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It was disappointing to see you advertise your ebook as “free” just to put it behind a paywall, judging that you gained your popularity by calling out brands/people lacking integrity.
Okay but consumerism is a philosophy that an individual chooses to engage in, like just stop consuming so much and boom the problem is solved for you. Get off TikTok get off social media and live your fucking life rather than complaining about how social media sucks. Find books that you like on your own, it really feels like people forgot how to exist without social media telling them what to do how to think and how to dress. Like just delete the app it’s not that hard.
@ceezy27 thanks. Stole the words from my mouth. Agree with all points... I don't have any social media apps on my devices but YT... Currently reading 3 novels and a graphic novel atm....
@ honestly instead of going to Starbucks to study I now go to different libraries in my area. And I will always make sure to check out a couple books or even DVDs or CDs. They can use that to prove how important they are. I’d highly recommend doing the same if you can 😊
I wish I could check out books at my local library, but I live outside the city limits, we don’t have a library that allows us to borrow books. However, I do spend time there reading or checking emails.
I mean that's pithy but "completely unrelated" ? That's pretty hard to defend. Clearly there's a relationship between "buying books" and "reading books". It's certainly not 1 to 1 but a lot of people who buy books also read books (and vice versa). (but yes, it's certainly _possible_ to buy books without being a reader or again, vice versa)
As an English PhD student who owns way more books than I could ever possibly read, I would say that the problem with BookTok isn't that people are buying too many books and don't have the attention spans to read them, but that society is structured in such a way that no one ever has the time to actually sit down and read (including this English PhD student)!
@annaMidnightStar Well said exactly. I doubt people would buy that many books if there wasn’t at least an intention to read them, which gives a lot of credibility to your time hypothesis.
@@freckrpeckr the problem with your idea is that gen z and alpha buy books due to booktok. where is booktok? on tiktok, and usually that is where these young people spend their time, instead of reading. and that is also the "problem" with booktok in general.
@@sSomeawesomeneSs What books are you reading that have less time commitment than a RUclips video? Its not only time in a day but also time to stick to it that's the issue.
A friend made me read a BookTok book. It was Fourth Wing. That book made me finally pick up the Dune. And I'm loving it. So I guess it was a happy ending. Edit: For anyone wondering what's the connection between Fourth Wing and Dune, basically, Fourth Wing made so little sense and it was so superficial that it gave me the urge to read something really dry, really worldbuilding focused, and really detail oriented. And since I've already read Lord of the Rings, the next big hard read on my list was Dune.
Brandon Sanderson has some interesting world building (and character relationships that make at least some sense!), that's what I'm reading after the Fourth Wing 😂
@@simoroshka 100%, I did personally enjoy Fourth Wing and the sequel, but I really fell deep into the original trilogy of Mistborn books. I know there's more, and a further set of books on that world, but I found the start of the 4th book way less interesting. The ending of the 3rd Mistborn book is absolutely incredible without going past it, IMO.
@buddha1321 I loved the first three books but couldn't finish the 4th (or rather get into it 😅). I then started listening to The Way of Kings series, finishing the 3rd book now 👌
I love this because it was the oposite for me. I was reading Dune series and by the end of the fourth book my passion for reading was tortured and killed and I really struggled to pick up another book. But then I found Fourth Wing and while it's not exactly a masterpiece, it's really easy to read, which is something I really thought I wouldn't experience again. I hope you can handle Dune books better than I could, enjoy!
My biggest hope is that the libraries get more use. Any books I get recommended, I try and get it from the library first to really see what I think of it. Now, one major complaint is that Publishers are doing less and less for their authors (crappy contracts, expecting the authors to have their own audience, next to no marketing), so we are seeing a big surge in indie publishing. Which can be good and bad.
if only most of booktok consumers knew about the existence of a library. I see ppl constantly buying more books just because they saw it on booktok, with little to no intention to read. When suggested, the concept of a library seems completely wild to them. Hopefully most of those unread/misjudged book will end up there and libraries will get more coverage
I work in a library. We have seen an uptick in new patrons since 2020. It's fantastic to see my branch get more use. Unfortunately our budget is still stuck in 2015 so it's been hard to keep up with demand.
@bluester7177 we're not talking about social media though, we're talking about TikTok and its negative effects. Social media has its negative effects too but that's another topic. We don't need to shift the blame to something else.
I'm so happy you mentioned the Library! You can even borrow audiobooks and movies too. Thrift Stores and Marketplace are often perfect places to find good reads and give old books new life.
There are a lot of tv shows that are locked to streaming services that my mom gets on dvd from her library later; it’s a great was to cut down on your subscriptions
I have not one, but two library cards for two cities, because I live in one and work in the other. My golden rule is unless the book is a book that I know I want forever and will want the hardcover, I try to borrow the book from the library first. If I love it and want it forever then I buy it. The only other time I will buy a book right away is if it is a beloved author and I want to bump their first day sales. Libraries are the best ❤️. And shopping your local used bookstore.
People are so critical that I use an E-reader, but physical books take up a bunch of room, so I would rather use my E-reader on my lunch break but now I realize that I am apparently supposed to be seen with the book rather than read it.
EReaders are great,they take up no space and the battery life is incredible, you can also sideload them with your own files so any store cannot yeet or censor the stuff you bought.
@ since I use a Meebook P78 luckily I get an SD card slot for all the books I could ever want, but I also get a pen and it is kinda nice to be able to take notes as if it were paper, or non destructively annotate a book. Also the Meebook runs android and has the play store so I can also have it replace my paper organizer and ledger book. All while lasting weeks on a single charge. It isn’t a great device for browsing the internet or whatever, but it sure does replace a lot of paper in my life
every Monday, I go to the library and get two books for my mom and return the ones she read. She was a huge reader her whole life, but after having me she rarely reads. So being able to bring her joy makes me a bit happier.
In Japan, it is norm to have a booksleeves to cover the book you are reading....waaay before tiktok existed. One way I see it there, is that its used to cover possibly social norm defying titles or to be anonymous, cause culturally/visually standing out (meaning using reading as identity and aesthetic) is kinda frowned upon.
They have booksleeves because majority dont have hardcovers. They usually have like a cardstock cover and back then magazine feel paper for the pages then the booksleeves. So this is like not a good comparison is to why Japan has it and the West didnt simply because its a different culture and lifestyle since book magazines are super popular over there compared to the West
As a retail worker in a bookstore the biggest problem I have is that new romance / erotic book use bright drawing for book cover that look like YA book cover. If on TikTok a 13 year old see multiple time people gushing over a book like ice breaker without explaining that a good part of the book is just smuth, they end up asking their parent to buy the book without knowing that it is classified as a 16 / 18 + book.
I remember going to the store and seeing those spicy books with artwork that looked almost biblical and you could definitely tell it was not a book for us to read as children. It would have a woman, blonde, thin, with some gossamer/cottage dress, but the top half was sliding down her shoulder, and her ample bosoms were exposed. Then there would be a man in the picture, cowboy hat, open chest, but covered in hair, throbbing muscles, and a penetrating gaze. THOSE kinds of books. They would be called something like “the Farmer’s daughter“, farm girl’s delight, the lonely lumberjack, etc.
My personal pet peeve are wattpad printed stories. The covers are anime-styled, making it look like they are for children when their themes are romance and probably a hit and miss on the smut part
This exact thing happened to me. My younger sister asked me to buy icebreaker for her, and the cover looked like a teen book and I was excited that she was interested in reading so I bought it for her. She didn't like it and didn't finish it so I guess it didn't go as badly as it could've.
@@hanssb2543 I do what I can to inform the parents of the target demographic of the book when I can. But advice I can give is to check the tag relating to the book on good reads
I know! Talking about “just put the fries in the bag bro” and then have the audacity to be complaining about not being able to make friends and not having a community. 🙄🙄🙄
Which fandom is it? My fandoms only have the few rare chat fics that I absolutely adore because the writers really go deep into the lore. Would love to enjoy more
And they ALL have those gawd-awful plain covers, like the one Levi holds up...going into the popular book section of Barnes and Noble could NOT be more dull...I like beautiful, artful covers that secretly 'gives away' a little tease...it is part of the intrigue to get you to want to read something! I refuse to read any books with that 'square-space-web-design', one-look-fits-all boring book covers.
I've given booktok a try and it has increased my reading quantity by double this year. It has also made me regret reading a lot of them. It's good though, since I'm now more clear on which books I'd enjoy / not enjoy and it's been a fun experience
Honestly modern literature is literally slop, like I read a few a books that my friends have recommended to me and I don’t want to be a snob but how can you write this poorly, don’t you have editors or something? It’s so frustrating when characters are interesting and have complex personalities but world building, action and basically everything else sucks ass.
@@whattheduck2106yeah, I mean not entirely, there's some awesome contemporary sci fi writers, but a lot of new books I've read are written like a high schooler writing their first short story.
I find it funny how Baginski mentions RUclips as a problem at 0:51 because RUclips really isn't the cause for short attention spans since RUclips is more long form videos. Of course they added shorts due to Tiktok but then all other major social media sites added their own version of short form videos.
