Oo the first point is actually something I didn’t think about before. I don’t really ever read The TikTok Books™️ but I ALWAYS get recs from UA-camrs or tiktokers, they just happen to be more niche and less viral. But I miss the intuitive experience of finding something I’ve never heard before, without any sort of preconceived expectations from someone else recommending it and giving their thoughts before hand
@@Nagchampa765 you know what’s worse!? I will literally google a title I don’t recognize while I’m at my cute hole in the wall used book stores. I’m thinking about literally leaving my phone off while I look around and forcing myself to fall into the experience of trusting my OWN taste.
I saw a tweet that said “I need straight people to discover ao3 instead of the publishing industry” and I couldn't agree more!!!! The thing that pisses me off the most about booktok is the sheer number of books that are literally just smutty fanfic with some sort of basic/surface-level semblance of a plot... like, I'm sorry, but if the only books you read are pwp fanfic you're NOT intellectual lmao
your point about certain books focusing too much on the mc without developing a wider cast was so good! it's a trend I've definitely noticed recently, especially in YA (and it's part of the reason I usually choose not to read YA anymore). it's interesting how trends in literature shift over time, and there's nothing wrong with that in and of itself, but this tendency towards not developing side characters is definitely not something I appreciate 😭
literallyyy nowadays you can expect complex side characters only if the book is part of a series focusing on a different character each time (if this makes sense)
You know what drives me crazy? The more recent version of an author's attempt to have a wider cast of characters and then name dumping a billion people on me without giving them distinguishable characteristics and voices. I recently have felt very lost within some character casts, which is a very NEW issue for me! I either have a shallow depth of characters or a bagillion names and I can't remember who is who! 😭 Or have a billion POV's that do little for the actual story. These all feel like employing random literary devices to rectify wanting to [attempt to] give depth to characters rather than just actually--doing it...
Yesyesyes I agree! The comment from Nessa said the same thing! Series that jump character point of view each book has started to feel very lazy to me! Gah! This also inevitably leads to holes in the narrative because the author is so focused on bouncing you around!
As someone who read 125 books in 2024 and the majority were romantasy, I’d say there’s some glaring issues with the genre. We have to distinguish “middle grade” from “teen” and “adult.” There were too many YA books that leaned more adult and then too many books categorized as adult that leaned more YA. That, the lack of representation among characters, the repeated tropes, and the bad mixture of romance and fantasy frustrated me. I blame publishing for only marketing/catering to a specific audience. Just sucks that if I wanted an adult romantasy with a Black female lead, the same 2-3 titles get suggested.
@@ParisLeShea get in here and tell me how you felt about Immortal Dark!!!! Gah!!! (Spoiler, I dnf’d it for literally every single point you brought up here) Can we also talk about the title structure “[blank] and [blank]” (I.e. “From Blood and Ash”). I’ve hit a point where I genuinely get them all confused in my brain. RANDOM FACT!!! (it came up in one of the articles I read for this video) Did you know that books written by women are very likely to be categorized as YA whereas books written by men are much less so. No matter the content and the possible spice and content, the STYLE will get it marked as YA. And I think publishing is trying to entice the adults that read ya rather than actual young adults.
@@Elnora-i6e you’re so much better than me! I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to turn off the curiosity I have when I see a hyped book. But it so rarely has worked out for me! It’s a never ending cycle of curiosity and disappointment 😭 ♥️♥️♥️♥️
the point about getting published! i've dreamt of writing a story i cared so deeply about it made me send a hundred copies of that manuscript & still keep loving & believing in it even if it didn’t get picked up. for so long i was under the illusion that all you need for your writing to be read was a good story & the perseverance to keep pitching it.
yesyesyesyes! This just made my heart so happy. First of all, PLEASE let me know the SECOND you have this book written so I can get my hands on a signed copy. Authors have lost the love of story-telling. And I hate to say it, but I don't know how many authors love WRITING so much as it's a race to put out an idea. Writing is a talent and it is something certain people can fall in love with. And not to sound mean, but the book world is letting in a lot of people with these "ideas" who have no love and respect for the process and work that goes into truly nurturing that idea. It's like opening up a bakery because you have this idea for a brand new cake flavor, but you don't love BAKING.
@Babiebackbooks that's a way to put it; it also ties into books becoming mere tropes without any of the craft. it reminds me of how many people say they want to write a novel without actually writing at all or liking writing. i never wanted to be a writer or write novels, but here i am.
