complaining that they can't read Stephen King because his books have "too many words" we have a problem.
I had to leave most of the book groups because people bashed amazing books for "too long", "I'm on page 15 and it's so boring, should I read on?"
And of course there are boring books. But these people were complaining about wonderful passages describing the setting. And every time I asked them what the issue was they'd say "I like a fast paced read that grabs from the first page".
I read a wide variety of books. I don't think that one genre is better than others. In fact, I can read Hugo and Homer and some funky horror paperback. But lots of people read absolute trash and have no attention span. My niece is 9, she reads bigger books than many adults
As someone who works at Thalia (Germanys biggest book retailer) , I 100% stand behind everything you said in this video . I have a pretty big collection of books due to my job, but with so many new releases being published every year, mainting a big collection (that you've actually read) is becoming harder and harder. A thing that people could start doing, is giving away the books, that have been sitting on the shelfs unread for years and years, to local libraries or shelters. The librarian at mine is always extremely happy about new donations and genuinly helps a lot of people, who love reading but don't have the money and space for large book collection.
I don't know if my comment makes a lot of sense, but in short, I really appreciate this video and the message you're trying to get out into the world.
I gift the books I didn't love to people I know who also like reading
I bought one book ( from throne if glass) ywo times and I knew that our local library had the first ones but not this one so I went there and gifted it.... a few days later my friend ame to me and said that she got a really good deal at the library because they sold the book for 1€ ... so I got my suspicious and when I got there the next time I asked about the book and they said they don't have it!! I was so disappointed and angry ( because then I could just have gifted it to my friend) that I never did it again
I live in Germany as well and I get most of my books at Thalia. I have a good amount of unread books but I read classics so it's not like you can fly through them. I don't know in which city you live but I always put my books into the buses. They have this little shelf where you can add and take books from.
What I have notice about some content creators in booktok is that they don't even really read the book, they just want to talk about a book because it is hyped at the moment, but when you listen to them, you realize that they have just skimmed through it to create content, without taking the time to really completely read it, so now I think it has become more about being in the hype and "popularity" than about reading.
i feel attacked, setting high goodreads goals & loving the idea of reading certain books
However i’m a pretty slow reader & only enjoy books when i read them slowly, i really have to stop comparing myself to ‘booktubers’, and not having to own books i’ve read from my kindle/ library
great video, thank you for your research!!
Like most things in life, I think it comes down to balance. Set a goal if it motivates you, but don't beat yourself up over it. Buy books if they make you happy and you plan to read them but not just to impress others. Read things you enjoy and not just to "look smart". I enjoy setting a reading goal for the year, because it keeps me reading at a comfortable steady pace. It gives me a little extra boost when I'm deciding between watching more UA-cam shorts or picking up a book haha. I also buy physical books (mostly used) and probably in an amount more than I should, but I have genuine intentions of reading all of them. I'm in the process of scaling back though. I also genuinely like looking at my bookcases. Sometimes, I just sit on my bed and admire them LOL so I like to think since they bring me happiness they're a bit more justified. I support my local library by checking out ebooks occasionally and going to a local bookclub.
Omg thank you for sharing my content as part of the discussion. I am honored!
My pleasure! I was so happy to see I was not the only one thinking these things!!
Thank you for pointing out that reading is first and foremost entertainment. People forget that the likes of Shakespear and many of the literary greats were considered "low brow" entertainment in their day. Bram Stoker and Charles Dickens published many of their works in serial newspapers. Books used to be what television currently is to the masses. It was an easy affordable way to entertain yourself. Classic literature is great but we need to remember its roots. Shakespear wasn't aiming for his work to be analysed in english lit classes he was aiming to get laughs, tears, and applause from his audience. What we consider low brow popular culture today will likely be being studied in universities in 100 years.
It depends. It may have been considered “low brow” entertainment, but the works were very clearly thought out and many of the deeper themes studied in them today were very intentional. I highly doubt something like Harry Potter would be studied in an English class in the future.
