Booktok and anti-intellectualism (ft. 'the booktokers who don't read')

[@accordingtoalina]

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[@manupriyairakam]

I also feel like slow reading is being looked down upon and reading is being treated as a competition or some race. Especially with the rise in booktok and bookstagram, the more the person reads the more their content is craved. Reading is a developed taste which is acquired with a lot of trial and error on our own. I do not enjoy a few genres but on the other hand feed onto some other type of genre. It took me my whole teenage to figure what i like. Reading is not a game. And lately it is being treated as a game.

[@eevieee]

yes! a competition on who has the most reads in a year. the rise of a few reading apps like storygraph and fable gamifying this as well, giving you graphical represnetation of how you've done over time. I honestly don't know how to feel about it. It's fun on the one hand, but it just fuels the urgency to consume more, I think.

[@Booksociopath]

True I am a slow reader and I think I am not good enough when I see other people reading goals

[@evanescentnecsenave]

@@eevieeeTHIS!!!

[@evanescentnecsenave]

@@Booksociopath real omg 😭😭😭

[@ose5226]

​@@Booksociopath In January, i set my goal at 20. It's dec. 1 and i've only read about 8. I feel so strange seeing people read 20-50 books per month. I feel like i should be reading more, but i have a life

[@Flaulicower]

I don't know if it counts as skimming a page, but often when I'm so hooked into the story I catch myself looking at the bottom of a page and accidentally spoiling myself, to the point I have to cover the rest of the page with my hand 😅

[@breadiskool6449]

This is not skimming, in fact I would consider this to be the exact opposite. This is a sign that you truly are absorbing the book and are fiending for more. Its like taking huge gulps of a milkshake so you can truly be immersed into the milkshake and absorb the flavor.

[@imgunnagetyou]

covering the page with your hand is so REAL LMAOOAOAOAO

[@evanescentnecsenave]

OMG MEEEEEE

[@aries_nomadreader]

That happens when it gets really really interesting and our mind is too curious 😅

[@imgunnagetyou]

@@ville-c4u me did

[@XZeroDragoonX]

I think there's a difference between skimming, say, in an academic setting for an academic purpose over reading and recommending entertainment pieces as a content creator that likes to brag about 300+ books a year. Skimming is absolutely a skill and necessary too--and some overwritten books are deserving of having some lines (or in egregious cases, paragraphs) skimmed. BUT, I will say its strange how every low-effort wattpad fanfic being praised as the pinnacle of fiction is being followed by "Lol I actually skip to the dialogue exclusively". It's starting to make a lot of sense... On a side note, if there are readers that care about dialogue exclusively, then why are they buying 600+ page chapter books instead of looking into Manga/Comics or even just playing Visual Novels? Those are quite literally dialogue driven mediums I don't understand why anyone would pick up any book structured with prose and then try to force it to be something it's not?

[@justsayin...1158]

They could also read stage plays, where stage instructions often are just the bare minimum descriptions and the rest is exclusively dialogue. This would also allow them to tap into classical literature a little bit, while reading something in a style they presumably enjoy.

[@bobcat420]

This comment should be pinned

[@june756]

This❤

[@brattrox2939]

My exact thoughts

[@rticle15]

Agreed. There are plenty of books with rapid punchy formatting if people want to race through a novel.

[@daughterofyith5393]

The problem here isn't that they're reading what they like how they like. The problem is that they make brands around it, and prop themselves up as these accomplished readers when they in fact don't even read full books.

[@anaxluisa]

Exactly, they make a brand out of their reading, make money out of it and influence people with their opinions, and then proceed to lie about said reading and non-existing opinions. Just another day in influencer land, really 😂

[@KindredKaye]

Not even just that. So many of these popular books are terribly written. I never would have said this before this new craze of poorly edited and poorly written trash. I’m not even talking about Colleen Hoover- I’m talking about haunting Adeline. That’s a “book” that should never have been published. It’s at best, a rough draft and even so bad, the author had to fully re-edit it before it was reprinted this past summer/autumn. This is not be being anti-romance or anti-smut. I’m anti spewing out bad content that people are expected to pay money for.

[@katelynharrison3779]

@@KindredKayeYES🙌🏼 There has been a major influx of poorly written books just pushed out without proper editing and it’s driving me insane! Everything is following the same basic plot of every other book in its genre (looking at you fantasy, or actually romantasy😵‍💫), no thought is put into the craft itself, and do editors even exist anymore?? I’d consider myself a very picky reader, mostly because I love writing and story crafting in general, but these days if it’s from booktok there’s a good chance it’s absolute trash. There are very few booktubers whose opinions I trust. Authors are just in it for the money these days, and we can blame social media for blowing up books that don’t deserve the hype.😵‍💫

[@KindredKaye]

@@katelynharrison3779 I am an editor, but a lot of indie clients either don't want to pay for a proper editor or think they should be able to edit themselves because they were good enough to write the book in the first place. Yes, its expensive to hire an editor, but we are such a critical part of the writing process. I just finished reading a book I bought at barnes and noble and the author managed to misspell the main character's name. It's a book that was published through "hybrid" publishing, which is like self publishing, but you pay for someone to sell it in a traditional store. edit: and I don't mean to belittle authors here. Every author needs a good, trained editor. Self-edits can only get you so far

[@KindredKaye]

^I would also like to add in, a lot of my clients are men. I would say at least 1/4. Most of them are just in it to make a quick buck and it's horrible how many of them tell me what women want from romance novels. (Especially considering they are hiring me, a woman who is an expert in the genre.) I've tried to tell them not to add in some of the horrible tropes, but they're just like "well it's what's been proven to sell!" I genuinely think some of them believe women are stupid.

[@KellyLoom1s]

Confession: I skimmed so many pages about the French sewer system in Les Miserables.

[@accordingtoalina]

This made me giggle

[@unpretentious_book_talk]

I seem to recall a 9 page description of a particular Parisian street, and a 60+ page dissertation on the battle of Waterloo - and thinking that only the last couple pages of that Waterloo chapter had any relevance to the story.

[@JustCmonTakeABreak]

Sacrilège 😂

[@alyssablunt7014]

As a french girl who had to read Hugo in class, I feel you 😅 I love his stories but cant read them. Just like Tolkein and for the same reasons

[@relaxingsleepstudyaudio7378]

When I read queens gambit I didn’t read most of the chess playing because I had no clue what was going on. Read some but not all. That was a very good book.

[@skygirl-xn1bw]

I can’t help but to think this all circles back & is related to our culture of overconsumption as well. Faster you go through a book, sooner you can buy more & move onto another book. Who cares about the writing? Just get to a point so I can move onto another book. These book influencers are just another means to reach out to ppl to buy more whether they are doing it willingly or not.

[@angelinaz8132]

that swhy I started reading on my kindle more, at least I try to before buying any books

[@MaximilianReyCartwright]

Nailed it. The population has been groomed into peak consumers who ravenously buy whatever is put in front of them only to cast it aside moments later in order to buy the next thing. It's all about purchasing, not at all about appreciating or understanding. Perfect corporate-sponsored lemmings.

[@Dachusblot]

To me what upsets me about those videos is not the fact that they are reading fast or skimming, but that they're basically bragging about it. It's just weird and infuriating to see people who are supposed to like books complain about books being books??? To me it's just another manifestation of an issue that has plagued our whole society for decades, where displaying sincere interest or passion for something intelligent is seen as boring and uncool, but bragging about how much you hate intelligent stuff makes you cool. I'm not saying these women are unintelligent: it's that they're putting on a performance of unintelligence.

[@Bunn77]

Yeah, it’s like they want the “cool reader vibe” while actually hating the hobby itself, in a “I-hate-reading-but-I’ll-pretend-to-like-it-so-I-can-profit-off-it-and-look-cute kinda way.

[@Emily19677]

It’s the same group of people (let’s be real, group of women) who bragged about not reading and calling people who enjoyed reading in middle/high school nerds and boring. Now that it’s “trendy” to read these fanfiction-level writing books, it’s acceptable and cute. Honestly kind of insulting, “well at least they’re reading,” well, they’re not? They’re skimming and reading only for the popular parts seen on TikTok.

[@Dachusblot]

@@Emily19677 Yup, you nailed it. Nothing drives me more crazy than people who act proud of being purposefully stupid.

