Can We REALLY Trust BookTok & Bookstagram?

[@CinziaDuBois]

Oh no!! I'm sorry Patreons, I just saw that the patreon list doesn't roll in the video!! My apologies, all your names were put in, I must have un-clicked the "roll" box accidentally. THANK YOU TO MY PATREONS: 👇 Kayla Elizabeth Johnny Lee Ashley Jones E. F. Melanie Litwin Louise Fool at the centre of the universe Fiona Luzia Dominguez Mimi WS Lori Adams Heather Field adiallema Karina Cordoba Richard LeDuc Luke Warner Fred Fox Nathan Fleurisma Steven Veeneman PTONPC Jana Lorencova Stefanie Settle Leena Norms Dina Gibs Aleks Angry Logic Dante Venvertloh Martin Gelbenegger Amy Skull_Kid_Rach Hayley Justin Grant Raya Matt Lukes Ian Cairns Bing Cote Eagle Tanya Hutchinson Anna O'Meara David Weyant Lesley Koch Charlotte Megan Norlin Cody Martin BoZoiD Babette Vlaeminck All The Happy Squirrels Line Nikita Avramy Kelsey Martin Amber Hain mimo_sis jeff norris xaprof Douglas Rutledge Sam By All Means Tali Sherrie Taylor soso mike stone Davezilla Tina Hatch Brittni D'evermont Niklas King Doug Lemley Nice OJ InvincibleInk Louise Hatfield Amar Desai Kevin lee solo Gabriela Rudnicka Kari Hofmann Julia Pestke Jenny Edevaine Grey Hughes Clare Gabriel René Breckner Margret Menke Eric Taylor Elizabeth Wright Czurnabog Adrian S Marina Charlotte Janina Colon Chris Nicholl James Duly Rocky Cole Patricia Recupero Valkyrie Lauren Wagstaff liz Corvus Chris Morrison Robert James Stove Abbie Calvert Rayna shadow-r Marina Cotofana John Lavalle Duncan Bell Karina Aimee Swartz Mar B The One and Only Egg Montoya Kirstin_M jennifer horner Rachel Andrews Amy MacEachern Samantha Sutherland Artist psykotedy Randall Martin Kay Time Ebe Buzzi Peter Ramkissoon Brett Isernhagen Karin Dwarswaard Levi Margolies Paul Morton Donald Chung richard needham Lars Anderson Fritz Anderson kathryn marusik Glen Rudolphi Haley Ridley Edmond Griffith-Jones Valens Hawke Kat Perreira Sophia Meneely Jett Vessels Michael Mahaffey RainbowBatsuit Bird Gigi27 Gnostic Informant Souptastick Violet V Lauren Ganim H Sarah Blumenthal Ustya Christopher France Christina Frøkjær Pleasing Terrors Ghostland Radio AutumnWave Tamara Nikolai Bill Terry Peggy Jaeger Nele Olivia Watts Stephen Clark Rebekah Baker Kala Dodson Andrea Franke J. C. Runolfson Scriptmonkeys Wee Lauren Hermann Hillmann Grey Hughes Alicia Braulick-Zamfir Micius Porcius Ruth Krupa Anticus Cornelius Dennis Hammer Barry Lindeman Zac Jane Tomondy Michael Rosen Jan Bojarp Sam Elle Sheryl Lee Sarah Nicole Keith Levkoff Katarína Richterová Phil Elisabeth Mangold Andy Nea Ruth Frank Hunt James Milles Holly B Liz Jolly Gil Fernandez Emilia Schifter Nicholas Reid Alena Verhalen Nathan C John Sheridan Neil Danie Gh Jenn Oramous Kaitlin Wymer Luumus (Lumie) A Patreon of the Ahts Zugzug Spaz Laura Johnson Mikki Anna Elizabeth Oana Marin Maria Konidaris Taylor Alcantar Hannah Roe Charlie Morley Jomarie Lorenz Nae Astrid Folker Jen Bravo Andrea Basile Ksenija Stanojevic Lucinda Chambers Annika Arora Jessica S. Nellie Neal winterburden Tara McNeilly Yasir Khalif Meg James Emily Alison Campbell Laurel McAllister Sarah van der Veen KittenInABowl Stella Mimidas Laura Cavallina AC Rebecca H Antastesia Ramona Julianne Benford June Ong Andreea P.

