Why Is Reading So Competitive? *a discussion*
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- Опубликовано: 6 май 2024
- Thank you so much for watching my video about why reading is so competitive! I feel like there's a lot of competition, toxicity and gatekeeping in parts of the bookish community that I just really wanted to share my thoughts on. This feels like a really important topic that needs more attention. Reading shouldn't be stressful! It shouldn't feel like homework! It's supposed to be fun =) Please let me know your thoughts on this topic in the comments!
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Why do you think reading is so competitive? Do you feel that competitive reading has positively or negatively influenced your relationship with reading?
I think feeling as though reading is a competition says more about the individual than goodreads or booktube. Look for inspiration, but not comparison. When I was a working mom I was happy to get one or two books read every month. Now that I don't have to work outside the home, I am able to read more, but I put emphasis on quality not quantity. My family is planning on moving and now I need to look at books that I'd like to read, so that will consist of concentrating on quantity so I have less books to move. But that has nothing to do with competition. Psychologically, I'm really curious about why certain people feel competitive and then stressed about it. Great video. Great research! We definitely need to fix the illiteracy rates in this country.
I personally love keeping track of what I’m reading and seeing my total number of books grow, it makes reading more fun for me personally. But the only person I’m really competing against is myself. So in that way I suppose competitive reading has positively impacted my reading experience, I just enjoy seeing how I’ve grown as a reader and how my tastes have changed over the years. I enjoy comparing myself now to my past self.
Edit: I also wanted to add that competing with myself isn’t stressful for me, it’s just fun!
@@lyannabraxton2247 I keep track of my books read too. =) I started in high school when my algebra teacher told me about it. (odd that it wasn't the English teacher). My reading has always ebbed and flowed depending on what books I've had access to and/or LIFE. LOL Reading should be an enjoyment, but that being said, I enjoy reading books that I can learn from. I think my competition is with the authors. What can they teach me, (more so than can you entertain me). I'm not interested in the latter so much. I'm so glad you commented about the book tracking. I love doing this and have referenced my journals many times to give suggestions to friens on what they might enjoy reading.
Reading is not competitive. Reading ON SOCIAL MEDIA is competitive. I think that says more about social media than it does about reading.
This!! 👏👏👏
Exactly
Only online. That’s why booktube is so exhausting for contributors. Stop. Enjoy your reading. Savor.
This is what I think. I'm not on booktube, booktok,or goodreads. Like literally no one around me cares how many books anyone reads.
This is interesting. I don’t have social media, but I still find the conversations I have with my fellow readers in real life to be competitive in nature, especially sentiments like “audiobooks don’t count” or “she only reads romance books.” I think social media exacerbates this problem for sure, though!
The competitive attitudes are so annoying. Because it doesn't even take into account that maybe some people have more than 1 hobby. And I know I'm super fortunate in that way, but I hate it when some people make me feel lesser for not dedicating more time to reading. I DON'T want reading to take over my life. Not to speak of the people who have kids or other big responsibilities. Sometimes, life gets in the way, and that one number doesn't tell the whole story.
This is a great point! I believe we should have other hobbies. There are so many amazing ways to experience stories- movies, TV & Video games are all unique and valid experiences.
There’s no nuance in numbers and they definitely don’t tell the whole story
This! And I feel like it's good to mention that a lot of those people who read 200 books in a year do it for a living. It's both their job and hobby to read many books. Other people have other jobs and other hobbies as well so we read less.
I have so many hobbies that I typically only dedicate about 30 min to an hour a day reading. Plus I have a 2 year old… I give myself permission to abandon my reading if I feel really inspired by a different hobby as well. It’s always shifting.
I have ADHD, so focusing on something for a long time can be very difficult for me. I just can’t read the same number of books as other people.
idk if anyone already said it, but i feel like the public aspect of the goodreads goals was made to pressure you to buy more books from them and its eventually pushing everyone to overconsumption, especially for those who dnt live near a library.
this is exactly it. goodreads is owned by amazon, the point is to sell books. it’s also why i don’t like kindles, they are for buying books not reading them! (for the record i love e-readers, but kindles are not made with readers in mind, and it shows)
But even on Goodreads, you can set your own goal. You can make it 1 book a year if you wanted.
Which ereader do you recomend? @lisastyles4782
Honestly, that's why I switched to Storygraph. I was going through such a stressful time in my life, I barely had time to read a book a month and Goodreads would not stop notifying me that I didn't set a reading goal. I ended up adding 12 on there just to shut it up. That year I tried a manga series and was reviewing each volume. So I exceeded my goal early on. Notification went to all my followers and one of them started laughing at me because most the books were just manga. I'm a nobody, but to be publicly ridiculed for something I chose to try that year was mortifying.
When I switched to Storygraph my reading skyrocketed. My circumstances changed but the platform is also measuring how I read and those stats are private. So now, I'm just competing with myself and I get full control over how and what I share. Best decision I ever made!
The fact that that one follower was ridiculing you for your reading choices says more about them, than you. There was no reason for you to be mortified, but I am sorry you felt that way. One of the reasons to read is enjoyment, I am glad you got back on track :)
It’s truly one of the worst features on Goodreads! So discouraging!
Im so sorry that happened to you! I love manga, and while I haven’t personally been called out for adding volumes to my goodreads I’m sure the day will come. That just seems to be the reading culture we’re in. So many bitter and judgmental people wanting to tear each other down. Objectively, who cares what other people are reading? It doesn’t affect them at all?!
Yes, Storygraph is SO much better!! I love it. I switched and never looked back plus you support a small POC-owned app rather than Amazon 😅
I still use Goodreads to track read books but I've switched to Storygraph as well and generally find the reading stats on there to be much more interesting. With the whole goal thing I just set it to 5 books and if I reach that goal I increase it by another 5 all throughout the year. That way I don't ever feel like I need to catch up to a goal and can focus more on what I want to read rather than cramming in short reads purely to satisfy an arbitrary stat.
You can also set page goals and other reading goals like those mentioned in the video on storygraph - would highly recommend!
Social media has made reading so much more competitive to the point where it’s not fun anymore sometimes
I thought I wasn’t reading much,but my screen time showed 4hrs/day on ao3,so I guess I was reading?
Do you have a hobby?
"Competitive reading"
?? Whats compe-
"HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU READ THIS YEAR?"
"I READ 5HRS A DAY"
"I GOODREADS GOAL IS 200 BOOKS THIS YEAR"
Exactly 😂
😂
I feel called out 🤣
I hadn't thought about "audiobooks isn't reading" as a number-motivated statement but it makes so much sense! I feel like a lot of the arguments from people who say this center around comprehension/retaining information from the book but comprehension and retention of info/story are different for everyone regardless of medium so they always seemed like weird arguments. It would make a lot more sense if many of these arguments are in fact fueled by competitive numbers/equating the number of books read to value as a reader.
That’s my suspicion 🤔 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
So personally, I would've said that video games were more inaccessible a medium of consuming a story than reading is, largely because of the cost barrier. Video games are expensive, especially AAA games, which tend to be the most story based. Then the console, or a computer which is able to play games of that level, is expensive. The console alone is at least $400, then each game is around $70 for a AAA game. Then you need a TV, or a monitor, which is an additional cost. Most gaming consoles aren't mobile, so you need somewhere you can put your setup, and enough time to sit around for the chunk of time it requires to get in to it. Then add in things like accessibility needs and skill requirements, and both technological and video game literary. Gaming itself is like learning a language, and if you don't speak the language of games, there's a much higher barrier for entry. Razbuten's video "What Games Are Like For Someone Who Doesn't Play Games" talks a lot about the required level of literacy in gaming, even for "simple" games, through the process of teaching his wife to play video games incredibly well, and I recommend checking it out if anyone is even slightly interested in this topic.
Books, on the other hand, come in a variety of languages, font sizes, and reading levels, for those with different requirements, including high-low books for adults with low reading levels, both as original novels, and retellings of classic novels. They're available in every topic you could possibly want for any sort of interest. They're available in braille, and audiobook formats for people with different accessibility needs. They're easily portable, can be read one handed, don't require a time commitment other than the one that you want to give it, and can be consumed in 5 minute chunks if wanted- you don't have to sit down and dedicate two hours like you would with a movie, and once you have the basic literacy requirements, they don't require learning new skills like with video games, or any amount of reaction time or hand eye coordination. They can be read anywhere, and any time, that you want, and are readily available for cheap or free through a variety of means, be it public libraries, little free library boxes, by donation shelves at book stores, and online libraries like z-library and library genesis if you have a device like a cellphone and access to the internet. Functional illiteracy is a problem, but that's also a large barrier when it comes to the consumption of video games, a large amount of which require a level of functional literacy to be able to play.