I started working in libraries 40 years ago and over the years I noticed a massive chance in attitudes towards books and reading. Back in the 80s, for example, there was a much broader diversity in the types of new books that were available to purchase. This included both fiction and non-fiction. While certain genre such as graphic novels didn't exist yet, overall, there were just more new books. There is an old librarian concept that for every book there is a reader and for every reader there is a book (Ranganathan) and that seemed very evident 40 years ago. However, in the 90s I started to notice that things were changing. I think that Oprah's book club was a big factor. If she put a book on her list, we had a hard time buying enough of them to meet the demand. I remember one time one of her books was actually out of print in Canada, so we had a problem getting. There were other authors, such as Danielle Steele, who became so popular that we had to buy dozens of copies of them to prevent waiting lists to get too long. I got a sense that the old concept I previously mentioned was replaced with a new one that promoted the idea that there are certain books that everyone should read. Seeing as libraries only have so much budget to buy books and we had to buy dozens of copies of any book on Oprah's list, etc. we didn't have money left to buy very much variety of other newly published books. Over time, it seemed that the publishing industry contracted and there were fewer books or at least less diversity in the types of books that were available to buy - at least from the large publishers. Then in the following decades, there was a movement saying that eBooks and the internet were going to make libraries and books irrelevant. The impact was to make it harder to get budget increases and other types of support. Now the issue seems to be, in addition to what you've mentioned in this video, a problem with poor attention spans. I suspect that we will continue to see more changes in attitudes and practices regarding books and reading but I am not surprised about some university students not being able to read a novel-length book. I often go to used book sales that local charities put on and I can see that people of all ages are still interested in books. If you want to find all sorts of gems, this is pretty much where you need to go. While interesting new books are being published, they are not as voluminous as they used to be, and their cost has gone through the roof.
i'm not a book reader, but what i've seen from book readers, and this is from before tik tok was even a thing, is a lot of them would buy new books, either because it was recommended by fellow book readers, or it's an author they like, or they went to a book store or book fair and saw a book that caught their eye and bought it, and then the books sit on the shelf gathering dust because they either found some other new book to read or they're reading the same book they've read 10 times already because it's like people who watch friends every year. and so the book sales are up, but the reading isn't because no one is actually reading the books they're buying
I lived in the UK for a year and had no friends there. My sanctuary was the library. Not only did it feel homey, but I also read countless graphic novels from there that I would've otherwise not read since they can be so expensive. Libraries NEED to become more popular. Same thing with buying second-hand books.
So... People on Tik Tok are posers. This sums of much (not all) of social media. People curate specific things for their profiles to show people how they want to be seen as opposed to how they actually are. It's not completely unexpected for teens searching for an identity but when adults do it, it is sad. Look at me i'm quirky!
Me transitioning my transportation in the subrubs from bus to driving my beater car killed the small amount of reading time I've got. I got back into reading because of that, mostly read the redwall series and enjoyed reading and collecting that stuff.
to be completely fair to the booktok girlies, these have all been problems in the publishing industry and with being a reader for a long time. publishing has always been pumping out garbage that sells well and has problematic themes and poor writing (bodice rippers lmao). readers around the world have always been preoccupied with presenting themselves as readers and overly aestheticizing and publicizing their hobby. being well read was always a flex. buying and owning a shit ton of books you haven't even read just to look like a serious reader has always been a thing. women reading erotica masquerading as a novel has been a thing as long as novels with a lot of erotica in them have. authors who write the same novel 500 times have always been a thing (james patterson...) what we see with booktok is all of these things are being popularized even more and are kind of pushed into overdrive. like, erotica was really popular for women when i was a kid like 15 years ago too. but they weren't in the children's or teen's section and the cover styles were distinct and didn't look like they were targetted towards children. when i was a kid i loved to buy books as much as i loved to read them (they really are different hobbies) and i wanted to present myself as a reader to the people who knew me and part of that was owning and reading a lot of books. that sort of social posturing aspect was there then too. but people weren't buying 10-15 books every two weeks so they can post frequently. like book hauls were a huge thing on booktube too when i was a kid but they were just smaller and less frequent hauls. the posting schedule and video length demanded by youtube allowed for enough other types of videos that booktubers would space out their hauls over a few months generally and in the meantime would make reviews or wrap ups or reading vlogs before getting around to buying more books for a haul. tiktoks are short and the algorithm demands a kind of frequency that you can't meet by reading anything, so they have to go into overdrive just showing books to the camera. people always cared about reading a lot of books and book tracking was always a thing but the more superficial aspects of engaging with reading as a hobby being amplified means this is also amplified. all these things have always existed but tiktok took them and blew them up into bigger problems. colleen hoover could have been a bestseller 10 years ago, but she would have been relegated to the james patterson category of author who just churns out the same book over and over again with questionable writing quality. people want to fill a hole in their heart where community and a meaningful life should be and reading can genuinely do this to an extent, but you have to actually slow down and engage with what you're reading. when the reading culture becomes that people are trying to buff their goodreads challenge stats and buy and own as many books as possible and care more about annotations looking aesthetic than actually being helpful, we just get more people sucked into the consumerism void. i've been in plenty of book clubs too, and tiktok is pretty much the worst possible platform for a book club. even if you aren't saying anything particulary deep, book clubs are at their core about discussing the book with other people. there is very little discussion happening on tiktok because of the format. videos are short so you don't have much time to say anything. the comment limit is short so you can't say much. people don't tend to have real discussions on there. generally, social media platforms are bad for book clubs. you need some kind of group chat or to meet in person or to video call people. book clubs aren't just about discussing the books, but about building community with other people in the club based on your shared interests. we simply can't have this kind of conversation on tiktok. there are benefits, but i am still skeptical. authors can gain an audience on their own and be published where they might not have been otherwise. but publishers are also taking this as license to stop promoting their authors books and just making the authors do all the marketing themselves. the fact that people are reading more too is held up as some kind of ideal, but i disagree here. when you're a kid, you're told all reading is good and whatever you choose to read, it's good. this is fine when you're a child and need to read to develop very essential literacy skills. when you grow up there is more nuance, however. reading acotar or fourth wing or colleen hoover can be a lot of fun, for people who are into that sort of thing. but it's not a virtue. similarly, simply reading moby dick or dickens isn't a virtue either just because they are classics. simply reading does not make you better in any way. people can be avid readers with terrible reading comprehension and poor reasoning skills and poor analytical skills. to improve any of the skills reading is credited with developing, including plain old reading comprehension, you have to actually think about what you're reading. plenty of people don't do this, and that's fine if you don't care and just want to have a good time reading whatever kind of book you like. but it's not some inherently good thing that should be praised. you aren't even necessarily working on improving your attention span. it all depends on what you read and how you engage with it. not the fact that you are reading. i've even met countless people who read in this very booktok way (mainly booktok favourites, primarily driven by numbers, etc) and they don't even have the kind of vocabulary you would expect from someone reading 100+ books a year. i knew someone like this who would get mad at me when i used "pretentious" vocabulary words (we had an argument over me saying "vacillate" once) because she was convinced i was doing it specifically to flex my vocabulary. she couldn't even comprehend the idea that this was just how i spoke because to her people only did things to appear a certain way. i couldn't really have that kind of vocabulary, because to her, no one did and people just mentally swapped in thesaurus words when they wanted to talk down to you. this was a woman who read shakespeare and homer and dickens for recreation, but she somehow didn't manage to absorb the kind of vocabulary you would expect from someone who spends all their time reading these works. she would lord it over me if she was reading a classic while i was reading anything "low brow". once you absorb the consumerist postural mindset of booktok, that is all you will have left. reading a lot and reading widely won't do anything to change it.
In Bangkok, they held a ‘book fair’ every year. And many so-called book readers are having the similar problem on over buying too many books than they could actually finish here, too.
You guys should also talk about booktok vs Alex Wennberg and the Seattle Kraken controversy. Basically booktok collectively decided that a player on the Seattle Kraken matched the description of a player in a hockey romance book. Which lead to a ridiculous amount of women leaving sexually charged comments on posts by the team (which also was posting more of him as they were the most popular posts) and signs in the arena, for example "Krak my back Alex". It got to the point were when the wife of the player called them out for their behavior, booktok sent her death threats and told her that he was probably cheating on her. The whole thing got to the point that the NHL team had to make a statement, and deleted several posts.
no different from women stalking Robert Pattinson back in the day, or harassing their favorite kpop idol... the more things change the more they stay the same
As a self-published novelist, it's both good and bad. The good is that I have editorial control over the story, can find a good cover designer, and basically write the stories I want vice what publishers need in order to move paper. The bad is that the flood of AI content means that the one good book I can write in a year is quickly hidden by the 11 "books" AI can upload each day. Also, as a negative, I have editorial control and no one telling me where a story gets slow or redundant or whatever. Also, I have to do all my own marketing instead of the publisher doing that like they used to, which makes self-publishing an expense versus a side income revenue stream (or even a viable primary income source.)
I used to be an avid reader of physical books but the problem of space and constantly moving encouraged me to opt for e-books. May I ask your opinion as an author whether e-book publishing affects authors’ income in general? I want to support authors but I’m not sure if they are receiving profit from e-books. (I’m using Kobo btw, I’ve heard how Amazon screws authors over e-books publishing)
@cabbage2794 I sell about 15-20 print books to every ebook. Print books are very popular right now and they also have slightly better royalties. But what sells aren't my novels. My RUclips channel is a photography education channel and the books I write that mirror the videos I make are the ones that sell.
It’s so funny to me that you made this video this week! I recently made a goal to read more, to help lower my screen time, especially before bed. But since it usually takes me a while to get through a book, I didn’t want to waste my time on a bad book. So I spent almost 2 weeks looking through reviews/videos/tiktoks to try to find one that wasn’t just “smut”. It seemed to me that most new books were like Hallmark movies: very similar plots and characters but with more trauma and some saucy scenes thrown in. I landed on one that wasn’t too bad; even if it was a VERY easy read (got through it in 5 days). But I did wonder if AI could’ve written it. So long story short, I am worried about EXCACTLY what you discuss here. How will we find the true talent, thoughtfulness, and originality amongst the trash?! I will be going to my library today. Wish me luck!
An easy read (it's YA) that I loved and might be one of my all time favorites is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.. A more complex book I loved is Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Just throwing those out there lol
I love reading and I’ve read almost 70 books so far this year. I can feel my attention span slowly declining though and it’s harder to finish books. It could also be because there’s so many books being published that aren’t written very well. Plot holes, spelling errors, etc.
yes but if the publishers/whoever decided they don't want you to have those licenses to those books anymore they can simply take them back. you don't actually own those books :( same with "buying" movies or tv shows on streaming services.
@@ollieollieoxenfree3246 I personally read things digitally as a way to try out different books and it allows me to read a lot more, esp with the library and Libby. If I really, really love a book I will then go out and buy the physical copy of it and own it
I keep a list of books I want to read on my phone and search for them in local thriftshops. I have 2 thriftshops with great selections. I search on the regular for both classics and new titles. Boy, the books I've found! Unbelievable, I must have some karma points.