[@kitteninabowl5190]

Thanks for the shout out!! Can't wait to make more bookish and author sewing patterns soon!!!

[@brettisernhagen9446]

Hey! That's me!

[@ransakreject5221]

Publishing is political. They care about authors demographic group and politics. On the other side there are popular critics here on KZbin that hold leftwing politics against books. So basically yeah almost all reviews should be ignored. Same as with movies. I found a couple reviewers I trust. But only smaller ones can afford to ignore politics.

[@neonoires]

If someone recommends "A Little Life" to me, I assume they hate me.

[@keekeejenkins6162]

I got tricked by a Dr Dray vlog from a few yrs back, she recommended it. I bought a hard copy of it. DNF-d it. Still trying to understand why it is so highly regarded.

[@eviesholette]

SAME

[@shauno5888]

Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I'd be much more likely to pick up a book recommended to me by a friend or staff member than anything I'd see online. The only exception is if the author themself posts something compelling.

[@Elvertaw]

I’m old fashioned too and won’t pick up anything that’s crowd sourced. And that goes for book clubs too. Maybe the whole algorithmic recommendation thing is generation dependent?

[@marcustulliuscicero3987]

​@@Elvertaw My strategy is to walk into traditional book shops where the staff is knowledgeable. I will then give a precise description of the kind of book I like and listen to their recommendations, pick the various books off the shelves, read a couple of random pages to assess the prose and then decide which one I buy.

[@Elvertaw]

@@marcustulliuscicero3987 good for you! Since I’ve been listening to nothing but histories for the past year and a half I get all my recommendations from historians on KZbin. Now you come to think of it, maybe I am crowd sourcing my reading list after all. 😉

[@kawaiimombear]

I ask the person working at the bookstore what their favorite book is. It makes them a little emotional for some reason, and I've gotten great recommendations 😊

[@RangerGucci]

You absolutely can't trust anything on tiktok lol

[@RangerGucci]

I'm replying to my own comment but I'm glad you're doing your own thing. Been following you for awhile

[@daskraut]

anything on social media needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

[@bad-girlbex3791]

@@daskraut That had better be Himalayan pink salt....because...trendy.

[@lauracraig8110]

Felt like something inside me died when someone said during the TikTok ban they had no idea where to get book recs anymore... if TikTok is where most of your book recs come from then god help us lol!

[@theelegantcouplesbookrevie8734]

We have a small book review KZbin channel that never really took off! You can trust us though! Not sure bout Tik Tokers....

[@kitteninabowl5190]

Thanks for shouting out my Etsy shop!!! I'm really happy with my Jane Austen pattern and want to make more author sewing patterns soon. If anyone has any pattern suggest feel free to let me know!! I see a lot of books getting hype online and typically I just ignore it. With that being said recently I saw "parable of the sower"getting hype online and that book is a MASTERPIECE!!! So now I'm back to square one, unsure to believe online hype or not....

[@bluumz-n-veg]

I love your JA pattern, any chance you will one day offer kits?

[@kitteninabowl5190]

@@bluumz-n-veg I really want to make kits but that will probably take me a long time to figure out... oh well. For felt, I buy mine at Over the River Felt. I highly suggest them!!

[@CinziaDuBois]

You’re so welcome!!

[@CrisSelene]

Maybe a Sappho pattern 🤩

[@LaLaLonna]

I would LOVE to see Agatha Christie and Maya Angelou patterns ❤❤❤.

[@hannahbrennan2131]

The kind of books that are popular on BookTok and Bookstagram aren't my cup of tea, but I've gotten so many amazing recommendations on BookTube,

[@bad-girlbex3791]