I literally went to the library and got random books just like I would as a kid and so far I'm enjoying these blind picks. One actually took me out a reading slump and I've been reading daily again. I enjoy the community aspect of booktube and booktok but I also have areas of it I'm disatisfied with. There are so many points I could bring up but I'm still at the beginning of the video and may leave you an essay. 😅 One point I'll touch on is the "speed" and "bulk" that many may have trouble keeping up with. There's a bit of peer pressure to read the new stuff asap to put out content asap and not really take time to get critical with the characters and themes. Get critical. Take months to finish a book. The "consume it all immediately" trend aint for me.
I just got to you mentioning if B&N could have QR codes in store for us to scan and buy the audiobook. I remember when I was studying Korean some publishers would have a tap to scan tag IN the book so you could just get the audiobook free with the book. I miss that so much.
The fact that you have actually experienced the pairing of physical book with a QR code for an audiobook just made me so much more mad that we don't have this as a regular thing! aggghhh!! Also. I am so happy you have pulled yourself out of a reading slump! My year has started with quite a few dnf's and I am FIGHTING to not fall victim to my own slump. But also I don't think I'm really against a slump. 😅 I have been meaning to learn to crochet and that's not going to happen while I'm so obsessed with my reading 😂 I COMPLETELY agree with you!! Overconsumption begins with these INSANE book hauls and then continues with this weird need within the community to always be the first person to a book release and the first to finish it. I hate how competitive it feels when I'm just happy that reading even exists. My FAVORITE feeling is having to reread a section because it hit so hard and I have to experience it a second time. Or making my way through a scene and needing to close the book just because my mind is REELING. Best feeling ever. Being critical; and being INTENTIONAL.
Your point at the beginning about picking up books that you haven’t heard of before! I just went to the library the other day and picked up two books that just called to me, never heard of them and I’m excited to read them. I also have to get out of the habit of looking up ratings for books I find that I haven’t heard of ! That’s something I got used to doing last year that has really stopped me from picking up books that sounded interesting for I looked up the rating 😩
Don't even get me started on how I look at a Goodreads rating before I pick up anything 🙄 This is gong to be so embarrassing to admit... But I went to grab some books from the library and found myself walking through the stacks--just browsing. I was in there amazed at all the titles that I have NEVER seen before in my life! Like booktube really has me forgetting how vast the book world is! 😅😭 I'm excited for you and your new finds! I already know your intuition is unmatched.
@ YES the internet has a way of blinding us a bit (or a lot lol) from reality. And the fact that there is so much to choose from, so many books to read, to learn from. Ahhhhh it’s actually one of the best things ever 😭 so trust me I get it !!! Yesterday I thought (while reading a book I’m absolutely loving called The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers) “where would the world be without the written word?” Like I can’t imagine what I would do without books lol. So that just made me feel even more grounded in my decision to enjoy the act of picking books because they call to me. Not because the internet endorses them or not.
Yaaaas 🫰🏽🫰🏽🫰🏽 all of this hit. Especially the part about finding out about books through the library and/or bookstore. I was just thinking the other day how I miss strolling the stacks and picking up whenever sounds good, now I’m more hesitant to pick up a book if I heard it got a mediocre/bad review. And I find myself checking comments on Goodreads first before I pick up a book 🙄 a habit I need to leave in 2024. Alsoooo as a reader who LOVES sci-fi, I find that publishers are prioritizing more literary “sci-fi” and not the trope-y genre sci-fi that I love which is disappointing.
@@libraryho I was just talking about how I do the EXACT same thing! I almost NEVER go home with a book unless I have some stranger on the internet validate the decision. We’ll work on it together 😭 (it’s going to be a struggle for me as someone almost chronically online when it comes to discussions about media) You know what’s on my sci-fi shopping list!? Those small rectangular sci-fi books from the 90’s. Most used book stores have such a large section of them and I have never looked at them! I’m so new to sci-fi so I think I’m intimidated..? I have had The Martian by Weir on hold at the library for a while. Don’t get me started on this push towards “literary” everything. Uuuggghhh (*flips table over*)
@ I have a love/hate relationship with literary fiction. On one hand I love slice of life content like watching people clean their home or pick out an outfit and sometimes literary fiction can do that really well. But, on the other hand, a majority of the literary fiction I’ve tried to read comes off as really pretentious and so metaphor-heavy most of the content goes clear over my head. Same! I love those 90s paperbacks! Paperbacks in general, I love bending a spine 🤌🏽 (not with library books tho of course). If you want a super enjoyable sci-fi series to read I’ll recommend the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. It’s like 16? books long so intimidating in that regard but so easy to read and it was published from 1986-2018 so you’d most likely be able to find those old paperbacks at used bookstores.