[@rticle15]

I love art. I sprint through twenty museums a month.

[@rticle15]

​@Dachusblot it's an American pastime.

[@zoebrugg7594]

I'm a writer and slow reader; this hurts. Collage did burn me out and hit my reading habit hard, but I blame teck for training us to expecting things faster and getting things more immediately. One reason I hate TikTok and shorts and prefer KZbin long content.

[@katsmith8263]

Collage or college

[@sophiethepegasus]

That's why I get so annoyed by KZbin shoving short form content at me. I completely agree w all of this- I think there is value in slow media. I think part of the reason I like literature is that no one really... gets to have an opinion. I'm not doing it for anyone other than me. I'll likely never receive an income from it and that's GOOD

[@sophiethepegasus]

Damn there are some cunts in this comment section. Don't mind them

[@zoebrugg7594]

@@katsmith8263 Dyslexia kicks me every time with that one.

[@RenegadeWanderer]

​@@zoebrugg7594 I'm dyslexic as well! I also have mental and physical health problems, deal with fatigue, and can get really distracted. If I'm gonna read a book, I'm gonna commit to it rather than skimming and skipping large portions. (I do minor skimming that saves me a small amount of time.) I sometimes will rush at times, but I'm trying to stop because I have to go back later and re-read those sections. I'm not a huge reader, but I still enjoy it. I read to learn and enjoy, not for social media or to boast about. To hear these booktokers complain is beyond insane to me!

[@FourEyedFrenchman]

I became a professional skimmer in college when I had multiple courses and assignments and a job to juggle. I graduated several years ago now, and since then I've been revisiting some of the books I was assigned in college and have been really taking my time with them. When I was a student (I majored in American History), I didn't always see why we were assigned a book or what made it valuable, but these slow re-reads have shown me why my professors believe these books are worthwhile and important. Slow reading has also proven to be an excellent form of free talk therapy, and I've come to appreciate the value of slowing down and smelling the flowers, so to speak. Knowing how to move through a text quickly and gathering important ideas, themes, and arguments is a useful skill, but one doesn't fully appreciate the art until one slows down and takes some time to appreciate all the little details that compose the big picture.

[@Booksociopath]

Slow reading 📚 actually makes you insert that book in your personality

[@ConnieFWill]

@@ville-c4u me

[@eviesmith6761]

I felt this on a personal level. For me, high school was what got me started on the skimming route. In one AP English course-can’t remember what-the teacher actually recommended skimming when presented with super long passages so we can at least get an answer down. Now, in college, I’m having to unlearn all of that, because I’ve realized how little joy I’m getting from the actual writing of the book. It’s lowkey a little tough to break that habit, but it feels a lot more fulfilling to just sit with a book for a while.

[@teddiespicker]

@@Booksociopath now why did you have to call me out 😭

[@brownplans4748]

Love that explanation. I am the same. Through uni and graduate school, I just skimmed and highlighted key components and would read enough to help me memorize and regurgitate when needed (tests, exams, projects, etc) but I didn’t take time to really read it. Now as an adult, when reading different genres and lengths of books, im truly taking my time and note-taking. Because there isn’t a rush or high stakes on finishing it, I have more time to enjoy and really dissect each book. Some books I can finish in a day, other books may take weeks, it just depends on how much you’re getting from it. Thanks for your perspective

[@Copotency]

The problem isn't skimming a read. The issue is giving an opinion to sway someone towards or away from a book that wasn't read or internalized by the reader before giving an opinion. Let's call it what it is- lying for profit.

[@alisonrae]

With a 9-5, working out, socializing, other hobbies, and therapy... I managed to read 21 books last year. I'm shocked that some people claim that they read 300 books a year 😅

[@Aubrey-o2x]

As a student with extracurriculars and hobbies up the wazzoo who read 40 in 2024 I definitely feel u

[@st4rboy.y]

i’m a full time student who suffers from depression and anxiety and i only read 7, so it’s okay, it’a not a competition🫶🫶🫶

[@lauren2898]

I work 8-5, workout 1hr 5x a week, socialise and have several other hobbies alongside growing a little human and I managed 168 books none of which were novellas or audio. I set aside time purposely for reading 🙂

[@shealynnmichelle]

I’m a full time working mom to an absolutely FERAL toddler 😅 So much so that I can only read when she goes to bed for the night. I read 20 books in 2024 (not counting the endless children’s book for my 3 year old) & I’m so proud of myself! 300 books is just an insane number to me!

[@PrismBreak32]

​@@lauren2898 wow you're so great

[@Scipio0404]

I don't think there's anything wrong with skimming in certain context. But imo it's weird as hell that someone picks up a book they like for recreational purposes, then they just ignore 60% of it. At that point just watch a show, but hey you do you idgaf

[@joanaribeiro2234]

This might be the same people that watch shows on 1.5 speed so 😂

[@metamaus5701]

​@@joanaribeiro2234More like people who skip half of the episodes in a season. 😅

[@theblueiMe]

the tiktoker who said 'i dont care what everyone looks like and what are they wearing,' maybe she is just reading the wrong kinds of books. maybe that particular author is just not for her and she needs to find someone with a different writing style

[@bekichan91]

Yeah, if you're reading for fun and find yourself skimming most of it, it may be worth trying something else.

[@lvzyours]

Maybe she needs to get into play script books

[@RatinaKFCdeepfryer]

Get this woman some comics 💀

[@ronweasley496]

That a literally my fav part

[@theharbinger7206]

A common trend I’ve seen in booktock books is those big, unwieldy, paragraph long descriptions of a character’s appearance when they’re first introduced. If it’s in reference to that, I’m totally on her side. She needs to read better-written books

[@oliviabarker1346]

i love your takes because they are nuanced and not just a regurgitation of what everyone else has already said. i haven't heard anyone else bring up how being a book influencer affects their reading. i mean i do think it's sad that being a book influencer has lead to people reading less to make us believe that they're reading more but there's nothing i can do 🤷🏾‍♀️

[@Booksociopath]

Agreed

[@ariluvrr]

That’s a pretty common talking point actually

[@chopperj007]

No, if you're a reviewer and that's how you earn your living, you don't skip or skim books, even if it's a bad book or it's not grabbing you. You've signed up for this, so you should read it carefully, that's how you get an honest review. Your reviews are no longer trustworthy if you're skimming or skipping whole sections and paragraphs. There could be something amazing that you'll miss.

[@MaximilianReyCartwright]

This is fine in theory, but it demands and expects both the reviewer and the audience to have moral scruples: a commodity in ever shorter supply as time wears on. Fact is, nobody cares. None of this crap is about reviewing books or honesty anyway. It's all simply part of the endless cycles of consumption our entire culture has been inducted into by corporate powers.

[@just_a_fan4594]

What is the most annoying thing with people who skips some part or skim through the whole book is that sometimes they're going to complain about thing never getting brought up again or that some questions weren't answered when those things happened they just skipped it. Because of this they give bad reviews when they're wrong everything was in the book, they just didn't bother to read those parts.

[@chopperj007]

@just_a_fan4594 definitely. But although I disagree with it and don't understand it, being a reader myself, it is their perogative. Personally, if I don't like a book, I don't skip, I just DNF and I won't write a book review for DNF, it's just not my kind of thing. However, reviewers, earning money from it, this behaviour is disgusting.

[@just_a_fan4594]

@chopperj007 I totally agree

[@dekuisagreatmaincharacter]

6:22 Ever heard of Portuguese author José Saramago? He writes paragraphs that are pages long and doesn’t highlight his dialogue with quotation marks or paragraph breaks, he just puts everything in giant chunks of text. He’s the anti-booktok.

[@accordingtoalina]

I’m reading The Cave right now!!

[@joseabanto3901]

Try Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor. It feels like a stream of consciousness.

[@miguelbranquinho7235]

Hate that style of writing! Let me know when they're talking before I complete the sentence damn it!

[@evieblue959]

Not for me! I read No Country for Old Men a few years ago and it drove me nuts. It’s cool, but I prefer my prose conventionally punctuated.

[@mariaradu2644]

for me nothing beats re-reading a page/chapter and even slowing down towards the end when reading a good book... anything so it doesn't end!!