As someone who was homeless for a large part of my late teens and early 20s, books were by far the most accessible form of story-based entertainment available to me, as I could always get ahold of one for free somewhere, and could always fit a book in my bag and bring it everywhere, where video games were the least accessible.
These are great points! I did think about this when I was making notes and deliberated a long time on whether I thought video games were more or less accessible than books because of the cost (as someone who enjoys and collects video games myself I know how expensive they can be) and skill required. I put it before books because I think they are a lot more accessible nowadays with free video games on our phones and iPads (privileged devices in themselves I understand, but still). Second because with the rise of cozy games there a lots of games with low skill requirements. And thirdly because I think video games are easier to “want to do” and this is not something I really talked about in the video but wish I had. I think TV, Movies and Video Games all give us much more dopamine reward than books- video games especially since they are designed to have engaging and addicting game loops. *Just letting you know my thought process and reasoning! I think all these points are great and valid, thank you for sharing this perspective!
Yes! You absolutely need a level of functional literacy to play video games, even cozy games like Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley require reading to know what to do and how to do it.
I surprised some people when I said very young children couldn't play Disney Dreamlight Valley because it requires too much reading. They thought it would be fully voiced (I think they used sound clips from the original movies, but that's just a theory).
Gaming can be really cheap though. There's decades of used stuff worth playing and buying. A used Xbox One is like 100 bucks and all of the used games are 1-15 bucks. Or, considering a lot of people already have a need for a laptop, you can spring a bit further for a gaming laptop with an actual GPU and then just play free or discounted games. I hardly spend more than 100 on games each year because you can just buy on Steam sales.
This is why I like Storygraph - it allows you to set page/hours goal as well. It also has lots of reading challenges - either created by users or by the app itself, like the Storygraph onboarding challenge, where you read a book fiting a specific prompt.
I changed my reading goals a bit a couple of years ago when I watched the Book Leo's video when she set up a yearly tbr - she started with questions like "why do I read?", "what do I like about" reading?" and "what do I want to focus on this year?", then she went throught lists of books that had cought her attention and selected few to read that year. That was very helpful and allowed me to read what I actually wanted to read instead of following the crowd. Which was already hard due to my limited access to english books - if I wanted to be in the loop of what booktube is reading, I would have to completely abandon reading authors from my country (~30%)
I have been using goodreads for a decade and I dont even use it as a social app. I have a few friends on there, but I only use the app to track what I want to read, what I have read, and what I rated them because I like to look back on it. and setting the yearly goal encourages me to keep up with reading as a regular hobby. I thought thats what most people used it for but boy was I wrong.
I don’t think reading should be applauded in the first place, it just shows how it’s quickly becoming something rare in society. Reading is romanticized by those who think of it as some sort of performance art or indicative of social status and/or intelligence. We should remember why we started reading when we were young in the first place…
This is the video I needed!! I read 44 books last year and I felt like a failure when I saw “everyone” had read 100, 200, etc. I went through a book slump during April of that year after reading a book I really didn’t enjoy plus my work schedule was keeping my exhausted and it took awhile to encourage myself to read again. When I saw my total compared to everyone else’s I became depressed and this mindset NEEDS to go away!!
Yes absolutely! It’s so toxic and feels like such a rat race sometimes. 44 books is awesome!!!
Books are status signals for many -- peoples' reading habits would change so much if they couldn't "signal" to the world what they're reading.
"Would I read this if I couldn't post about it on social media?" is a great way to test your true motivations for selecting a book :)
This is a great point. I am gen X and read around 30 - 50 books a year and never care about the number but more of my enjoyment and information gather from said books. I read for myself at my own pace. After all is said and done, reading is a solitary endeavor where one is immerse in ones thoughts and that should not be a competition with anyone else.
Yes agreed!
Instead of relying on the Reading Challenge to keep track of what I read in a year, I create a shelf for each year. When I mark a book as Currently Reading I'll also add it to the 2024 shelf.
I do that too. Every year I start a new shelf. "2020 reads", "2021 reads", and so on. I also have a DNF shelf.
All of the things you mentioned about if Goodreads could do (ie customize your reading goals or challenges), the StoryGraph has. There are goals for how many pages you want to read in a year, reading a number of diverse authors or book topics, audiobook challenges, prompt challenges, etc. I won’t give up my Goodreads, but I mostly update my StoryGraph now because it is the far superior platform for reading in my humble opinion ❤
You can unsafe your reading goals on Goodreads. You can set your yearly goal to 1 if you want
If someone says they read 100+ books in a year I immediately doubt the quality of that said reading. You just can't read anything even a bit more complex in 3-4 days and actually GAIN anything from it. Speeding through "easy" reads (and nothing against those, I enjoy them too!), back to back, spending only a few days on each, well, maybe it's fun but it doesn't give you much. The plot of those very easy reads is usually same-ish, and when you speed through a lot of them like that, it all just turns into mush in your mind. And as I said, more complex reads also require more time and attention. You need to process a book, not just binge and move on to the next one. So yeah, okay, if someone think it's a bragging point, I don't mind, but not only I'm not amazed, I really don't think it's a flex, on the contrary, I think it's quite dumb 🤷🏼♀️
The idea of audiobooks being looked at as an unfair advantage in an unofficial competition for clout makes me think of all the times I've heard people say that e-bikes are "cheating" when they aren't being used in an officially competitive capacity. (Specifically the time a guy at a bike shop told me that "e-bikes are cheating" when I said I wanted to add an electric motor to my 100lbs cargo bike. I replied, "It's a commute, not a competition.") If I wasn't listening to audiobooks while I do household chores and walk the dog, I would get significantly fewer books read. Being able to carve out uninterrupted time and space for reading a physical book is a privilege. It really leans into making reading a less accessible hobby for people who don't have the funds to outsource life tasks to maids, nannies, and assistants.
it just doesn't feel like i'm relaxing while reading if i do something else at the same time. i also don't feel like i'm exercising my brain if i just listen. i guess those are contradictory
@@amandak.4246 I'm not sure that reading is a relaxing activity, at least for me personally. If anything, I think it's pretty mentally stimulating, which the ADHD side of me appreciates if I'm physically doing something that isn't mentally stimulating, like walking the dog, washing dishes, folding clothes, etc.
The whole "audiobooks isn't real reading" clout is also fundamentally ableist. Bar the obvious example being those with visual impairments, but audiobooks have been exceptionally accommodating for the fact I am chronically ill. A LOT of the time listening to the an audiobook is how I am able to read -- and because I am in chronic pain, because I am chronically fatigued, reading visually is more seldom than I'd like it to be. These days I do say "I am reading an audiobook" to normalize this practice of reading. Telling stories started off verbally anyway -- we are hardly going to head back in time and tell our prewritten history ancestors that they're doing it wrong.
i never thought it would be seen as a competition but people are funny so ig i can’t be too surprised
I would love for goodreads to have personal reading goals, would make it so much more interesting to follow friends' journeys. This year I've read 23 books so far, which is the most I've ever read. Friends praise me for it, but forget that the reason I'm reading so much is because of health issues. Which kind of makes it sad that I'm reading so much, I would rather work fulltime haha. Also, since watching more Booktube I've been feeling like I need to read all these titles to talk along or to understand what someone is talking about, so I've been feeling so rushed when finishing a book, just to start the next one. So I started a book journal, just to be more aware of what I'm reading and how I'm feeling about the book. Absolutely loved your video and opinions! ❤
It can be super frustrating to be praised for something that’s a result of health issues 😵💫 I’ve had that experience before too. There’s definitely a lot of pressure online to keep up with popular books/ new releases etc. Which doesn’t leave a lot of room for diversity or individual taste. Book journaling sounds like a great idea! You can really slow down with your thoughts about each read.
Thank you so much, and thanks for watching!
@@BookishBlackwell yes, indeed! Sad to hear you've experienced the same :( And new releases come flying around like Pokémons and we have to catch (or read) them all hahah.
@kimschaufeli5366 lol yes exactly!
Same for me. I'm disabled and reading is my travel and journeys and expands my world in a way nothing else does.
