I love this video! I'm old enough that there wasn't social media when I was young, and there was nothing better than simply discovering new authors and books in the library or in a bookstore. Just picking things out that seemed interesting and then finding out if I liked them or not. It was an adventure! So I agree -- experiment with new books and authors and ignore all the hype and you may find something amazing you never would have discovered otherwise.
Thanks, Vicki! The world has definitely changed since social media and the internet have come about. I've tried to distance myself from it when it becomes too much, but that is becoming harder and harder! Would love to discover a new author that no one has heard of that I can support. Experimenting is for sure the way to go with it.
I completely agree. It's part of why I mostly do books that I feel like on my channel. I mean, I've definitely done a fair amount of popular books that have had their day in the limelight, but for the most part, I just sort of want to talk about any book I feel like, not just the popular ones. ...It also helps that I'm very bad at keeping up with trends, so by the time I actually learn about the latest trend, it's already over.
Hahaha I feel the same!! Trends move so quickly so you never feel like you're with them! And I think that's one purpose. If you always feel behind, you'll want to buy more.
I totally understand and agree with your sentiments- probably the most frustrating thing is how every single popular book is written by a straight white woman- we preach reading diversely, but the big smash hits are always from this demographic. You'd think with the ability of booktok to democratize the way we find new books that it wouldn't automatically fall into that category, but it just shows how deeply internalized racism goes that we aren't seeing that content come out as easily.
I feel this 100%. I think it also goes hand in hand with what the big publishing houses are pushing primarily as well. They tend to lean towards the white and straight as the books they put all their marketing money towards.
Right on, sistah! You don't have to read the same books everyone else is reading. Be different! Read books nobody else is reading... (Yeah, we self-published authors tend to sink into oblivion. For all that social media would seem to level the playing field, the trad publishers still have the advantage😜)
Haha I'm glad you agree!! Trad def has the advantage, especially when it comes to marketing (cause... money...). I find that a lot of what we see is so curated even when we don't realize it.
I will say Taylor Jenkins Reid has not let me down even after I saw all of the hype about her books. The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo was actually one of my fave reads of the year and I enjoyed daisy jones and the six as well. But also, the hype specifically for fantasy and romance books is different and so strong it’s crazy
I think that's totally fair!! I enjoyed 7 Husbands when I read it a few years back. I do think it sucks that it's the only LGBT+ book hyped up when there are so many more out there. Though I've only read the one so I can't say much about TJR's books overall! As always, people are going to love what they love because it's all subjective.
right?! I do want to read a lot of the books mentioned but I often feel like I can't keep up with the trends haha so I end up watching more videos about books vs actually reading them
The thing is booktok is the reason I started reading, also the trending books cater to my tastes AGGGTM, The inheritance games, shadow and bone, six of crows, the selection, as a young reader they all helped me get into reading and I still do go by booktok more often than not so I think it depends on the person, like for me booktok works but for others it may work differently. I completely understand this take tho, for me it happens with movies and shows 😅
Yes! I feel like you can apply this to all different kinds of media. I also reintroduced myself to reading through booktube, and got all my recommendations from there for a while. And if those are the books you enjoy, then there really isn't an issue there! For me it's that they aren't what I love, but feel pressured to read because EVERYONE is talking about it and hyping up the same books all the time. But yeah, I totally get it!
I barely ever go by book recommendations, and I never only read books purely to talk to others about those books. I just go into the nonfiction sections of the bookstore and pick out anything that sounds interesting. I know people don’t believe me about finding more hidden gems that way, but I definitely do. People just don’t expect nonfiction books to be good. Which makes reading kind of lonely and saddening because I’m just shoved into the corner with no one to talk to. 😅
Yes I feel the same!! I find the best hidden gems that way. Or just browsing and really taking my time. I'm sorry that reading is sometimes sad and lonely. You can always talk to me about what you're reading!