[@Noxsie75]

I sometimes think my eyes move faster than my brain so for description heavy paragraphs, I often go back and read again just to ensure I haven't missed anything important or interesting

[@justmartine]

When you read a good quotation and so you reread it like 5 times so it just keeps hitting *chef's kiss*

[@daydream1066]

For me if the book is getting really intense I actually read faster because I’m soooo into it 😅. But I do love rereading books because that’s when I slow way down and enjoy it more than the first time around and pick up on the smaller things which is awesome! 😊

[@horse_chestnut2359]

@@daydream1066I also re-read books later in life again too for the nostalgia but also for the newer perspective of a new chapter in life---I catch so much more that way than I did when I was a child.

[@Valaloki]

Sometimes i put down a book for days because i don't want to finish it so fast lol

[@monster-enthusiast]

Naw this is bonkers. I've said similar things about people who hate prologues, but why do they hate having more book in their books????? "There's so many words." That's the whole thing, babe. You bought the book yourself. Like ?????? "I only read dialgoue." Then read a comic. I turly don't understand people who don't care about the little things either. That's the story. It matters. And I myself was a book hater until Jr. Year of highschool because reading was difficult for me. And it's still hard. But I love stories, and if I'm picking up a book I'm fully aware that it's just words and won't have pictures. And I feel like these folks would genuinely be better off with a visual medium, but I feel there's this level of superiority that comes with books as a medium. Like they don't have the vibes off "ugh, I don't have the energy," they have the vibe of "this work is beneath me."

[@anaxluisa]

That's what I was thinking. If you don't care about anything other than the dialogue in a book, you either want to read plays or comics/manga, or you actually want to watch a movie/TV show, like 😂

[@sophiecharlotte3043]

I am pretty sure that the girl complaining about the amount of pages is the one reading Six of crows. The video is purposefully cropped. In the full video she explains that she is reading the book on her kindle. It’s not that she is complaining about too many words in her book, the format just doesn’t work for her. Sure, she could have chosen better words, but still, she doesn’t deserve any hate for simply admitting that a printed format doesn’t work as well as a kindle for her.

[@Hadeshy]

​@@lasennuidon't you mistake prologue and preface? Cuz prologues are part of the story, not unnecessary words added to it. All books with prologue that I've read would loose lot of sense if you just cut the prologue out of it.

[@Hadeshy]

@lasennui That's so dumb on the editor part, wtf. A prologue is supposed to be part of the story, not bonus content, and forcing one has zero purpose. A book isn't better from having a prologue >_> And if said prologue doesn't serve the story, I'd argue it makes it worse.

[@KindredKaye]

@@lasennuiprologue and interdiction are two different things. Prologue is a part of the story. Introduction is additional meta-textual information (background on author or book or translation.)

[@Rinniantoinette]

I have skimmed books but it’s mainly skipping through the “spicy/smutty” parts. I’m getting bored of them and I just want to get back to the plot. Sometimes there’s too many chapters that are spicy 🤷‍♀️. It gets repetitive and doesn’t really bring anything to the plot so I skip it sometimes.

[@bekichan91]

I skip the smutty parts when I've picked up a book I didn't know was smutty and now I'm invested with the story. Wish the authors could be more transparent without amazon surpressing them

[@someonewho]

Yeah I’m a big smut skipper just bc I don’t care for it

[@JANUARY396]

I got really curious about the rise of 'smut' and tried to speak to people who primarily read this type of writing (like romances with a lot of hot scenes) and I have made some observations. Of course, I may be wrong but I feel a lot of people lack carnal passion and satisfaction in day to day life, and reading about it allows them to feel some of it in a kind of 'safe' setting of their head. Also, I think many people are lonely and crave some type of relationship, reading about a hot bad boy with a golden heart that only has eyes for one woman also may help to feel some of this 'love' and fill that void. It can skew our perception of what to expect from real people but certainly helps to escape from reality. I should know, I'm a massive rom-com aficionado and my expectations from men are unrealistic 😂 on the other hand, I don't really like too much smut, slow burn and one believable intimate scene is enough, especially if it feels realistic and earned. I've read SJ Maas and love making scenes on every other page in the sky, with wings, with massively endowed fairies hot men were just too much, actually funny after a while 😅

[@Emgee78]

I thought I was the only one who did this. I still eat up spicy/juicy parts when I indulge in fanfic for some odd reason, but when it comes to books, I just can't get thru them without tittering to myself. I don't know how I got like this.

[@MusicalErika]

Yeah, I skip the smut for sure. I'd rather read about everything else going on. Same with skipping sex scenes in tv and movies.

[@Adelynoir]

Completely agree. There is nothing wrong with reading romance. Romance is not a 'lesser genre' many of the great works of literature are romance or have romantic elements: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Hights, Midsummer Night's Dream, Rebecca. Romance has been a genre that has pushed the boundaries of literature. Dracula, The Monk, Pamela, Cecilia, A Scicilian Romance, Camilla. Great art has long been made to immortalize romance. With that, bad art too. Both are important parts of literature. Now, my problem with booktok is how its existence has PUSHED the idea of Romance as cheap literature. Romance books used to be well written at least. Look at the 60-90s harlequin romances. They have plots, are moderatley well researched, ect. But Booktok has promoted, to put it simply, badly written trash, to the forefront. That is the expectation for what romance is: simple sentences, grammar errors, spelling mistakes, no editing. I love fanfiction. I like reading thenromance stories people publish for free online to be consumed thoughtlessly because they are fun. Some of them are so well written they should be published! But those are free, those dont have an editor or a publisher behined them. Then theybpromote anti intellectualism by saying it is morally wrong to criticize literature. That things purchased with hard earned money should just be thoughtlessly consumed. Smile nicelessly while we pour gasoline down your throat instead of champagne. Isnt it nice? No. Booktok is being criticized more because they refuse dialogue. Let them burn in the spotlight they set upon themselves.

[@ariannatorres3799]

"Let them burn in the spotlight they set up on themselves" so nicely put!

[@DarksideGmss0513]

I just found out one of my favorite fantasy authors Ed Greenwood also wrote a lot of Harlequin Romance books under a pseudonym. He won't say which one he wrote and what his pseudonym was.

[@Stephanie.Hudson]

I agree with a lot of this. As someone who fell in love with the romance genre before you could publish your own books, there is a difference in the genre from that time to now. I don’t necessarily think it’s all bad as some books would have been too much for traditional publishing (dark romance). I do see a push to read books that I would classify as erotica, which used to be a sub genre of romance but I feel has now just been absorbed and labeled as romance. I’ve also found that many content creators are reading books so fast (to get to the next one, keep up, or just have more content) that they aren’t retaining what they read. More and more I’m seeing people say that they have to reread a book before they can continue with a series because they don’t remember any of it. Some blame this on the amount of books they read but I wonder if it’s because they rush the reading experience. Growing up, my school would test reading retention. It was a huge deal and it taught me to slow down and enjoy the experience. Ironically, somewhere in my 20s I went from being able to read 100 books a year to not because I could no longer comprehend what I was reading at that pace, so I slowed down. We also need to keep in mind that some people are reading via audiobooks at 3x speed which also makes me wonder if retention is possible at that speed. For some possibly, definitely not me.

[@aspillust]

that last line goes insane, holy crap, you should be a writer

[@taverner.]

The Atlantic's editor-in-chief has always liked that "the sky is falling" brand of journalism, even before the rise of social media. His old coverage of global politics was already like that.

[@accordingtoalina]

that’s so interesting, thank you for sharing ❤

[@WhatsWrongWithTheStreet]

I was a subscriber to The Atlantic for many years. I quit about 2010 or so. The writers I liked were all gone and the content was so petulant I couldn't take it.

[@bramstokerfan]

I give them the benefit of the doubt. I think theyre just picking bad books. Theres so many books being mass produced for money only. That has an impact on how enjoyable they are. Combining this booktok situation with the study about college students is kinda silly bc college students have slacked on reading since the dawning of college.

[@BinatiSheth]

Yes!!! -They are picking bad books. -All college students hit lazy-moods.