PREACH! This video is amazing. Honestly most times I can't watch recommendation videos because it's the same books over and over. So many good points ( had to delete most of this comment because it was a freaking novel). Great discussion. ❤❤❤ P.S. Thanks for talking about my pet peeve. I feel like you and I could talk for hours about books and it would feel like no time has passed. I just want you to know that your voice in the book tube space is so important and valued ( at least to me). So much love 😘
P.P.S. You make me wanna become a booktuber too! So we can nerd out and represent the rebellious little misfits in the Black punk corner of booktube lol.
@@blacksirencreates ♥️♥️♥️♥️ oh gawd thank you 😭😭 and be a booktuber and journaltuber hybrid! It’s your corner of the internet. Do whatever you want! I am always SAT when you go through your book journal flips and talk about the things you have been reading recently! Literally just as you said, there are NOT enough [BLACK] voices in this space. What’s the worst that can happen? 🤷🏽♀️ booktube feels so tiny when there are soooo many amazing books out there. And I also avoid recommendation videos. I feel so overwhelmed intaking too many of those. I couldn’t NOT bring in your comment! You literally brought up every single thing I’ve grumbled under my breath in the privacy of my home! 😂
@@Babiebackbooks I have been debating since October introducing bookish content on my channel. But I am afraid since most of my content focuses on journaling. But you are right. It's my channel, I do what I want lol .
@ gaaaaahhhhhh! I’m excited! It’s in writing! You have to now!!! Eeeee! Do the booktube newbie tag! That will be fun to kind of introduce it to your channel in a gentle way! ♥️
My issue is with the covers that are "cutesy," but its adult romance with a lot of "spice", if its adult romance make it look as such so a teen doesn't accidentally pick that up thinking its a high school romance. Also why does adult romance and also romantasy have SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many smex scenes in it? Do you not have enough plot to keep the story interesting and moving forward? Ill stick to the old fashion way of finding a good book. Librarians.
You know what bothers me about all the smex scenes? Why does it feel like the author ONLY wanted to write the "spice" and the plot is secondary? I don't know if that makes sense. But you give me this half-baked plot, bland dialogue, poor character development, and then a 15 page nekkid scene. Where is the yearning!? When did characters stop getting to know one another!? Where is the plot!? The cover thing drives me insane. I'm a whole adult and I am constantly unprepared for what I'm picking up. I want to say it even goes so far as to the topics that I am now seeing in YA fiction. Middle school me was giggling at a kiss scene, but now YA books have on page smex sometimes which is a bit wild to me. Call me old fashioned.
On the Goodreads Awards: I just wish they didn’t remove *anything*. They should always be adding. Add the romatasy, add the cozy genres, great! But keep middle grade, too! Keep the cookbooks, keep the humor, keep adding to the sub genre. Goodreads is supposed to be a DATABASE of books. Let’s highlight ALL of it, not just the popular trends.
yesyesyessss! I agree! I feel like as the years go forward and the subgenres take over, I can participate in voting less and less. Nominees are starting to be wholly unknown to me and I'm only defaulting to vote for the singular book that I know from the list whether I liked it or not. I also recently read a few of the books that I saw on the nominees list --and dnf'd every single one. I'm feeling very detached from the lot of it all.
I also don't mind a 3rd act breakup if done well. I like when the characters fix their own issues before repairing the relationship. And if they really make the appropriate amends. I like your example of grief as a reason for the third act breakup. And I wish there were secondhand bookstores in my country that are as up-to-date and diverse as some of the big chain bookstores. Coz why are the ones in my country still selling 90s and 00s Western books from the exact same authors. My theory is that the US dumps their remaindered or nth-hand books in my country, so that's all the thrift stores here sell.
Nooooooo! That is cruel and unusual punishment 😭 I'll email the president IMMEDIATELY and get you some better books in your local bookstore. I am a huge advocate that romance books need stakes. If I already know who is going to end up happily ever after by page 2, then why am I even reading the book? My biggest pet peeve is when the characters do NO self work before getting back together!!! So many books are spice and thinly-veiled toxicity!
