Are you looking for fictional non-fiction (like the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)? Or are you looking more for non fiction that explores the dragon myth across cultures and where it comes from?
How to Raise and Keep a Dragon by John Topsell was one of my favorite childhood books. It's incredibly informative and a joy to read, it fit in perfectly with my books on raising dogs and goats and horses.
I found in high school that being forced to read a book that you ended up not liking at all, then being told to exclusively write how good the book was always a chore. Teachers always marked your work poorly if you dared criticised the book in any way. This put me off reading for many years. Then I found dragons and now we good.
Fun fact: both my grandma and my mom are die-hard catholic christians. Grandma loves fantasy novels and my mom likes comic books, especially some old ones (one of her absolute favs is Thorgal, volumes 1-29). Last week I gave "Game of thrones" to my grandma and she found it so interesting she took the second book herself from local library and is currently reading it. All it takes is that little bit of critical thinking whenever they read something: "well, I can enjoy it for what I like, I don't have to agree with every author ever on everything". It hurts me that not everyone from religious families grows up with people like that around. I honestly think grandma is one of the reasons I came back to reading books after a looong break between primary school and high school (the other reason was that the last books I had to read in high school were actually some interesting stuff I liked enough to come back to reading). And our taste is pretty similiar, so I can use her as a tester whenever I'm not sure if I'd like a certain book XD
I'm always glad to see this kind of nuance. I and my family are Catholic too and we all value broad reading very highly and avoiding dismissing things out of hand. (Although I think I am probably the only one in my family that has read ASOIAF past the first book. My mom didn't like it but wasn't really bothered by my reading it once I was old enough to choose my reading material freely.)
This video touches on so many points in my reading life! Most recently I got myself out of a long reading slump by accepting my current reading-self as a strictly romanasy, smut and KU garbage reader. It's what fits best with my hectic life, keeps me reading and makes me happy. I still collect fic-lit and non-fiction on my shelves and TBR, waiting for when I have the time and brain power for them. But having reading as a constant part of my life means it changes with it too, and that's ok.
Helloooo. I found your channel a couple of weeks ago through the Riftwar Saga video and absolutely loved it. I’ve been binge watching every single one of your videos ever since. I love the way you review books and book series, the way you break everything down, the things you touch upon, and how you try to be as impartial and thorough as possible. I also really appreciate the critical outlook on representation and human rights/social issues you usually give, you seem very down-to-earth. Thank you for your videos, they’re super wonderful
College (and the pressure of societal/job productivity) kinda killed my love of reading for a while. I primarily read fanfic 😂 but couldn't pick up any original works until I started working in the backroom at Walmart and listened to Name of the Wind and Red Rising. Love of reading restored sort of, it wasn't until a year later when I marathoned all the Lunar Chronicles books over inventory weekend that I really started to lean on Audiobooks more. Finally got Audible and then two years ago I discovered my library had audiobooks for download and I've been an addict again like I was when I was a kid. Thankfully I work back of house at a bookstore now so I can listen to books 90% of the time. Moar books!! I'm slowly reincorperating paper books back into my scheduled r&r time now. I read across all genres! Military sci-fi to contemporary romance! I just love a good story!
Forced reading in high school and college put me in a decade long slump. So glad to have found a love of reading again. I also worried way too much what people thought of my reading, now I'm old enough I quit caring. Lol Wish I could get those years of reading back though. Thank you for another wonderful, well thought out video!
I love your intro and I've loved this video! I started watching this video to practice my listening (I'm studying english) and I started loving your channel! About this video, it helped me so much to understand the reason I stopped enjoying reading this year, it was because of trends and academic snoberry, tank you very much, I hope you never stop doing those content!
Growing up in scotland, i never had to read shakespeare in english class, but we did have to read the poems of carol ann duffy, analyse them to Perth (Australian one) and back, we also read plays set in the postwar period and interestingly, both were about italian immigrants trying to survive, one in scotland, the other in the US. We did experience serious books, but i cant remember which. Maybe it's just the education system being a bit different but i dont recall having to read a book within a short timeframe and having to analyse the whole thing in a series of essays. instead it was usually excerpts plucked from books or articles that we did close reading on
Omg! Thank you So much for this. I can completely relate to the religious pressures since I grew up in a Christian home. I also can relate to experiencing people telling me that reading fiction books are not really true reading. And people feeling like they are better because they only read non-fiction books. I am starting to truly tune people out and read what I want to read. Thank you for this video. It was awesome! ❤️😊
As someone who is new to reading over the past year, I’ve been feeling unmotivated to read. This video has inspired me to find something I want to read. I will say, it’s hard to find what you like to read when starting out, because you have to go through some boring reads to figure it out.
I don't know if I could last another week without a Book Guy video! Now, you got me thinking about one reading pressure. I think sometimes I read something that will make people say "Wow, you actually read that?". Sometimes it's to challenge myself to read different genres and that's cool, but there may be a part there to impress other people. It's reading not to be like other people, but to be different from other people. It's still a form of self inflicted pressure.
I’m very thankful for the friend who encouraged me to read children’s books (mostly middle grade) I found some truly wonderful books that I love. And they can be so much nicer to read than adult books sometimes
Hi Book guy! I used to visit an all girls catholic school in German (although I'm a protestant Christian myself...anyway..) We used to read the most BORING books ever! I just hated it! So my friend and I would read Mangas underneath our desks 🫣😁. Things like Evangelion, romance Manga. And I really fell in love with Battle Angel Alita. That was one of my absolute favs. But I sold the entire collection once I got older 😓🤦🏾♀️ I could just kick myself for doing that! Thank you for the video!
Loved this video! Also grew up in a very Christian household and community that frowned upon most of my reading choices. Glad I’m out of there. Now I read what I want, mostly fantasy 😊
I am so grateful I had a mother who encouraged me to read, and read what I wanted. I was reading books like Gone With the Wind at 11 without any backlash. The greatest thing a parent can do is encourage a child to read. Of my three my girls loved to read but my son never did. And that was ok. I never pushed him because I knew he wouldn’t enjoy it. His wife has gotten him to read more, they read books together. It’s different for us all and we all need to remember that.
