Reading Is Different Now

I feel like this isn’t a reading issue. It’s a social media is awful problem. If you get sucked in, it WILL ruin the reading experience. But it also creates opportunities to connect with readers we never would have. I mean, just look at the comment section here ❤

"Talking about the same books over and over and over and over again...", says Merphy while Lies of Locke Lamora sloooowly rises up from behind her 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 (sorry Merph! 😂)

As someone whose main hobby is reading and who sets aside a good chunk of the day for it, I've gotten so many snotty replies when talking about in real life - the classics "you must not be doing anything else with your life" and "that's so cute, I could never find the time for that" and my favourite, proudly stating "I haven't touched a book since middle school". I've found pretty much the same replies in the comments of book-related content. No matter how much or how little you read, whether you like physical or audio or ebooks, or you subscribe to a hundred other preferences, someone's gonna pop up to tell you you're doing it wrong. It's heartening to find someone talking about it in such a chill way as in this video. You're one of the very few people I've come across online with the "you can read how you want, i'm gonna read how I want and we're all good" vibe and it's the reason I love your channel ♥

When your hobby becomes your job, it is no longer a hobby. And when your hobby is your personality, it becomes a challenge to your personality when people do that hobby differently.

As someone who fell out of reading books a bit, I always assumed that people were falling out of reading too cause of so much other visual media out there. I am just happy that its still trendy and thriving

I'm so glad reading is trendy - the more people picking up books, the better. Content creation is a job like any other; if it's making someone unhappy and stressed out, it's time to change. That said, I believe the consumerism in the bookish space is absurd. I've seen content creators buy entire series when they haven't even read the first book to know if they enjoy it. I believe books are meant to be cracked, written in, loved, read, and given away, but not everyone agrees. But at the end of the day, reading snobs are nothing new, and I just want people reading.

I actually find the ‘competition’ and goal setting on goodreads changed my habits for the better. It allows me to justify setting aside time each day and prioritizing it in my otherwise busy life. If it weren’t for booktubers like Merph I probably wouldn’t have got back into reading in such a substantial way, thank you!

The voice switch when Merph said "you haven't read this book? Ha I've read it twice" killed me 🤣 Also, without Booktube (specifically Merph and Daniel Greene) I probably never would have gotten back into reading, found some of my new favorite stories, or started writing my own book.

Any time a group or activity becomes "us vs them," it spoils it. Preserve the joy of reading as a social activity by being compassionate and inclusive. 💙

I agree. Reading is, to me, a solitary activity, and the challenge is always to find enough uninterrupted alone time to get absorbed in what I’m reading. The only social activity related to reading that I enjoy is discussing books with friends. The online book community seems a little … frenzied. How many books do you read? Have you read this book? This series? Are you following this author on Twitter? Are you a patron; did you read the ARC of their forthcoming book? How do you rate your books? How can you tell if you’re rating them fairly? Are you part of this this online book reading group? Or this one? Reading should be less accountable.

I'm sixty-four and read more than ever (I can't wait to retire). Unfortunately, in my neck of the woods, I don't come across many readers (they're mainly Netflix and Prime junkies). Therefore, Book Tube is a breath of fresh air. A very pertinent video. Thank you.

This was a fantastic video! I do find it kind of funny that the place I feel free with my reading is at university studying literature, where I anticipated to be judged for reading genre fiction etc, and the place I feel judged and measured the most is online lol Also, I completely agree about the idea that almost all of this has existed forever. My dad is 60 years old, never talks to anyone outside of the house about reading, but the man loves setting aside the day to reorganise the bookshelves throughout their house just for himself to sit back and appreciate. But if bookstagram existed back when he was young, I'm sure he would have been all over it. Since starting booktube, bookstagram etc, I found myself trying to conform to what is expected, and instead have now abandoned this romanticised vision of reading, and try to embrace the complete averageness of sitting down and reading lol.

I feel like an outsider in this conversation, first on Daniel's video on this and now yours. I literally can't remember the last time I actually had a conversation about reading with someone, even online. None of my friends read really and most of my interaction with readers online is just looking for recommendations and occasional bits of sleuthing like with Cosmere connections etc.

I think there's nothing wrong with romantizicing a hobby (I.e. redecorating your bookshelves to make them look pretty, taking pictures of your favourite passages in books) ☺

"pressure to meet reading goals sometimes means you feel like you can't naturally ebb and flow out of your hobby" THAT HITS OMG. Feeling guilty for being behind on a goal because I've had an intense few weeks at work or because I've gotten into a video game or show... my goodness! That captures it so well!

All the social media performance aside, I love the way books and stories change and adapt with the culture and new technology, it evolves right alongside us and reflects the events, ideas and problems of the time the stories were told

oh, reading the short books and feeling guilty - that hit home. you are so right that people should just focus on their own business, but that would require (gasp) introspection :)

I'm so glad booktube exists, I got such great reccomendations from you and other booktubers. And sure, some of the content is "clickbaity", but it is easy to find the one which suits you. I don't watch bookhauls (and any other hauls), specificly to not promote the more consumerism side of things, but it doesn't mean I think people are wrong making them. Let's all chill and enjoy whatever we want to enjoy. Also, nobody is forced to watch anything. I have the feeling the drama queens are drown to drama content, and then they complain it exist...

It’s really confusing to me that “aesthetic” reading bothers people so much. I kind of just view it as a parallel hobby. For example, I keep a book journal. I put a lot of time into it to make it look very aesthetically pleasing. But it doesn’t have anything to do with trying to become “a reader”. It’s because I like making and looking at beautiful things. I like to read but I also like to be creative, and because I spend so much time reading, books often become the source of inspiration for creative projects. That’s always what I assume when I see those beautifully curated Instagram photos or someone who spends so much time annotating or painting their books’ edges. Reading has inspired them to be creative in other ways and they’re just sharing that experience. Why can’t we just let people enjoy things!!!

I partly think that’s also just part of making any hobby into a career. Take any hobby and add a monetary reward to it and it’s going to make it less enjoyable over time.