36:29 you bring up a good point about books being more “self-censored” back in the day. I feel like crazy plots and topics have always been written in books, but they were easier to detect. Erotica (even about cnc and other dark topics) has always existed, for example, but it was clearly marked as erotica. Now, genres are all over the place and nothing is clear??? I mean, when did romance become synonymous with “spice” ((I hate this word))? When did fantasy become all about fae d*cks?
I was sitting on it more, and I think that when I was a young adult, I knew just to avoid the small books with a shirtless man on the front 😂 Not to sound like a hater. But there is a LARGE part of romantasy that lacks plot to a degree that's actually infuriating. To the point that there isn't even any building of yearning or context or the characters themselves. JUST a fae d*ck. And the trigger warning page doesn't do enough for me. Like you can tell me "privates touch in this book, be warned" and I'm like "ouuuuuu. kissing!" but then be unprepared for spice to be every single chapter with in depth scenes for 10 pages at a time. The term "spice" bothers me because of how cutesy it is and how vague it is. Like I just had 20 pages of sweatiness and dirty talk that my eyes never should have seen. No jalapeno-adjacent term should be used here... this was a battle scene!
I feel very good about my choices as none of these points annoy me. I take my book recommendations from like 10 people on the internet. Other books I choose just on the basis of the blurb and if it sounds interesting to me. Since I've been reading from a long time I know what I'd absolutely hate so I just have no interest in picking up popular books that fit into those boxes. So my 2/1 star books are very few since most of what I read i really love or like enough. Marketing also has no effect on me. The only thing that ofcourse still annoys me is the middle grade books/graphic novels thing on Goodreads amd the audiobooks thing.
I have caught myself scrolling through Libby in the middle of the night more times than I am willing to admit 😅😭 I have such an unhinged number of books on my libby shelves!
I was going to click away from your video, as it is 42 minutes, not because I do not like long videos but because I want to spend more time with my audiobooks. I am glad I did not, the points you made were so elegantly made and sharp. Booktok was a good jumping off point for me back in the pandemic, at this point I scroll on libby or visit childhood books. I rarely use social media for books, especially after leaving Goodreads. I wish i could own audiobooks, expensive but I love audiobooks
Oh thank you for hanging out! I am absolutely longwinded 😅😭 Booktube and Booktok got me into reading. So I do want to give the platforms so much credit and express gratitude without any ounce of sarcasm. But I think I also have to recognize when I have outgrown an influence? Like it was great but in order to discover my own personal taste, I can't use it as a primary source anymore because I am bound to be disappointed. Leaving Goodreads!? Goodness! I wish I was that tough! I know that felt so freeing! Audiobooks are literally the BEST. Gah. ESPECIALLY if I get the right audiobook narrator.
@@BEe-hi4my I’m trying something new! I have so many thoughts and things I want to ramble on about! But the more I want to ramble, the less vlogs went up. So I decided a day was needed for some rambling 😂
Lmaoooo listen I can't help that I'm a very passionate person 🤭 (but was I wrong? 😆) I agree with 3rd act breakup having more depth to it! That would actually be worth it.
@@nessaxreads 😂😂😂 you see me waving my hands in the air chaotically when I got to your comments. Literally stealing words right out of my own personal rants!! You know what’s would have me absolutely BAMBOOZLED? If the breakup stays broken up and the character goes forward with a learned lesson and finding a new partner. There’s no stakes! As soon as you know the romantic interest you can guess the entire story.
i don't get 32:20. if your five minute review spoils the book, your review is bad imho. the book is the book, what you include in your review is up to your purview. or am i understanding your point wrong?
Oo the first point is actually something I didn’t think about before. I don’t really ever read The TikTok Books™️ but I ALWAYS get recs from UA-camrs or tiktokers, they just happen to be more niche and less viral. But I miss the intuitive experience of finding something I’ve never heard before, without any sort of preconceived expectations from someone else recommending it and giving their thoughts before hand
@@Nagchampa765 you know what’s worse!? I will literally google a title I don’t recognize while I’m at my cute hole in the wall used book stores. I’m thinking about literally leaving my phone off while I look around and forcing myself to fall into the experience of trusting my OWN taste.