[@noidentification25]

I don’t think it’s silly at all. I’ve had people in college [think entire courses] complaining that professors assigned books instead of short-term content, arguing they can’t get through it. There used to be a few in each course but the numbers have gotten bigger over the years and to say it’s “kind of silly” goes against the first-hand experience of many professors from different parts of the world, not just the US 😅 this is combined with worsening school standards in terms of matching students’ [not accessibility reasons] lowering reading comprehension, and for some schools teaching the alphabet in a way that makes students guess the words and not understanding the phonetics well [I forgot the name of this] So it’s a lot of factors together

[@bramstokerfan]

@@noidentification25 it's kinda silly :P

[@noidentification25]

@@bramstokerfan Looking back at my comment I just want to clarify something: I’m not saying booktok is the source of all evil, like the creator of this video I agree that this is part of a bigger problem like I said when it comes to education policies

[@bramstokerfan]

@@noidentification25 yeah i understand your opinion. i don't agree with it. i don't really agree with her opinions in the video but i respect that she's trying to think about and philosophize about the world/society.

[@kaylachristenson9664]

I do KZbin book reviews and am a slow reader (with three kids and little time) so I sometimes feel behind! This is so validating because I love reading but have never been a “fast reader.

[@dreyk4717]

While I rlly dislike the idea of skimming books, every time I read any contemporary romance book, the dialogue is always much stronger than the descriptions so I can't really blame romance readers for their habits. In many romance novels, you can still understand the entire story without looking into internal dialogue, while the same thing wouldn't work in other genres. People who almost exclusively read romance approach these books for entertainment (this is not a diss, it's the entire point of the genre) but because of that mindset, they often do not know how to tackle different books.

[@sameenmehdi2671]

Not true. Romance isn’t simply for entertainment. There is a lot of intellectual value to romance novels especially if you pick up Jane Austen, The Bronte sisters or now Sally Rooney. Love is such a complex emotion that deserves to be looked at just as intellectually:( It saddens me how it’s become so watered down now..

[@falsegoodnight]

​@@sameenmehdi2671 Bronte sisters or Sally Rooney books are not romance. They have a romantic plot but that does not make them romance. The Bronte sisters wrote a gothic. I know that in English there is no good reference to the genre but SR writes high literature (I hate that in English it is simply fiction). if every author who has a romantic plot in their books is a romance writer, then suddenly we should be calling every author a romance writer

[@forkyfork]

The dialogue is definitely stronger, because romance is very character focused. The explanatory details don't matter because we're here for how the characters are going to interact and ultimately fall in love. I'm excluding romantic subgenres like romantasy and the like.. Also there's nothing wrong with saying books are there for entertainment value. Just because something is entertaining doesn't mean it's not valuable or meaningful.

[@slidenaway]

@@ville-c4u bro you need to get a life instead of copy/pasting "who asked" to reply to every comment here

[@xanvask5142]

You are right but this also applies to every book from any genre. Im mostly a thriller reader & sometimes writers like to ramble too much and add no value to the plot. It’s not taboo to criticize that or to skim the irrelevancy.

[@iteite9488]

i do wonder how sustainable it is to create content in booktok and on tiktok in general. I've been consuming booktok for years but lately I keep feeling like I keep watching the same four videos on a loop, it bores me to death. there's not really much space to be actually creative and original and engaging when you're fighting with the algorithm to keep you relevant.

[@lightningninja6905]

Not only the algorithm, but the timer. From a quick google search it seems they increased the length from 60 seconds to 60 minutes, which is good, but let's be real, a well editied but extensive review or video essay on a book or author could easily clock in at much more than that. My favorite video on the site, the pathologic video by hbomb, goes at a decent pace with not too many reiterations of the exact same point, and it's over twice the length. You just couldn't do that video on tiktok, not while maintaining the context for the absolute fantastic ending.

[@JaniceKarivalies]

If you want to be recommended niche books, I would recommend pinterest. Once you get past all the popular books, you might see a few pins that have a summery of a niche book thats interesting! Thats where I find most of the books I read/love!

[@_sesam_]

They can read visual stories instead, like manga or comic books. A good option if you just wanna read dialogue no? ETA: Reading visual novels won't take away from the experience because in the end it's reading with a splash of seeing the art drawn and getting exactly how the author imagined his/her scenes. As an artist I enjoy that medium. I also enjoy "non-visuals" but I tend to go to the non fiction route. Reading textbooks hasn't been enjoyable for everyone for as long as schools were a thing. I just wish silly comparisons aren't generalized and seen as the norm so much these days.

[@accordingtoalina]

Or plays!! Although admittedly a lot of theatre is made to be seen on stage and not super accessible via reading

[@_sesam_]

@@accordingtoalina Indeed. At this point they don't have to do that either, since being dramatic on stage is as accurate as these people are irl.

[@FourEyedFrenchman]

It would be great for private reading, but many romance/romantasy fans enjoy taking their books to a coffee shop or park bench and reading in public spaces. Publishers have made their covers less overtly smutty in recent years, and there's a market for inconspicuous dust covers used to hide raunchy cover art. It's much harder to get away with reading a romantic or erotic graphic novel in public, and it may even get you in trouble in some places, the same way watching porn in public can get you in trouble. There's a reason bookstores shrink-wrap their spicy Manga books.

[@Lolee56]

Sure but maybe they don’t want a comic maybe they want a novel or short story. There doesn’t have to be just one kind of book out there in the universe.

[@Booksociopath]

I agree with you

[@BillyChungus]

I have been making an effort to be more intentional with my reading, so I haven't been trying to read as fast as I can, but instead taking time to read what I can. It's just more fun. Now don't quote me, but a guy who has made a name for himself by being one of the fastest readers on Earth (in both speed and comprehension) said that when he reads for pleasure he doesn't speed through the book because what's the point of reading if you just want to get to the end as soon as possible?

[@Luumus]

Yeah that quote came from one of the best videos on youtube: "Bookstores: how to read more in the golden age of content" highly recommend it

[@Tula1987]

👏🏽 THIS

[@ibbyf8442]

Maybe people skimming is why books like fourth wing and acotar are so popular. They’re not actually reading them and don’t realize how bad they are😂

[@Mark-nh2hs]

😂😂 so true.

[@fatimazohra-eh9nd]

How can even people understand the entire story without reading the description?

[@nicholaxxx]

Stick figures trading quips in an endless white void; like xkcd that you have to pay for.

[@sokokokoko]

I know a couple times when I've read while tired and accidentally skipped a bit I've gotten totally lost. I honestly can't imagine doing that through the whole book 🤯??

[@salmaraf]

Im a fast reader but a very moody one, and maybe it’s because im not an easily impressionable teenager anymore but i genuinely don’t care about what others might think of my reading habits. I might finish a book in a week or months but at the end of the day it’s a hobby that i happily partake in.

[@Nightcord4life]

This sums up my thoughts too. I love romance and even if people say I’m not a reader because of that it’s just a hobby I like to partake in it’s not all smut lol the character development the sub plots it all comes together really well

[@Whtpaper]

I love the commentary on The Atlantic article. Most media output these days is one-sided probably just for the click-bait/polarizing response. It's a sad state as there is not much journalistic integrity anymore.

[@IzuAurora]

Gone are the days when people would just sit and actually enjoy a book...

[@MaximilianReyCartwright]

Gone are the days when people would sit and enjoy anything. I wonder when someone will address the fact that the failing economy likely has a lot to do with this. People are desperate to make money doing online content or having some side hustle. We've been conditioned to always be on and to think we should be making money and producing capital ceaselessly. Thus every single activity has to be monetized somehow---otherwise we're leaving money on the table.

[@HunchbackJack]

I’m an avid but slow reader. I aim for 30 books a year, and hit that goal maybe half the time, landing in the high 20s otherwise. While it would be nice to be able to read more, increasing my reading speed by skimming over significant chunks of text is not something I have any interest in learning. While I would never tell anyone how they should read, I do wonder what enjoyment or gratification one can get from a book by only reading dialogue, and not absorbing the prose. And I have to question how one could critique a book read this way. How much has the reader really retained? How much have they understood the author’s intent?