@@MysticOceanDollies Yeah sorry no. The amount of dick jokes in Shakespear or the fact that Dracula was one giant euphemism for oral sex says differently.
And pretending Harry Potter isn't going to be studied in Children's Literature circles in the future is choosing to be wilfully blind. It isn't about them being all that spectacular it is about the undeniable cultural impact they had and the fact that they changed the way Children's Literature and Young Adult Fiction was treated in the publishing world. Just because you don't like something doesn't change the impact.
Yeah but we also forget that a lot of books that became popular with the masses in the past are practically forgotten now, while a lot of what we consider "serious literature" didn't necessarily do well commercially when they were first released. A lot of the commercially successful crap that was published long ago has since disappeared.
@@katiest.vincent4283I thought Dracula was a metaphor for xenophobia.
Harry Potter is already studied in university classes lol
Thank you for this video! I unsubscribed from so many bookish channels which started to upload mostly book hauls/book subscription boxes but very few videos about books they actually read. There is definitely a place for both, but the proportions are so often so wrong.
I personally love tracking my reads and my books - but I've always been someone that tracks and plans my hobbies, I think that's what's part of having a hobby to me.
I tend to be more of a 'collector' in spirit, if I were a mythical creature I'd be a dragon if that makes sense, I find interests and then I hoard around them - that's just what brings me joy. So originally me tracking, observing and reviewing as a part of my hobbies became a way to appreciate them in a way that was more than buying them, storing them and then letting the novelty wear off.
I think with books it's so easy to buy a book and skim read it without actually... *reading* it. I track them with stats of how long they are, how long it took me to read it, what I would rate it, writing a review, etc - is so I have a checklist to make sure that I am actually finding myself sitting down with the book and reading it. I love looking back at last years lists and with my top reads and worse reads I'll often re-read them the year after to see if I:
a) remember it
b) hold the same opinion on it
Just some thoughts I had when you mentioned the goodreads bit :)
By the end of 2023, I finished The Lord of the Rings (for 3 months) and War and Peace (5-6 months) plus a few shorter books like The Song of Achilles and several classics. That's just less than 10 books the whole year. It doesn't matter if a co-worker of mine managed to finish 85 books, because the books I have read made a huge impact in my life. For me, reading and understanding what the author wrote and reflecting on what I have just read gives me more satisfaction than having read lots of books but can't even remember the characters, places, or even the plot.
So I read A LOT! I listen to audio books, I have stacks I am working on. I was so happy when I found booktok and it slowly turned into annoyance/hatred. I think I have purchased a total of 9 books from booktok recs, and each time I was left thinking "Did they read this at all?" Some of the books people RAVED about were so hollow, and so terriblly paced I was left floored. I reached a point where I never turst reviews anymore. I know reading is subjective but it feels terrible to be the odd one out and wonder if any of the 300 people commenting read the book.
This is such a good video! Sometimes I consider jumping on these "niches" and making some content with them, but this kind of lets me know that the initial bad vibe I had about it not coming from the "right" place was rooted in something I couldn't put my finger on. Thanks for this!
I think there’s definitely variety across the communities. There are so many lovely booktok creators who sadly get overshadowed by these sensationalist haul tiktoks that go viral 🥲
@@accordingtoalina most definitely! but a big chunk of booktok is why i can’t trust reviews (the books that are most liked I usually despise) which is why I appreciate channels like yours - YT seems a bit more trustworthy in that aspect
As someone who has never been on TikTok, this video and trend explanation explains the gradual increase of the book sections at the thrift stores near me!
The more I see on BookTok and TikTok, the more I just want to stay away! :)
As a mom, a book sleeve is a life changer when putting my books in my bags. My child will either want to put things in my bags or takes things out and its saved a book or two.
But i agree with this video so much
Kids love to pull the covers off books, accidentally or intentionally. :)
Social media feeds into the human need for competition and overconsumption.