I saw a tweet that said “I need straight people to discover ao3 instead of the publishing industry” and I couldn't agree more!!!! The thing that pisses me off the most about booktok is the sheer number of books that are literally just smutty fanfic with some sort of basic/surface-level semblance of a plot... like, I'm sorry, but if the only books you read are pwp fanfic you're NOT intellectual lmao
Have you seen the drama with Fourth Wing and the Crimson Queen!? Literally a copy and paste plot down to the twists and cliffhangers but with dragons.
your point about certain books focusing too much on the mc without developing a wider cast was so good! it's a trend I've definitely noticed recently, especially in YA (and it's part of the reason I usually choose not to read YA anymore). it's interesting how trends in literature shift over time, and there's nothing wrong with that in and of itself, but this tendency towards not developing side characters is definitely not something I appreciate 😭
literallyyy nowadays you can expect complex side characters only if the book is part of a series focusing on a different character each time (if this makes sense)
You know what drives me crazy? The more recent version of an author's attempt to have a wider cast of characters and then name dumping a billion people on me without giving them distinguishable characteristics and voices. I recently have felt very lost within some character casts, which is a very NEW issue for me! I either have a shallow depth of characters or a bagillion names and I can't remember who is who! 😭 Or have a billion POV's that do little for the actual story. These all feel like employing random literary devices to rectify wanting to [attempt to] give depth to characters rather than just actually--doing it...
Yesyesyes I agree! The comment from Nessa said the same thing! Series that jump character point of view each book has started to feel very lazy to me! Gah! This also inevitably leads to holes in the narrative because the author is so focused on bouncing you around!
As someone who read 125 books in 2024 and the majority were romantasy, I’d say there’s some glaring issues with the genre. We have to distinguish “middle grade” from “teen” and “adult.”
There were too many YA books that leaned more adult and then too many books categorized as adult that leaned more YA.
That, the lack of representation among characters, the repeated tropes, and the bad mixture of romance and fantasy frustrated me.
I blame publishing for only marketing/catering to a specific audience. Just sucks that if I wanted an adult romantasy with a Black female lead, the same 2-3 titles get suggested.
@@ParisLeShea get in here and tell me how you felt about Immortal Dark!!!! Gah!!! (Spoiler, I dnf’d it for literally every single point you brought up here)
Can we also talk about the title structure “[blank] and [blank]” (I.e. “From Blood and Ash”). I’ve hit a point where I genuinely get them all confused in my brain.
RANDOM FACT!!! (it came up in one of the articles I read for this video) Did you know that books written by women are very likely to be categorized as YA whereas books written by men are much less so. No matter the content and the possible spice and content, the STYLE will get it marked as YA. And I think publishing is trying to entice the adults that read ya rather than actual young adults.
Yes! I just posted a video today about these issues with romantasy
People reading 20 books a day and holding stacks of books constantly is insane. Thank you speak on it
There are some people on this platform that make it so apparent that they don't have a day job 😅😭 Like where do you have all this time!?
This is why I follow you!!! I'm not wasting my time on Booktube or with books that aren't for me. I'm not on the train to nowhere.❤❤❤❤
@@Elnora-i6e you’re so much better than me! I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to turn off the curiosity I have when I see a hyped book. But it so rarely has worked out for me! It’s a never ending cycle of curiosity and disappointment 😭
♥️♥️♥️♥️
unrelated oh my gosh YOUR VOICE IS SO SOOTHING
Thank you!! 🥰 🥰 🥰
the point about getting published! i've dreamt of writing a story i cared so deeply about it made me send a hundred copies of that manuscript & still keep loving & believing in it even if it didn’t get picked up. for so long i was under the illusion that all you need for your writing to be read was a good story & the perseverance to keep pitching it.
yesyesyesyes! This just made my heart so happy. First of all, PLEASE let me know the SECOND you have this book written so I can get my hands on a signed copy.
Authors have lost the love of story-telling. And I hate to say it, but I don't know how many authors love WRITING so much as it's a race to put out an idea. Writing is a talent and it is something certain people can fall in love with. And not to sound mean, but the book world is letting in a lot of people with these "ideas" who have no love and respect for the process and work that goes into truly nurturing that idea. It's like opening up a bakery because you have this idea for a brand new cake flavor, but you don't love BAKING.
@Babiebackbooks that's a way to put it; it also ties into books becoming mere tropes without any of the craft.
it reminds me of how many people say they want to write a novel without actually writing at all or liking writing. i never wanted to be a writer or write novels, but here i am.