There is a thrift store next to the laundromat I’ve been going to for the last decade. Over that time I have picked up about 50 Stephen King hardcover books for 3 dollars each.
You hit the nail on the head about TikTok prioritizing engagement over all else. There’s another RUclipsr who made the point that TikTok doesn’t know what a book is. Cause the algorithm just sees ‘book’ and places it all under that umbrella term
I started Booktok last year, just so I might have bigger chances for my book to get published. Sounds crazy, but Booktokers have higher chances of getting a contract for their books since they already have a "fanbase". My account never went viral though, so idk if this will ever work out for me. To get published is my dream and I'm confident that my writing/storytelling is good enough. But when there's so many books being marketed and published non-stop, I feel like I have to start building this base years prior, so I even have a chance
I love reading, and I’ll say it I love a cheesy romcom chicklit etc. but books nowadays are so boring there are 2 or 3 good chapters and the rest, is just filler so they can add some extra tropes onto good reads. Book influencers recently spilled the beans that they just skim pages, won’t read long paragraphs, and skip chapters. Which imho isn’t reading anymore. I want to be able to pick up a book and be so engrossed that I can’t put it down, not pick a book and read it while listening to an audiobook of a different book, because neither have enough substance to keep my mind occupied. And don’t even get me started on book covers, I will be judging books by the covers more than I ever did because of what booktok has done. It seems that people really want to market the sexy jacket a book wears, show us all the tropes it has, and allude to the “spice”, make it look YA so it’s a little sneaky about what it’s about. And then once that is done they forget that there is supposed to be a story on the inside. Edit: spelling
I have been a big book need since high school. I feel like books stagnated a long time ago. 50 shades is twighlight. Maze runner is hunger games. I find it hard to find books that spark joy these days because everything is trying to be the next block buster this or that
My suggestion is go to the physical library and looking on the physical shelves. Get out a stack of potential books that look kind of like you might want to read. Maybe or two of them will be right, but there's a good chance you'll pick up an old or new book that never, ever would have appeared on GoodReads or BookTok. You want to avoid spaces where the recommendation is coming from publishers or people making money, because those people are deliberately promoting and publishing books that are "in the vein of", so that's why you're seeing repeats. Publishers, who have lost their minds and most of their editors, are now just publishing stuff that they believe has a guaranteed built in audience. So yeah, they're publishing in narrow genres to capture people and promotions.
I miss the days when books were just books, and when something became a movie, they were quiet about it. The majority of audience viewers would go see it as a movie, but only a small portion of us would go to see if it held up compared to the books. Now everything that becomes a popular book HAS to become a popular movie. The book space is just so LOUD now.
YA novels are usually focused on money rather than making a good story. If you want to find new stuff, you could always try translated novels. They got a lot of trash too, but you can find some really good stuff.
10:30 this. With social media these days people just can’t seem to do something as a hobby or interest, no it has to consume their identity. Nor can they do anything just for themselves, no you have to film yourself crying because the book was “so emotional”, or be obnoxiously ‘reading’ on the treadmill at gym. Read for yourself, tell your friends if you think they’ll enjoy it.
My husband I have thousands of books. But going to used bookstores is one of our favorite activities. He's niche-specific in his books - naval history in particular and loves to find his hidden gems. I'm more general but also a history-lover. If I were to be totally bedridden, I could keep myself occupied for several years just with what I alone have. But I take the time to read and savor a book and that takes too long for most library borrowing.
You can always extend your loan. Where I live, I can extend a book for up to 12 weeks, it is especially useful when inspired by a new genre. I’ve saved myself so much space and money, and the books I end up buying are all keepers .
I don’t use TikTok, I go to a local book store and choose my next one by reading what’s written on the back and if it interests me. Plus, I’ve discovered that everytime there’s a movie I want to watch, I track down the source from where the producer had the idea and then rather read the book, because by reading I feel more immersed than by watching.
This is where I am glad that I am an e-reader only. I moved across country years back learned that having shelves of books that I read once isn’t awesome (for me). Do you, but I prefer my Kindle. Also neither books or kindles are that recyclable. So no one really wins. just read good books.
the library isn't just for books. they are a general resource for borrowing. some even have power tools you can borrow, 3d printers you can use and many other things. so while you're at your library find out what all they offer other than books and Blu-rays.
Honestly I don't even have TikTok. But I do read a lot and I have no problem finding good books to read. I prefer character-focused fantasy/sci-fi with little to no romance.
@@mykal4779 After what I've just seen happen this week, I'm extremely skeptical that will happen. I think society has dumbed down enough where they'll find a way to keep it going.
Romance readers (either traditional or the new spicier ones) are a different kind of reader, than say a literary fiction or self-help reader. Romance/spice/romantasy/whatever is the majority of BookTok because that's the same demographic of the people who use TikTok (females from 13-35
I‘m a gamer since 1998. books are currently going through what video games did before they implemented "lootboxes" and other tricks to get your money. Seeing how fast this runs, I give it about 5-ish years to go where gaming is today.
I mean, they already have collectables for some of the kid books. Not sure how they'd do it for other books though. I'd be more inclined to think they'd make a plushie or something and advertise it in their book.
@@loafywolfy Yeah, that's FOMO. For my comment, the intention was about loot boxes and how would they be put in a book format. I just can't see it ever existing in the current form of books.
2:03 I remember when this was the case for RUclips. It used to be so tiny. It was all one big community, with a few dozen sub groups. But we were all one back then, one “culture”, casual, personal…. Good times in the first 3-4 years here on YT
I mean honestly you can curate your booktok feed very easily. I don’t encounter any of those issues. I’ve been in the community for like 3 years. The issues ppl have with booktok are issues with the industry as a whole. And issues that are in every online community. Over Consumerism is rampant everywhere.
My friend and I were talking about this kind of situation. On the side of the consumer, there's the pressure of not missing out on trends, so you end up spending a lot for something you might not even like. And on the side of the author (who is also an artist) there's the fear that they might lose their audience if they take too long, or the 'greed' to ride the wave of popularity and let your creative process suffer...which results in probably some of your poorest works. There seems to be no patience to wait for a good thing or to endure the long process to make that good thing anymore. Everything is fast nowadays Fast money. Fast fame. Fast trends. It's chaotic
I always read books on Libby through my library so I can support the author and the library without having the purchase a book to take up space when I'm done with it. When I was younger I used to buy a few too many books on a whim, so glad we have ebooks now 😄
Reading and books were literally my life's purpose as a preteen, teen, and early adult. The fact that people are using them as fashion statements makes me physically ill. I only switched to digital books because of a health condition that rendered me home bound and made me unable to afford the cost of real books. I say real instead of analog because using that word to describe the beauty and artistry of a book severely irritates me. Human beings are literally the most ridiculous organism on the face of the earth.
I’m a reader, ACOTAR is my Roman Empire and brought me back to my lifelong love of reading, and this exposition was done very well. You’re not wrong. Booktok is insane. But also ACOTAR is beautiful and magical. 😌😂
As a bookseller, we absolutely feel the rise of booktok, but we also very much use it as a stepping stone to recommend other books. Waterstones does a “buy one get one half price” thing and you best believe books like Fourth Wing are on it, as it’s the eye catcher to get people to also buy another-higher quality?-book along with it. Or for us to recommend something else to go with it. At the end of the day people are reading, and that’s what we care about the most tbh
Selling books, buying books and reading books are not the same thing. All my friends buy tons of books, never heard any of them finishing one. TikTok DIDNT MAKE books popular. TikTok made BUYING books popular
As someone who writes books that I want to publish, I have mixed feelings: On one hand, it makes me jealous of those who become popular with interchangeable nonsense that no one will remember in 5 years. On the other hand, I am confident that I will find a niche full of people who really love my stories. So I will just keep writing and try not to let FOMO influence me to play this absurd spawn of the social media game.🐱😹
I totally hear you, and also Fourth Wing got be back into reading after years of being “too busy” to read. I’m now a regular at my library and Libby and am devouring the classics, literary fiction, sci-fi, everything! Read the “cheap crappy books” once in a while..they’re a fun ride and can help spark your own creativity again!
I don't see why people buy books on Amazon when bo beokstores are so cute and libraries are free and charity shops are cheap and World Of Books is great
I read over 20 books a year and growing I'm writing my memoirs and learning guitar and piano myself. I don't open Instagram for 2 weeks at a time and it's amazing. Only youtube for a few hours in the morning if I'm sluggish I didn't forget what I learned in isolation seems everyone else seems to have not learned a thing about enriching your inner world
I know it sounds counter intuitive but I bought a kindle 2 years ago because it made it easier for me to get/read library books and I can gladly say that I haven't bought a single ebook from Amazon.
I used to be a HUGE reader and I'd drive 45 minutes to take my daughter to the nearest major library (I live in a rural town, y'all 😂) just about every weekend. I don't read as much nowadays. It's a combination of reasons: since my divorce I work more, I have more responsibilities around the house, and the quality of new books seem to have gone down. I like sex as much as the next woman but damn, it's either one step away from r*pe or some weird overly sexual thing that would never happen in real life. I used to love Sherilyn Kenyon but then her books devolved into trauma porn. It was a competition to have the main character have the most tragic backstory imaginable. I don't know, all of my favorite authors either stopped putting out new books or they all became overly sexual or overly trauma filled. Or just very, very gay. Like super gay. You do you, boo, but that's not what I was looking for 🤷🏾
There are some great (new-ish) authors out there to discover. I had the same impression of Kenyon (and Laurell Hamilton). I read ebooks so that I can test out new (to me) authors before spending money. My impression is that a lot of what „we“ liked about early Paranormal romance like Kenyon and about Urban Fantasy, is now showing up in the space opera genre. But it‘s very hit and miss because there is no subgenre for Urban Fantasy-adjacent characters and writing style. Maybe you would like Jessica Joyce (romance, „You, with a View“), Jessie Mihalik (Polaris Rising series), Constance Fay (Uncharted Hearts Series), „Fated Blades“ by Ilona Andrews, their Innkeeper- and their „Hidden Legacy“ series. Amanda Bouchet has SF and fantasy books. Stephanie Burgis and Annette Marie both have a very descriptive writing style, I enjoy them both but they tend to sound a bit like young adult, even in their books for adults. I don‘t mind but ymmv.