I’ve felt a lot of the pressure you describe in this video. I remember when I was a kid, I loved Eragon. When I first read it, I thought Eragon was the dragon and Saphira was a human. My imagination ran wild. One day, I went on the internet to see what other people thought about it and to my shock, people HATED it. They described my favorite book as trash, as a Tolkien wannabe, and that the writing was awful. I didn’t understand, because I loved both Eragon and The Hobbit. The books in my bookshelf as a kid were mostly hand-me-downs from my older brother. What did these comments say about him? I stopped looking at online book reviews, but I can still feel that shock to this day. I recently re-read the series all the way through Murtaugh. I shrugged off the stigma of reading YA. I shrugged off all the comments I’ve read about Paolini’s writing style. I read them because I wanted to. Sure, as I read through them I could see how some criticisms were valid. But it didn’t matter, because there’s a part of me that identifies with Eragon’s character. The most recent example of reading pressure I can think of is Brandon Sanderson and the Stormlight Archive. I was surprised by how many people do not like Oathbringer or Rhythm of War. When some people talk about what they don’t like about these two books, they write whole dissertations about how it didn’t meet their expectations and why they didn’t like it. I can accept these comments for what they are now: opinions! Each book I read takes me a on a journey, and I think it’s amazing how two people can read the same book and leave with completely different feelings about it. I’ve rambled on and on! This video has me thinking quite a lot. We live in a society…
lol we live in a society! Amazing reference It's funny, I've just finished re-reading the Inheritance Cycle for the first time as an adult. The amount of unjust hate that series got was insane! I had a similar experience with the Star Wars prequels. I still remember the very review that made me realise other people hated them. It's shocking as a kid to see such intense hatred for something you like. You're absolutely right. At the end of the day, people will have their opinions on books. Its best not to let them affect your own enjoyment.
I remember how at 15 I started to read William Shakespeare. Just out of curiosity, and also because it was shorter than a novel. I still checked phrases here and there on sparknotes. But I surprisingly enjoyed the plays. However, I doubt I would have liked it as much if I was forced to read them. Curiousity for me is the key to try new things.
Can’t agree more, read what you want to! My religious grandparents told me I was in a cult for reading Harry Potter as a child 🤣, and my mother also thinks fiction is a waste of time and is beneath her.. 🥲 I always got shamed for what I like to read, but got to read what I wanted. I’m luck my father does like the same kind of books, he just started (after recommending it) his Cosmere journey and he loves it. It took me years before I got back to reading, for anyone who’s trying to get back too: don’t give up, be kind to yourself and read what you want there’s no shame in that!
Who would have thought that studying literature would take all the fun out of reading - that's what happened to me. After I studied English literature, I barely read books for fun for about 10 years or so. I had to wade through so many books that I absolutely despised reading, and I think during all that time there were only about 3 books in my curriculum that I actually enjoyed. I only recently re-discovered reading, and your channel has been a tremendous help in finding the right books for me!
I had a similar experience! I studied writing and literature, and i definitely felt guilt for not reading more 'high brow' books. I tried writing 'literary' books, when what I really wanted was commercial fiction. It's very hard to distinguish your own desires from all that pressure. I'm still glad I could study what I did, but it took a while before I could love it again.
I LOVE THIS VIDEO!! It's almost impossible to not be influenced by something or someone else on what to choose to read. But I usually am picking based on the genre I love or just because it's a pretty cover lol. Or it's a genre I love that has a extremely high rating on Goodreads, or it's reccomended to me from booktubers I love to watch, or it is something I see on Tik Tok. But i don't use Tik Tok that much lol. But it's always because I want to read it and then I look up the rating on Goodreads to see if I want to spend the money on buying that book. But I just recently got back into reading last year, and now I understand that I didn't love reading as much as I do now because I can pick and choose what I want to spend my money on to read lol and what I think I am going to enjoy! And I literally could give zero f*cks on what people think about what I want to read, the older u get the less u care lol.
Enjoying reading really started for me when I read Mistborn in English. As it is not my first language it was distinct from the reading I had to do for school. This separation in language really helped me to find the joy in it. Since graduating high school I haven't touched a German book.
1 thank you for saying what you did about religion. Been there too. I had a pastors wife make me delete my romance ebooks infant of her. I had backups though. But it did stop me reading for a few years. Now I'm reading voraciously - I left church. 2. Academic snobbery. Yeah. Let's out it this way I have read Homer and I have read ice planet barbarians and enjoyed both. The snobs need to take about 50 seats.
1. Thank you! I was nervous about the religious section, but it seems lots of people had the same experience. It's good to talk it through. 2. Oh wow, I hear you sister! I swear on a good day I could run circles around some academics. But I'm not so egotistical to make it everyone else's problem! :D
High school ruined reading for me way until my late 20’s. I live in the states. I slowly started reading a few books a year in my 30’s and branching out into all kinds of genres. I now read over 250 books a year and they are all fiction and it’s my main hobby that I love. I also grew up in a very religious household where certain books were deemed “bad” based on the type of fiction. That took years to get over the guilt of reading what I enjoyed.
Holy cats...250 books a year!!!? I think my best year was 137. You're incredible! And after such a slow start in your twenties, that's inspiring! Well done!
I had an assignment like that in high school where we had a list of books, each worth a certain amount of points, and we had to read a total of however many points. I remember I chose Gone With the Wind because it was very long and thus worth *all* of the points on it's own. It still stands as one of my favorite books and I have a very treasured hardcover copy of it that I've had since then.
Ironically, I feel like this video should be mandatory for anyone still in higher education. Brilliant work, as always. I work in the video game industry and the same is true there, perhaps to an even greater degree. The latest releases are always promoted as the "next big thing" and there can be a lot of pressure to partake in the current trend and avoid the dreaded FOMO. Now that I'm in my thirties with a young daughter, time is a precious commodity and I will only play, read, or watch what I want. Life is far too short to worry about what others think you should be doing.