I get a lot of my books at thrift stores, library book stores, Little Free Libraries, Half Price Books, Book of the Month, and then Amazon but I rarely pay full price.. Only time I do is if it's a new release or pre-order that I know I'm going to love. I do some Unhauls as well but they tend to be the cheapest books and ones that I read but don't like enough to have them taking up space. I don't read e-books for different reasons and I have a hard time listening to most audiobooks.. having a book collection makes me happy so I prefer to purchase rather than rent from the library... also I like to tab, annotate/write, highlight in a lot of books so it's better for me to purchase them. Also this way I have a lot of books to lend out to friends and family! ☺
@ville__ why is my comment copy/pasted ?
This is the first video I have watched regarding overconsumption taking in book form, and it felt as if everything was covered really nicely. It makes me so sad how people think 'trending' books are the only good books, the library has so many hidden gems if you take the time to search for them. I really loved your video!!
thank you so much for watching and for this lovely comment x
I notice this problem as well. I would watch many different booktubers, and enjoy their content but then I realized the constant hauls being uploaded. There are channels who would post 30+ haul every other week, and constant Amazon wishlist hauls, subscription boxes. It was genuinely becoming overwhelming
Funny how we went through the uncluttering phase already but people still can't stop buying. I feel like the best choice if you're an avid reader is getting an ereader. Not having the clutter and commitment of buying and keeping a possibly bad or average book allows you to try different genres without being responsible for every single book you're bringing into your house.
Have you considered using apps like Libby? They are free to download and you use it by linking your library card to the app. It allows you to access your libraries ebook and audiobook collection without having to physically go to the library.
the unhaul thing its so true.I see people getting rid off books so easily and here I am with books that I also want to unhaul but can not get rid of them because I paid for them with my own money,it hurts.How is it so easy for this people?????
I also struggled with unhauling but realise that many people cannot afford new books. I am happy however to give someone the pleasure of reading a book I no longer need as I have outgrown it. As I am always extremely happy when I get a second hand copy of a book I have been looking for because I cannot afford new books.
@@nightshadepurplebroom3516 i agree with you but what i am talking about is the easiness this people have to "throwing away" 100 plus books.That to me is not normal.
it actually refreshing to encounter somebody online who sounds sane. It scares shit out of me that its not that often anymore.
Wow this is very insightful! Thank you for making a video about this, not enough people realize what's going on with booktok's overconsumption.
Thank you for this video! I think more people need to understand how over consumption is even in their own hobbies. I started to read again in December 2023. I joined booktok and book groups on Facebook. I started to pressure myself to read every day, set a goal, download so many apps to “track” my books because of the aesthetic, shopping all the time for books, etc. Ever since I deleted social media, I realized how influenced I was to buy this book or that book every day. It threw a lot of money down the drain, honestly. Now I have a whole bookshelf of unread books. But knowing this, I now have let go of that societal pressure and genuinely enjoy reading now. I don’t worry about the streaks, goals, or anything that takes away from the enjoyment of reading. I hope more people will start to look at themselves and how often you can actually sabotage everything you do in life!
thank you for this video! my goal was to read 25 books this year, but looking onward for the remainder of the year, it’s looking like i’ll be about 8-10 books off. it had me wanting to pick up short reads or start an audio book, but then i reminded myself this was the first year into adulthood where i started up reading again. 25 was just a random number, still not really knowing my reading habits. i knew the next few books i wanted to read were thick, and so those are the ones i’m going to slowly consume. right now, i’ve still read 16 books more than i have in a year during adulthood. i’ve had so much joy and a range of emotions from the experience of reading my books. and that’s what matters to me.
I don’t like how Goodreads goal is by book vs pages. Someone could read a book that’s 5 pages vs another person who reads a book that’s 900 pages.
@@laurapeterson12this is the reason why I enjoy (and use the Storygraph) because I'm a mainly fantasy reader and I can assign a separate book goal and a pages goal, knowing the average book length (for me) is 600-800 pages but it's still only one book!
10:47 I feel this very much. I'm not a writer, I will never be able to put into words what makes a book great or why I loved/hated it. I see these articulate reviews on Goodreads and I'm flabbergasted.