To be honest I actually had to delete my tin Tok account because I started to feel I was not reading enough and was stressing out about it!! can you imagine! When reading for me was always about relaxing and me time! now I simply watch video to get recommendations :)
I also think social media, particularly tik tok, has created FOMO in every category of consumption. Books are no exception. Book releases are and trends are more visible than ever before. But with that comes this inability to satiate ourselves without feeling left behind in some capacity. There is always a new book release or new trend and we always want to be a part of that discussion. So at some point it becomes impossible to balance your realistic preferences for reading and the need to keep up with everybody else. I love reading and I read a lot but the expectations we place on ourselves are exhausting lol.
Absolutely, I feel this on such a deep level!
The competitive numbers game is basically how society is structured currently in the social media era. Its about your follower number, your viewer number, number of comments and likes and subscriptions... Everything is a competition now, and while it can be a motivator, it should not be the only or really the primary motivator in my opinion. You should be getting other things out of an experience other than numbers.
Agreed!
I don't know, I grew up pre-social media back when the Earth was still cooling and reading was already competitive. Imo it's just a side effect of capitalism: we can't just enjoy things for the sake of enjoying things, we need to be the absolute best or it's not even worth it.
The main differences are that we're not "competing" only against the other bookish kids at school anymore and also, circling back to capitalism, people are trying to turn their hobby into a side hustle with social media.
@@pomberry3591 Sure, I also grew up pre-social media and the book competition very much depended on location. I was basically the only bookish kid in my grade, and my school never did any of those reader competitions, so I never felt any competitive pressure personally. Now, the competitive nature is much more widespread, and the emergence of social media has meant that everyone feels like they need to be observed constantly, need to make their personal life public constantly, so any minor issues around competition have exploded due to that.
In school they test your reading comprehension and the faster you were and higher you scored made you feel smarter than the other kids, and i think thats where the competition started
I've always been the type to go my own way and do my own thing without caring about other people's opinions of me (sometimes stubbornly so), so when I joined online bookish spaces last year the constant FOMO and competitiveness just plain baffled me. It still does, so this video helped me understand a lot of what is going on around me.
Unfortunately I don't think "just stop caring what other people think or will think of you" is very helpful advice wise 😅
Whenever I'm getting down on my reading or sliding into a slump I go back to the books that sparked my love of reading. I think reminding ourselves why we love this hobby can be a very useful reset that might help remind us that this isn't competitive and started from love. Heck, a goodreads detox for a month or so, completely removing yourself from that competitive atmosphere while you reread those first book you loved, would probably help too, though I might be going a bit extreme there.
Agreed! I really love this advice!
I just got back into reading last year after like a decade of not reading a single book, and I’ve been re-reading quite a few of the books that I loved back when I used to read. Most of them I’m still loving.
The goodreads challenge put a real damper on my joy of reading a couple years ago. I felt all this pressure to read a certain number of books. This year my goal has just been to read books I enjoy and interestingly, I'm reading more than ever. I am diving into my hobby in a way that feels good and exciting rather than overwhelming. I love the idea of setting your goodreads goal to 1 book!
It’s truly been such a game changer for me!
I’m not too worried about the generational difference. Many boomers are not working and have more time for leisure activities in general. If I was not working I think I would read more :)
This is a good point! It will be interesting to see how these numbers change over time
My main issue is that there are so many books I want to read and I’m scared about not being able to read them all 😭 it leads me to not linger as much as would probably be beneficial
Lately I’ve been rereading in a different format fairly quickly afterwards when I feel like I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I could have. I’ve reread 6-7 books this year already for this reason. Its mostly worked!
I also wanted to say I prefer quarterly reading wrap ups and one of the reasons is because I feel it takes off the pressure of reading a certain amount every month. If you usually read 5 books a month but one month you don’t read anything at all it doesn’t really make a difference in a quarterly wrap up
I know, the existential stress of not being able to get to it all is real 😭
Yeah that’s a great idea! Sometimes I switch to a “recent reads” type wrap up when my reading is more inconsistent
I, also, made my reading goal one book this year cuz I realized I was reading for all the wrong reasons and forgot why I even picked up a book in the first place back in 2021! But Goodreads telling you how behind you are on your goal has got to be the worst feature on the app 😂
It’s literally my least favorite thing about it! I don’t need to see that every time I log in 🫠
Also numbers are so arbitrary. I read the crescent city books which are huge and took me ages, but then read some short story collections and i read it in a day. Those crescent city books are probably worth like 8 books yet it doesn’t get considered.
Agreed! That is exactly a point I wish I had brought up in the video- numbered based goals de-incentivize us to read long or challenging books. Which is just silly! We should read whatever we want!
ive always used bookshelf to track my books and i love it! it has basically no ads, is very sleek and most importantly is totaly private, unless you decide to follow your friends. totaly reccoment
When you mentioned the generation reading decrease, it reminded me of the english teachers on tiktok saying that their kids' reading comprehension is extremely low and that they are performing at lower grades.
i was a voracious reader as a kid, but pretty much stopped entirely during middle and high school because of mental health + how busy i was. i've been trying to get back into it lately, so having a reading goal has been really helpful for me--but to be fair i am not checking others' progress (i'm the only person i know with a goal!) so it feels more like a self-betterment thing than a competition. i've also been really enjoying looking at the auto-generated data that storygraph gives you (what genres/authors you're reading most, when in the year you're logging the most pages, etc), it keeps me motivated :)
I can relate to that. I had two burnouts during a span of two years (16 and 18 yrs old) and after the second one, I almost completely lost the ability to read due to the exhaustion.
I was kind of the gifted burnout kid. I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy when i was ten (not the modern version, but the old one with tons of confusing grammar and words), and was able to read at a way higher level than what was considered "normal" for a kid my age.
Fast forward to 18 year old me, who could only read books aimed at 9-12 year olds, with bigger text, less complicated grammar structure an lots of illustrations. (Not that this in any way makes someone a bad reader, but in contrst with what I was able to read at 10 years old it's catastrophical)
Only recently have I been able to read again, and I've progressed surprisingly fast. I think it was "A Deadly Education" by Naomi Novik that finally got me started again, since I had to take the train multiple times a week, an thought: "Why not?"
Since then (August 2023) I've read The Priory Of The Orange Tree, Stone Blind, A Day Of Fallen Night, Lisa & Lilly, Ett Oväntat Arv, The Last Graduate, The Golden Enclaves and Gallant.
I have set the goal for myself to read about one book a month (although allowing myself more time foe th absolute brick ones), but that is mostly to push myself to improve, not a standard to be fulfilled.
I'm really happy you've picked up reading again, and I know that you will be able to improve and regain your reading confidence again.
@zane6817 this is a good point! Thank you for putting that into words- a personal goal can feel like self-betterment. I think that’s definitely how I felt in the early years of using goodreads, but after so many years in bookish spaces its super hard not to compare yourself to what other people are doing- especially when the attitude is “more is better, always be reading”
Sounds like I really need to try StoryGraph again!
@IceQueenZoey thank you for sharing this story with us! I’m so happy for you that you’ve discovered your love of reading again 🥰
I’ve read 8 books in the last year and a half. I’m reading wheel of time. I’m enjoying the journey. And I’m excited about the destination. I’m in no rush!
I love the idea of setting your Goodreads reading goal to one! Definitely doing this next year!
I hope it helps! It’s been a game changer for me!
This is a great video! Totally deserves more traction, I’m glad it showed up on my recommended
🥺 thank you!
You put this so well! I just started my channel this week and the first thing I said was I’m a slowwww reader lol. Because I am! I genuinely love reading, there’s no way I can twist that into some competitive sport. I savor my books like dark chocolate and I wish I could read alllll day. Not to meet a goal but for the love of story. 😍 I’m happy I found your channel!
That’s so exciting! Welcome to Booktube!!!
I’m a slow reader too and I constantly have to fight the urge to apologize 🫠 it’s so silly! There’s nothing wrong with being a slow reader, we should all just be reading for the love of a story! Wonderful sentiment 🥰
this was such a thought provoking watch, thank you :)
Thank you for watching! 🥰
This was such a good discussion! :)
I definitely followed the same pattten of my reading increasing first with Goodreads, and then with Booktube.
100% agree with you that there is a wonderful aspect to this. I'd say it's been more beneficial than not in the grand scheme of things, however, I also know that I've felt the pressure of needing to "increase my numbers" and it's something I'm actively working against currently.
It actually seems really similar to the rhetoric in the fitness community (which I've been a part of for a long time). The phrase "everyone has the same 24 hours" is simply not true; my 24 hours before and after becoming a mom are drastically different. So I'm currently facing the crisis of having my Goodreads goal achievements decrease rather than increase in this season of my life. It's not a "bad" thing, it's just a thing and I hope we can foster a community that shifts our perspective in that direction.