I believe encouraging kids to read what they want throughout school gives them the confidence to read more variety as an adult. I have come to enjoy classics more as an adult and seek them out regularly because I view it as my own choice. I can research the book, watch Booktube videos by other people who have read it, and even DNF it if I’m struggling too much with it. But then I love my cozy mysteries and middle grades!
Yep, high school and college definitely killed my love for reading. I read so much as a kid, and honestly I felt like such an incompetent reader in high school/college just because I struggled to get through the books they assigned. They wouldn't hold my attention, so my mind would wander and I could "read" whole pages without really comprehending anything because I wasn't really paying attention. The first books that finally got me back into reading were the Throne of Glass books by SJM. And of course, then I faced the snobbery of how those are "quality" books or "real" fantasy or whatever. But those were the books that reignited my love for reading! I read the first 4 books in that series in about a week, and that's an intensity and fervor I've just never had since. Now I'm a 50+ books/year reader, and I've discovered a lot more about my own tastes as a reader. I've tried a lot of popular books and I followed the trends for a while, and some things click and some don't (sorry Wheel of Time! 7 books in and I'm a hater lol. I will probably finish the series /eventually/ but mostly out of some sort of pressure to understand the hype. But I'm certainly not prioritizing this series anymore). As a mostly fantasy reader, I feel like I've always faced criticisms for my taste in books. As a kid, it was something I was supposed to "grow out of". And as an adult, it's apparently my childish, immature hobby. 🙄 I don't think we should ever discount the books we connect with due to any external pressure about what we should or shouldn't be reading. Some people will just never understand, and those people just not worth listening to.
I'm stuck under the pressure of reading in French, because I'm currently learning that language. But I want to read the rest of the Cosmere I've got left :D and that must be in its original language! Also, I want to finish WoT!
In Poland where Im from it is a huge problem that in high school we have something called canon of books we’re obliged to read and its very strict. This makes most students hate books and most of the time they just look at the analysis of said books (same as the teachers) and learn to go around reading. I’d say it is a very effective way of discouraging people from reading when they are still young. And as you mentioned its the same case as in US that most of the books are old and not appealing to young audience
Yes The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan is by far my absolute all time favorite book series ever. Next being Anne McCaffrey’s Dragon Riders of Pern. Now I’ve gone through war history, YA, cozy cat mysteries, dog detectives, all the Tony Hillerman books and now his daughters, CJ Box and his Game Warden series with the infamous Joe Picket, and of course horror/thrillers, zombies, Anne Rice and Twilight, stabby books and any cryptozoology creature knocking people off in the woods I can get my hands on! So fun! I did find that last year I was reading more to complete my self set Goodreads goal than for enjoyment. Very silly! I believe the true enjoyment when discussing books with others is the passion we can all share and relate to. Well done and insightful! Thank you.
when I was elementary school we had a special program. You read a book and take a test on that book. The tests were made by scholastic and they kept up with book for kids. Anything more then a few years was good to go. This meant you could read book written for kids and the teacher gets to see a test grade to prove you read it. On a side note the importance of communication is really really important, just look at what happens to deaf kids that are denied access to sign languages.
I do think this is great for someone who isn't reading. Find what you like and read what you like. I do think that it is important, if you are a reader, to stretch yourself and try out different things. Your tastes change as you grow and your taste in books will likely change as well.
I learned to love reading in grade school. The teacher would read to us for half an hour two or three times a week. When we got to visit the school library, which we had back in my day, I would look for other books by the author the teacher was reading. Love, love, loved The Boxcar Children series. I have a set of them to this day....and I am 67. I "had" to read Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm in high school. Hated both of them. I did however like George Orwell 's 1984. I have never lost my love for reading. I am reading Agatha Christie's works right now. Oh....and I own quite a large collection of cookbooks. They are very informative about more than just recipes. 😉
I fell into that trap of reading lots and lots of self-improvement books and didn't realize after a long time that I practically read non-fiction exclusively and I was burned out(ironically). Now I'm reading only books I genuinely want to read and I've been plowing through amazing series(dark tower right now - so fun) and I've been so much happier enjoying my reading time. (Not to discredit self-help there were some genuine good books)
Joining goodreads definitely changed my reading behavior 😅 when I logged some books I read before that time, when I really was purely reading for fun because I suddenly had time commuting to my new work place, it felt really strange. 😂
Interesting video!! There was a time when my dad was concerned that I "was replacing friendship with books" (and I guess in the 60s/70s certain groups of people earned Lord of the Rings a bad name, so that might've been his true concern). He never tried to dictate what I could read, fortunately. Honestly, he got me into fantasy movies, which eventually led to me discovering fantasy books, so it's a little ironic that he was even a little concerned about the books. (: Now I definitely jump around and read whatever I want, and I always try to get a good idea of what I'm getting into, even to the point of finding some spoilers so that I feel confident that I've found something I'm going to enjoy. :3
School was such a huge one for me. For some reason at my school we were expected to read things like Jane Eyre and The Count of Monte Cristo in eighth grade, and even though I was at a reading level that could handle it I was too bored to do the assigned reading. I know I'd probably enjoy Jane Eyre now, but I can't force myself to pick it up. I also spent a long time fully bought-in to the academic snobbery. I could circumvent it for fantasy and sci-fi since I grew up in a house that valued those genres highly, but I didn't read contemporary fiction until I got curious enough to read Where the Crawdads Sing when the movie was coming out (and even then I went in expecting to think it was an awful book - turns out I loved it). I spent a very long time reading for improvement instead of enjoyment.
Oh man, to add onto the conversation at around the 17 minute mark, I get so confused about people that give me snobby vibes bc I read ebooks, worse I alternate between ebooks and audio books and sometimes both at once! Gasp! I feel like telling them that I understand that the only reason they pick up a book is so that everyone else can see them holding a book, But I'm just here for entertainment. Sometimes thought provoking and inspiring, and sometimes a novel equivalent to a cheesy popcorn scary movie. I'm just here for a good time haha.
In my Freshman Year of High School I had to read Shakespeare and it killed my love of reading. I hated Romeo and Juliet so much I didn't touch another book for almost 5 years. Comparing that to 7th grade where I read both the Hunger Games and Maze Runner trilogies in the same month, it was bad...