At some point in life I came to a conclusion about myself when it comes to that. Which is: I don't have thoughts about books, I have feelings about books. Don't ask me to discuss a book, because I'll be completely tongue tied. I know how I feel about a certain book and that's enough for me.
Everyone has a book in them. :)
This was so well-done and thought provoking. And yes, as someone who's been an avid reader for nearly 40 years (aside from the first few years after university when I was burned out), I love the surge of Bookstagram, BookTube, and BookTok, but it has definitely increased the number of books I buy when I used to be happy going to the library. On the positive side, it's introduced me to books I ended up absolutely loving. And yes, if BookTube/Tok/etc. starts only promoting and discussing books published by TikTok's new company, I am OUT for sure.
I agree with everything. There is also this fact that a normal wage earner is simply incapable of buying 20-30+ books at once because books are EXPENSIVE. Even paperbacks. Hardcover prices with foil lining and stuff are through the roof. And when you see influencers buy so many of these beautiful books, a normal reader is bound to feel inferior and longing…..in some way?
I may have an unpopular opinion here, but I don’t understand how people buying books is problematic. My understanding is that one of the biggest problems with fast fashion is the waste that it creates. These books aren’t being wasted. They are being read, collected, donated, read second hand etc. Are they ending up in landfills? I am sorry I don’t understand the comparison at all.
I think it's ment to imply that it's sheer hedonistic consumerism rather than reading to learn to gain pleasure or expertise in something.
@@Merima28 so its the matter of morals instead of actual tangible harm?
I worked in a UK charity shop back in 2015 and the amount of books that were donated exceeded the amount purchased to the level that the hallway and under stairs was filled with stacks of crates maybe 8 high of books that would never hit the shelves. They would be sold for pence a book to a company that went round all charity shops obtaining books like that. I'd be very surprised if they sold even 50% of them and the rest weren't sent to landfill/recycled. I also get surprised when I go to charity shops that there often aren't any of the booktok books in there, I wonder if that's because people keep them, distribute them among friends, simply throw them out rather than donate them, they're immediately purchased when they hit the shelves or charity shops don't track booktok and so they end up in these crates never getting a chance to be purchased.
(I'm also not anti book buying, I've always loved buying books even when I didn't read much but tend to get them from charity shops unless they're something I know I'm really likely to love, largely because I don't want to spend money on something I might hate when I'm still unsure what I look for in a book. I honestly adore books as both home decor and as entertainment)
This is so true, I saw a tiktok of a woman ‘turning around all the books on her shelf that she hadn’t read’ and im not joking she turned the entire shelf around, and she had probably 300 books on there.
The whole "read books as fast as you can" rubs me wrong tbh. I'm a slow reader.. VERY slow. And YT seems to really want me to speed up. The Count of Monte Cristo is my favorite book. It is like... Big.. if I wanted to read as fast as I can I would've never read it. But it just completely blew my mind. If that was the only book I read in a year, I would be very happy that it was such a good one.
you are so eloquent & well-spoken on this topic and i agree with everything you’ve said. i have been trying to de-influence myself from everything social media feeds us about bookish topics and videos like this are so helpful
happy to help - you got this!
I love how well-structured your videos are! Really insightful, I appreciate the work you put into them ❤
Thank you so much, that means a lot ❤
I'm so glad someone is articulating this as well as you are. This is what turned me off completely from booktok and even trying to film my own content because I can't keep up with how much it's turned into a collection competition. It's so easy to get caught up in reading books you don't actually like just to keep up with the trends.
I'm a BookTube creator and yes it's easy to get caught up in all the pressure to make more content, read more books, BUY more books. But at the same time I do feel that BookTubers (I can't speak to BookTok, I don't go there) genuinely just really love books. Personally I like Unhauls more than Hauls, because people haul books they never read all the time. I try to use the library or buy used books 90% of the time
I got rid of over half of my books. Now I read a book from the library first, then if I love it I buy it.