@@EmilyReadsBooks right now I’m hyper focused on reading about the internet and social media’s effect on everyone’s lives. Specifically how it’s hurting people’s mental health, promoting propaganda, destroying our democracy, and sowing distrust of experts, etc. I grew up as the first generation raised by the internet, and I’m ultimately frustrated by it. Right now I’m reading The Happiness effect: How Social Media is Driving a Generation to Appear Perfect at Any Cost by Donna Freitas. I guess I just want to be educated about my hatred. 😂
Okay, I love this! I totally need to check this book out. I've been really interested in how social media affects the way we interact in the world. Thank you for telling me about it!
@@EmilyReadsBooks I have 10 books piled up about this topic from the library and I’ve already read 3 others. My opinion so far is that social media is just corporations sorting people into categories, trying to dig out as many declarations and reactions as possible. Mining for every data point they can to manipulate people into buying things while creating a massive experiment with everyone responding to their phones like pavlov dogs. Turning our country into a surveillance state that doesn’t look like one simply because we’re doing it to ourselves. The internet is also just bombarding peoples minds with information overload so that none of us will take any real action or have the ability to think deeply as a result. But my opinion is still developing. 😂
Yes I feel the same way! I don’t really want to read Happy Place or Fourth Wing but I click on all the videos where they’re talked about. I read a mix of popular books and unpopular ones, and I get so disappointed when I don’t like a book that everyone loves, so I’ve kind of stopped taking peoples hype seriously and I try to just read things now that I haven’t heard much about. I do enjoy reading a book with a friend and getting to talk to them about it. Also just a side note I love your videos but I prefer when you’re not holding the mic, it’s just a little distracting. That might just be me though and of course I still enjoy your videos either way!
I think that's the best way to go about it! Hype is just hype and I've learned that I can't take it too seriously. I also love getting books from my friends and talking to them personally about it too. Like a mini bookclub haha. Thank you so much for the feedback! I'll try and do a video without it. Trouble is my camera doesn't pick up my voice well sometimes when I'm not holding it, and for these types of videos I prefer it stationary. But I'll try it out!!
This! Read what you want to read and not so much in the hype. I agree with you Emily. The same overhyped books 😂😂👏🏾 FOMO is real but we should read what we want to because it’s fun for me individually. Coleen Hoover ISSSA No for me. I have Fourth wing FOMO and was soooo disappointed. I got hoodwinked 😅😅👀😂😂👏🏾 Thanks for sharing your thoughts Emily 💜
@@EmilyReadsBooks I did! I gave 1 star 👀😑it was completely overhyped for me and I don’t think I was the intended audience for the book either . Even though the troupes ( dragons, found family, adventure, heroine) were up my alley it ended up being a disappointing reading experience. So I am in the far minority. 🤣🤣😂
No no no 😭 3 stars is like "average" enjoyment for me. So the book is good, but not great. 4 stars is getting up there and really good. I'm actually very generous with most of my ratings compared to a lot of people 😂 I give a ton of 5 stars. What I was saying in that portion of the video is, if I don't think a book is for me 100% on my own, and probably is around 3-4 stars going into it, I probably wouldn't pick it up were it not for seeing it all the time. So sometimes I end up spending money on a book I don't love just because I felt an internalized pressure to read it. Idk if that makes sense but 😂 yeah
I love this video! I'm old enough that there wasn't social media when I was young, and there was nothing better than simply discovering new authors and books in the library or in a bookstore. Just picking things out that seemed interesting and then finding out if I liked them or not. It was an adventure! So I agree -- experiment with new books and authors and ignore all the hype and you may find something amazing you never would have discovered otherwise.
Thanks, Vicki! The world has definitely changed since social media and the internet have come about. I've tried to distance myself from it when it becomes too much, but that is becoming harder and harder! Would love to discover a new author that no one has heard of that I can support. Experimenting is for sure the way to go with it.
This🔥
'we are living in an advertisement' holy hell that smacked me. also, shoutout to rf kuang.