BookTube is a much better place for getting content where the creators (if you screen out the obvious posers, hype-merchants, and clickbait grifters) just want to take the time to talk about books they love, the topic of literature as a whole, or more academic approaches to exploring a text. They're often much less subscribed to and criminally underappreciated, but they likely prefer the smaller number of people in their audience as they can then engage with them more personally, without feeling overwhelmed. Creators who approach their channel from a niche interest in books that are the antithesis to the hyped stuff on BookTok; channels that are solely about a single genre, or a particular aspect of history; book discussions about titles that are so densely packed with metaphor, allegory and symbology, that one simply couldn't cram it into one of those "I read 200 books this year!!" exclamations that mistakenly seem to think that quantity > quality. I love finding channels where the creator is just sort of starting to spread their wings when it comes to literature and seeing them get so excited to experience this whole new world that had hitherto lain unexplored and unexamined to them, is just beautiful. And watching people who go trawling through used book shops, not to try to find some rare first edition, but to find something they knew nothing about, but felt compelled to purchase, because those first few dusty pages just clicked with them. Granted, if I never see another channel reviewing any of the ACOTAR (I think I got that right, lol) or someone saying "I read this terrible book so you don't have to!" ever again, I'd be a much happier little bunny. But it doesn't take much effort to find the hidden gems of BookTube. KZbin might have a lot of issues with regards the censorship issues that often prevent a lot of content from being noticed/promoted via the algorithms etc, but when it comes to books, if you want to find someone new and interesting, they'll often appear in the sidebar, or if you want to find content from someone who you think you will appreciate, just searching for keywords including the titles of books you've already enjoyed, or going to the home page of the channel of a creator you already enjoy and clicking on the tab which shows you the other channels they themselves follow, is a good start. I get much more value out of the wonderfully interesting and varied, honest, genuine book lovers on BookTube, than I do from much of Goodreads. I use GR and review the books I do read on there, but aside for the handful of fellow bookish people who aren't just out there reading Stephen King, Colleen Hoover, or Sally Rooney, most all of my conversations on there take place in a DM. Especially when people who are centrist or right of centre want to express an opinion and GR is so interminably left-wing, it actually worsens the problems regarding the books the constantly recommend. I don't want to be made to feel as though I ought to be reading a certain book because it was written by someone from a certain demographic. I don't care about their IdPol status...I want to know what the book is about and whether or not it is something I will enjoy, appreciate or learn something from. The GR format of pushing everything via a leftist lens prevents me from wanting to engage with a lot of the titles they recommend, and instead engenders a deep abience for the book and the author as a whole. But the genuine enthusiasm of a BookTuber who is just brimming over joy at having discovered a new favourite book or author is so authentic and sincere, I can't help but be moved by it. Which is kind of ironic considering how much we're having the abstract notion of "authenticity" bandied about like some kind of commodity (or even a Pokémon card that MUST be caught) that everyone is allegedly desperate to find in the media they choose to consume, in a world so awash with corporate banality everywhere we turn. The "authenticity" being peddled by many of the clickbait-grifters or the hype-merchants, is often an ersatz form of sincerity. But true authenticity is still there to be found in these much smaller channels, reviewing much less popular books, for no other reason that the love of having read them. David Foster Wallace was only half-right when he said that irony killed sincerity (and his somewhat prognosticative imagining of how in the future we would engage with screen-time evokes notable parallels with BookTok - and even KZbin). Sincerity is still out there, and it's to be found on the very kind of on-screen content he imagined would exist today; and ironically enough, it can be found on BookTube!

[@mally6101]

I just cannot get over the absolute horrid quality of "fantasy" (or "romantasy") books on TikTok. I saw someone online say that people who didn't enjoy Rebecca Yarros' books (Fourth Wing, etc.) simply "didn't understand world-building or know the fantasy genre well enough") EXCUSE ME?! Those garbage books have nothing on The Wheel of Time, the Mistborn series, The Poppy War, etc. These people are reading horrible quality literature and then looking down on people who call it out for being low quality. It's baffling.

[@MrGadfly772]

Books are a very personal thing. There has to be a connection for the reader and far too often what is popular is what is advertised the most. The benefit of wandering in bookstores is browsing. The power of browsing through a bookstore is immeasurable. Somehow doing so in a physical store makes a difference. "Crank" does sound like a very manipulative book, I totally understand why you wouldn't like it.

[@oksanamotora8413]

I remember being so confused by Babel, because everyone online was so positive about it and claimed it was a masterpiece, but I felt like it was good as an idea/first draft, but needed far less author moralizing and distrust in readers’ capability in understanding what is good and bad. That was like an a wake up call for me, because at that time I was fairly new to reading after a few years break - I was an avid reader at school and studied literature in university, but then life&work got in the way and I kind of stopped for some time. Booktok books got me back there, but after a couple of months it became soo repetitive, that I started looking elsewhere for recs.