I was gifted a book sleeve by a friend and also thought I won't use it. Let me tell you, they're very good at preventing damage to your books if you like to take your book everywhere, including the pool. I'm bad, I know, but I shove too many things in my back pack and often used to bend and damage pages as a result. That book sleeve actually prevents that. Also, when I go to the pool, I usually only take a single bag, and even if a wet towel slips out of the plastic bag, it won't get my book wet. So yeah, they're useful. I'd have never thought so, but they are.
This is such a lovely video. As an English major, I love reading, but there’s this pressure to read quickly that ruins the experience of reading. Even within my major, in which we are supposed to savor books, we are always rushing to read big chunks of text in such a short amount of time. This mentality has ruined the way I read to the point that I rather not. Reading for pleasure has become this unattainable thing since I should be reading something for school every time I crave to read a book.
Getting views is a major factor in this. At least on Booktube, people who post reviews and in depth analysis about a book barely get views and comments. While those who do huge book hauls and show fancy editions of books they bought get all the likes and recognition. When I try to find reviews all the algorithm recommends is hauls. I really can't believe we've started to treat something so valuable and educational that is a book like it's just a decoration for our shelves and nothing more.
I used to get joy from getting 30+ used books and having a big collection. I started to notice I read only 15% and got rid of most of them. I stopped when I realized it was a pain to move with all those books, and got rid of most
I have a lot of problems with booktok honestly, since the begining I always saw it as a 2010s booktube but worse: the massive bookhauls, the trends, and the unrealistic amount of books read every year. Booktok does all of that but to an extreme.
Personally, one of the things I dislike the most about booktok is that almost everyone recomends the same books over and over again, without giving an actual review, they just hype the book barely explaining the plot.
this is a really interesting topic that i think about often as well, especially as someone who has often thought about starting my own channel but was discouraged exactly bc i felt like i did not have the means to keep it "interesting" - i can't afford 10 books each month for a book haul, i don't have a shelf or a cool wall set up in my room to film, and i understand that 90% of content being me reading on my bed would just not be enough of an incentive for someone to watch and subscribe when you have creators constantly animating, exciting, entertaining.
i'm a library user and i largely only buy book i have read and loved, to make a collection. however, this is where your point about booktok not wanting you to read easily available books really hits. i'm not in america, and my public library is limited with its options. the english sections is maybe two shelves out of hundreds. 500 books in all genres and publishing years isn't the same as buying or reading 100 books published this year. also, influencers (which is who you see) live off starting trends or being ahead of them at least. they need to find that underground book, that indie self-published gem, and so many of the latest tiktok trends were exactly that.
i think that this does however skewer perceptions for many people, bc the booktok/booktube creator lens doesn't really allow you to be someone who reads on the lower scale of books per year. you can't really be in a book influencer position and only read a book a month, although you can be just as passionate about reading as someone who's going through 200 books a year.
but maybe you can be that "lower-scale" creator you speak of! There's definitely a shift in the type of book/reading content people are searching, so who knows, you could be everyone's favourite chill, slow-reading content creator! I'd subscribe to that x
My mom has loved reading for many years, yet she hardly has any books at home. She does buy them, but after reading them she gives them away to friends, colleagues or even me. She always says that books are there to be read and not to be kept in the cupboard. She only keeps books that she knows she would read again and she is happy when she can make others happy by giving them her books.
This is all so relatable! As someone who posts random videos on TikTok (mostly about books cause reading is something I do a lot), the only videos that gained a lot of traction were reading wrap-ups and mini hauls. Videos that had nothing to do with reading, or videos where I showed ebooks that I had downloaded for free didn’t even get a third of those views. That’s why I felt obligated to read as many physical books as I could because that’s what got peoples’ attention, but I don’t live in a country where mass consumption of anything is possible due to inflation. I’m also only 17 and have no time or motivation to read after a long day at school. For a long time it made me feel like I was failing, but I slowly realized that the people who blow up on booktok (usually) have the time and privilege to buy and read all of these books in a very short time. Thank you for addressing this issue!
i’ve never been involved in booktok, however this situation sounds eerily similar to the manga-tiktok craze of 2020-2021, which was something that i participated in
i remember my fyp would be filled with creator after creator buying 10 or 20 manga volumes per haul, and like a lot of other people did, i fell victim to the craze 😭😭 my manga collection of about 30 volumes grew to about 120 in the span of about 4 months, and even though i read and enjoyed most of my manga at the time, most of it is now just sitting on a shelf in my room collecting dust.
i think the fast fashion comparison is so accurate its a little scary 😭😭 anyways i really enjoyed the video!
people fight me so hard when i tell them to use the library instead of buying books they don’t even know if they like yet. it drives me nuts. why is it so normal?