I get it! I personally love Shakespeare, but it really should not be mandatory for kids. I would love to see Hunger Games is schools instead...but that's possibly a controversial choice.
The biggest thing I've seen driving "reading pressure" is what will help people grow their social media presence... There's a bit of an echo chamber online around the big authors (Sanderson, SJM, etc), and if you never talk about them, you're unlikely to grow your channel or instagram or what not. I think there's some merit in trying them and giving your honest opinion so you can cement your reading taste and allow a community to help find other books in alignment with it. And, sometimes an initial bump in views/likes while talking about popular books is all you need, and then you can continue on with lesser known books once you have a following! But i definitely see some content creators stuck in a cycle of speaking about the same series over and over again, and while we can all blame the algorithm, it's driven by what gets people to click, and fanservice is an easy way to engagement. I really don't blame creators for using whatever means they can to grow an audience, just as long as it's not a detriment to their own enjoyment!! I also have to send a BIG hug over the religious discussion... My father is a minister, but he's just as big a nerd as I am. His books were stacked with Anne McCaffery and Asimov when I was a kid, and he owns a nicer set of Harry Potter than I do. I wish everyone had that experience, but so many people use religion as a means of control and limitation and it's heartbreaking. I'm glad you bucked against it and followed your passions!!
Such a thoughtful comment! Yes as a youtuber it's challenging to try to grow an online presence without resorting to click-bait topics. I've tried to avoid it where possible and hope that people will appreciate the integrity instead. I just find it frustrating that everyone focuses on their own opinion of the book, like they're the one true source of enlightenment! 😁 But that affect on readers can resort in a ton of pressure. Not everyone has to worry about views and subscriber rates! Also thank you, my friend. I return that hug! ❤
My reading pressures are all my own fault. 😅 I keep joining bookclubs, Discords and Patreons. So I end up with 3-4 books a month that have been selected, and then there's all the side chats/discussions about other books 😳. But I like a wide array of genres and writing styles, so it generally works out and I enjoy the books.
I don’t have trouble choosing what I want to read but getting my hands on the books I want is a problem. A distressingly large number of authors have gone out of print and (the ones I’ve been seeking recently) are not plentiful in the market. On top of that when I do find them, they’re being price gouged. Last year there was a three volume set of short stories by Robert Bloch I wanted. But very few listings and most listings wanted $300 per volume… these are paperbacks from the 80s. I did eventually acquire them for much more reasonable prices because I’m patient and diligent in my quest. Note: I wasn’t being picky about the set. I wanted the collected short stories of that author and this was the only complete collection I could find
HA! You're asking that question and your name is Andross Guile. That's amazing! 🤣🤣🤣 Sadly I've dropped Lightbringer from my schedule for now. 😫 But I'll include it somewhere ASAP. Long story short, I've thrown my entire six month plan out the window so I can get my books written. Once they're written, I'll revisit the schedule. I think that'll be in May. Fingers crossed!
As a scientist I can vouch that writing a fiction book is waaaaay harder than writing a non-fiction one. Non fiction takes hard work, yes, and forming new ideas and hypothesis is not easy, but sweet baby potatoes, the amount of creativity, emotional intelligence and sheer stubbornness needed for completing a novel! At least I don't have to think about hitting just the right amount of tension between my methodology and results sections for a good pay-off in the discussion :)
I grew up in a very religious family. I wasn’t allowed to read Harry Potter either !! I think it might do the opposite….i read a lot of smut….and alot of fantasy novels!
Hello Book Guy! Thank you for the message in your video today. It really struck a chord with me. I picked up Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb to start the Realm of the Elderings series. Ive heard so many good things about the series and was influenced to try it. Im on the struggle buss, though. Half-way through book 1 and I'm bored. Ill stick it out for the 1st trilogy in hopes that it captures my attention eventually. Otherwise, I'll DNF the series. And thars okay 😊. Read what you like, right?
Hello friend! I'm thrilled that you're reading Assassin's Apprentice. Yes it's definitely a slower book. Robin Hobb writes a lot of deep characters first and foremost, before she adds in plot and worldbuilding. If you DNF that book, you could try the Liveship Traders. It's a trilogy set in the same world, but I feel like it's much better. She had more practice writing at this point.
I am an adult but I read lots of middle grade and YA books as well as adult ones. Albert Einstein said that if you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. Books are for everyone.
That's interesting. Have you ever heard of 'demand avoidance'? It's a neurodivergent trait of deliberately opposing a demand because you can't stand to be told what to do.
Thank you! Unfortunately I only have my patreon. I'm terrible at social media, as you can see from how I took 13 days to reply to this. 😁 But it's something I'm thinking about.
@@cronkthebookguy if you ever make social media profiles, even if you just post snippets of your vids, I'd love to follow you! So I hope you can be persuaded >:)
I only want to read non-fiction books about dragons. But I can't find any.
Check out The Flight of Dragons by Peter Dickinson. :)
Are you looking for fictional non-fiction (like the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)? Or are you looking more for non fiction that explores the dragon myth across cultures and where it comes from?
@ADHDlanguages Well, The Flight of Dragons seems a good start for fun. Any other suggestions for non-fiction.
How to Raise and Keep a Dragon by John Topsell was one of my favorite childhood books. It's incredibly informative and a joy to read, it fit in perfectly with my books on raising dogs and goats and horses.
@@someothercharacter it's a bit on the younger side but Wings of Fire is a really good series from the perspective of dragons.
I found in high school that being forced to read a book that you ended up not liking at all, then being told to exclusively write how good the book was always a chore. Teachers always marked your work poorly if you dared criticised the book in any way. This put me off reading for many years. Then I found dragons and now we good.