I literally went to the library and got random books just like I would as a kid and so far I'm enjoying these blind picks. One actually took me out a reading slump and I've been reading daily again.
I enjoy the community aspect of booktube and booktok but I also have areas of it I'm disatisfied with. There are so many points I could bring up but I'm still at the beginning of the video and may leave you an essay. 😅
One point I'll touch on is the "speed" and "bulk" that many may have trouble keeping up with. There's a bit of peer pressure to read the new stuff asap to put out content asap and not really take time to get critical with the characters and themes. Get critical. Take months to finish a book. The "consume it all immediately" trend aint for me.
I just got to you mentioning if B&N could have QR codes in store for us to scan and buy the audiobook. I remember when I was studying Korean some publishers would have a tap to scan tag IN the book so you could just get the audiobook free with the book. I miss that so much.
The fact that you have actually experienced the pairing of physical book with a QR code for an audiobook just made me so much more mad that we don't have this as a regular thing! aggghhh!!
Also. I am so happy you have pulled yourself out of a reading slump! My year has started with quite a few dnf's and I am FIGHTING to not fall victim to my own slump. But also I don't think I'm really against a slump. 😅 I have been meaning to learn to crochet and that's not going to happen while I'm so obsessed with my reading 😂
I COMPLETELY agree with you!! Overconsumption begins with these INSANE book hauls and then continues with this weird need within the community to always be the first person to a book release and the first to finish it. I hate how competitive it feels when I'm just happy that reading even exists. My FAVORITE feeling is having to reread a section because it hit so hard and I have to experience it a second time. Or making my way through a scene and needing to close the book just because my mind is REELING. Best feeling ever. Being critical; and being INTENTIONAL.
Your point at the beginning about picking up books that you haven’t heard of before! I just went to the library the other day and picked up two books that just called to me, never heard of them and I’m excited to read them. I also have to get out of the habit of looking up ratings for books I find that I haven’t heard of ! That’s something I got used to doing last year that has really stopped me from picking up books that sounded interesting for I looked up the rating 😩
Don't even get me started on how I look at a Goodreads rating before I pick up anything 🙄
This is gong to be so embarrassing to admit... But I went to grab some books from the library and found myself walking through the stacks--just browsing. I was in there amazed at all the titles that I have NEVER seen before in my life! Like booktube really has me forgetting how vast the book world is! 😅😭
I'm excited for you and your new finds! I already know your intuition is unmatched.
@ YES the internet has a way of blinding us a bit (or a lot lol) from reality. And the fact that there is so much to choose from, so many books to read, to learn from. Ahhhhh it’s actually one of the best things ever 😭 so trust me I get it !!! Yesterday I thought (while reading a book I’m absolutely loving called The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers) “where would the world be without the written word?” Like I can’t imagine what I would do without books lol. So that just made me feel even more grounded in my decision to enjoy the act of picking books because they call to me. Not because the internet endorses them or not.
Yaaaas 🫰🏽🫰🏽🫰🏽 all of this hit. Especially the part about finding out about books through the library and/or bookstore. I was just thinking the other day how I miss strolling the stacks and picking up whenever sounds good, now I’m more hesitant to pick up a book if I heard it got a mediocre/bad review. And I find myself checking comments on Goodreads first before I pick up a book 🙄 a habit I need to leave in 2024.
Alsoooo as a reader who LOVES sci-fi, I find that publishers are prioritizing more literary “sci-fi” and not the trope-y genre sci-fi that I love which is disappointing.
@@libraryho I was just talking about how I do the EXACT same thing! I almost NEVER go home with a book unless I have some stranger on the internet validate the decision. We’ll work on it together 😭 (it’s going to be a struggle for me as someone almost chronically online when it comes to discussions about media)
You know what’s on my sci-fi shopping list!? Those small rectangular sci-fi books from the 90’s. Most used book stores have such a large section of them and I have never looked at them! I’m so new to sci-fi so I think I’m intimidated..? I have had The Martian by Weir on hold at the library for a while.
Don’t get me started on this push towards “literary” everything. Uuuggghhh
(*flips table over*)
@ I have a love/hate relationship with literary fiction. On one hand I love slice of life content like watching people clean their home or pick out an outfit and sometimes literary fiction can do that really well. But, on the other hand, a majority of the literary fiction I’ve tried to read comes off as really pretentious and so metaphor-heavy most of the content goes clear over my head.