I think I've read maybe 3 books this year. 2 were Murderbot books by Martha Wells, a fantastic, very light series. Some people look down on that kind of reading, cause it's sparse, and light, and easy to read. But you know what? Since March of this year I've had a 24/7 migraine, a real banger of an aura having, science defying, crazy making status migrainous. Screw 'em. You can be temporarily abled, or you can be disabled, but either way whatever energy you have for books is a precious blessing and shouldn't be wasted on NOT ENJOYING IT. So sad to know people have been reading like other folks like, work out or eat healthy. Jeez people, you can be happy, it's ok to be happy.
Love the Murderbot series! I haven't gotten around to reading the latest one yet, I hope it's good 🤞
I work as a bookseller. The amount of people I see buying stacks of popular BookTok books makes me wonder how many are making these "haul" videos. I'm sure at least some of them have been influenced by it.
I honestly find the "flash in the pan" nature of popular books frustrating. We'll get hundreds of copies of the latest hot BookTok read only to be left with a bunch of unsold copies when people inevitably move on to something else. These unsold books take up tons of inventory space and usually end up being discounted to get rid of them. It's frustrating, and I feel like it's a point not many people take into consideration
that's such a great point that I wish I'd known about when I was writing the video. thank you for sharing!
I think my max is 40-45 books per year, including graphic novels and audio books. Regular novels, probably closer to 20. I don't know how people can read 100+ books per year and actually remember what happened in the books they read.
I have to really like a book to buy it. Or if it is an art book or shows me how to do something.
I’ve been thinking about the overconsumption of books and performance of reading because I noticed myself looking for ways to reach my Goodreads reading goal. I have never read a lot of books but the ones I have read in the last couple years I remember and can tell you about. I have never actually reached my Goodreads goal, and so this year I started listening to audiobooks 1.5 and looking for short books that I can log. As I noticed this happening, I have downloaded Libby and started going to my library more. I want to foster a reading habit without over consuming, give myself a chance to try new genres without cost, and find what kinds of books make me want to read more. This is part of my journey to find hobbies to replace (some of) the scroll, so I can feel better than I do after falling in a TikTok rabbit hole.
I started crocheting bc of TikTok but it was a good way to replace the scroll and have actively trying to avoid over consumption of yarn as well. I have to stay away from crochet content creators and only watch when I’m looking for a pattern.
A few years ago I saw a video on "how to read more" by chance and it changed my life. I've always loved reading and I didn't do it out of laziness because it's easier to be on my cell phone than reading a book. Anyway, the video said that if you kept reading 1 book a year for the rest of your life you only had 60/70 more books left. I had never thought about it like that and considering that my TBR at the moment was 100 books I decided that I had to get my act together.
so glad that had a positive impact on you x
I think the idea that hauls are content that's interesting is partly pushed by the fact that social media is an advertising platform not a social platform.
Like, mini hauls are fascinating when they include those random curated things you find and treat like treasures. Mainly, it is interesting to see things you're not familiar with and to see someone with good taste essentially curating a collection that is related to their interests.
But it becomes less compelling when it's just "stuff".
I have done reading challenges to find my personal limits on quantity. Everything blurred together after awhile.
More recently I've started a reading journal to take notes from library books I'd love to own but just don't have the space for right.
Reading content that shows how to deeply engage in reading is far more interesting than quantity focused content, it just takes longer to produce. Which seems to be the across the board challenge with creators on social media.