Fun fact: both my grandma and my mom are die-hard catholic christians. Grandma loves fantasy novels and my mom likes comic books, especially some old ones (one of her absolute favs is Thorgal, volumes 1-29). Last week I gave "Game of thrones" to my grandma and she found it so interesting she took the second book herself from local library and is currently reading it. All it takes is that little bit of critical thinking whenever they read something: "well, I can enjoy it for what I like, I don't have to agree with every author ever on everything". It hurts me that not everyone from religious families grows up with people like that around. I honestly think grandma is one of the reasons I came back to reading books after a looong break between primary school and high school (the other reason was that the last books I had to read in high school were actually some interesting stuff I liked enough to come back to reading). And our taste is pretty similiar, so I can use her as a tester whenever I'm not sure if I'd like a certain book XD
Your grandma sounds awesome
@@KitCronk she is!
I'm always glad to see this kind of nuance. I and my family are Catholic too and we all value broad reading very highly and avoiding dismissing things out of hand. (Although I think I am probably the only one in my family that has read ASOIAF past the first book. My mom didn't like it but wasn't really bothered by my reading it once I was old enough to choose my reading material freely.)
This video touches on so many points in my reading life! Most recently I got myself out of a long reading slump by accepting my current reading-self as a strictly romanasy, smut and KU garbage reader. It's what fits best with my hectic life, keeps me reading and makes me happy. I still collect fic-lit and non-fiction on my shelves and TBR, waiting for when I have the time and brain power for them. But having reading as a constant part of my life means it changes with it too, and that's ok.
Such great advice!
Your enthusiasm convinced me to read Wheel of Time despite feeling intimidated by its length, and I'm loving it, so thank you!
I love your reviewing style and the wide variety of books you cover
Helloooo. I found your channel a couple of weeks ago through the Riftwar Saga video and absolutely loved it. I’ve been binge watching every single one of your videos ever since. I love the way you review books and book series, the way you break everything down, the things you touch upon, and how you try to be as impartial and thorough as possible. I also really appreciate the critical outlook on representation and human rights/social issues you usually give, you seem very down-to-earth. Thank you for your videos, they’re super wonderful
I'd love to read what I want, but Nerdforge stole my book collection and turned it into one single book. Now I can't take them on the bus.
College (and the pressure of societal/job productivity) kinda killed my love of reading for a while. I primarily read fanfic 😂 but couldn't pick up any original works until I started working in the backroom at Walmart and listened to Name of the Wind and Red Rising. Love of reading restored sort of, it wasn't until a year later when I marathoned all the Lunar Chronicles books over inventory weekend that I really started to lean on Audiobooks more. Finally got Audible and then two years ago I discovered my library had audiobooks for download and I've been an addict again like I was when I was a kid. Thankfully I work back of house at a bookstore now so I can listen to books 90% of the time. Moar books!! I'm slowly reincorperating paper books back into my scheduled r&r time now. I read across all genres! Military sci-fi to contemporary romance! I just love a good story!
Forced reading in high school and college put me in a decade long slump. So glad to have found a love of reading again.
I also worried way too much what people thought of my reading, now I'm old enough I quit caring. Lol Wish I could get those years of reading back though.
Thank you for another wonderful, well thought out video!
I love your intro and I've loved this video! I started watching this video to practice my listening (I'm studying english) and I started loving your channel!
About this video, it helped me so much to understand the reason I stopped enjoying reading this year, it was because of trends and academic snoberry, tank you very much, I hope you never stop doing those content!
Growing up in scotland, i never had to read shakespeare in english class, but we did have to read the poems of carol ann duffy, analyse them to Perth (Australian one) and back, we also read plays set in the postwar period and interestingly, both were about italian immigrants trying to survive, one in scotland, the other in the US. We did experience serious books, but i cant remember which.
Maybe it's just the education system being a bit different but i dont recall having to read a book within a short timeframe and having to analyse the whole thing in a series of essays. instead it was usually excerpts plucked from books or articles that we did close reading on
Omg! Thank you So much for this. I can completely relate to the religious pressures since I grew up in a Christian home. I also can relate to experiencing people telling me that reading fiction books are not really true reading. And people feeling like they are better because they only read non-fiction books. I am starting to truly tune people out and read what I want to read. Thank you for this video. It was awesome! ❤️😊
As someone who is new to reading over the past year, I’ve been feeling unmotivated to read. This video has inspired me to find something I want to read. I will say, it’s hard to find what you like to read when starting out, because you have to go through some boring reads to figure it out.
I don't know if I could last another week without a Book Guy video!
Now, you got me thinking about one reading pressure. I think sometimes I read something that will make people say "Wow, you actually read that?". Sometimes it's to challenge myself to read different genres and that's cool, but there may be a part there to impress other people. It's reading not to be like other people, but to be different from other people. It's still a form of self inflicted pressure.
I’m very thankful for the friend who encouraged me to read children’s books (mostly middle grade)
I found some truly wonderful books that I love. And they can be so much nicer to read than adult books sometimes
Hi Book guy! I used to visit an all girls catholic school in German (although I'm a protestant Christian myself...anyway..)
We used to read the most BORING books ever! I just hated it!
So my friend and I would read Mangas underneath our desks 🫣😁.
Things like Evangelion, romance Manga. And I really fell in love with Battle Angel Alita. That was one of my absolute favs. But I sold the entire collection once I got older 😓🤦🏾♀️ I could just kick myself for doing that!
Thank you for the video!
Loved this video! Also grew up in a very Christian household and community that frowned upon most of my reading choices. Glad I’m out of there. Now I read what I want, mostly fantasy 😊
I am so grateful I had a mother who encouraged me to read, and read what I wanted. I was reading books like Gone With the Wind at 11 without any backlash. The greatest thing a parent can do is encourage a child to read. Of my three my girls loved to read but my son never did. And that was ok. I never pushed him because I knew he wouldn’t enjoy it. His wife has gotten him to read more, they read books together. It’s different for us all and we all need to remember that.
I’ve felt a lot of the pressure you describe in this video. I remember when I was a kid, I loved Eragon. When I first read it, I thought Eragon was the dragon and Saphira was a human. My imagination ran wild. One day, I went on the internet to see what other people thought about it and to my shock, people HATED it. They described my favorite book as trash, as a Tolkien wannabe, and that the writing was awful. I didn’t understand, because I loved both Eragon and The Hobbit. The books in my bookshelf as a kid were mostly hand-me-downs from my older brother. What did these comments say about him? I stopped looking at online book reviews, but I can still feel that shock to this day.