[@nevskislake]

I really appreciate this video. I remember the first time I saw a weekly reading list for just one of my classes in grad school. I was nearly in tears. There was literally no way I could read that many books and essays for just one class, let alone three in one semester. I asked one of my professors if she could recommend a strategy that might help me read everything that I needed to read that week. She laughed at me, and said, "My dear, you are not meant to read all of those books. You are supposed to skim them." I knew how to skim academic articles and non-fiction books but not novels. How do you know what to skip? That professor was like an aunt to me, so she showed me how to skim through a novel. Grad school killed my love for reading for almost four years because it focused so much on a reading a group of different novels in a certain style, like stream of consciousness, or a reading a group of novels with a certain theme, instead of just taking one book that illustrates a style or theme and really deep diving into that work, which I would have enjoyed. Anyway, I always appreciate your videos because you approach topics with nuance, instead of courting views with rage-filled rants. I got my twin sister to subscribe to your channel, too.

[@CH-jj8wk]

I wish I had been brave enough to ask that question because I was STRUGGLING and I felt so inferior.

[@myrddino]

In regard to reading stamina, these people that have a hard time reading might benefit from trying audiobooks instead. At least with that format, when a book starts to drag you can change the speed of the audio and get through the boring parts a bit faster

[@lightningninja6905]

Good point, I've tried reading audiobooks before but never got through, I didn't consider changing the speed as I went along! I'll have to try this

[@thehappyrecluse]

I do this, I get an audiobook for most of my physical books. It is more expensive as I'm getting multiple copies of a book but it helps me a lot and I'm able to finish more books. I range from 1.5x to 2x speed depending on the narrator. Highly recommend.

[@annieash3685]

I think as well people don’t think audiobooks are reading! When you work full time you physically can’t read that many books so listening to them still feels like you’re engaging in your hobby. I’ve also listen to the audio to get through longer books haha

[@JustJamieJam]

@@thehappyrecluseI do this but with kindle and physical editions of my books. I love to read, and I love having the OPTION of what to read- so before I got my kindle, if I was going on a long car ride or a trip I’d take a whole bag of books. But now I can have all those books with me in one little device. I often go back and forth from physical book to kindle, I prefer physical but it’s so hard to read physical in the dark or in the bath etc etc. it’s more expensive but I find myself going back and forth each time I read. It honestly had made me read more than when I only had one edition of either one.

[@confusedpotato5017]

i have definitely skimmed books before, when i was forced to read and finish them for school and sometimes when i am super immersed in a book i tend to accidentally skim/skip paragraphs cause i desperately want to see what happens next but if that happens and i notice i always go back and read it again

[@JaniceKarivalies]

Same, but I also skim books I know I want to DNF but I still want to finish it for the sake of finishing it, ykim?

[@itsbanky]

I think this video really nails the specific ways influencer culture commodifies as many things as possible. The user is commodified through the sale of their viewing habits to interested parties; the creator becomes a cheap marketing tool for publishers, optimizing for production speed over quality or even legibility; the books, already commodities themselves, have the artistry shaved away as part of the same calculus. I think you do a very good job of situating all these related forces in their shared context and summarize it more cleanly than I think a lot of people would be able to. (very funny that a perfume company sponsored a video about the influencer marketplace’s pitfalls, too. the scent of revolution is in the air, I suppose.)

[@GamenRead]

I really loved your point about issues with reading stamina and reading in general having roots in national education and other factors besides BookTok.

[@estellealbert9387]

I'll always remember being in my middle school library and seeing this poster that went like "the 10 rights of the reader" and it was by french author Daniel Pennac, basically saying that it was okay to read in whichever way you wanted as long as you did read, and I do believe he's right because now reading is supposed to be a personal, intimate hobby, you read on your own, you're completely allowed to skim or just give up a book bc it's boring. But I really like that you point out that it's different when it's influencers telling you that! Also it kills me to think that if they do really skim, it means that they buy those expensive ass new releases and don't even read them in full when those books are always around 20/25 dollars/pounds/euros, so expensive compared to waiting til they get bought at your local library or getting them secondhand or waiting for the small paperback release... It's so similar to those huge Shein 200 dollars hauls but it's kinda worse because it's like saying from the get-go that you're gonna wear these clothes only once or that you already know you don't like half of what you bought... At the same time it's funny cause we're only used to seeing readers and non-readers, the category of big readers who don't even like reading is really novelty haha

[@kylieboring7059]

hiding in the comment section because hearing that people skip everything but dialogue actually just made me so sad 😭 like wdym you don't LOVE prose????? that's my favorite part of any book

[@mainchannel1566]

I once watched a KZbin video where a booktube girl said she counts a book as "read," once she hits 1/3 of the book. IIRC she claimed she "read," something insane like 200+ books in a year.

[@Flunkely]

Was it destiny? No hate to her she diffidently reads a lot still but I saw that and had to think for a second about how little since that made.

[@CH-jj8wk]

​@@Flunkely I don't think that was Des...surely not? She often talks about books she doesn't finish.

[@sokokokoko]

So she _glanced_ at over 200 books a year. Did she not like any enough to finish? That's wild

[@WhatsWrongWithTheStreet]

Am I the only one who thinks book-tok is a scam run by publishers to make girls feel like they have to buy all these books because an influencer told them to? Many videos here of girls proudly displaying their book haul for the month. You know they aren't reading them all.

[@fredo_credo5689]

During uni I didn't read for fun just for assignments and just skimmed because the workload per week was too high. So now I have to relearn how to read slower and for fun, which isn't really talked about.

[@brmbjor4230]

Hi Alina, I wanted to let you know that I really adore your channel! I love how you approach all your topics with such clarity in mind. I deleted my TikTok account a while ago, but I love to still sometimes see some ridiculous booktokers through your channel. I really appreciate how you use that content to speak on the greater issues at hand. Keep up the great work!

[@solidsnake1806]

I think everyone took the skimgate so personally because the people who admitted to skipping most of the book are the same ones who routinely brag about reading 300 books a year. I'm sure a lot of people wanted to give their favorite creators the benefit of the doubt and not just immediately assume they're lying/inflating the numbers and as a result, u had so many people feeling like shit cause they only manage 5 books a month if lucky... And now they're hearing that all this insecurity was useless cause it is not, in fact, possible o read 300 books a year (in full) and maintain any sort of regular life with a job, social life and responsibilities unless you've got some real specific situation that allows you extra reading time. It absolutely shouldn't be personal but I'm sure for a lot of people it was. Not being able to read a lot in these circles givees you major FOMO and u just kinda feel inadequate tbh, like you don't belong with those people.

[@isabellemus2158]

@@solidsnake1806 some people genuinely intake information quicker, easier, etc. plus most of the people who do read 100s+ books a year are likely listening to a lot of audiobooks. it is actually very possible to read 300 books a year and still be able to intake and understand the books you read. now i personally have never reached like 300 books a year i do not have time for that, but thats not to say other people dont. there are multiple ppl in my life who are disabled all the way up to full time employed, who can easily read 300 books a year. one of my fav booktokers who is literally a full time librarian has read 250 this year. i can almost guarantee a librarian is reading the books she is saying she has read.

[@solidsnake1806]

@@isabellemus2158 read my comment again. I literally acknowledged what you just said so idk what is the point of this response.

[@isabellemus2158]

@@solidsnake1806 yeah babes and you’re saying its not possible but it literally is even for people who work full time. i was not coming at you any way, just saying it is, in fact, possible. cry.

[@aflowerthatcannotbebloomed]

​@solidsnake1806 you didn't actually. You are saying that people with full time jobs can't read 300 books a year or they simply need to have special circumstances or situations otherwise it's not possible. It is though. Even though I've never hit 300 myself, one year I did read 216 books in total. And the other time 184 books. Have I ever hit those numbers again? No. But when I did, I went to university full time, I had a very active social life & a part time job. And the commute to my university was like an hour away (so two hours almost every days of commuting). There simply was no special situation or circumstance. I have a lot of reader friends as well and they obviously didn't hit 100+ books. They read like 40 - 60 a year. So reading more than 100 books isn't super normal or usual. Or like the average amount of books people read. It's a lot lower. However, the people that do read around 100, 200 or more books a year may just as well live the same life we do. They might have different priorities though. Or just read a lot faster. No special circumstances needed.

[@gabimckowen9104]

Look I’m a fast reader and I don’t even read 100+ a books a year. Reading should be a hobby and not a race or competition. These booktok girlies should find something else to make content on if they really don’t enjoy reading.

[@fatema8819]

i'll admit when i skim a boring part. but booktokers who don't actually read just for the aesthetic is weird.