I will say the plethora of "rules" that seem to be emerging recently has me....side-eyeing the community a bit though. If I need to listen to audiobooks while I do laundry after my daughter threw up for the 2nd time that day, imma do it dammit 😂
AHHH!! I didn't expect that shout out....thank you so much 🥹💕
@MaedBetweenthePages
Agreed! I’m so happy with how much more
reading is incorporated into my life now. Books have always been a love and passion of mine but personally I still need a certain amount of social accountability and community to motivate me to read (especially in an age where I have a slot machine in my pocket with an infinite number of dopamine providing distractions). So goodreads & booktube have been great additions to my life but at the same time there is an ever looming pressure that I’m not reading enough, not reading the “right things”, not reading consistently enough and that is definitely icky.
I feel a great sense of pride when I “read a lot” (like having a large wrap up or something) and I wonder if there’s some underlying toxicity there. I don’t know exactly where the lines are and I’m still figuring it out ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Oh yeah I think the whole “same 24 hours” thing is very untrue! I’ve heard it in the self development space as well 🙄 it doesn’t take into account financial situations- like having to work multiple jobs, parenthood, health conditions, disability etc. AND I feel like it perpetuates a certain standard. Like, oh well ANYBODY could have this body/business/reading goal if only they weren’t so lazy. Its annoying and I hate it 😂
Of course your reading would be different after a baby! It’s not a bad thing to have other priorities in your life besides reading! Kids are only kids for a short time, and new parents should not feel pressured to meet their goodreads goal?? Like??! Most people aren’t worried about getting behind on their Netflix watching… why is the book community like this???
👏listen👏to👏your👏audiobooks! Drown out the noise 😂 omg people on that particular high horse get so much side eye from me. Having dyslexia and ADHD, audiobooks have been absolutely life changing for me. It’s one of the best ways I’ve found to read consistently. Plus when you get a good narrator it’s even better than reading physically??? Give me different voices, inflections, sound effects! I love it!
Your wrap up is what finally kicked me into making this video! 😁 It reminded me that if we want things to be different, we need to be actively calling out some of this nonsense and going against the grain. Reading one book a month is fine. Reading inconsistently is fine. Reading less than you did last year is fine. Picking up a different hobby for a while is fine. And like, IT IS. So why doesn’t it feel like that? That’s what I wanted to get to the bottom of. I wanted to… try and diagnose the issue? And hopefully try and get some conversations going. So thank you for the inspiration! I think normalizing smaller wrap up’s, inconsistency, life changes etc. are all great things for the community 👍🏻
i don't consider myself someone who reads, but i like discussions about all types of media so videos about the book community often land in my algorithm. it's very interesting to see as an outsider. as you say, people will not clap if you say you spent a thousand hours on a video game. in the video game community, people don't "judge" others on the amount of video games they play but rather at the proficiency they play a certain video game. let's take a story-based video game for example: we'll take genshin impact which has a huge online community. the community is not "video games" but literally fractionned into sub-categories of playing. some people play for the lore and story, and make accounts to create theories and speculate on where the story is going. others play for the characters, and their accounts are based on their favorite characters. the most competitive part of the community imo is the group that focuses on combat performance. being good at combat is seen as "smart" and as something one puts time and energy into. this is exemplified in the way players will share their build for a character. other people will criticize the weapon, the artefacts, and there is a sense of "if you know, you know" and gatekeeping around being good at in game combat.
but with reading books, i have seldom seen a fandom based on a certain aspect of just one book. the performance aspect of video game players who show their combat abilities and show how much damage their character makes is kind of similar to the performance of reading that we see with those goodreads challenges.
i don't really know if this comparison will bring anyone anything but as someone who consumes a bit of everything, my main goal with all i do is to pursue knowledge in ways that are stimulating to me. what i've seen in those challenges is that they sometimes don't include articles, short stories, singular poems, comics, essays, theses, etc. it's mostly novels. so when people ask me if i read, i don't know how to answer- i almost never read fiction but i read a lot of articles and art history book. depending on the person they either will see it as "reading" or not.
idk, those were just my thoughts watching this video!
This is a really interesting perspective! Thank you for sharing! It definitely sounds comparable in the sense that people commit a lot of time and effort into building a character with good combat strategy- just like people who read 200 books a year commit a lot of time and effort into reading. And because both results are desirable in their respective communities that gives those individuals a bit of clout? Which can lead to judgment and gatekeeping in order to maintain that little bit of power and status. If all readers are good readers- then you’re not special so why would you subscribe to that idea when you read so much more than everyone else?
Yes that is definitely true about the goodreads challenge and similar challenges- they don’t include ALL types of reading, just books. Articles- poetry (unless in a book collection that you have read cover to cover) etc. don’t count and can discourage us from reading something we might really enjoy because it “doesn’t count” towards the goal 🤦♀️
I do set a 140 nook goal (in a personal document not goodreads) but I do have a second goal to read ⅔ books written by women.
One massive benefit to massive amounts of books is i can connect to almost any reader bc there are very few genres i don't read (westerns, manga, and true crime being the least read).
Love this! ❤
Very insightful and informative! As I’ve gotten more involved with reading in online spaces, the anxiety about if I’m reading enough sucked the joy out of it. As a work around I set a goal of one book that makes me happy a year lol.
There is definitely a pressure about numbers instead of enjoyment/quality that I personally haven’t seen in other communities I am involved in. Or at least to this level.
It’s definitely a unique thing to the bookish community which is why I wanted to talk about it! Why are we like this??? 😵💫
really appreciated this video, especially the end :) i love the idea of setting the goal to 1 book, and i'm so with you on doing away with "i only read ___".
a practical comment before i go off on personal reflectiony tangents lol - you might like the reading challenges options on storygraph! you can keep them private, and they're super customizable so you could totally set up a challenge for eg ten 5-star reads, or the other examples you gave towards the end :) also if you want to join storygraph but havent yet, you can port your goodreads over in one click (this is not an ad lol, just an fyi!)
when i discovered the custom challenges this year i browsed around the public ones for inspiration and then made a physical "bingo card" in my journal with the prompts that spoke to me :) i included boxes for a whole mix of things, ranging from specific to silly to totally random. eg, a book i've been wanting to read for a long time, the longest and shortest books on my tbr, rereading a book i'd already read (that one felt especially "challenging" lol, with it being so at odds with the pressure of "so many books, so little time"), a book where the cover features pantone's colour of the year, a book that made me laugh aloud, etc etc! its been super fun so far!
in terms of my more general thoughts -- ive def had an uptick in my reading over the past year, which i think has come from many places. for one thing, i was ill last summer and have had waves of under/unemployment since, which like another commenter said, makes it kind of awkward when people praise me or compare themselves to me.
the other big factor is that i've started reading fiction again for the first time since i was a kid! i definitely fell into the "only nonfiction is worthwhile" camp for a while after uni, but WOW am i ever glad i started reading fiction again. its been so enjoyable getting back into stories! (and besides, to quote leslie feinberg's stone butch blues, "never underestimate the power of fiction to tell the truth.")
i do think the stats on storygraph encourage me to read more too, which feels like a blessing and a curse. it's so cool to see the breakdowns and have that time capsule/record for the future, but it does feel weirdly addicting in some ways. as much as i've truly loved getting more into reading as a hobby, lately i've been feeling like sometimes i'm so eager to start the next book that i don't always let myself sit with what i just read for very long. (this is def not helped by the fact that i often have multiple books on the go at once, eg a novel, a memoir, and a non fiction read, lol 😅).
i used to reallyyyy feel that pressure of "how will i ever read all the books i want to in a lifetime!?!?!" -- but im starting to accept the fact that i, quite literally, won't. and i think that's totally okay. in some ways maybe i'd even prefer the tradeoff of more deeply/slowly engaging with the books i do read.
as much as i've tried to do away with productivity culture in other areas of my life, i'm realizing that all of that messaging totally creeps back in for me re reading -- i think because its seen as so praiseworthy, or like a "good" use of time, just like you said. maybe next time i'm in a slump, rather than reaching for a light/quick read simply to "keep up the momentum", i'll just.... do something else for a while :)
also as a final aside - i've often been baffled by people who insist that audiobooks don't "count" as reading. if i ask someone "have you read this book?", it's because i want to talk about the content with them, not because i care whether they did so with their eyes lmao. it strikes me as rather ableist, and i could never understand why people cling so strongly to this belief! i think you totally hit the nail on the head with your explanation -- that kind of gatekeeping only matters for comparison purposes.
tbh i did not expect to write so much when i started this comment haha. just goes to show how very thought provoking your video was :) thanks so much for sharing it!!