Are people actually reading these books? I hope so. Reading is great.❤ My favourite books, I buy and cherish. Any other books its the library or charity shop.
I remember when I was a teenager and I was constantly going to the library to get every book I could from certain authors or a specific series. There was something pure, wholesome, and inspiring from opening those pages, getting intoxicated from the book binding glue, and just getting lost for hours in their world. Social media was barely in its toddler years, and online influence wasn't a factor that drove my reading choices. Then Social Media grew up and suddenly everyone had an opinion and if you weren't reading these books how could you say that you loved reading, fantasy, fiction, horror, etc? Reading lost its joy for me. Now there was a whole internet's worth of information, commentary, and entertainment to replace those lovely pages. Women's groups in Church didn't help either. Suddenly you had to read everything from these female study book authors in order to be seen as holy and devout, kind and compassionate. The faith quickly went from learning everything you could about scripture to now valuing everyone's opinion on it, even if they were wildly off course. I recently went to a women's dinner and all of them were shocked that I was only reading the bible. They tried getting me to read what they were reading, but I was content to say "no thank you". For the past couple years all I have on my personal bookshelf are two bibles, a hymnal, two deep state type books, one home improvement, and one "self-help" book. I refuse to give into book consumerism. I have a hard enough time sticking to not buying stashes of yarn and thrifted clothes, I don't need one more thing to keep in check. 😂
With Fourth Wing and Iron Flame (which I loved) they were written by a seasoned, prolific romance writer who started out writing fantasy. And the publisher, Entangled Publishing, is also a prolific ebook publisher, who has branched out into print books. Andcwhen Fourth Wing took off, they outsourced the printing of hardback copies. And by being a streamlined, well oiled machine of a publisher, they can easily run wrings around the usual traditional publisher.
I know more leisure readers than I ever did. I think booktok/booktube helped a lot of people out of reading slumps. School can suck the joy out of reading and I’m glad to see more and more young people picking up books. If intellectualism is keeping you from reading, please ignore it!!! Reading literary fiction is great but even reading sun-par romantasy is better than reading nothing
Using my local library has been wholly changing my attitudes about reading. If I see something I really want to read, I check there first and place a hold. I don't have to worry about them clogging my shelves, but I still get to support the authors and community.
To give my take on "book - haul" content. As someone whose taste in books is not the generally most popular mainstream stuff that gets reprints on a regular basis, i have suffered the consequences of buying as i read. Oftentimes book-series i read tend to go out of print and i either am forced to buy overpriced volumes from resellers, or there are simply no copies on offer at all. That's why i have started to buy my books in mass, and i find that is also better for the industry.
I am literally a bookworm. My issue with physical books however is I no longer have room where to put them. Of course I have finished reading all the novels and nonfiction books I have, and I honestly purchase the books I only like. I even have donated some since there is no space left in my house. Anyway. Happy Reading. Dont just buy books and get a picture of yourself, READ it. Its more fun if you can see using the power of your mind. Reading Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities brought me back to old time Europe and made me imagine what Europe looks like before. I have to thank my english teacher for that since I got the habit of reading because we were required to submit a book report, upon submission there is a graded recitation
I agree with this. I'm a pretty diverse reader. I love read book form the library. I also find new random books I never heard of before online. I not just buy books because they're populair.
I don''t know if you have this in he US but in my country we have little shelves in the streets and people are free to put their olds books they don't want anymore inside and take other books put there by strangers. It's a great way to get into reading and trying different types of books. I wish it was more known abroad.
D'yall not have op-shops (thrift stores) there in the States? I've bought about 80 books this year and literally none of them have been new. Not one. Most of them came from a non-profit op-shop place that feeds and clothes homeless people.
as someone who loves reading ever since i was a child, i like the new popularity of books these days because you got SO mnay absolutely beautiful looking books you can put onto your shelf. of course there is also a lot of trash, but it's always been like that tbf. If you didn't like a book, you can just resell your pretty edition of it to someone who actually wants it. AND you can keep the ones you really like and they're not just great books but they also look amazing in your library. hardcovers with colored edges are SO FINE ♥
Social media did nothing to reading... The same people who live their life through reading books.... Or like most just buying books requiring books and making your house look lived in and never reading any of them
as a person with a leaning disable trying read a books is actually painful for me it's has got less painful as a adult thank god there are audio-books! audio-books has help raise my reading comprehension. audio-books are important and should have been a part of this conversation about literature PS I'm tiered of book snobs pretending that audio-books don't exist!
Audiobooks have opened doors into literature I could never get into in paper form. I can read them when I'm walking about, which is really, really useful. The reader often helps to interpret things, as well. For example, they'll deliver a joke as a joke, meaning you understand it's supposed to be funny. That can make a really big difference if you're reading a book written in a time that isn't your own.
So true! The best books I've read have come from browsing the library for something that interests me rather than seeing what is trending on social media. I can also say I fell prey to the pressure to buy a lot of books when I first started wanting to create content. Impressive bookshelves may make it seem like we fit better in the bookish community for a while, but the bottom line is that books are for feeding our souls with stories and anything used purely as a status symbol is pretty hollow.
I’ve gradually made the move away from physical books to e-books and I find that I’m actually reading more again. It’s so much easier to pop my iPad out in a cafe or on a train then to carry a book and then think.Uuurr I really don’t want to read this book right now. I wish I had something else on me. Also, some books are just really bloody heavy. Finally mainly due to space concerns I’ve offloaded a lot of my books since getting digital copies of them and my nieces and nephews have really appreciated the growth in their libraries and have books that we can now talk about together.
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No one fall for this it’s a scam they just sell more of ur data
You can always nominate me as the person of the year
It was disappointing to see you advertise your ebook as “free” just to put it behind a paywall, judging that you gained your popularity by calling out brands/people lacking integrity.
The problem isn’t Book-tok, it seems to be mindless consumerism that takes everything to its extreme.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ isn't that always the underlying thing here
That's kind of this channel's vibe :/
Okay but consumerism is a philosophy that an individual chooses to engage in, like just stop consuming so much and boom the problem is solved for you. Get off TikTok get off social media and live your fucking life rather than complaining about how social media sucks. Find books that you like on your own, it really feels like people forgot how to exist without social media telling them what to do how to think and how to dress. Like just delete the app it’s not that hard.
@ceezy27 thanks. Stole the words from my mouth. Agree with all points...
I don't have any social media apps on my devices but YT...
Currently reading 3 novels and a graphic novel atm....
Do not let libraries become underfunded. Keep going to your local library, it is a vital resource.
Yesss! ✨ Hopefully the newer generations and parents of today will protect, promote, and advocate for library resources... They are everything!! 🤞🖖❤
I’m frightened for libraries after the election 😢
@ honestly instead of going to Starbucks to study I now go to different libraries in my area. And I will always make sure to check out a couple books or even DVDs or CDs. They can use that to prove how important they are. I’d highly recommend doing the same if you can 😊
I wish I could check out books at my local library, but I live outside the city limits, we don’t have a library that allows us to borrow books. However, I do spend time there reading or checking emails.
I cannot agree with this more. Be a patron to your library.
i feel that TikTok is an ads platform rather than "social media"
This
They all are. Instagram? More junk being sold there than anywhere else.
@@Kewrock Indeed, many companies use influencers to soft-sell their products, but their methods can be quite annoying.
EVERYTHING IS ADS. Centralizing everything around investor returns has been disasterous.
Facts
As my Girlfriend likes to say: "Buying books is a Hobby completely unrelated to reading."
^^^ just how buying clothing isn't synonymous with being into fashion
Fragrance collectors
It’s been that way for hundreds of years for book nerds
I mean that's pithy but "completely unrelated" ? That's pretty hard to defend. Clearly there's a relationship between "buying books" and "reading books". It's certainly not 1 to 1 but a lot of people who buy books also read books (and vice versa).
(but yes, it's certainly _possible_ to buy books without being a reader or again, vice versa)
Vinyl collectors who doesn't even have a turntable checking in
Use your local library!!! Read as much as you want but please please please use the library instead of buying them and letting them gather dust.
If you like a book - buy it, that's literally how writers pay for the food on their tables.
@OutsiderLabs how do you know you like it unless you read it?
The little sharing libraries on peoples' property isn't helping either.
My library always make my allergies act up and the last time I went they an entire section of the building completely empty of books.
@@OutsiderLabs How do you know the moneys going to the author instead of rent seeking IP owners.
As an English PhD student who owns way more books than I could ever possibly read, I would say that the problem with BookTok isn't that people are buying too many books and don't have the attention spans to read them, but that society is structured in such a way that no one ever has the time to actually sit down and read (including this English PhD student)!
you would have more time for books if you spent less of it on youtube and instagram. regardless, most people are not phd students
@annaMidnightStar Well said exactly. I doubt people would buy that many books if there wasn’t at least an intention to read them, which gives a lot of credibility to your time hypothesis.
@@sSomeawesomeneSs You also have more time for books if you didn’t sleep. So what mate?
@@freckrpeckr the problem with your idea is that gen z and alpha buy books due to booktok. where is booktok? on tiktok, and usually that is where these young people spend their time, instead of reading. and that is also the "problem" with booktok in general.
@@sSomeawesomeneSs What books are you reading that have less time commitment than a RUclips video? Its not only time in a day but also time to stick to it that's the issue.
A friend made me read a BookTok book. It was Fourth Wing. That book made me finally pick up the Dune. And I'm loving it. So I guess it was a happy ending.
Edit: For anyone wondering what's the connection between Fourth Wing and Dune, basically, Fourth Wing made so little sense and it was so superficial that it gave me the urge to read something really dry, really worldbuilding focused, and really detail oriented. And since I've already read Lord of the Rings, the next big hard read on my list was Dune.
Brandon Sanderson has some interesting world building (and character relationships that make at least some sense!), that's what I'm reading after the Fourth Wing 😂
@@simoroshka 100%, I did personally enjoy Fourth Wing and the sequel, but I really fell deep into the original trilogy of Mistborn books. I know there's more, and a further set of books on that world, but I found the start of the 4th book way less interesting. The ending of the 3rd Mistborn book is absolutely incredible without going past it, IMO.