Am I wrong??? ahahha It truly feels like it some days. (also yes, R.F. Kuang ily)
I completely agree. It's part of why I mostly do books that I feel like on my channel. I mean, I've definitely done a fair amount of popular books that have had their day in the limelight, but for the most part, I just sort of want to talk about any book I feel like, not just the popular ones.
...It also helps that I'm very bad at keeping up with trends, so by the time I actually learn about the latest trend, it's already over.
Hahaha I feel the same!! Trends move so quickly so you never feel like you're with them! And I think that's one purpose. If you always feel behind, you'll want to buy more.
I totally understand and agree with your sentiments- probably the most frustrating thing is how every single popular book is written by a straight white woman- we preach reading diversely, but the big smash hits are always from this demographic. You'd think with the ability of booktok to democratize the way we find new books that it wouldn't automatically fall into that category, but it just shows how deeply internalized racism goes that we aren't seeing that content come out as easily.
I feel this 100%. I think it also goes hand in hand with what the big publishing houses are pushing primarily as well. They tend to lean towards the white and straight as the books they put all their marketing money towards.
i KEEP feeling this and i’m so happy someone said it!
I'm glad I could be of service!!
Right on, sistah! You don't have to read the same books everyone else is reading. Be different! Read books nobody else is reading...
(Yeah, we self-published authors tend to sink into oblivion. For all that social media would seem to level the playing field, the trad publishers still have the advantage😜)
Haha I'm glad you agree!! Trad def has the advantage, especially when it comes to marketing (cause... money...). I find that a lot of what we see is so curated even when we don't realize it.
I will say Taylor Jenkins Reid has not let me down even after I saw all of the hype about her books. The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo was actually one of my fave reads of the year and I enjoyed daisy jones and the six as well. But also, the hype specifically for fantasy and romance books is different and so strong it’s crazy
I think that's totally fair!! I enjoyed 7 Husbands when I read it a few years back. I do think it sucks that it's the only LGBT+ book hyped up when there are so many more out there. Though I've only read the one so I can't say much about TJR's books overall! As always, people are going to love what they love because it's all subjective.
The hype for fantasy and romance is WILD!! You are so right. It's so much more intense than any of the other genres.
right?! I do want to read a lot of the books mentioned but I often feel like I can't keep up with the trends haha so I end up watching more videos about books vs actually reading them
hahaha I FEEL this!! Don't give into the trends!! They want your money haha
Finally someone said it! 👏🏻
I'm totally feeling the fomo around Fourth Wing. The hype is so explosively strong
It's SO strong!! I feel like everywhere I turn I see it.
@@EmilyReadsBooks It's so annoying because it doesn't seem to be any different than the usual 2010s type fantasy
The thing is booktok is the reason I started reading, also the trending books cater to my tastes AGGGTM, The inheritance games, shadow and bone, six of crows, the selection, as a young reader they all helped me get into reading and I still do go by booktok more often than not so I think it depends on the person, like for me booktok works but for others it may work differently.
I completely understand this take tho, for me it happens with movies and shows 😅
Yes! I feel like you can apply this to all different kinds of media. I also reintroduced myself to reading through booktube, and got all my recommendations from there for a while. And if those are the books you enjoy, then there really isn't an issue there! For me it's that they aren't what I love, but feel pressured to read because EVERYONE is talking about it and hyping up the same books all the time. But yeah, I totally get it!
I barely ever go by book recommendations, and I never only read books purely to talk to others about those books. I just go into the nonfiction sections of the bookstore and pick out anything that sounds interesting. I know people don’t believe me about finding more hidden gems that way, but I definitely do. People just don’t expect nonfiction books to be good. Which makes reading kind of lonely and saddening because I’m just shoved into the corner with no one to talk to. 😅
Yes I feel the same!! I find the best hidden gems that way. Or just browsing and really taking my time. I'm sorry that reading is sometimes sad and lonely. You can always talk to me about what you're reading!