I recently re-read the series all the way through Murtaugh. I shrugged off the stigma of reading YA. I shrugged off all the comments I’ve read about Paolini’s writing style. I read them because I wanted to. Sure, as I read through them I could see how some criticisms were valid. But it didn’t matter, because there’s a part of me that identifies with Eragon’s character.
The most recent example of reading pressure I can think of is Brandon Sanderson and the Stormlight Archive. I was surprised by how many people do not like Oathbringer or Rhythm of War. When some people talk about what they don’t like about these two books, they write whole dissertations about how it didn’t meet their expectations and why they didn’t like it. I can accept these comments for what they are now: opinions! Each book I read takes me a on a journey, and I think it’s amazing how two people can read the same book and leave with completely different feelings about it.
I’ve rambled on and on! This video has me thinking quite a lot. We live in a society…
lol we live in a society! Amazing reference
It's funny, I've just finished re-reading the Inheritance Cycle for the first time as an adult. The amount of unjust hate that series got was insane! I had a similar experience with the Star Wars prequels. I still remember the very review that made me realise other people hated them. It's shocking as a kid to see such intense hatred for something you like.
You're absolutely right. At the end of the day, people will have their opinions on books. Its best not to let them affect your own enjoyment.
I remember how at 15 I started to read William Shakespeare. Just out of curiosity, and also because it was shorter than a novel. I still checked phrases here and there on sparknotes. But I surprisingly enjoyed the plays. However, I doubt I would have liked it as much if I was forced to read them. Curiousity for me is the key to try new things.
Can’t agree more, read what you want to! My religious grandparents told me I was in a cult for reading Harry Potter as a child 🤣, and my mother also thinks fiction is a waste of time and is beneath her.. 🥲 I always got shamed for what I like to read, but got to read what I wanted. I’m luck my father does like the same kind of books, he just started (after recommending it) his Cosmere journey and he loves it.
It took me years before I got back to reading, for anyone who’s trying to get back too: don’t give up, be kind to yourself and read what you want there’s no shame in that!
Who would have thought that studying literature would take all the fun out of reading - that's what happened to me. After I studied English literature, I barely read books for fun for about 10 years or so. I had to wade through so many books that I absolutely despised reading, and I think during all that time there were only about 3 books in my curriculum that I actually enjoyed. I only recently re-discovered reading, and your channel has been a tremendous help in finding the right books for me!
I had a similar experience! I studied writing and literature, and i definitely felt guilt for not reading more 'high brow' books. I tried writing 'literary' books, when what I really wanted was commercial fiction. It's very hard to distinguish your own desires from all that pressure. I'm still glad I could study what I did, but it took a while before I could love it again.
I LOVE THIS VIDEO!! It's almost impossible to not be influenced by something or someone else on what to choose to read. But I usually am picking based on the genre I love or just because it's a pretty cover lol. Or it's a genre I love that has a extremely high rating on Goodreads, or it's reccomended to me from booktubers I love to watch, or it is something I see on Tik Tok. But i don't use Tik Tok that much lol. But it's always because I want to read it and then I look up the rating on Goodreads to see if I want to spend the money on buying that book. But I just recently got back into reading last year, and now I understand that I didn't love reading as much as I do now because I can pick and choose what I want to spend my money on to read lol and what I think I am going to enjoy! And I literally could give zero f*cks on what people think about what I want to read, the older u get the less u care lol.
Enjoying reading really started for me when I read Mistborn in English. As it is not my first language it was distinct from the reading I had to do for school. This separation in language really helped me to find the joy in it. Since graduating high school I haven't touched a German book.
1 thank you for saying what you did about religion. Been there too. I had a pastors wife make me delete my romance ebooks infant of her. I had backups though. But it did stop me reading for a few years. Now I'm reading voraciously - I left church.
2. Academic snobbery. Yeah. Let's out it this way I have read Homer and I have read ice planet barbarians and enjoyed both. The snobs need to take about 50 seats.
Same here with Homer and Ice Planet Barbarians😊
1. Thank you! I was nervous about the religious section, but it seems lots of people had the same experience. It's good to talk it through.
2. Oh wow, I hear you sister! I swear on a good day I could run circles around some academics. But I'm not so egotistical to make it everyone else's problem! :D
High school ruined reading for me way until my late 20’s. I live in the states. I slowly started reading a few books a year in my 30’s and branching out into all kinds of genres. I now read over 250 books a year and they are all fiction and it’s my main hobby that I love.
I also grew up in a very religious household where certain books were deemed “bad” based on the type of fiction. That took years to get over the guilt of reading what I enjoyed.
Holy cats...250 books a year!!!? I think my best year was 137. You're incredible! And after such a slow start in your twenties, that's inspiring! Well done!
I had an assignment like that in high school where we had a list of books, each worth a certain amount of points, and we had to read a total of however many points. I remember I chose Gone With the Wind because it was very long and thus worth *all* of the points on it's own. It still stands as one of my favorite books and I have a very treasured hardcover copy of it that I've had since then.
Ironically, I feel like this video should be mandatory for anyone still in higher education. Brilliant work, as always.
I work in the video game industry and the same is true there, perhaps to an even greater degree. The latest releases are always promoted as the "next big thing" and there can be a lot of pressure to partake in the current trend and avoid the dreaded FOMO.
Now that I'm in my thirties with a young daughter, time is a precious commodity and I will only play, read, or watch what I want. Life is far too short to worry about what others think you should be doing.
I believe encouraging kids to read what they want throughout school gives them the confidence to read more variety as an adult. I have come to enjoy classics more as an adult and seek them out regularly because I view it as my own choice. I can research the book, watch Booktube videos by other people who have read it, and even DNF it if I’m struggling too much with it. But then I love my cozy mysteries and middle grades!
Yep, high school and college definitely killed my love for reading. I read so much as a kid, and honestly I felt like such an incompetent reader in high school/college just because I struggled to get through the books they assigned. They wouldn't hold my attention, so my mind would wander and I could "read" whole pages without really comprehending anything because I wasn't really paying attention.