@buddha1321 I loved the first three books but couldn't finish the 4th (or rather get into it 😅). I then started listening to The Way of Kings series, finishing the 3rd book now 👌
Really dry... Dune... yep, that tracks.
I love this because it was the oposite for me. I was reading Dune series and by the end of the fourth book my passion for reading was tortured and killed and I really struggled to pick up another book. But then I found Fourth Wing and while it's not exactly a masterpiece, it's really easy to read, which is something I really thought I wouldn't experience again.
I hope you can handle Dune books better than I could, enjoy!
My biggest hope is that the libraries get more use. Any books I get recommended, I try and get it from the library first to really see what I think of it.
Now, one major complaint is that Publishers are doing less and less for their authors (crappy contracts, expecting the authors to have their own audience, next to no marketing), so we are seeing a big surge in indie publishing. Which can be good and bad.
if only most of booktok consumers knew about the existence of a library. I see ppl constantly buying more books just because they saw it on booktok, with little to no intention to read. When suggested, the concept of a library seems completely wild to them.
Hopefully most of those unread/misjudged book will end up there and libraries will get more coverage
Trying reserving a copy of Fourth Wing at your local library. Most new books are on hold for months, years in some cases. 😊
I work in a library. We have seen an uptick in new patrons since 2020. It's fantastic to see my branch get more use.
Unfortunately our budget is still stuck in 2015 so it's been hard to keep up with demand.
I just do that because I seldom reread books, and it's cost effective.
I prefer libraries for any long series or books im unsure of - helps with shelf management and cost effective
TikTok has the incredible ability to ruin just everything
It's more social media then tik tok.
@bluester7177 we're not talking about social media though, we're talking about TikTok and its negative effects. Social media has its negative effects too but that's another topic. We don't need to shift the blame to something else.
I've seen very similar sentences written with utmost confidence about basically everything the person doesn't like. I doesn't make it true.
@@filiaaut same can be said about your sentence
Tiktok didn't ruin books, modern "romance" has
I'm so happy you mentioned the Library! You can even borrow audiobooks and movies too.
Thrift Stores and Marketplace are often perfect places to find good reads and give old books new life.
Not just borrow movies. Many libraries now offer free (although limited) streaming services of tv and movies.
There are a lot of tv shows that are locked to streaming services that my mom gets on dvd from her library later; it’s a great was to cut down on your subscriptions
I have not one, but two library cards for two cities, because I live in one and work in the other. My golden rule is unless the book is a book that I know I want forever and will want the hardcover, I try to borrow the book from the library first. If I love it and want it forever then I buy it. The only other time I will buy a book right away is if it is a beloved author and I want to bump their first day sales. Libraries are the best ❤️. And shopping your local used bookstore.
Yess, I love donating my books. I don’t like keeping a full room of books like others on TikTok 🫣
People are so critical that I use an E-reader, but physical books take up a bunch of room, so I would rather use my E-reader on my lunch break but now I realize that I am apparently supposed to be seen with the book rather than read it.
Buying a kindle was the best thing I ever did. Incredible device, I never stop using it.
One reason I don't buy this kind of digital content anymore is because I can't let people borrow or have it when I'm done.
EReaders are great,they take up no space and the battery life is incredible, you can also sideload them with your own files so any store cannot yeet or censor the stuff you bought.
@ since I use a Meebook P78 luckily I get an SD card slot for all the books I could ever want, but I also get a pen and it is kinda nice to be able to take notes as if it were paper, or non destructively annotate a book. Also the Meebook runs android and has the play store so I can also have it replace my paper organizer and ledger book. All while lasting weeks on a single charge. It isn’t a great device for browsing the internet or whatever, but it sure does replace a lot of paper in my life
Plus you can read it in total darkness...
Every video is just people wanting to look cool and buying pointless stuff to pretend they're part of a social niche.
Honestly sometimes it’s not bad as long as it’s fake it till you make it type-beat and isn’t just for showing off.
Buy...premote...sell. like buying a trendy food, eating one piece and saying its gods gift to america before tossing it aside.
every Monday, I go to the library and get two books for my mom and return the ones she read. She was a huge reader her whole life, but after having me she rarely reads. So being able to bring her joy makes me a bit happier.
Wholesome 🥹 I love this.
In Japan, it is norm to have a booksleeves to cover the book you are reading....waaay before tiktok existed. One way I see it there, is that its used to cover possibly social norm defying titles or to be anonymous, cause culturally/visually standing out (meaning using reading as identity and aesthetic) is kinda frowned upon.
They have booksleeves because majority dont have hardcovers. They usually have like a cardstock cover and back then magazine feel paper for the pages then the booksleeves. So this is like not a good comparison is to why Japan has it and the West didnt simply because its a different culture and lifestyle since book magazines are super popular over there compared to the West
As a book editor, “People really, really care about books” warmed my heart 🥹📚
As a retail worker in a bookstore the biggest problem I have is that new romance / erotic book use bright drawing for book cover that look like YA book cover. If on TikTok a 13 year old see multiple time people gushing over a book like ice breaker without explaining that a good part of the book is just smuth, they end up asking their parent to buy the book without knowing that it is classified as a 16 / 18 + book.
I remember going to the store and seeing those spicy books with artwork that looked almost biblical and you could definitely tell it was not a book for us to read as children.
It would have a woman, blonde, thin, with some gossamer/cottage dress, but the top half was sliding down her shoulder, and her ample bosoms were exposed. Then there would be a man in the picture, cowboy hat, open chest, but covered in hair, throbbing muscles, and a penetrating gaze. THOSE kinds of books. They would be called something like “the Farmer’s daughter“, farm girl’s delight, the lonely lumberjack, etc.
This reminds me of the After Series. The cover looks so innocent but than you read it 😢
My personal pet peeve are wattpad printed stories. The covers are anime-styled, making it look like they are for children when their themes are romance and probably a hit and miss on the smut part
This exact thing happened to me. My younger sister asked me to buy icebreaker for her, and the cover looked like a teen book and I was excited that she was interested in reading so I bought it for her. She didn't like it and didn't finish it so I guess it didn't go as badly as it could've.
@@hanssb2543 I do what I can to inform the parents of the target demographic of the book when I can. But advice I can give is to check the tag relating to the book on good reads
This is why I avoid tiktok. So many kids will see a conversation and just say they are yapping too much because it's not enough stimulation for them
I know! Talking about “just put the fries in the bag bro” and then have the audacity to be complaining about not being able to make friends and not having a community. 🙄🙄🙄
Fanfics consisting of only fake chat screenshots are somehow getting popular in my place
And it pisses me off. I miss actual fleshed out fan fics
Which fandom is it? My fandoms only have the few rare chat fics that I absolutely adore because the writers really go deep into the lore. Would love to enjoy more
Are they? Close enough, welcome back, 2000s.
So glad I'm not on tiktok and just read what i like (mostly Stephen King lately)
Same and same.
I'm a horror author and there's actually a book horror community on TikTok! You're right though you can't beat the King :)
Nice, me too. Recently read 'Salems Lot, Pet Sematary and am re-reading The Dark Tower series via audiobook.
the popularity of identical plotless spicy books tells us that a lot of women have accidentally skipped their fanfiction phase
And they ALL have those gawd-awful plain covers, like the one Levi holds up...going into the popular book section of Barnes and Noble could NOT be more dull...I like beautiful, artful covers that secretly 'gives away' a little tease...it is part of the intrigue to get you to want to read something! I refuse to read any books with that 'square-space-web-design', one-look-fits-all boring book covers.
What BookTok says: The book is spicy!!!
What BookTok means: the most boring, heterosexual couple has sex once and the woman finishes.
Books like 50 shades of gray just told me that there was a huge market for p*rn books for women.
Identical plot less spicy books existed and were popular before fanfiction as we know it.
@@lisayoder5686Oh my gosh, yes! Those ‘Corporate Memphis’-esque covers! 🤢
I've given booktok a try and it has increased my reading quantity by double this year. It has also made me regret reading a lot of them. It's good though, since I'm now more clear on which books I'd enjoy / not enjoy and it's been a fun experience
0:21 | People are wasting their money. That's what.
Not wrong.
Honestly modern literature is literally slop, like I read a few a books that my friends have recommended to me and I don’t want to be a snob but how can you write this poorly, don’t you have editors or something? It’s so frustrating when characters are interesting and have complex personalities but world building, action and basically everything else sucks ass.
It is meant to be far reaching so prose isnt a focus , or a concern , or something more than a vessel @@whattheduck2106
@@whattheduck2106 like the opposite of Dune lol
@@whattheduck2106yeah, I mean not entirely, there's some awesome contemporary sci fi writers, but a lot of new books I've read are written like a high schooler writing their first short story.
I find it funny how Baginski mentions RUclips as a problem at 0:51 because RUclips really isn't the cause for short attention spans since RUclips is more long form videos. Of course they added shorts due to Tiktok but then all other major social media sites added their own version of short form videos.
There are a lot of factors that make RUclips an attention span ruiner but its effects are definitely slower by other means.
I go to Goodreads to find book recommendations. I go to Tik Tok when I need to induce vomiting.
I moved from Goodreads to Storygraph. All the tiktokers seem to be inflating book ratings on Goodreads.