This is the longest comment I’ve ever received and I love it so much. This is exactly the kind of discussion I wanted!
Sounds like I should really try StoryGraph again 🤔 I tried it when it first came out but because it didn’t have an app I found it very inconvenient to use. I think it’s come a long way since then so maybe I’ll make a video trying it out again!
I’m really happy that you found your way back to reading fiction, it’s true that there is so much truth in it. Besides which people who don’t like fiction are completely sus… like not liking dogs and chocolate. I mean you do you but don’t stand next to me 😂
It is really hard to think about all the books/ movies/ games etc that we’ll never get to experience in our lifetime but you’re right. You just can’t do it all. So we have to pick the things that call out to us. Some of my favorite memories are periods of time where I was utterly obsessed with certain book series and read and reread them over and over. I hate that I have such a hard time doing that now because it feels like I always have to move on to the next thing.
That is literally always my advice for reading slumps! Just do something else! You’re probably burnt out/ putting too much pressure on yourself. We don’t always need to be reading. Take a break 👍🏻 it works like magic.
I’m planning to do a whole video eventually about how audio books totally count as reading =)
Thank you for your comment! And thank you for watching!
Yes to all you said and definitely yes to Storygraph! I enjoy reading a lot more now, because I can tune out the "social media" part of it and just focus on me and my reading. This app makes it easy to do that, and I love it!
The reading community is full of pretentious snobs and it’s so funny.
You bring up some great and relevant points about the reading community, and I started to think about in what way social media highlights these competative traits. You get more applause with 300 books, rather than 200, but you also get more engagement, likes and comments on social platforms. Reading wrapups are more popular than more in-depth book reviews (in general), and book hauls/unhauls are even more populare. Do we feel that engagement from others is a rear commodity, so we have to fight with one another to be noticed and talked to?
The Boomers read more than Gen Z chart seems more suggestive of the stages of life than proof we're reading less over time. When you're young, you're busy -- busy with school, maybe a sport. You tend to value a social life more. There are a lot of things to do that aren't reading, even if you like reading. Then, there's career and family. Boomers are retired, their kids are grown, their knees hurt when it rains, and they're going to catch up on reading.
I would buy that we're not instilling the same love of reading we used to, but I don't think that's entirely what the chart means.
I do think after the "read" numbers reach a certain point praise dissipates. At the 300 you mentioned, people are skeptical and looking for why those numbers don't count. It's a hobby people admire, but that's because it seems hard to find the time or will to do, and so people see a high number as suspect.
I'm not very competitive against other readers because there's no point in being so. I have personal goals, with heavy accent on personal. I can't disappoint myself, but I'm not disappointed based on what someone else is doing.
However, I've seen the assumption any number of times that a GR goal could only be to make others feel lesser. I'm middle of the pack, I believe, so why would I set myself up to either hurt others or feel inadequate? Everyone is living a different life. We're reading in different genres. I say the numbers can only ever matter on a personal level unless we want to compare everything. Why?
I set my Goodreads goal to 1 for 2024 too
Personally I love keeping track of my reading, which I do through StoryGraph. It just makes reading more enjoyable for me, but I think people need to realize that reading and tracking your reading with goals and graphs and stuff are two separate hobbies. Like you can be a reader and not think at all about the number of books you’ve read this past year or the genre you’re reading. I feel like booktube and booktok can sometimes make you feel like you’re not a reader unless you’re annotating and rating your books, and keeping track of how many books you’ve read. When really, those things are all, like, sub-hobbies, I guess? I’m not sure what the term would be but they’re hobbies that are related to reading but they’re still separate hobbies. You don’t have do anything but read to be a reader.
Also I cannot fathom why someone would think that audiobooks “don’t count” as reading like, it’s still the same book? Hello?
Thank you for reading my rambling thoughts haha.
I have a 148 goal for this year, which is actually less than I "read" by year usually - and by that I mean I listen, I have to little time to sit and read, but being able to listen while I do chores, ride the bus, cook etc, is what drives those numbers up. That being said, I did leave goodreads for storygraph when I realized I'd started a unhealthy competition with myself to always read more books each year. I don't really care about how much other people are reading, but I did start to have a growth mindset that each year I had to listen to more books than the previous one. Last year I really came to terms how bad it was for me, and how much it did affect my enjoyment. That's why I have a degrowth reading goal this year.
i think the goodreads challenge can be good if done in a "friendly competition" type of way. it's nice to go back on and look at how you're doing and it's nice to see how your friends are doing. taking it beyond that and commenting things like "you're 3 books behind on your goal, u can do it" can have more of a negative impact than people think.
but i'm also a gamer, besides being in the reading community, so i usually set my goodreads challenges to be low. this way, i can have time to equally balance my time between reading and gaming in a way i want. i'm currently 1-2 books behind in my challenge, as i have just finished one book and am in the middle of reading two others. and i'm fine with that! as long as i set time aside for at least some days during the week, then i am proud of myself.
if people read more than i do, then good for them. if they want to share their hard work on facebook or other sites with other people who can relate (especially if they don't know anyone irl who reads), then they can do that, and i'll be happy for them. the only time i'll see it as a bad competition is if it was made out to be negative from the beginning. as a community, we should be supporting each other and be proud of each other's reading progress instead of shaming and acting as though people who read less than us are somehow "below" us. we are in this space together, so we should appreciate that.
I think it's a mixture of people who can be competitive, also there is that pride that you have completed something. For some, they might think that it says they are intelligent, which in turn raises them up from others. It can make it a game as well as being entertainment, strengthening the brain, rising them up from others, but also people like to compete in a game against others or themselves. I mean look how popular sports are in America, it taps into that drive that some people have. I like to compete with myself, mainly because I used to be a massive bookworm and then I fell out, but now I'm getting back into the swings of it and it makes me feel happy as I get closer to my goal number of books and owned TBR books.
The concern about the "numbers game" comes up a lot, and, frankly, I don't understand the controversy. Setting a goal and interacting with others in a competitive nature is a distinct activity apart from reading - which, for me, would happen regardless of all the other things. I often read one book and move right onto the next without too much reflective thought because reading is mostly a form of entertainment. A few times a year, a book will come along that has some type of intellectual or emotional impact. Those books will get some extra mull-over time and will probably be referenced in some way for years to come, however, most books come down to did I like it, to what degree did I like it, and will I look for other books by that author.
I love reading challenges because it spices up my to-be-read list and can snap me out of a slump that is mostly caused by not having a feel for what I want to read next. I understand those who just want to read and think people are hung up on the numbers game, but as someone who does both, I hope you can understand that I see them as two very different ways of engaging with others and entertaining myself. I am also in my 2nd year of retirement and though I have hobby farm projects to occupy some of my time, I do have a lot of leisure time to sit and read.
Competitive reading was definitely detrimental to me. I read a ton growing up but, like many people, university and adult responsibilities severely dampened my desire to read for fun, and I was only reading about 3-4 books a year. Last year I got more into reading again and read 10 books, more than I'd read (outside of schoolwork) since high school! I felt like I was reconnecting with a part of myself that had been lost.
Social media has been great for finding diverse book recommendations but extremely disheartening in term of numbers. How could I ever find someone to celebrate my 10 books with when everyone else was bragging about their 50, 100, even 200 books? The worst part was stumbling across a reel mocking people who only read 1 book a month. I didn't want to care about comparison, but it really hurt that, in trying to reconnect with something I loved, all I found was a cruel, competitive community that didn't even seem to want me there.
@autumnfollis1923 That’s honestly so upsetting, so sorry you experienced that 💔 it absolutely breaks my heart. I think all reading should be celebrated. Especially after learning about literacy statistics and average books read. How can we ever hope for society to improve if we are discouraging people from even trying? One book a month is amazing! Anyone mocking others for how “little” they are reading says everything about them and nothing about you. That’s appalling to me. I’m so sorry.
I’m celebrating your 10 books! 🥳 If you’re enjoying your hobby then nothing else matters!
Hey, congrats on reading those 10 books! 🎉🎉 Especially with life getting in the way! Don't feel discouraged, and keep enjoying your hobby! There are other sane readers out there, I promise you!
I kind of was in a similar boat. I stopped reading entirely after college and just got back into it last year. I did read over 60 books last year, though. But I have no life or other hobbies, so there is that. 😅
Congrats on getting back into reading! 10 books isn’t bad at all. That’s more than the majority of the population. But the numbers don’t really matter; it’s an hobby, enjoying it is what counts.