@@EmilyReadsBooks right now I’m hyper focused on reading about the internet and social media’s effect on everyone’s lives. Specifically how it’s hurting people’s mental health, promoting propaganda, destroying our democracy, and sowing distrust of experts, etc. I grew up as the first generation raised by the internet, and I’m ultimately frustrated by it. Right now I’m reading The Happiness effect: How Social Media is Driving a Generation to Appear Perfect at Any Cost by Donna Freitas.
I guess I just want to be educated about my hatred. 😂
Okay, I love this! I totally need to check this book out. I've been really interested in how social media affects the way we interact in the world. Thank you for telling me about it!
@@EmilyReadsBooks I have 10 books piled up about this topic from the library and I’ve already read 3 others. My opinion so far is that social media is just corporations sorting people into categories, trying to dig out as many declarations and reactions as possible. Mining for every data point they can to manipulate people into buying things while creating a massive experiment with everyone responding to their phones like pavlov dogs. Turning our country into a surveillance state that doesn’t look like one simply because we’re doing it to ourselves. The internet is also just bombarding peoples minds with information overload so that none of us will take any real action or have the ability to think deeply as a result.
But my opinion is still developing. 😂
Yes I feel the same way! I don’t really want to read Happy Place or Fourth Wing but I click on all the videos where they’re talked about. I read a mix of popular books and unpopular ones, and I get so disappointed when I don’t like a book that everyone loves, so I’ve kind of stopped taking peoples hype seriously and I try to just read things now that I haven’t heard much about. I do enjoy reading a book with a friend and getting to talk to them about it. Also just a side note I love your videos but I prefer when you’re not holding the mic, it’s just a little distracting. That might just be me though and of course I still enjoy your videos either way!
I think that's the best way to go about it! Hype is just hype and I've learned that I can't take it too seriously. I also love getting books from my friends and talking to them personally about it too. Like a mini bookclub haha.
Thank you so much for the feedback! I'll try and do a video without it. Trouble is my camera doesn't pick up my voice well sometimes when I'm not holding it, and for these types of videos I prefer it stationary. But I'll try it out!!
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Really needed to hear this today
Thank you
Love youuuuu ❤️
This! Read what you want to read and not so much in the hype. I agree with you Emily. The same overhyped books 😂😂👏🏾 FOMO is real but we should read what we want to because it’s fun for me individually.
Coleen Hoover ISSSA No for me.
I have Fourth wing FOMO and was soooo disappointed. I got hoodwinked 😅😅👀😂😂👏🏾
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Emily 💜
Totally agree with everything you said! Did you end up reading Fourth Wing? What are your thoughts on it?
@@EmilyReadsBooks I did! I gave 1 star 👀😑it was completely overhyped for me and I don’t think I was the intended audience for the book either . Even though the troupes ( dragons, found family, adventure, heroine) were up my alley it ended up being a disappointing reading experience. So I am in the far minority. 🤣🤣😂
@@ChrissiesPurpleLibrary interesting! Thank you for sharing. I am a huge dragon lover which is why I am tempted to try it but... Idk
tag yourself, i'm the mug
lmaoo
Yeah it's kind of annoying when everyone is reading the same thing
And I feel like what everyone hypes up is overall very... straight and white. It's just... ugh.
You rate something 3 to 4 starts when you didn't enjoy it?
No no no 😭 3 stars is like "average" enjoyment for me. So the book is good, but not great. 4 stars is getting up there and really good. I'm actually very generous with most of my ratings compared to a lot of people 😂 I give a ton of 5 stars.
What I was saying in that portion of the video is, if I don't think a book is for me 100% on my own, and probably is around 3-4 stars going into it, I probably wouldn't pick it up were it not for seeing it all the time. So sometimes I end up spending money on a book I don't love just because I felt an internalized pressure to read it. Idk if that makes sense but 😂 yeah
I can really relate! There is book i tried to stick with just because so many people said they were worth it… quite a few are left unfinished 🫣
It's the worst feeling! time and money and effort wasted :(