Same! I love those 90s paperbacks! Paperbacks in general, I love bending a spine 🤌🏽 (not with library books tho of course). If you want a super enjoyable sci-fi series to read I’ll recommend the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. It’s like 16? books long so intimidating in that regard but so easy to read and it was published from 1986-2018 so you’d most likely be able to find those old paperbacks at used bookstores.
The number of times I snapped my fingers and said YES!!! Ugghhh, I hope they're listening!
This absolutely
I'm pretty sure my neighbors are concerned about who I was shouting at for almost an hour straight 😂
PREACH! This video is amazing.
Honestly most times I can't watch recommendation videos because it's the same books over and over.
So many good points ( had to delete most of this comment because it was a freaking novel). Great discussion. ❤❤❤
P.S. Thanks for talking about my pet peeve. I feel like you and I could talk for hours about books and it would feel like no time has passed. I just want you to know that your voice in the book tube space is so important and valued ( at least to me).
So much love 😘
P.P.S. You make me wanna become a booktuber too! So we can nerd out and represent the rebellious little misfits in the Black punk corner of booktube lol.
@@blacksirencreates ♥️♥️♥️♥️ oh gawd thank you 😭😭 and be a booktuber and journaltuber hybrid! It’s your corner of the internet. Do whatever you want! I am always SAT when you go through your book journal flips and talk about the things you have been reading recently!
Literally just as you said, there are NOT enough [BLACK] voices in this space. What’s the worst that can happen? 🤷🏽♀️ booktube feels so tiny when there are soooo many amazing books out there. And I also avoid recommendation videos. I feel so overwhelmed intaking too many of those.
I couldn’t NOT bring in your comment! You literally brought up every single thing I’ve grumbled under my breath in the privacy of my home! 😂
@@Babiebackbooks I have been debating since October introducing bookish content on my channel. But I am afraid since most of my content focuses on journaling. But you are right. It's my channel, I do what I want lol .
@ gaaaaahhhhhh! I’m excited! It’s in writing! You have to now!!! Eeeee! Do the booktube newbie tag! That will be fun to kind of introduce it to your channel in a gentle way! ♥️
My issue is with the covers that are "cutesy," but its adult romance with a lot of "spice", if its adult romance make it look as such so a teen doesn't accidentally pick that up thinking its a high school romance. Also why does adult romance and also romantasy have SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many smex scenes in it? Do you not have enough plot to keep the story interesting and moving forward? Ill stick to the old fashion way of finding a good book. Librarians.
You know what bothers me about all the smex scenes? Why does it feel like the author ONLY wanted to write the "spice" and the plot is secondary? I don't know if that makes sense. But you give me this half-baked plot, bland dialogue, poor character development, and then a 15 page nekkid scene. Where is the yearning!? When did characters stop getting to know one another!? Where is the plot!?
The cover thing drives me insane. I'm a whole adult and I am constantly unprepared for what I'm picking up. I want to say it even goes so far as to the topics that I am now seeing in YA fiction. Middle school me was giggling at a kiss scene, but now YA books have on page smex sometimes which is a bit wild to me. Call me old fashioned.
On the Goodreads Awards: I just wish they didn’t remove *anything*. They should always be adding. Add the romatasy, add the cozy genres, great! But keep middle grade, too! Keep the cookbooks, keep the humor, keep adding to the sub genre. Goodreads is supposed to be a DATABASE of books. Let’s highlight ALL of it, not just the popular trends.
yesyesyessss! I agree! I feel like as the years go forward and the subgenres take over, I can participate in voting less and less. Nominees are starting to be wholly unknown to me and I'm only defaulting to vote for the singular book that I know from the list whether I liked it or not. I also recently read a few of the books that I saw on the nominees list --and dnf'd every single one. I'm feeling very detached from the lot of it all.
I also don't mind a 3rd act breakup if done well. I like when the characters fix their own issues before repairing the relationship. And if they really make the appropriate amends. I like your example of grief as a reason for the third act breakup.
And I wish there were secondhand bookstores in my country that are as up-to-date and diverse as some of the big chain bookstores. Coz why are the ones in my country still selling 90s and 00s Western books from the exact same authors. My theory is that the US dumps their remaindered or nth-hand books in my country, so that's all the thrift stores here sell.
Nooooooo! That is cruel and unusual punishment 😭 I'll email the president IMMEDIATELY and get you some better books in your local bookstore.