Who needs poison control to act as a middleman? I like your self-reliance philosophy
I started working in libraries 40 years ago and over the years I noticed a massive chance in attitudes towards books and reading. Back in the 80s, for example, there was a much broader diversity in the types of new books that were available to purchase. This included both fiction and non-fiction. While certain genre such as graphic novels didn't exist yet, overall, there were just more new books. There is an old librarian concept that for every book there is a reader and for every reader there is a book (Ranganathan) and that seemed very evident 40 years ago. However, in the 90s I started to notice that things were changing. I think that Oprah's book club was a big factor. If she put a book on her list, we had a hard time buying enough of them to meet the demand. I remember one time one of her books was actually out of print in Canada, so we had a problem getting. There were other authors, such as Danielle Steele, who became so popular that we had to buy dozens of copies of them to prevent waiting lists to get too long. I got a sense that the old concept I previously mentioned was replaced with a new one that promoted the idea that there are certain books that everyone should read. Seeing as libraries only have so much budget to buy books and we had to buy dozens of copies of any book on Oprah's list, etc. we didn't have money left to buy very much variety of other newly published books. Over time, it seemed that the publishing industry contracted and there were fewer books or at least less diversity in the types of books that were available to buy - at least from the large publishers. Then in the following decades, there was a movement saying that eBooks and the internet were going to make libraries and books irrelevant. The impact was to make it harder to get budget increases and other types of support. Now the issue seems to be, in addition to what you've mentioned in this video, a problem with poor attention spans. I suspect that we will continue to see more changes in attitudes and practices regarding books and reading but I am not surprised about some university students not being able to read a novel-length book.
I often go to used book sales that local charities put on and I can see that people of all ages are still interested in books. If you want to find all sorts of gems, this is pretty much where you need to go. While interesting new books are being published, they are not as voluminous as they used to be, and their cost has gone through the roof.
i'm not a book reader, but what i've seen from book readers, and this is from before tik tok was even a thing, is a lot of them would buy new books, either because it was recommended by fellow book readers, or it's an author they like, or they went to a book store or book fair and saw a book that caught their eye and bought it, and then the books sit on the shelf gathering dust because they either found some other new book to read or they're reading the same book they've read 10 times already because it's like people who watch friends every year. and so the book sales are up, but the reading isn't because no one is actually reading the books they're buying
This has been my experience as well.
Also there's people like me who just read web-fiction, though I guess I'm not adding to the sales either.
I lived in the UK for a year and had no friends there. My sanctuary was the library. Not only did it feel homey, but I also read countless graphic novels from there that I would've otherwise not read since they can be so expensive. Libraries NEED to become more popular. Same thing with buying second-hand books.
So... People on Tik Tok are posers. This sums of much (not all) of social media. People curate specific things for their profiles to show people how they want to be seen as opposed to how they actually are. It's not completely unexpected for teens searching for an identity but when adults do it, it is sad. Look at me i'm quirky!
Nailed it.
Me transitioning my transportation in the subrubs from bus to driving my beater car killed the small amount of reading time I've got.
I got back into reading because of that, mostly read the redwall series and enjoyed reading and collecting that stuff.
audiobooks!
Is the redwall series the one with the mice?
to be completely fair to the booktok girlies, these have all been problems in the publishing industry and with being a reader for a long time. publishing has always been pumping out garbage that sells well and has problematic themes and poor writing (bodice rippers lmao). readers around the world have always been preoccupied with presenting themselves as readers and overly aestheticizing and publicizing their hobby. being well read was always a flex. buying and owning a shit ton of books you haven't even read just to look like a serious reader has always been a thing. women reading erotica masquerading as a novel has been a thing as long as novels with a lot of erotica in them have. authors who write the same novel 500 times have always been a thing (james patterson...)
what we see with booktok is all of these things are being popularized even more and are kind of pushed into overdrive. like, erotica was really popular for women when i was a kid like 15 years ago too. but they weren't in the children's or teen's section and the cover styles were distinct and didn't look like they were targetted towards children. when i was a kid i loved to buy books as much as i loved to read them (they really are different hobbies) and i wanted to present myself as a reader to the people who knew me and part of that was owning and reading a lot of books. that sort of social posturing aspect was there then too. but people weren't buying 10-15 books every two weeks so they can post frequently. like book hauls were a huge thing on booktube too when i was a kid but they were just smaller and less frequent hauls. the posting schedule and video length demanded by youtube allowed for enough other types of videos that booktubers would space out their hauls over a few months generally and in the meantime would make reviews or wrap ups or reading vlogs before getting around to buying more books for a haul. tiktoks are short and the algorithm demands a kind of frequency that you can't meet by reading anything, so they have to go into overdrive just showing books to the camera. people always cared about reading a lot of books and book tracking was always a thing but the more superficial aspects of engaging with reading as a hobby being amplified means this is also amplified. all these things have always existed but tiktok took them and blew them up into bigger problems. colleen hoover could have been a bestseller 10 years ago, but she would have been relegated to the james patterson category of author who just churns out the same book over and over again with questionable writing quality.
people want to fill a hole in their heart where community and a meaningful life should be and reading can genuinely do this to an extent, but you have to actually slow down and engage with what you're reading. when the reading culture becomes that people are trying to buff their goodreads challenge stats and buy and own as many books as possible and care more about annotations looking aesthetic than actually being helpful, we just get more people sucked into the consumerism void.
i've been in plenty of book clubs too, and tiktok is pretty much the worst possible platform for a book club. even if you aren't saying anything particulary deep, book clubs are at their core about discussing the book with other people. there is very little discussion happening on tiktok because of the format. videos are short so you don't have much time to say anything. the comment limit is short so you can't say much. people don't tend to have real discussions on there. generally, social media platforms are bad for book clubs. you need some kind of group chat or to meet in person or to video call people. book clubs aren't just about discussing the books, but about building community with other people in the club based on your shared interests. we simply can't have this kind of conversation on tiktok.
there are benefits, but i am still skeptical. authors can gain an audience on their own and be published where they might not have been otherwise. but publishers are also taking this as license to stop promoting their authors books and just making the authors do all the marketing themselves.
the fact that people are reading more too is held up as some kind of ideal, but i disagree here. when you're a kid, you're told all reading is good and whatever you choose to read, it's good. this is fine when you're a child and need to read to develop very essential literacy skills. when you grow up there is more nuance, however. reading acotar or fourth wing or colleen hoover can be a lot of fun, for people who are into that sort of thing. but it's not a virtue. similarly, simply reading moby dick or dickens isn't a virtue either just because they are classics. simply reading does not make you better in any way. people can be avid readers with terrible reading comprehension and poor reasoning skills and poor analytical skills. to improve any of the skills reading is credited with developing, including plain old reading comprehension, you have to actually think about what you're reading. plenty of people don't do this, and that's fine if you don't care and just want to have a good time reading whatever kind of book you like. but it's not some inherently good thing that should be praised. you aren't even necessarily working on improving your attention span. it all depends on what you read and how you engage with it. not the fact that you are reading. i've even met countless people who read in this very booktok way (mainly booktok favourites, primarily driven by numbers, etc) and they don't even have the kind of vocabulary you would expect from someone reading 100+ books a year. i knew someone like this who would get mad at me when i used "pretentious" vocabulary words (we had an argument over me saying "vacillate" once) because she was convinced i was doing it specifically to flex my vocabulary. she couldn't even comprehend the idea that this was just how i spoke because to her people only did things to appear a certain way. i couldn't really have that kind of vocabulary, because to her, no one did and people just mentally swapped in thesaurus words when they wanted to talk down to you. this was a woman who read shakespeare and homer and dickens for recreation, but she somehow didn't manage to absorb the kind of vocabulary you would expect from someone who spends all their time reading these works. she would lord it over me if she was reading a classic while i was reading anything "low brow". once you absorb the consumerist postural mindset of booktok, that is all you will have left. reading a lot and reading widely won't do anything to change it.
In Bangkok, they held a ‘book fair’ every year. And many so-called book readers are having the similar problem on over buying too many books than they could actually finish here, too.
You guys should also talk about booktok vs Alex Wennberg and the Seattle Kraken controversy. Basically booktok collectively decided that a player on the Seattle Kraken matched the description of a player in a hockey romance book. Which lead to a ridiculous amount of women leaving sexually charged comments on posts by the team (which also was posting more of him as they were the most popular posts) and signs in the arena, for example "Krak my back Alex". It got to the point were when the wife of the player called them out for their behavior, booktok sent her death threats and told her that he was probably cheating on her. The whole thing got to the point that the NHL team had to make a statement, and deleted several posts.
no different from women stalking Robert Pattinson back in the day, or harassing their favorite kpop idol... the more things change the more they stay the same
Ummm excuse me sir, unhauling means getting rid of, they don't unhaul the books onto their shelves!
As a self-published novelist, it's both good and bad. The good is that I have editorial control over the story, can find a good cover designer, and basically write the stories I want vice what publishers need in order to move paper. The bad is that the flood of AI content means that the one good book I can write in a year is quickly hidden by the 11 "books" AI can upload each day. Also, as a negative, I have editorial control and no one telling me where a story gets slow or redundant or whatever. Also, I have to do all my own marketing instead of the publisher doing that like they used to, which makes self-publishing an expense versus a side income revenue stream (or even a viable primary income source.)
I used to be an avid reader of physical books but the problem of space and constantly moving encouraged me to opt for e-books.
May I ask your opinion as an author whether e-book publishing affects authors’ income in general? I want to support authors but I’m not sure if they are receiving profit from e-books. (I’m using Kobo btw, I’ve heard how Amazon screws authors over e-books publishing)
@cabbage2794 I sell about 15-20 print books to every ebook. Print books are very popular right now and they also have slightly better royalties. But what sells aren't my novels. My RUclips channel is a photography education channel and the books I write that mirror the videos I make are the ones that sell.
@@DavidHancock thank you for your answer :)
It's pronounced "tome" like "home" with a "t". Not "toom" like you would refer to an Egyptian "tomb".
It’s so funny to me that you made this video this week! I recently made a goal to read more, to help lower my screen time, especially before bed. But since it usually takes me a while to get through a book, I didn’t want to waste my time on a bad book. So I spent almost 2 weeks looking through reviews/videos/tiktoks to try to find one that wasn’t just “smut”. It seemed to me that most new books were like Hallmark movies: very similar plots and characters but with more trauma and some saucy scenes thrown in. I landed on one that wasn’t too bad; even if it was a VERY easy read (got through it in 5 days). But I did wonder if AI could’ve written it. So long story short, I am worried about EXCACTLY what you discuss here. How will we find the true talent, thoughtfulness, and originality amongst the trash?! I will be going to my library today. Wish me luck!
Thats awesome! Hope the reading goals get crushed and thanks for watching!