I’m sorry that you felt ostracized because of the competitive environment. I’ve personally never really seen people actively dissing people who don’t read as many books, I’ve more just seen people bragging about reading an ins4ne number, which I can understand could make a lot of people feel inadequate. I’ve read a lot of books lately, but I’m actually kind of a slow reader, I just have a lot of time to read and I read ALL the time. So the people who claim to read like 100+ pages an hour and finish a 400+ page book in a single a day make me feel like a total failure. I don’t really believe them anyway and ALL of them count audiobooks in this, but it still makes me feel really slow sometimes.
I belong to a lot of book groups on Facebook. The competition in them can really be awful. I don't use Goodreads, though it seems that a majority of the members in those FB groups do. So especially near the end of the year, everyone and their brother are bragging about how many books they've read over the year. How many books did I read last year? I have no idea. I don't care how many books someone reads every year. The challenge on GR has turned reading into a competitive sport. I know that my numbers would be a lot lower than most people, because I mainly read nonfiction and the books are normally 500+ pages.
You're including video games as a contrasting point in a video about reading being competitive? I'm intrigued. Also I see some lovely books on your shelf, we have some similar tastes, love seeing Wayward Children.
I can definitely mindlessly read. I read what I call "fluff" reads once in a while. They're my equivalent of throwing a lowbrow movie on in the background. They take little to no mental effort, take a couple hours to read, don't contain much, or any, new vocabulary, and are read purely for entertainment value, not to learn something, or to think about greater societal/psychological concepts. I have aphantasia though, which means no matter how in to a book I am, I will never see it as a movie in my head- it's always just words on a page, that are thought about conceptually. (Sometimes, as someone who works in the film industry on occasion, think about how it would look conceptually as a movie adaptation, like which lines would be cut out, how they would show instead of tell different characters inner monologs, what the set design would look like, and where they'd film it, but it's always just conceptually, not actually visualizing it. ) I wonder if my inability to visualize something is why it's possible for me to read in this manner.
This is so interesting! I never considered how people with aphantasia read. I’d love to learn more about this. I know for myself there’s no way I could “mindlessly read” while absorbing anything but that doesn’t mean that’s true for everyone! Much to think about 🤔
Honestly, I like the competitive aspect. At least, I compete against myself; I don’t really interact with the ‘bookish community’ and it’s really just a personal challenge and bragging right for me. Before I got back into reading, I was into playing video games competitively, but I wasn’t very good at that and it just made me feel bad. But reading is something that I’m actually decent at and can achieve. It’s nice to finally accomplish something that someone somewhere might actually be impressed by. I haven’t had a lot of that in my life. LOL
After joining Goodreads last year, I went from not reading any books at all for over a decade to reading over 60 books last year. This year I’ve set the goal to 100 and I’ve already read over 40 books this year. I’m even 7-8 books ahead of schedule right now and that feels great to me. It makes me feel good to see those numbers go up. It’s like a game to me and makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something.
After every book, while I don’t do reviews because I don’t want the backlash for my unpopular opinions, I write a few paragraphs of my immediate thoughts about it in a notepad, so I feel like I actually do remember a fair amount of what I read. If you name a book that I’ve read in the last year, I’m pretty confident that I still could tell you all about it and whether I liked it. Some I definitely remember better than others, but I don’t feel like there are any I’ve truly forgotten since I take the time to write them all down and usually explain the plot to my husband afterwards, which helps me remember it. I have a degree in English, so I like to think that my reading comprehension is higher than average. I tend to still analyze books as I’m reading them like an English student; it’s something I’ve never learned to turn off.
Some of the books I enjoyed, others not so much. But I think setting a goal has been a positive thing for me overall. It’s gotten me to step outside my comfort zone as far as the kinds of books I’ve picked up because with such high goals, I need a lot of books to fill it, and there are only so many books that I really really want to read. Reading such a large amount has helped me realize what things I like and don’t like in the first place. Before joining GR, I hadn’t read a book in so long, so I barely even knew what I liked anymore. As someone who is also an aspiring writer, I think it’s important to expose myself to as many different writing styles and books as possible, and making it a competition has motivated me to do that.
You made some really good points. This all kind of reminds me of plain old fashion peer pressure! I noticed that you kind of laughed when you mentioned one of the number of books you read before you started your RUclips channel. Like that number was a joke. But in reality that lower number kind of represents the average everyday reader who doesn’t watch book tube or even know what Goodreads is. I enjoy both but I am a true BOOK OF THE MONTH kind of MOOD READER. I Set my Goodreads at 12 because my goal is to read ONE book a Month. Most times I don’t make that. Sometimes I over achieve to 15. I like it this way because I REALLLY am particular about the books I spend my money on. I try very hard to pick only the books I would rate HIGHLY. Most monthly book hauls I see on here would make a two year reading goal for me. Things like reading are only competitive if you make it so. Also, a BIG add on is the fact that so many people who are booktubers are professional readers meaning it may have started as a way to share a hobby but has grown into a part-time or full - time job and so being competitive goes along with that.
not messy at all. this is thoroughly well explained 🖤
Thank you for saying so! I had to do a good bit of editing to make it cohesive 😂
You speak the truth. Toxicity has ruined the community
I would love to be able to do a private Goodreads (or StoryGraph) challenge because I'm not trying to compete with others, I just want to make sure I read (or DNF) a certain number of books from my shelves every year. If I'm not enjoying a book, I DNF it and I don't care if that means there's one less book on my GR challenge. Life is too short for me to spend time on books I don't care for. I like the Storygraph has personalized challenges, although I haven't created any of my own, but I have joined some that other people made. For example, I realized I was neglecting my ebooks, so I've joined some challenges that have motivated me to read more digital books.
I don’t know why it’s not an option! Seems like such a simple thing that might make a big difference to some people.
I’ve been curious about StoryGraph. I tried it at the very beginning before they had an app or anything and kinda fell off using it but I think it’s come a long way since then. Maybe I should give it another go 🤔
you can do private challenges on storygraph! :) in order to add books to the challenge you have to make it "go live" (which basically means it's not a draft anymore), but you can still choose to keep it private rather than public :)
@ren0387 thank you for letting us know!
@@ren0387 This is good to know! Thanks for the information.
oh I deleted Goodreads SO FAST after starting booktube. Prior I felt kind of connected to people but after I felt sort of exposed and like I wanted what I was reading to be "a surprise" saved for my videos. I felt monitored and I didn't like it. It sounds silly saying it out loud. I wonder if the generational breakdown is because boomers are retired and have free time to read whereas Gen Z and Millennials have entered the workforce and have limited time now. It would be interesting to know how much Boomers read when they were in their 20s and 30s because maybe we're doing better? I do think participating in Booktube adds something more stressful because you always think you must have an opinion, and if you read too slowly in a month you are also held back from participating in the community and contribute to the 2nd hobby (booktube) that's entirely dependent on the first hobby (reading). It's almost like a co-dependent hobby. Great Discussion!
I don't understand the competition but it's certainly a thing. I follow some book channels that make claims about how many books they have a read and not even humanly possible 😂😂. I read a lot. I don't watch movies or tv hardly ever. I don't work. I don't have children or any distractions for that matter and I only read about 150-200 books a year. Some of which fluffy short cozy mysteries and books that simply entertain me. Anyway I only mention any number at all to compare to some book tubers that claim to have read 800 books or more. I'm thrill when anyone reads any book of any kind and could care less about how many. And wow the stats on Americans that can't read is devastating. Truly shows how broken our education system is at this point.
800???? What?! That’s… just too many? How do you keep all those stories in your brain in the span of a year?
@@BookishBlackwell not possible. lol.
Yes! I’ve talked about this so many times but reading 🤝 elitism, go hand in hand. And it doesn’t have to be that way! It’s just a form of consuming information, not any more or less good than other types of media.
Reading used to be my only hobby, but now im trying to get into cooking and gardening and crocheting. It feels good to have other hobbies but like i feel like if i dont meet my goals i let everyone down
I no longer track by books, but by time spent reading. I now have no concern whether a book is too long or too sort. It's all about making it a daily habit. I also find that no matter the year, there will be times when I am reading a lot, and reading hiatuses, but I don't sweat it.
Maybe I’m biased because I do read typically near 100 books a year, but i just really don’t see the competition happening. i just had to check how many books I’ve read this year because I had no idea lol. Maybe it would feel different if I was reading 12 books a year, but I don’t think it should. I do think the struggle there for a content creator is having to be more creative with your content - if you read 10 books a month, you have a lot more easy content to create than if you read 1 book. But that content might be much more thoughtful and creative. I don’t think one is better than the other.