I am a huge advocate that romance books need stakes. If I already know who is going to end up happily ever after by page 2, then why am I even reading the book? My biggest pet peeve is when the characters do NO self work before getting back together!!! So many books are spice and thinly-veiled toxicity!
Absolutely fabulous roundup of opinions, observations, and I loooove that you pull in articles and data, we exist in the context!
Thank you! :)
36:29 you bring up a good point about books being more “self-censored” back in the day. I feel like crazy plots and topics have always been written in books, but they were easier to detect. Erotica (even about cnc and other dark topics) has always existed, for example, but it was clearly marked as erotica. Now, genres are all over the place and nothing is clear??? I mean, when did romance become synonymous with “spice” ((I hate this word))? When did fantasy become all about fae d*cks?
I was sitting on it more, and I think that when I was a young adult, I knew just to avoid the small books with a shirtless man on the front 😂
Not to sound like a hater. But there is a LARGE part of romantasy that lacks plot to a degree that's actually infuriating. To the point that there isn't even any building of yearning or context or the characters themselves. JUST a fae d*ck. And the trigger warning page doesn't do enough for me. Like you can tell me "privates touch in this book, be warned" and I'm like "ouuuuuu. kissing!" but then be unprepared for spice to be every single chapter with in depth scenes for 10 pages at a time.
The term "spice" bothers me because of how cutesy it is and how vague it is. Like I just had 20 pages of sweatiness and dirty talk that my eyes never should have seen. No jalapeno-adjacent term should be used here... this was a battle scene!
I feel very good about my choices as none of these points annoy me. I take my book recommendations from like 10 people on the internet. Other books I choose just on the basis of the blurb and if it sounds interesting to me. Since I've been reading from a long time I know what I'd absolutely hate so I just have no interest in picking up popular books that fit into those boxes. So my 2/1 star books are very few since most of what I read i really love or like enough. Marketing also has no effect on me. The only thing that ofcourse still annoys me is the middle grade books/graphic novels thing on Goodreads amd the audiobooks thing.
I go to libby see whats available now and pick from there. Or if a show/movie is based on a book, I would pick from there.
I have caught myself scrolling through Libby in the middle of the night more times than I am willing to admit 😅😭 I have such an unhinged number of books on my libby shelves!
I was going to click away from your video, as it is 42 minutes, not because I do not like long videos but because I want to spend more time with my audiobooks. I am glad I did not, the points you made were so elegantly made and sharp. Booktok was a good jumping off point for me back in the pandemic, at this point I scroll on libby or visit childhood books. I rarely use social media for books, especially after leaving Goodreads. I wish i could own audiobooks, expensive but I love audiobooks
Oh thank you for hanging out! I am absolutely longwinded 😅😭
Booktube and Booktok got me into reading. So I do want to give the platforms so much credit and express gratitude without any ounce of sarcasm. But I think I also have to recognize when I have outgrown an influence? Like it was great but in order to discover my own personal taste, I can't use it as a primary source anymore because I am bound to be disappointed.
Leaving Goodreads!? Goodness! I wish I was that tough! I know that felt so freeing!
Audiobooks are literally the BEST. Gah. ESPECIALLY if I get the right audiobook narrator.
Omg a deep analysis video on a WEDNESDAY. Commenting to boost, will watch later ✨✨
@@BEe-hi4my I’m trying something new! I have so many thoughts and things I want to ramble on about! But the more I want to ramble, the less vlogs went up. So I decided a day was needed for some rambling 😂
Wednesday? What a surprise!
@@ogungou9 ♥️♥️♥️ I’m trying something new! There are so many times I find myself having something I want to talk about or rant and rave over.
Lmaoooo listen I can't help that I'm a very passionate person 🤭 (but was I wrong? 😆) I agree with 3rd act breakup having more depth to it! That would actually be worth it.
@@nessaxreads 😂😂😂 you see me waving my hands in the air chaotically when I got to your comments. Literally stealing words right out of my own personal rants!!
You know what’s would have me absolutely BAMBOOZLED? If the breakup stays broken up and the character goes forward with a learned lesson and finding a new partner. There’s no stakes! As soon as you know the romantic interest you can guess the entire story.
WOW
That is one hell of a voice!
I would like to thank my chromosomes and my RNA strand (*bows*)
I'm kidding.😅 Thank you!
i don't get 32:20. if your five minute review spoils the book, your review is bad imho. the book is the book, what you include in your review is up to your purview. or am i understanding your point wrong?
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