An easy read (it's YA) that I loved and might be one of my all time favorites is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.. A more complex book I loved is Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Just throwing those out there lol
@mykal4779 aw, thanks so much for the recommendations! I will check them out. :-)
TikTok publishing house? Well, RIP talented authors.
I love reading and I’ve read almost 70 books so far this year. I can feel my attention span slowly declining though and it’s harder to finish books. It could also be because there’s so many books being published that aren’t written very well. Plot holes, spelling errors, etc.
And this is why I prefer ebooks and library books. My digital bookshelf is limitless. 😅
yes but if the publishers/whoever decided they don't want you to have those licenses to those books anymore they can simply take them back. you don't actually own those books :( same with "buying" movies or tv shows on streaming services.
@@ollieollieoxenfree3246pirating is still a thing
@@ollieollieoxenfree3246 I personally read things digitally as a way to try out different books and it allows me to read a lot more, esp with the library and Libby. If I really, really love a book I will then go out and buy the physical copy of it and own it
@@ollieollieoxenfree3246 You do if you buy DRM-free books. Like standard downloadable PDFs or EPUBs. Just don't buy from sellers that use DRM.
I keep a list of books I want to read on my phone and search for them in local thriftshops. I have 2 thriftshops with great selections. I search on the regular for both classics and new titles. Boy, the books I've found! Unbelievable, I must have some karma points.
There is a thrift store next to the laundromat I’ve been going to for the last decade. Over that time I have picked up about 50 Stephen King hardcover books for 3 dollars each.
You hit the nail on the head about TikTok prioritizing engagement over all else.
There’s another RUclipsr who made the point that TikTok doesn’t know what a book is. Cause the algorithm just sees ‘book’ and places it all under that umbrella term
I started Booktok last year, just so I might have bigger chances for my book to get published. Sounds crazy, but Booktokers have higher chances of getting a contract for their books since they already have a "fanbase". My account never went viral though, so idk if this will ever work out for me. To get published is my dream and I'm confident that my writing/storytelling is good enough. But when there's so many books being marketed and published non-stop, I feel like I have to start building this base years prior, so I even have a chance
I love reading, and I’ll say it I love a cheesy romcom chicklit etc. but books nowadays are so boring there are 2 or 3 good chapters and the rest, is just filler so they can add some extra tropes onto good reads.
Book influencers recently spilled the beans that they just skim pages, won’t read long paragraphs, and skip chapters. Which imho isn’t reading anymore.
I want to be able to pick up a book and be so engrossed that I can’t put it down, not pick a book and read it while listening to an audiobook of a different book, because neither have enough substance to keep my mind occupied.
And don’t even get me started on book covers, I will be judging books by the covers more than I ever did because of what booktok has done.
It seems that people really want to market the sexy jacket a book wears, show us all the tropes it has, and allude to the “spice”, make it look YA so it’s a little sneaky about what it’s about. And then once that is done they forget that there is supposed to be a story on the inside.
Edit: spelling
I have been a big book need since high school. I feel like books stagnated a long time ago. 50 shades is twighlight. Maze runner is hunger games. I find it hard to find books that spark joy these days because everything is trying to be the next block buster this or that
I mean, everything on your list is YA pop lit. It’s a fairly commercial space and has been for a long time.
My suggestion is go to the physical library and looking on the physical shelves. Get out a stack of potential books that look kind of like you might want to read. Maybe or two of them will be right, but there's a good chance you'll pick up an old or new book that never, ever would have appeared on GoodReads or BookTok.
You want to avoid spaces where the recommendation is coming from publishers or people making money, because those people are deliberately promoting and publishing books that are "in the vein of", so that's why you're seeing repeats. Publishers, who have lost their minds and most of their editors, are now just publishing stuff that they believe has a guaranteed built in audience. So yeah, they're publishing in narrow genres to capture people and promotions.
Some of the best books never become movies and its the best thing ever
I miss the days when books were just books, and when something became a movie, they were quiet about it. The majority of audience viewers would go see it as a movie, but only a small portion of us would go to see if it held up compared to the books.
Now everything that becomes a popular book HAS to become a popular movie. The book space is just so LOUD now.
YA novels are usually focused on money rather than making a good story. If you want to find new stuff, you could always try translated novels. They got a lot of trash too, but you can find some really good stuff.
10:30 this. With social media these days people just can’t seem to do something as a hobby or interest, no it has to consume their identity. Nor can they do anything just for themselves, no you have to film yourself crying because the book was “so emotional”, or be obnoxiously ‘reading’ on the treadmill at gym. Read for yourself, tell your friends if you think they’ll enjoy it.
My husband I have thousands of books. But going to used bookstores is one of our favorite activities. He's niche-specific in his books - naval history in particular and loves to find his hidden gems. I'm more general but also a history-lover. If I were to be totally bedridden, I could keep myself occupied for several years just with what I alone have. But I take the time to read and savor a book and that takes too long for most library borrowing.
You can always extend your loan. Where I live, I can extend a book for up to 12 weeks, it is especially useful when inspired by a new genre. I’ve saved myself so much space and money, and the books I end up buying are all keepers .
I do remember go to a flea market in Alabama last year and the old couple said that a lot of young people try to find and buy all sets of books.
I don’t use TikTok, I go to a local book store and choose my next one by reading what’s written on the back and if it interests me. Plus, I’ve discovered that everytime there’s a movie I want to watch, I track down the source from where the producer had the idea and then rather read the book, because by reading I feel more immersed than by watching.
This is where I am glad that I am an e-reader only. I moved across country years back learned that having shelves of books that I read once isn’t awesome (for me). Do you, but I prefer my Kindle. Also neither books or kindles are that recyclable. So no one really wins. just read good books.
I've been "reading" more books over the past year than ever before. Listening to audiobooks, but close enough!
Also, it has nothing to do with tiktok, I don't use tiktok.
the library isn't just for books. they are a general resource for borrowing. some even have power tools you can borrow, 3d printers you can use and many other things. so while you're at your library find out what all they offer other than books and Blu-rays.
Honestly I don't even have TikTok. But I do read a lot and I have no problem finding good books to read. I prefer character-focused fantasy/sci-fi with little to no romance.
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky is really good imo
the instagram bit got me feeling attacked because i actually had instagram open while watching this video
I sleep with Chinese language learning in one ear and classical musical in the other ear.
@@balsalmalberto8086 Careful, you're gonna wake up one day only being able to say "起司煎蛋捲"
I don't use instagram, never have, and refuse to use tiktok. If I could give half of what I own to shut down fb and twitter, I'd do it.
I just see tiktok as media that exists to promote destructive challenges.
don't give half of what you own to shut down twitter, just give it a year or two and it'll take care of itself
@@mykal4779 After what I've just seen happen this week, I'm extremely skeptical that will happen. I think society has dumbed down enough where they'll find a way to keep it going.
Romance readers (either traditional or the new spicier ones) are a different kind of reader, than say a literary fiction or self-help reader. Romance/spice/romantasy/whatever is the majority of BookTok because that's the same demographic of the people who use TikTok (females from 13-35
My 3 kids murdered any hope of reading books again, thank god for audio books
Yeah here's a win for the technological age eh?
I've had to accept my lord and savior audiobooks cuz between work, school and the tiny folk, I was not going to be able to get my never ending TBR in.
Legit wondered where that sentence was going after the first 4 words :).
Saved my life during nursing lol
I‘m a gamer since 1998. books are currently going through what video games did before they implemented "lootboxes" and other tricks to get your money. Seeing how fast this runs, I give it about 5-ish years to go where gaming is today.
I mean, they already have collectables for some of the kid books. Not sure how they'd do it for other books though. I'd be more inclined to think they'd make a plushie or something and advertise it in their book.
@@ferociousmaliciousghost books now have endless collectors editions that come out not even a few months after they are published.
@@loafywolfy Yeah, that's FOMO. For my comment, the intention was about loot boxes and how would they be put in a book format. I just can't see it ever existing in the current form of books.
2:03
I remember when this was the case for RUclips.
It used to be so tiny. It was all one big community, with a few dozen sub groups. But we were all one back then, one “culture”, casual, personal…. Good times in the first 3-4 years here on YT
I mean honestly you can curate your booktok feed very easily. I don’t encounter any of those issues. I’ve been in the community for like 3 years. The issues ppl have with booktok are issues with the industry as a whole. And issues that are in every online community. Over Consumerism is rampant everywhere.
Come on. The internet ruined books, magazines and newspapers 20 years ago.
Some of the best fiction ever written was done over the past decade. TF you talking about?
Magazines and newspapers, yes. Books? Nope.
@@kelljanesmith Most people I know, even old people, are reading PDFs on a kindle or tablet.
@@Kewrock And the old people you know make up what 0.00000000000000001% of the entire population. Not exactly a reliable/credible scale...
Oh, yeah. This is the first time in history a bad book has been published...
My friend and I were talking about this kind of situation. On the side of the consumer, there's the pressure of not missing out on trends, so you end up spending a lot for something you might not even like. And on the side of the author (who is also an artist) there's the fear that they might lose their audience if they take too long, or the 'greed' to ride the wave of popularity and let your creative process suffer...which results in probably some of your poorest works. There seems to be no patience to wait for a good thing or to endure the long process to make that good thing anymore. Everything is fast nowadays
Fast money. Fast fame. Fast trends. It's chaotic
Most books being sold are only used for background decorations in RUclipsr/Streamer/Zoomer spaces (ex: top left of screen).
I always read books on Libby through my library so I can support the author and the library without having the purchase a book to take up space when I'm done with it. When I was younger I used to buy a few too many books on a whim, so glad we have ebooks now 😄
Reading and books were literally my life's purpose as a preteen, teen, and early adult. The fact that people are using them as fashion statements makes me physically ill. I only switched to digital books because of a health condition that rendered me home bound and made me unable to afford the cost of real books. I say real instead of analog because using that word to describe the beauty and artistry of a book severely irritates me. Human beings are literally the most ridiculous organism on the face of the earth.