[@anime549]

I have diagnosed PTSD. Both my attention span and my memory are shot. Because of that, I read SLOWLY. Sometimes, it takes me 5 tries to read a paragraph before anything sticks. But even then, I won't skim. I always felt jealous of people who can quickly read 200+ books a year while I struggle with a handful. But I realized that those influencers don't even remember half the books they've read. Even I can remember more from the handful of books I read a year! Since realizing that, I feel better about my slow reading, and honestly, when I see an influencer bragging about all the books they've read, I wonder if they truly enjoyed them or if they just skimmed. Love your content, btw! ❤

[@Clueless-hu7gd]

I’m stuck on the why. Why would you bother buying/sourcing a book if you’re not going to actually engage with it? Just daydream at that point.

[@bliss1819]

when i was a kid it was considered extremely rude to ask someone who they voted for and i’m only 23. the internet has made people way too comfortable asking strangers polarizing questions. tik tok girls are not wrong for not answering. the girl is probably reading silly romance novels, not political non-fiction.

[@sophitiaofhyrule]

@bliss Reading is inherently political, that's why Republicans are working so hard to ban books. Also asking someone who they voted for is absolutely valid so you know if you want to follow them or not. I wouldn't want to follow a content creator who supports Trump.

[@bliss1819]

@ i never said books don’t have political undertones. also, it doesn’t matter if you want to know the information of who voted for who, that’s private and you are not entitled to that. if you get vibes from a creator that you don’t like, unfollow them. just don’t expect people to take kindly to your prying questions.

[@ramywiles]

It wouldn't be such a polarizing topic if we didn't conceptualize politics as completely separate from real life. It's not unreasonable, given the things that Trump and Republicans have said about, for example, trans people, to want to know that someone whose stuff you've previously liked did _not_ vote for the party that's continually working to undermine trans existence as a concept and will likely try to ban trans healthcare on a federal level. It's not an abstract matter of personal life philosophy, it's picking people to be in charge of the systems that dictate how successfully and safely a lot of us can live our lives. I don't even disagree that the best course of action is to just unfollow, but to act like it's always a matter of insidious prying rather than wanting to be assured that you're not surrounded by people who think your rights should be forfeit, I think, paints an incomplete picture.

[@MojiiOkay]

To skim is to admit that what you are reading isn't engaging you. And that's totally fine. Though perhaps if they are skimming EVERYTHING they might need to rethink reading as such a large part of their life. Because, if we skim things that are unengaging, and we are skimming everything, then that just seems to me like you don't like to read and maybe not liking the field that you are covering is a good enough reason not to cover it. Which is something to think about for them. But, for me, the more concerning thing to come out of all of this discourse was the look at people on Tiktok who WANTED to read, who WANTED to engage with books fully, but just didn't have the media literacy to do so. That poor girl who was trying to genuinely read and enjoy a book (I think it was a Jane Austen), but was struggling with figuring out what was going on with context, struggling with any dialogue that didn't have explicit dialogue tags... That speaks to a failure of the educational system, and I think THAT is something worth critical video essays. Romance has been carrying the book industry for decades, women have been keeping this dying form of entertainment afloat for decades, and people (see: men) have been hating both of them for decades, that's nothing new. But kids coming out of school with all-time-low capacity for context, not just slow reading but concerningly low reading stamina and even the kids who identify as literature enthusiast not having moved out of the YA realm into more advanced books, those seem like fresh problems for me. Those feel like things worth fighting about. Great video 👋

[@youvegotwings]

I think if someone is skimming a lot it means that they probably are picking books that aren’t for them (the more you read the more you know what you like though)

[@DelphiaOrlova]

There is a type of book which is less descriptive and focusses on dialog - it's called comic. There are also spicy comics "for" women. Too bad, people cannot get over their prejudice over comics. :( I'm sure many "highlight" readers (like from 5:15 on) would enjoy them if they would be open for them.

[@meggiebeesdesigns4207]

I’m a relatively slow reader, but I feel like skimming through a book means I’m gonna miss so many key details. Reading is supposed to be a fun hobby :(

[@hellopaulie]

Who people vote for is their own personal business, just like their medical info or their finances. If booktokers want to get political, that is their free choice to engage and be transparent. People should not be criticized for using their voices. But people shouldn't be pressured to engage in public political content if they choose not to. People have a right to their private views and to set boundaries that are healthy for them. Politics involves everyone and it is Pollyanna and privileged to think that it doesn't. But some people have a much thicker skin than others and no matter what side you are on, you will get a lot of pushback. Some people have traumatic experiences that make political discussions difficult. I will never ask a person if they are pro-choice or not. I know women who are pro-choice but still have loss and grief issues regarding making that choice for themselves. I know a woman who was raped and beaten by an illegal migrant. She will not discuss issues regarding immigration because it is triggering for her and she knows she can't be objective. But on social media, a lot of people no longer respect boundaries and feel entitled to a person's thoughts and opinions. It's intrusive to a creepy point. Big Brother is not just the government and corporations but it also has become mob mentality and cancel culture. Big Brother has become every person with a keyboard who wants to judge a person's thoughts on a surface level. And all of social media is surface level. You cannot deduce a person's formative past or intrinsic motivations from a TikTok.

[@comfycarat]

I’ve recently been getting back into reading as when I was younger I used to bump into walls because my nose was so deep into a book. Currently I’m reading death comes to marlow and I truly love this series. I like to try different genres of books and my favorite genre is mystery. However as I’ve gotten into books and book content again I have really become weirded out by how competitive people have made it. Some influencers make it seem like if you read slower then you aren’t doing good enough when in reality reading should be something you can do to feel calm and safe. I hope this community becomes more about reading the books and less about aesthetics in the future.

[@calliewells216]

8:00 It's completely different that these people choose to read of their own volition, aren't assigned these books, and call themselves book reviewers. they're projecting certain opinions about these novels to their readers which aren't trustworthy because it can't be a good review of a text if you haven't completely read it. They behave as though consuming books at a frightening pace is achievable and even aspirational, promote overconsumption by buying and exhibiting grand displays of their bookshelves full of copies of the same book in six different designs, and they trash authors based on skim reading. It's problematic especially given their followings because a few of them have a big outreach and could realistically affect sales of the books they're lying about having read

[@GloriaTulwan]

French author Daniel Pennac, in his book "Comme un roman", actually says skipping pages is a reader's right ! He says it's better to skip pages in a book, for instance Les Misérables by Hugo (which I did although I'm a hardcore Hugo fan : 100 pages of battle descriptions with no apppearance of our characters) than never to try and experience that book ! I find that really interesting.

[@accordingtoalina]

oooh I love Pennac! I was obsessed with the Malaussène saga when I was younger - I should pick that up again

[@sergioramos3437]

I put this on to listen to in the background and wound up so engrossed I postponed my own reading to finish it 😭 Very well thought out and nuanced. I learned a ton from this ! I didn't even know reading stamina was a thing but I'll be looking into that soon

[@sighswoons]

hhahaha lost it at the proust comment. Great vid!

[@accordingtoalina]

I love him but did we really need to know *all* of that?

[@sighswoons]

@ we certainly did not haha

[@delaneymariani4476]

i’m SO glad you brought up reading stamina. I’m in my final semester of an English Education program and children (and adults) have lost all ability to read for extended periods of time. It is genuinely one of the biggest problems in education currently.

[@soop6921]

Wow, i loved this video. it feels like so often there is a lack of nuance in a lot of content that revolves these conversations of booktok.

[@npineapple3077]

If you skim even one paragraph, you can't say you read the book. That's how it is.

[@JoeSpivey02]

nuanced, explanatory, heftily caveated and soaring with intelligence! Thank you for covering this febrile topic with such confident caution!

[@marrymejohn]

I feel like the only read dialogue thing is an extension of a lot of online film criticism where if a shot doesn't advance the plot it's bad. Sex scene discourse is the biggest example but early 2010s youtubers loved bashing the shit out of Terrence Malick for this.