I think people who it bothers should consider not setting a goodreads goal, or setting a low one that they know they can reach. I haven’t used goodreads in a long time, and I don’t set a goal on storygraph. If there *is* a competition going on (not at all sure there is lol), I’ve tapped out lol
I keep seeing people say this but then I realized it's almost always people who are slower readers and just come off as jealous. I think people see someone who reads more than them and have to justify why "their way" is better to feel better about themselves. You see this all the time with people getting angry over "comprehension" and "how can you even remember all those books" when that doesn't even concern people who are just reading for entertainment. Now they've added this weird idea that people who read a lot are being "competitive" which is also said in a negative connotation way.
This is why i got off both goodreads and storygraph. Nobody i know enjoys the same things i read so its not like reading more is gonna get me a community. Now i read much less but only read what i enjoy.
i honestly think the gatekeeping pendulum has swung to the other side genre-wise. booktubers might feel some lingering superiority for reading classics, but booktok looks to me like it's mostly the opposite. everything needs to be a spicy (maybe dark) romance and people even say you *can't* seriously enjoy the classics (or just anything without smut/romance) and anyone who reads them is just trying to look cool. i feel like it can promote anti-intellectualism at times, but because it's often under an "i'm just a girl" feminist guise it might look like it's just punching back at the haters. it really sucks as a reader that people tried to destigmatize reading romance/erotica and then just pushed it far enough to become just as judgmental and snobbish as the intellectuals that bullied women before.
another side tangent that i haven't fully fleshed out: i've noticed that online, even though many people are pretty vocal about societal expectations sucking, they have a tendency to tie things used for escapism like hobbies, music, or shows directly to them. seeing things like reading being labeled as for "hot" or "cool girls" just feels a bit ostracizing as someone who doesn't identify as any of those things. it makes escapism that little bit harder if you're like me and those things linger in your mind every time you see it. it's just another way of upholding beauty as a meaningful metric of someone's value. also, i fully advocate for keeping genderless activities genderless. i feel like reading should be about letting go of things like that to fully immerse yourself, y'know? maybe i'm just painfully queer, but i feel like the internet would be a minutely warmer and more accepting place if we didn't unnecessarily gender things even if the majority of people engaging in something are of a certain gender, y'know? it's a nitpick and i know most people don't do it seriously, but reading should be for everyone, and cutting small habits like that out is the first step to being that tiny bit more inclusive!
really great video though! i'm glad you brought up the "more people should be reading" point without using it to brush off all the issues that have come with the repopularization of reading. like yes, things like the goodreads challenge and booktok are helping people read more, but it's not always in a healthy or helpful way and we should strive to make those things better and keep reading fun :)
Who says listening to audiobooks is not considered reading?? I read like half my books that way lol
Same! More people than you'd think!
so many people... it's ridiculous! same with graphic novels or manga
It definitely counts as reading ... so long as you're paying attention to the audiobook. When reading becomes competitive, and people feel pressure to reach a reading goal, it's not surprising if they leave an audiobook playing in the background and count it as read even if they're not really listening to it most of the time.
I don’t don’t understand why so many people say that it is. It’s NOT reading. It’s listening. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t understand why people can’t just own it and call it what it is.
@@bluecannibaleyes Well, "read" can be used in some pretty abstract ways that don't deal with written language. Like "read the room" or "read their body language".
I think it’s entirely the fault of goodreads and other book tracking apps. people stopped reading for pleasure or learning and began to do it as a means of showing off to other people that they read intellectual books or read 10 books in a week. this has ruined the whole purpose of reading for yourself similar to how letterboxd ruined how people watch movies
Deleted my Goodreads account (which I had had since 2016) in January. Two main reasons being that not only did the competitiveness (and in fairness, other factors of my life) send me into my first ever hardcore reading slump (a little over a year long) but I also realised, whilst scrolling through my old reading challenges, that this weird competitive bibliophile train I had jumped onto was like yeah, I did read more books per year, BUT I didn't actually *remember* any of the details of the books I had read --synopses, nothing.
In my adolescence I would read approx. 15-20 books per annum and journal those books I had read into a notebook (reviewing and rating), and I remember those books. I am in my 30s and I still remember the books I read as a teen and the profound impact they had made on me.
But compare that to when I chose to hop onto the GR Social-Media competitive train (more intensely around 2019 onward), like, I had read some INCREDIBLE books between 2016-2023 but unless that book was a reread (or would be reread in that period), I truly do not remember independent details. I did not slow down my reading enough to savour any of the detail, or allow my brain to submerge into the story or etc. And so now, 2024, I am back to my journaling and after not touching my GR in over a year (then deleting it), and breaking away from BookTube in that time, I even have the capacity to read books I haven't read yet again (rather than sticking to rereads).
I guess as someone who never used Goodreads as a social media (I think I have like 6 friends or something, most of whom don't use the app?), I have been insulated from this apparent pressure of the yearly reading goal. I set it to some arbitrary number, and then promptly forget what I even set it as. I have push notifications for Goodreads disabled, same way I do for pretty much any non-essential app. Any hobby can become competitive if you let it. A yearly reading challenge is an arbitrary, self-imposed goal that may or may not be helpful for some people.
i don't think reading should be a "goal" or a "challenge". Besides the literacy issue, I think people in general read less precisely because of the perception that reading is a chore, something you have to work for and achieve. I don't agree with that. I think more people will read when reading is accepted as enjoyable and leisurely. Never mind the challenges and competition, but rather to really "savour" books like people do with other media.
I just wanted to let it be known that story graph has a yearly page goal but I also hate seeing, you’re X amount of books behind. But seeing the page numbers motivates me because my goal is 20 pages/day which translates to about 2 books/month
I’m getting a lot of comments about how StoryGraph is much improved over goodreads so it sounds like I need to give it a try in the future! Thank you for this information!
Unpopular opinion: this “problem” doesn’t exist. It’s manufactured drama for social media and is largely a non-issue in real life. I don’t even any attention to it because it holds zero meaning outside of the internet. And it doesn’t even matter on the internet unless you decide to join the fake competition.
Sometimes competitiveness is good. It’s motivational. And fun. And nobody is forcing anyone to take part in reading challenges.
True. And everyone gets to pick their own goal, whether it's 1 book or 100.
If you are in a competitive environment, you are automatically being forced into the competition. Regardless of your input.
Competition should be a niche only for diehard enthusiasts, not your default position.
@@davidsenra2495 nobody is forcing you to do a goodreads challenge. Turn off of your phone and go outside.
@@cass465 Haha, I'm not the one trying to prove myself to others through stupid competitions. I guess you're the one who needs to touch grass.
Just imagine if there was such a thing as a “goodmovies” where people had to list how many movies they watched 😂
I would say that you can be a "reader" that "reads" mindlessly while consuming audiobooks. Its both a pro and a con to me that I can consume a book while washing dishes, driving, folding laundry, etc. A pro because more great stories and a con because I am not giving as much attention to the book.
I'd also argue that gaming has a fairly significant barrier for entry. You need to have acess to a console or computer (or a phone I suppose) and then also the games themselves. I'd say that's not so different from having access to books. Literacy is obviously a bigger barrier, but there are mobility barriers for a lot of hands and also some literacy barriers in games too.
I just like documenting my thoughts on what I've read recently. I don't want my hobby to become a job. I just want to talk about books that may not get shown in the light too often. I read for the enjoyment of reading.
That’s the best way to do it 😁
I don’t really use good reads. I use a reading tracking book where I can keep track of the books I read, rate it, and answer prompts to reflect on what I read. I feel like there’s a lot less pressure that way
Movies can def get competitive once you get into the arthouse scene. How many films you've seen, and especially how many of the canonical films you've seen, is a signifier of taste. One should never trust the opinions of someone who watches exclusively modern Hollywood films. But that guy whose consumed the entire oeuvres of Renoir, Godard, Varda, Rohmer? Well, maybe his opinion on the new French film has some weight behind it.
This exists in the lit scene as well, but I suppose the competition you're talking about in this vid is more general than that. I'm glad I just read for fun. I do get people bug-eyeing me when I tell them I read 50 books last year, but it's all spy, gangster, and Star Wars novels, it's really nothing to be impressed about lol
Oh sure! I know most communities have their competitive aspects. I guess I was talking more generally here, like plenty of people frequently watch movies or tv shows but nobody’s keeping track of how many or how quickly- so why do we do that in the book community? Of course, even within the book community there are smaller pockets only concerned with reading classics or literary fiction and look down on those of us who primarily read genre fiction. But because reading is so niche now I think all types of reading are seen as relatively impressive these days to most Americans.