1:07 Fun Festival OST from Stardew Valley
im glad someone pointed this out
I’m a reader, ACOTAR is my Roman Empire and brought me back to my lifelong love of reading, and this exposition was done very well. You’re not wrong. Booktok is insane. But also ACOTAR is beautiful and magical. 😌😂
As a bookseller, we absolutely feel the rise of booktok, but we also very much use it as a stepping stone to recommend other books. Waterstones does a “buy one get one half price” thing and you best believe books like Fourth Wing are on it, as it’s the eye catcher to get people to also buy another-higher quality?-book along with it. Or for us to recommend something else to go with it. At the end of the day people are reading, and that’s what we care about the most tbh
I don’t use TikTok so I didn’t know this was even a thing. I’m an avid reader and still pick books deliberately, the old fashioned way. 😅
Selling books, buying books and reading books are not the same thing. All my friends buy tons of books, never heard any of them finishing one. TikTok DIDNT MAKE books popular. TikTok made BUYING books popular
As someone who writes books that I want to publish, I have mixed feelings: On one hand, it makes me jealous of those who become popular with interchangeable nonsense that no one will remember in 5 years. On the other hand, I am confident that I will find a niche full of people who really love my stories.
So I will just keep writing and try not to let FOMO influence me to play this absurd spawn of the social media game.🐱😹
I totally hear you, and also Fourth Wing got be back into reading after years of being “too busy” to read. I’m now a regular at my library and Libby and am devouring the classics, literary fiction, sci-fi, everything! Read the “cheap crappy books” once in a while..they’re a fun ride and can help spark your own creativity again!
I don't see why people buy books on Amazon when bo beokstores are so cute and libraries are free and charity shops are cheap and World Of Books is great
I read over 20 books a year and growing
I'm writing my memoirs and learning guitar and piano myself. I don't open Instagram for 2 weeks at a time and it's amazing. Only youtube for a few hours in the morning if I'm sluggish
I didn't forget what I learned in isolation seems everyone else seems to have not learned a thing about enriching your inner world
It's just like fake nerds trying to take over the nerdy fandom.
I know it sounds counter intuitive but I bought a kindle 2 years ago because it made it easier for me to get/read library books and I can gladly say that I haven't bought a single ebook from Amazon.
I'm old and have my library, but the town's little library has an absolutely brisk business.
I used to be a HUGE reader and I'd drive 45 minutes to take my daughter to the nearest major library (I live in a rural town, y'all 😂) just about every weekend. I don't read as much nowadays. It's a combination of reasons: since my divorce I work more, I have more responsibilities around the house, and the quality of new books seem to have gone down. I like sex as much as the next woman but damn, it's either one step away from r*pe or some weird overly sexual thing that would never happen in real life. I used to love Sherilyn Kenyon but then her books devolved into trauma porn. It was a competition to have the main character have the most tragic backstory imaginable.
I don't know, all of my favorite authors either stopped putting out new books or they all became overly sexual or overly trauma filled. Or just very, very gay. Like super gay. You do you, boo, but that's not what I was looking for 🤷🏾
I’ve always hated the trope that a woman’s number one reason for being an interesting character is that she was sexually assaulted. ☹️
There are some great (new-ish) authors out there to discover. I had the same impression of Kenyon (and Laurell Hamilton).
I read ebooks so that I can test out new (to me) authors before spending money.
My impression is that a lot of what „we“ liked about early Paranormal romance like Kenyon and about Urban Fantasy, is now showing up in the space opera genre. But it‘s very hit and miss because there is no subgenre for Urban Fantasy-adjacent characters and writing style.
Maybe you would like Jessica Joyce (romance, „You, with a View“), Jessie Mihalik (Polaris Rising series), Constance Fay (Uncharted Hearts Series), „Fated Blades“ by Ilona Andrews, their Innkeeper- and their „Hidden Legacy“ series. Amanda Bouchet has SF and fantasy books.
Stephanie Burgis and Annette Marie both have a very descriptive writing style, I enjoy them both but they tend to sound a bit like young adult, even in their books for adults. I don‘t mind but ymmv.
@@LoveAndSnappleIt‘s such a lazy trope, too. Especially in Urban Fantasy: „Quick, I need a jaded character with a reason to learn cool martial arts“
@@NinaKatharinaWeber thanks for the recommendations! I'll definitely check them out ❤️
Are people actually reading these books? I hope so. Reading is great.❤
My favourite books, I buy and cherish. Any other books its the library or charity shop.
Never tictocked,facebooked or anything else and have a better sense of self worth for it.
As if people didn't buy books to show off in the past...
Or as if this was the first time publishers were publishing shit books that sell well.
It is insane how despite everything terrible we have heard about TikTok, it is still widely used worldwide and shows no sign of stopping.
I remember when I was a teenager and I was constantly going to the library to get every book I could from certain authors or a specific series. There was something pure, wholesome, and inspiring from opening those pages, getting intoxicated from the book binding glue, and just getting lost for hours in their world. Social media was barely in its toddler years, and online influence wasn't a factor that drove my reading choices. Then Social Media grew up and suddenly everyone had an opinion and if you weren't reading these books how could you say that you loved reading, fantasy, fiction, horror, etc? Reading lost its joy for me. Now there was a whole internet's worth of information, commentary, and entertainment to replace those lovely pages.
Women's groups in Church didn't help either. Suddenly you had to read everything from these female study book authors in order to be seen as holy and devout, kind and compassionate. The faith quickly went from learning everything you could about scripture to now valuing everyone's opinion on it, even if they were wildly off course. I recently went to a women's dinner and all of them were shocked that I was only reading the bible. They tried getting me to read what they were reading, but I was content to say "no thank you".
For the past couple years all I have on my personal bookshelf are two bibles, a hymnal, two deep state type books, one home improvement, and one "self-help" book. I refuse to give into book consumerism. I have a hard enough time sticking to not buying stashes of yarn and thrifted clothes, I don't need one more thing to keep in check. 😂
With Fourth Wing and Iron Flame (which I loved) they were written by a seasoned, prolific romance writer who started out writing fantasy. And the publisher, Entangled Publishing, is also a prolific ebook publisher, who has branched out into print books. Andcwhen Fourth Wing took off, they outsourced the printing of hardback copies. And by being a streamlined, well oiled machine of a publisher, they can easily run wrings around the usual traditional publisher.
I know more leisure readers than I ever did. I think booktok/booktube helped a lot of people out of reading slumps. School can suck the joy out of reading and I’m glad to see more and more young people picking up books.
If intellectualism is keeping you from reading, please ignore it!!! Reading literary fiction is great but even reading sun-par romantasy is better than reading nothing
That's why there is a explosion of women's romantasy lol
Using my local library has been wholly changing my attitudes about reading. If I see something I really want to read, I check there first and place a hold. I don't have to worry about them clogging my shelves, but I still get to support the authors and community.
To give my take on "book - haul" content.
As someone whose taste in books is not the generally most popular mainstream stuff that gets reprints on a regular basis, i have suffered the consequences of buying as i read.
Oftentimes book-series i read tend to go out of print and i either am forced to buy overpriced volumes from resellers, or there are simply no copies on offer at all.
That's why i have started to buy my books in mass, and i find that is also better for the industry.
I am literally a bookworm. My issue with physical books however is I no longer have room where to put them. Of course I have finished reading all the novels and nonfiction books I have, and I honestly purchase the books I only like. I even have donated some since there is no space left in my house. Anyway. Happy Reading. Dont just buy books and get a picture of yourself, READ it. Its more fun if you can see using the power of your mind. Reading Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities brought me back to old time Europe and made me imagine what Europe looks like before. I have to thank my english teacher for that since I got the habit of reading because we were required to submit a book report, upon submission there is a graded recitation
I agree with this. I'm a pretty diverse reader. I love read book form the library. I also find new random books I never heard of before online. I not just buy books because they're populair.
I don''t know if you have this in he US but in my country we have little shelves in the streets and people are free to put their olds books they don't want anymore inside and take other books put there by strangers. It's a great way to get into reading and trying different types of books. I wish it was more known abroad.
D'yall not have op-shops (thrift stores) there in the States?
I've bought about 80 books this year and literally none of them have been new. Not one.
Most of them came from a non-profit op-shop place that feeds and clothes homeless people.
as someone who loves reading ever since i was a child, i like the new popularity of books these days because you got SO mnay absolutely beautiful looking books you can put onto your shelf. of course there is also a lot of trash, but it's always been like that tbf. If you didn't like a book, you can just resell your pretty edition of it to someone who actually wants it. AND you can keep the ones you really like and they're not just great books but they also look amazing in your library. hardcovers with colored edges are SO FINE ♥
Shit I got into reading agine because of an IG reel that recommended a book about a topic that spoke to me
Social media did nothing to reading... The same people who live their life through reading books.... Or like most just buying books requiring books and making your house look lived in and never reading any of them
as a person with a leaning disable trying read a books is actually painful for me it's has got less painful as a adult thank god there are audio-books! audio-books has help raise my reading comprehension. audio-books are important and should have been a part of this conversation about literature PS I'm tiered of book snobs pretending that audio-books don't exist!
Audiobooks have opened doors into literature I could never get into in paper form. I can read them when I'm walking about, which is really, really useful. The reader often helps to interpret things, as well. For example, they'll deliver a joke as a joke, meaning you understand it's supposed to be funny. That can make a really big difference if you're reading a book written in a time that isn't your own.
So true! The best books I've read have come from browsing the library for something that interests me rather than seeing what is trending on social media. I can also say I fell prey to the pressure to buy a lot of books when I first started wanting to create content. Impressive bookshelves may make it seem like we fit better in the bookish community for a while, but the bottom line is that books are for feeding our souls with stories and anything used purely as a status symbol is pretty hollow.
Your energy is truly remarkable!
I’ve gradually made the move away from physical books to e-books and I find that I’m actually reading more again. It’s so much easier to pop my iPad out in a cafe or on a train then to carry a book and then think.Uuurr I really don’t want to read this book right now. I wish I had something else on me. Also, some books are just really bloody heavy. Finally mainly due to space concerns I’ve offloaded a lot of my books since getting digital copies of them and my nieces and nephews have really appreciated the growth in their libraries and have books that we can now talk about together.
14:06 save yourself, you’ll find only watery bowels there