[@Eluarelon]

I'm not on booktok, but I've seen a few shorts here on youtube, and I am more surprised by people being surprised at that, than I'm surprised at the fact that some are only pretend to read the books they talk about. Now I'm probably one of the older members of the book-* community, and the interesting thing is that I don't even doubt that people can read 300 books a year, because there have been times in my live were I read 500-600 pages per day without breaking any sweat and without skimming. What I kinda doubt is that those people would still have the time to do high-quality videos with indepth talk about what they just read, and most of my experiences here on booktube rather confirm my suspicions. It's pretty easy to distinguish the people with a high degree of literacy and an education enabling them to talk about books in an interesting way, and the people who talk about books from a more superficial point of view. And I'm not one to judge, because even people skipping huge parts of a book are probably better off than people who don't read at all. Caveat being, that if (general) you do so, don't pretend otherwise because I'll see through you and I won't waste my time with dishonesty. And I certainly won't ascribe any value to your opinion if you don't even have read the book you want to give a review about.

[@enter_the_phantom]

I have to say-this explains why so many terrible books have gotten popular on BookTok. Not because people actually enjoy them but because they’re not actually reading them. We also need to talk about the amount of BookTok creators who skim over anything that isn’t smut. I’ve seen a lot of people admit to skipping anything that isn’t a sex scene. The normalization of only reading for sexual gratification is very real on that corner of the internet and I feel like we need to start thinking about the damage that could cause and is already causing. We can empower women to own their sexuality while also remaining cognizant of the harm that too much of this can cause. Two things can be true at once.

[@rebekkahmobley4977]

Let me preface this by saying that I am not on TikTok in any way shape or form because I think it is a cesspool. But if it is true that influencers are just commenting on not wanting to talk about who they are voting for, etc. then I don't see the issue and why people are getting so upset. From my interpretation, they are not saying that books are not political but rather sharing personal political beliefs has no place on BookTok. They are not political commentators. It isn't their job to talk about politics. No one should be pressured into sharing their political beliefs. There is a difference between talking about personal politics and politics in the context of a book.

[@MishalMehdi-m2h]

Really love you video! Personally, I'm quite a fast reader. I did reading speed tests and I'm apparently in the top 2.5%, so that's cool. In general, being a fast reader isn't a bad thing, the bad thing is skimming through the whole thing. Skimming is used when you're trying to grab certain tidbits from the text, not when you're just reading for fun. The way how I think of it, is that the author of the book sat down and wrote, with love (supposedly), each word, sentence, and paragraph, so not reading each sentence isn't really appreciating the author's work (as you're not getting the full 100% of it! So, thanks! Learned a lot!

[@chinemapictures]

6:00 imagine reading the Iliad

[@MorningStarSunsoar]

As far as the ‘books aren’t political take’ I just took it as a reaction to all of the unfollow parties and how toxic people were being on that app after the election. That they just wanted to bond with others over books vs seeing others called names over who others think they voted or didn’t vote for (it was a witch hunt, even non-Americans weren’t spared) et cetera. They just did not articulate themselves well and it made an easy opportunity for others to make videos about why books are political

[@racheldavis122]

I agree. I also consider that a lot of BookTok revolves around romance… which often isn’t political, in my opinion. No influencer should be forced to share anything they don’t want to share.

[@annschmidt5461]

I love hearing your perspective on all of this. I hope you keep it up.

[@marzello]

guilty for skipping the preface, i've sinned, please mercy me

[@Flunkely]

I do the same😅

[@eviesmith6761]

@@marzello lowkey I have been spoiled by prefaces before so now I avoid them and then read them AFTER

[@MarileseRose]

How do you even feel comfortable giving a review or making a video on a book that you didn’t actually read?? (To the booktokers who skim). you’re skipping so much of the character and the emotions and everything. It’s just ridiculous. It makes me scared to publish my book once I’m done writing it because it’s a dark fantasy romance, but it’s super deep and centered on trauma and character development. It’s the type of book booktokers would wanna pick up based on the description but would quickly put down if they’re not actually reading the story, only the dialogue. It’s intriguing as fffff but not something to be read lightly.

[@gohan12991]

Just add smut, it'll sell a lot more. Without smut, romance books don't sell that we'll unless you're creating a very interesting world.

[@MarileseRose]

@ my book is not predominantly a romance but the romance plays a good part. And I’m not going to add something just so that it will sell if that’s not what I envision. My book will intrigue the people that it’s meant for.

[@Johnny5477]

On the topic of reading stamina, I actually noticed that I felt mine was decreasing… what eventually helped was trying immersive reading: playing an audiobook and reading the book simultaneously. Just sort of knocked my brain back into form.

[@dannyaglugub1643]

Ai authors pumping out several books a day. Reviewers pretend to read them Followers pretend they learned something

[@forkyfork]

This feels like a song!

[@andresmartinezramos7513]

It's like the meme >I used ChatGPT to turn this line into a whole email! Now my boss will never think I slack. >AI is so useful! it condensed this long ass email into a single bulletpoint.

[@japanesekoreanfan2]

I recently (in the last couple of years) read the full 14.5 book series of The Wheel of Time (14 full length novels and a much shorter prequel) which took me a good 10 months to read in between working and other hobbies. I then decided I liked it so much that I would buy my own copies one at a time when I could find them at a relatively cheap price (first read through was using library copies, hooray for libraries!!) and starting with Book 1 do a full reread, making notes as I go of things I didn't notice the first time, things that amuse me about the characters, little foreshadowings of future events in the series, questions I have about something if I can't remember whether a character or situation is brought up again later with more information, as well as writing down gripes I have about the TV series because the first 2 seasons have butchered it so very badly🤬. I have even done what might be considered a third read of the first book when reading it while listening to the audiobook (I don't like listening to an audiobook without having the book in front of me; don't know why I don't, I just don't; might be because I also did something similar with Stephen King's It which is something I feel like would have been very confusing had I tried listening to it without having the book in front of me). I did start my reread of the second book, but I haven't made a whole lot of progress on it purely because as you said a close read requires time and concentration, which mine hasn't been the best of late between working and doing a massive rewatch of all my anime series on my external hard drives😅, which means it's a me problem, not a problem with the book itself. Thankfully, each time I've had a bit of a break from reading it when I do pick it up again I have all my notes to refresh my memory about what's been going on in the book so far😊.

[@TimothyCollins]

I always wondered how many people can read that many books in a year. I tend to be a single Tasker when reading - one book at a time and for about 1.5 hours per day. Sometimes, I got up to 3 hours a day when a book really grabbed me. And I get through one book per week (on average - I mean, I read "the stand" this year and obviously a 1500 page novel is gonna take longer than a 300 page one) and I get through 40-50 books per year...

[@bailee912]

11:03 THIS. People have too high of expectations for a society that has an average reading level of 6th grade (US specific). Improving literacy rates is vey important, but it’s an issue that will never be solved overnight or by policing how adults consume books. It starts with reading to your children and investing in the arts. I don’t love booktok, but the anti-booktok community has major issues as well. Complaining that all books are “spicy” is very similar to complaining that too many books don’t have spice. YOU AREN’T LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT BOOKS which is a skill in itself and it’s embarrassing that the self proclaimed “good” readers fully admit to not being able to find a good book because of booktok.

[@ashleyfrances]

I don't get how you can just skim pages.... are you not worried you missed something? Just don't read at that point lol.

[@vanguardiris3232]

I do struggle to read books fully, slowly and mindfully. I've found two major things that help: 1. Covering the page with a bookmark or my hand, revealing one line at a time, so it looks less daunting and helps me focus on each word as I read 2. Audiobooks. I don't care if it "isn't reading", if it gets the story into me then it counts

[@This_Ginger_Ugh]

The only time I skimmed books was textbooks when i was looking for sentence fillers. Ex: The bread needs to heat for _____.

[@whitneywest3538]

I’m not a fast reader. I’m not a slow reader. I now read predominantly under the fantasy umbrella. I use to read almost exclusively contemporary romance. I can’t hit the numbers like to use to because the books are longer and sometimes more dense. I don’t capitalize on small moments to sneak a few pages like I use to because it requires more of my attention now and I would just have to reread it later. I don’t make content of any kind but I have enough other interests that already pull from my time, I can’t imagine if I had to also sit and film or plan or edit content. It’s a super rare occurrence for me to listen to a book. I prefer reading with my eyeballs. I read every word on the page. If I somehow catch that my mind went somewhere else and I don’t know what I just read, I have to read it again. If you find yourself skimming or skipping portions of a book, maybe reading isn’t for you. Or maybe you’re reading the wrong genre. Every reading journey is unique. But reading isn’t a requirement if you want to call yourself a reader. It’s right there in the name.