The first books that finally got me back into reading were the Throne of Glass books by SJM. And of course, then I faced the snobbery of how those are "quality" books or "real" fantasy or whatever. But those were the books that reignited my love for reading! I read the first 4 books in that series in about a week, and that's an intensity and fervor I've just never had since.
Now I'm a 50+ books/year reader, and I've discovered a lot more about my own tastes as a reader. I've tried a lot of popular books and I followed the trends for a while, and some things click and some don't (sorry Wheel of Time! 7 books in and I'm a hater lol. I will probably finish the series /eventually/ but mostly out of some sort of pressure to understand the hype. But I'm certainly not prioritizing this series anymore).
As a mostly fantasy reader, I feel like I've always faced criticisms for my taste in books. As a kid, it was something I was supposed to "grow out of". And as an adult, it's apparently my childish, immature hobby. 🙄
I don't think we should ever discount the books we connect with due to any external pressure about what we should or shouldn't be reading. Some people will just never understand, and those people just not worth listening to.
What a well thought out and articulate video. Bravo. I also love the pop culture clips you sprinkled in there.
I'm stuck under the pressure of reading in French, because I'm currently learning that language. But I want to read the rest of the Cosmere I've got left :D and that must be in its original language! Also, I want to finish WoT!
In Poland where Im from it is a huge problem that in high school we have something called canon of books we’re obliged to read and its very strict. This makes most students hate books and most of the time they just look at the analysis of said books (same as the teachers) and learn to go around reading. I’d say it is a very effective way of discouraging people from reading when they are still young. And as you mentioned its the same case as in US that most of the books are old and not appealing to young audience
Yes The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan is by far my absolute all time favorite book series ever. Next being Anne McCaffrey’s Dragon Riders of Pern. Now I’ve gone through war history, YA, cozy cat mysteries, dog detectives, all the Tony Hillerman books and now his daughters, CJ Box and his Game Warden series with the infamous Joe Picket, and of course horror/thrillers, zombies, Anne Rice and Twilight, stabby books and any cryptozoology creature knocking people off in the woods I can get my hands on! So fun!
I did find that last year I was reading more to complete my self set Goodreads goal than for enjoyment. Very silly!
I believe the true enjoyment when discussing books with others is the passion we can all share and relate to.
Well done and insightful! Thank you.
when I was elementary school we had a special program. You read a book and take a test on that book. The tests were made by scholastic and they kept up with book for kids. Anything more then a few years was good to go. This meant you could read book written for kids and the teacher gets to see a test grade to prove you read it.
On a side note the importance of communication is really really important, just look at what happens to deaf kids that are denied access to sign languages.
I do think this is great for someone who isn't reading. Find what you like and read what you like. I do think that it is important, if you are a reader, to stretch yourself and try out different things. Your tastes change as you grow and your taste in books will likely change as well.
I learned to love reading in grade school. The teacher would read to us for half an hour two or three times a week. When we got to visit the school library, which we had back in my day, I would look for other books by the author the teacher was reading. Love, love, loved The Boxcar Children series. I have a set of them to this day....and I am 67. I "had" to read Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm in high school. Hated both of them. I did however like George Orwell 's 1984. I have never lost my love for reading. I am reading Agatha Christie's works right now. Oh....and I own quite a large collection of cookbooks. They are very informative about more than just recipes. 😉
I fell into that trap of reading lots and lots of self-improvement books and didn't realize after a long time that I practically read non-fiction exclusively and I was burned out(ironically). Now I'm reading only books I genuinely want to read and I've been plowing through amazing series(dark tower right now - so fun) and I've been so much happier enjoying my reading time. (Not to discredit self-help there were some genuine good books)
Wonderful! Yes self-help can be genuinely helpful, but it can also be exhausting. Great job reading dark tower! Excellent choice!
Joining goodreads definitely changed my reading behavior 😅 when I logged some books I read before that time, when I really was purely reading for fun because I suddenly had time commuting to my new work place, it felt really strange. 😂
Interesting video!!
There was a time when my dad was concerned that I "was replacing friendship with books" (and I guess in the 60s/70s certain groups of people earned Lord of the Rings a bad name, so that might've been his true concern). He never tried to dictate what I could read, fortunately. Honestly, he got me into fantasy movies, which eventually led to me discovering fantasy books, so it's a little ironic that he was even a little concerned about the books. (:
Now I definitely jump around and read whatever I want, and I always try to get a good idea of what I'm getting into, even to the point of finding some spoilers so that I feel confident that I've found something I'm going to enjoy. :3
School was such a huge one for me. For some reason at my school we were expected to read things like Jane Eyre and The Count of Monte Cristo in eighth grade, and even though I was at a reading level that could handle it I was too bored to do the assigned reading. I know I'd probably enjoy Jane Eyre now, but I can't force myself to pick it up.
I also spent a long time fully bought-in to the academic snobbery. I could circumvent it for fantasy and sci-fi since I grew up in a house that valued those genres highly, but I didn't read contemporary fiction until I got curious enough to read Where the Crawdads Sing when the movie was coming out (and even then I went in expecting to think it was an awful book - turns out I loved it). I spent a very long time reading for improvement instead of enjoyment.
Great video man
Thank you for making so much sense. I think we might be sharing brain waves!
I thought this video was going to be about mood-reading-associated decision paralysis, which is what makes it hard for me to read what I want 😂
Loving your energy 😊
Oh man, to add onto the conversation at around the 17 minute mark, I get so confused about people that give me snobby vibes bc I read ebooks, worse I alternate between ebooks and audio books and sometimes both at once! Gasp!
I feel like telling them that I understand that the only reason they pick up a book is so that everyone else can see them holding a book,
But I'm just here for entertainment. Sometimes thought provoking and inspiring, and sometimes a novel equivalent to a cheesy popcorn scary movie. I'm just here for a good time haha.
In my Freshman Year of High School I had to read Shakespeare and it killed my love of reading. I hated Romeo and Juliet so much I didn't touch another book for almost 5 years. Comparing that to 7th grade where I read both the Hunger Games and Maze Runner trilogies in the same month, it was bad...