Hey, 50 books no matter what the subject is pretty cool! Give yourself some credit!
i think it's weird to keep track of reading on a social media platform, personally. i gave up on goodreads and can't be bothered to keep up with my storygraph. i use notion to keep track of my library holds, the few books i own, and all the series i'm working on. it's my own business and no one else's bc i don't want to show off to strangers online.
I’m here randomly, is that coloring in the thumbnail done by you? It’s something I learned about from fancy bibles. I’ve done it on a couple of mine & it’d look great on any book provided the paper lays right.
No I didn’t, it came that way 🙂
I read a lot but sometimes the amount i read doesn’t feel healthy. Sometimes I doubt if this amount of escapism is still healthy.
I think some amount of escapism is totally ok? I guess it depends on the person and what they’re trying to escape from?
To be honest, I read about 1k to 1.5k books a year. But I have read the same amounts of books a year since I was 10ish. It is really my only hobby. I don't watch tv or movies and play only one video game at a time because I like to complete all the side quests. I'm a mood reader and will literally pick up anything that seems interesting, unless it's popular. The more people recommend something to me the less likely I am to read it. I like to make my own opinions so don't put stock in others opinions of books. But I've never made fun of anyone else's taste or discouraged anyone else to read. Read what you want and what you like. It might not be for me, but if it's for you kudos. I actually listened to my first two audiobooks recently, but I really do prefer to have a physical book in my hands. I think it's a texture thing.
I will offer you a challenge to read and compare 2 books. They are classified as science fiction but I think that they are socially relevant to economics today.
*The Dispossessed* by Ursula K Le Guin
and:
*Voyage from Yesteryear* by James P Hogan
I do not doubt that LeGuin is a better writer but I strongly suspect that Hogan knew more about economics and technology.
They both present economic dichotomies but LeGuin offers no resolution to the situation.
Haha I love reading but even watching a movie you can't even do it mindlessly. I struggle with attention and sometimes when I'm not super into the movie I have to go back and rewatch a scene because I realized my mind wondered off and now I don't know what's going on in the story lol
It is not. Some people just choose to be competitive. I suspect much of it is psychological conditioning from school.
Since l started reading science fiction voluntarily in 4th grade it means nothing to me. I just want to find books that I regard as good.
In Germany reading isn't a popular hobby. If I tell someone I'm reading like 80 books each year, no one is impressed :D But of course the Book bubble in the internet made me sadly a competitive reader. 10 years back I didn't care about numbers, today it's nearly as important as my enjoyment :( I wish I could change!
It’s really hard to escape it! I definitely feel the same pressure and drive to “read a lot of books” regardless of anything else. It’s super hard to change especially when that seems to be one of the biggest focuses online
why do you care so much about the numbers? i can assure you normal people don't care about how many books other people read
honestly i read a lot a year but that’s mostly because i’m super introverted and really do prefer staying in and reading. i really don’t care what anyone does or how people think of me (expect when english teachers rant to the whole class about how stupid students are cause they don’t read, that’s the only time i’d like to say how many books i read.) to me it’s like watching a show or movie, they don’t hold my attention but books do and i am an extremely slow reader. i love watching people binge read books but i have the overconsumption of it, with all the books i read most of them are from the library for space and financial reasons
Not to be nitpicky but, I have never felt like I could zone out of a video game haha. My favorite narratives / fictional experiences have been approximately one third books, one third games, and one third movies / shows. I always try to actively consume all media I consume.
Social media may create a sense of competition for some, but I can't say I've felt that due to others. In the past I've gotten competitive with myself and tried to set a new monthly reading record. But after doing that I quickly realized that it's best to set new records organically and when I'm not trying, but when the record emerges as a result of having more down time.
Also, the joy and value of reading is in the process, not the result of having finished a book. If you skim a book and learn and retain nothing, you're not better off. Quality reading > quantity reading. The goal of quantity reading can also lead to some poor reading habits imo.
As for your hot take that everyone should read, I disagree. I read about 100-150 books a year but my dyslexic partner never reads books. Yet he has a multitude of other outlets that bring him a lot of value and enrichment, along with real world skills that I personally could never gain from reading. He's a doer and learns through action, and that is immensely valuable and something I admire. I think I'm so drawn to reading because I'm less action oriented. So it's a tradeoff. And my partner's "doing" approach is arguably more valuable than the esoteric and introspective value I derive from reading, depending on the context. So no, I don't think everyone should take up reading as a hobby. There are a lot of avenues to better yourself as a person, add value to your life, learn new things, empathize with others etc. and reading isn't the sole or superior method.
While I'm an avid reader and selfishly wish more people read so I could talk to them about books, I think everyone is different, has a different value systems, learns the same lessons through different means etc. So I think it's misguided to say everyone should read. I think reading is a worthwhile hobby and much more valuable than other forms of entertainment/hobbies, but I don't want to project my personal preferences and what I love onto others. What works for me might not be well suited to other people.
I will never buy into the "I read 50 books in a year/I read 100+ books in a year!" regardless if it's real or fake. As I stated in a previous video regarding this issue, I see no point in setting goals for myself when it comes to “x number of books per month/year”. Nor do I see a point in gloating about it. Because, yes, jealousy is indeed a fickle thing. Something no one likes to feel. Our words have power. And social media with all its influence is bad enough, the last thing we should be doing is boasting about something like this. It’s harmless in the eyes of many, sure, but it can still hurt in some cases. Lord knows I’ve felt a twinge of jealousy or guilt whenever I see someone who claims to have read such a high number of books. If we can feel jealousy or depression over someone’s supposedly glamorous way if life (even though we all know it’s 99.9% fake and unrealistic), who’s to say we can’t feel the same way about another’s reading habits? Even if we know it’s irrational in hindsight, we’re only human. And no one likes a show-off or a prideful boaster regardless. Not to mention the fact that with so much toxicity and deception happening online these days, you just never know anymore who’s being real and who isn’t.
And as someone who is finally breaking out of her reading slump, after years of stress and family drama and things keeping me more and more away from my books, I’m just happy to dive back in again after all this time and enjoy a book at my own pace and leisure. Be it a physical book or an e-book or audiobook - including YA romance, manga/graphic novels and comics! For me, it’s not about how many books I can read, but how much I enjoy reading them, with no set goals in mind whatsoever. The number of books I read in a set amount of time don’t matter to me, not since my primary school days, when Pizza Hut would have you win a free pan pizza for reading x amount of books during one of their special school contests. But that was long ago, back in the 1980s and early 90s.
These days, I value my time and my peace. I don’t like to be rushed or to feel like I have to rush in any way. For me, it’s the joy of reading and memories i make while doing it that matter. That’s timeless and priceless. That’s the true goal and reward. And not just in terms of reading
My duolingo bullies me more than goodreads, like it won't stop harassing me! I love goodreads, i love reading 1 stars review there, some of the most funniest reviews ever 😂
That owl will follow us all to our graves
Surprised that my biggest problem with the number-of-books type of challenge didn't come up. My biggest problem is risk and investment for a fixed reward.
I see it like this. I read IT during quarantine. If I was tracking the raw number of books I read, why would I ever pick up that doorstop? One of my favorite authors is Brandon Sanderson--why would I ever pick up THE WAY OF KINGS if it would put me behind on a challenge? I haven't read LORD OF THE RINGS, and if I'm judging myself on number of titles crossed off a list, I'm not going to, because that series is long and it is DENSE. Tolkien set out to write an epic which is possibly my least favorite genre to try to read. And why would I risk putting all those hours into a book that I might DNF and not be able to count as having read? (Side note, why does Goodreads not have a DNF shelf? Come on, GR.)
A challenge or goal based purely on the number of times you reached the end of a book implicitly discourages reading big books, dense books, books you don't immediately click with, anything except the shortest and safest title you can pick up. It's why I don't want to do any "a book a day" challenges or anything like that. I want to put time into reading and enjoying things that might take me multiple days to read because they're so long and I have a day job (hi again, Way of Kings, you must have heard me talking about you). That's my problem with it.
I haven't read a single book that isn't RPG sourcebook/expansion this year, but I've listened to about 20 audiobooks.
And I'm somehow tired of only novels counts as books, as if poetry, shirt stories guides and all other sort of printed content doesn't exist.
And only books counts as reading, magazines or newspapers aren't reading for some reason