[@marianareis6492]

But honestly, why tf someone HAS TO say for whom they are voting? It’s ridiculous how the anyone who is minimally “famous” on the internet now is expected to comment every single event that happens in the world. If they were economists, political scientists or any other type of specialists in the field then on. But most of them are as far as possible of being knowledgeable of these topics.

[@CH-jj8wk]

As a literature graduate and current English teacher, I have to say this before I watch the whole video: I LOVE reading, but I don't read quickly. I had to speed read several books and I couldn't take it in. So while you shouldn't be shocked that you have to read at university, I don't actually think it helps to force your students to jam words onto their brains at break neck speeds. I was also having to read books and stories in Swedish, Danish and Norwegian as a part of my degree; I definitely couldn't read those very quickly, so sometimes they didn't get read at all. On another note, this all also RUINED reading for fun for me for yeaaaaars. If I read for fun, I felt guilty. If I read for my course, I felt bitter that I couldn't read for fun. Only now, years later, do I read for pure pleasure, which means I am reading romance, romantasy, fantasy and other modern fiction that doesn't come close to classics. ALL while having to teach the likes of Dickens to teenagers who, understandably, don't really care about long-winded sentences, words they don't understand and niche political jokes I could never explain to them. Who the fuck decides what the canon really is anyway? Just read what you want.

[@holly6157]

I majored in literature, and had to ban myself from reading for fun so I would have time for the required reading. Even now, I sometimes feel like I have to read a few classics a year to justify reading YA books too, so I can relate. It did help me a lot though to realize some classics are not for me. I will never like Pride & Prejudice because I'm not a romance person. Instead, I read stuff like Tolkien or scifi like Fahrenheit 451. Or even Kafka. I do think these texts are justified as being part of canon literature. I know a few classic books that changed my whole perspective on life. Which sounds really pretentious, but what I really mean is that I was so affected by reading Holden's arc in Catcher in the Rye that I decided to make an effort to be less cynical so I wouldn't end up like Holden. And Lord of the Rings was really good for my mental health. But I definitely take my time reading these books! I actually feel guilty if I'm not annotating and close reading. I only read about 12 new (i.e. I'm reading them for the first time, as opposed to rereading) books per year, which I am always ashamed of when I see Booktubers read 100 books per year.

[@sandbagger1912]

I am interested to know if there are any book influencers out there who specialize in indie and self-published books. It's been a while since I was blown away by a traditionally published book, especially in fiction. I read a wide variety of genres and maybe I'm getting older and my brain in becoming more selective, but rarely am I enthralled by a novel these days. Even many Booker and Pulitzer prize winners leave me wanting. I have taken to digging through the wonderful world of self-published content. While there are mountains of drivel (that continues to grow every day), there are also some gems, creative, boundary pushing content and new, engaging takes on old tropes. I have even found a few books that can pull off deep thought within the romance genre. Unfortunately, they are buried in the algorithm.

[@notthemostread]

Eyes on Indie is a great channel!

[@sandbagger1912]

@@notthemostread Thanks. I will check it out.

[@nighttime8435]

This actually explains so much why a lot of romance books have extremely wordy dialogue in sex scenes and don't describe what they're doing.

[@michalpitowsky]

Perhaps I am naive, but I hope many Booktok readers, especially the younger ones, will get bored of reading so many books of the same genre and eventually find themselves drawn to more middle-brow, challenging novels. If the bookmarklet is savvy enough, it will offer them such titles and market them correctly. Really, Booktok is developing reading stamina for a demographic that most elite readers assumed was hopeless.

[@rachelwilliams930]

The joy of reading is the journey 😭😭😭 I will admit sometimes I skim while reading when a particular author is particularly long winded. But I find that sometimes I missed vital tidbits! But maybe because I’m actively in uni, I don’t have the time. But I really try to comprehend and digest what I’m reading.

[@mishasamuel]

"Have you never skimmed a page?" Honestly, I have not. If I don’t like the book, I’ll just stop reading it and read something else. No one is forcing booktok girlies to read books they don’t like. And yes, I read the books I was supposed to in school, too, but I majored in business so who would I be cheating if I skimmed through the material.. only myself. Also, I’m autistic, I tend to do things "the correct way".

[@bellanance5332]

I just wanna say from a college student perspective who also enjoys reading (actual reading every word or sentence to actually grasp the message and plot of a book not just dialogue and pictures), it’s not that they expect us to finish multiple books a semester. It’s finishing 5-10 100-400pg books (expected to read at least 50pgs a day and do the rest of your school work) in a period of weeks or less. Being expected to read that fast, process and grasp the ideas and be qble to make actual discourse about it when you’ve got 6 other classes requiring the same amount of work.

[@j75099]

No one's obliged to disclose their political leanings (regardless of their reasons).

[@TaylorJ]

Absolutely and I do not blame anyone for that because it’s very easy for people to jump on the hate train and try and cancel you based on those said opinions 😅

[@kendal.alanaa]

i can’t understand skimming a book you’re reading for fun. i definitely did in school bc i wasn’t interested in reading those kind of books, but now that i’m an adult and no longer in school, i never skim read. because im reading for FUN, for my own enjoyment. if you’re really finding yourself skipping big chunks of text or saying you don’t care, then why not just dnf? it’s obvious you’re not invested in the characters or the plot. 😅

[@ellain55555]

I was literally just watching someone else’s “”””hot take”””” on booktok yesterday here on yt and thinking “alina is the only creator who’s ever had a properly articulated nuanced take on this topic apparently ever”

[@seadawg93]

I stopped the video to read “the Atlantic did me dirty.” I loved it, it’s so good, and really an inspiring POV. I always think of articles like the Atlantic one as being fear-based pearl clutching, but I see enough articles and start wondering; I loved seeing a counter.

[@court_car]

I appreciate the influencer perspective you have on this. However, I disagree - I think most of the people you are talking about are actually unintelligent and kind of dumb. I dont think most of them are trying to work the algorithm. I think they are just not smart people.

[@pleh7019]

For the ones who only read dialogue, I wish they would try reading playscripts!

[@carolinabackstrom3906]

While I agree with most of your thoughts, I just wanted to add a few things. Wanting fewer words on a page is not necessarily bad, with ADHD (this could be the case for other forms of neurodivergence as well, like dyslexia) I find it extremely hard to focus on text that is too small, but that doesn't affect the amount of words I would read or the length of the book. This is most likely not what those booktokers are saying, but just thought I'd bring this up, because that might actually be the case for some people! I can enjoy books way more when I can adjust the font size on my kindle, for example. I've also skimmed through boring parts of books before in order to finish a book I don't like, but I should adopt a mindset of just giving up on books I don't like, but I tend to think that maybe some parts could get better

[@mad_hatt]

Fair! I tend to accidentally re-read lines instead of going to the next line because the text is small and the paragraph is so long. I dunno if that’s my neurodivergence, but it is something I do😅

[@DampeS8N]

I'm an author. I write adult hard sf and fantasy. People can read books however they want. I read almost exclusively through audiobooks because of my dyslexia and at 2-300% speed. If people want to skip to the parts of a book that they enjoy - even on first read - that's totally fine. I've been trying to understand how people read these days and I wrote Magitism: The Force of Magic (A hard sf/fantasy hybrid) to try to match the accelerated way people read these days. I wrote in 95,000 words what most authors would have taken 500,000 to write. Readers are changing, and that's ok. If anyone makes you feel bad because of how you like to live your life, you can ignore that person. This isn't the same as not taking criticism; it is not taking abuse.

[@judithrussell9162]

Thanks Alina, I loved this. What is sad is that setting reading goals, as in numbers of books, deprives the reader of the joy in reading. Even non-book influencers set quantifiable goals, of fifty books a year for instance, instead of qualifiable goals which might mean re-reading favourite books, or the books on their tbr piles, or carving out time every day for reading. It might even mean dnf-ing books they're not enjoying. What is the point otherwise?

[@RachelB.BookReferences]

I set numerical gials, yet I still love reading and get plenty of joy from it, lol. Your blanket statement just isn't factual.