I get it! I personally love Shakespeare, but it really should not be mandatory for kids. I would love to see Hunger Games is schools instead...but that's possibly a controversial choice.
Great breakdown, and I love your shirt. 💛
I just found your channel! What a great surprise. You just gained a new suscriber
The biggest thing I've seen driving "reading pressure" is what will help people grow their social media presence... There's a bit of an echo chamber online around the big authors (Sanderson, SJM, etc), and if you never talk about them, you're unlikely to grow your channel or instagram or what not. I think there's some merit in trying them and giving your honest opinion so you can cement your reading taste and allow a community to help find other books in alignment with it. And, sometimes an initial bump in views/likes while talking about popular books is all you need, and then you can continue on with lesser known books once you have a following! But i definitely see some content creators stuck in a cycle of speaking about the same series over and over again, and while we can all blame the algorithm, it's driven by what gets people to click, and fanservice is an easy way to engagement. I really don't blame creators for using whatever means they can to grow an audience, just as long as it's not a detriment to their own enjoyment!!
I also have to send a BIG hug over the religious discussion... My father is a minister, but he's just as big a nerd as I am. His books were stacked with Anne McCaffery and Asimov when I was a kid, and he owns a nicer set of Harry Potter than I do. I wish everyone had that experience, but so many people use religion as a means of control and limitation and it's heartbreaking. I'm glad you bucked against it and followed your passions!!
Such a thoughtful comment!
Yes as a youtuber it's challenging to try to grow an online presence without resorting to click-bait topics. I've tried to avoid it where possible and hope that people will appreciate the integrity instead. I just find it frustrating that everyone focuses on their own opinion of the book, like they're the one true source of enlightenment! 😁
But that affect on readers can resort in a ton of pressure. Not everyone has to worry about views and subscriber rates!
Also thank you, my friend. I return that hug! ❤
My reading pressures are all my own fault. 😅
I keep joining bookclubs, Discords and Patreons. So I end up with 3-4 books a month that have been selected, and then there's all the side chats/discussions about other books 😳.
But I like a wide array of genres and writing styles, so it generally works out and I enjoy the books.
I don’t have trouble choosing what I want to read but getting my hands on the books I want is a problem. A distressingly large number of authors have gone out of print and (the ones I’ve been seeking recently) are not plentiful in the market. On top of that when I do find them, they’re being price gouged.
Last year there was a three volume set of short stories by Robert Bloch I wanted. But very few listings and most listings wanted $300 per volume… these are paperbacks from the 80s. I did eventually acquire them for much more reasonable prices because I’m patient and diligent in my quest.
Note: I wasn’t being picky about the set. I wanted the collected short stories of that author and this was the only complete collection I could find
Thank you, I appreciate this!
Are you not going to make a video on The Lightbringer Series? and good luck for your future book series
HA! You're asking that question and your name is Andross Guile. That's amazing! 🤣🤣🤣
Sadly I've dropped Lightbringer from my schedule for now. 😫 But I'll include it somewhere ASAP. Long story short, I've thrown my entire six month plan out the window so I can get my books written. Once they're written, I'll revisit the schedule. I think that'll be in May. Fingers crossed!
@@cronkthebookguy what on Orlahams itchy nutsack😢😭, but remember where you have to start from once the schedule is back 👍👍
Awesome video! 🙏
Just, thank you !
As a scientist I can vouch that writing a fiction book is waaaaay harder than writing a non-fiction one. Non fiction takes hard work, yes, and forming new ideas and hypothesis is not easy, but sweet baby potatoes, the amount of creativity, emotional intelligence and sheer stubbornness needed for completing a novel! At least I don't have to think about hitting just the right amount of tension between my methodology and results sections for a good pay-off in the discussion :)
I grew up in a very religious family. I wasn’t allowed to read Harry Potter either !! I think it might do the opposite….i read a lot of smut….and alot of fantasy novels!
Hello Book Guy! Thank you for the message in your video today. It really struck a chord with me. I picked up Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb to start the Realm of the Elderings series. Ive heard so many good things about the series and was influenced to try it. Im on the struggle buss, though. Half-way through book 1 and I'm bored. Ill stick it out for the 1st trilogy in hopes that it captures my attention eventually. Otherwise, I'll DNF the series. And thars okay 😊. Read what you like, right?
Hello friend! I'm thrilled that you're reading Assassin's Apprentice. Yes it's definitely a slower book. Robin Hobb writes a lot of deep characters first and foremost, before she adds in plot and worldbuilding.
If you DNF that book, you could try the Liveship Traders. It's a trilogy set in the same world, but I feel like it's much better. She had more practice writing at this point.
I am an adult but I read lots of middle grade and YA books as well as adult ones. Albert Einstein said that if you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. Books are for everyone.
i'm actually the opposite where the more a book is talked about the less i want to read it. No rhyme or reason for it.
That's interesting. Have you ever heard of 'demand avoidance'? It's a neurodivergent trait of deliberately opposing a demand because you can't stand to be told what to do.
i have not heard of this, but it's pretty spot on LOL@@cronkthebookguy
Berserk is a romantic fantasy, and guys love it
Please please please read and do Kings of the Wyld!
That book is on my shelf, waiting for me to read it! It'll happen.
@@cronkthebookguy yaaaaaas. It is so cleverly written and one of the only books to ever have me actually laughing out loud
Just discovered your channel and I LOVE IT. Do you have any other social media or do you mostly post here? Ty for your wonderful content!! ❤
Thank you! Unfortunately I only have my patreon. I'm terrible at social media, as you can see from how I took 13 days to reply to this. 😁 But it's something I'm thinking about.
@@cronkthebookguy if you ever make social media profiles, even if you just post snippets of your vids, I'd love to follow you! So I hope you can be persuaded >:)
What do you think about book apps ? Such as Goodreads ?
What is this book you speak of that has both dragons and space ships?
Haha um....I may have unintentionally referenced an idea I have for a book that I want to write one day...
This is a great vid. will You make a video on Michelle West and her epic fantasy series.