[@tea1696]

The difference is that you already know how to extract meaning from the subtext. People who are new to reading thanks to the pandemic have not had the luxury of a refined taste. They are bombarded by flashy colourful covers, "raunchy" plots with minimal ethical or moral insights. Books have become an industry where fast and drama filled writing is much more favoured now. It's actually no surprise that a book that might "break" that formula but is very much on the nose for everyone to really understand the point the book was trying to make. It's all shallow reading so you can quickly go to the next new book without thinking too much about what you just read because the book simply told you what to think. And I don't think I'm exempt from this so this is not me talking from a moral high ground. As a teenager I've been reading the same books over and over (like Ken Follett's World without End which I was way too young for), always pivoting back to what intrigued me the most. Now I have to have new stuff because somehow I lost my sense of curiosity for deeper meaning. I still read and watch a lot of lesser known titles but I can't be bothered to engage with it again and when I do, it's youtube videos with other peoples opinion.

[@hallievanoutryve3109]

Dude, did not know the author of Crank was estranged from her daughter who inspired her book! Thank you for your empathetic comments for her daughter’s position. I hear so many judgmental and/or ignorant about people with addiction, so often from creators that I wouldn’t expect it. Having a tough day, so thank you. ❤

[@justcatb]

I work in a library and I’ve done TikTok displays that haven’t been touched, yet our staff picks are constantly being used and a lot of patrons make a beeline for it! Maybe it’s different between libraries and bookshops. I prefer people recommended books to social media. Interesting topic though.

[@amybond819]

Loved this, and I completely agree! I also currently work at a bookstore, and most of the people under 30 that come in already have a set idea of which book they want, which they can usually grab on one of the tik tok displays, and that is ok! But, if you wish, challenge yourself to go into a bookstore without a book in mind, and browse around until you find the one. It is such a calming experience, I want to bring it back!!!

[@tulsimason2740]

The algorithm is flattening all our experiences - it is just regurgitating what we’ve already liked into a more extreme version of itself to keep us engaged. I found your channel Cinzia because you are speaking about classics and ancient history, rather than the hot new read - keep doing what you do!

[@jacquiheywood3142]

Please dont ever stop making videos. I love your discussions. I use a variety of ways to choose which book to read next. Never TikTok, as I don’t have an account. I spent the first year of the Covid lockdowns soaking in BookTubers recommendations, but after buying a years worth of dud books, I discovered that I need to stick to my own tried and true methods. (Favorite authors; plots that interested me; friends recommendations etc.)

[@thefocus24]

How many books a year do you read!

[@robo5013]

I worked at a retail bookstore in the 90's and they began to 'encourage' us booksellers to push certain titles every month. I hated it! I even tried reading a couple of the recommended books and never once liked them which is why I just ignored them. How was I supposed to push a book about an extinct shark, I believe the title was Megladon and it was supposed to be the next Jaws, to a father buying his son his first dictionary for school. The man did thank me for my insightful recommendation for one appropriate for his child's age and grade level. I can only imagine what he would have thought if I would have said, sure you need a dictionary for your kid to be successful in school but what about this novel about a shark eating people? I never felt comfortable lying to my customers.

[@MrsShimmyOnDown]

Big love to you! Thank you for being you!

[@meowmeow1531]

I think the megalodon one is the meg by steve alten? Am i right? If so, unfortunately i loved that book when i was a kid 😭

[@TheMacJew]

BookTok is the bane of my existence as a Bookseller. It's my job to know about these books but I have no interest in reading them. B"H I work in a college town so I have readers interested in a broader range than the regurgitated tropes in Romantasy because I grow tired of stocking the same ten to fifteen authors everyday.

[@AylenL]

I'm a bookseller too and those book basically sell themselves so we (the staff) read absolutely none of them, unless we have a genuine interest in a title (which is basically never)... I think part of my job is to defend lesser known books and authors, those who don't have a massive marketing scheme behind them. It just makes it more fun and special!

[@pappywinky4749]

As someone who reads widely and has worked in bookstores for years, I can relate to this so much. I was a witness to the reading renaissance of the early 00s and have been a direct witness of the cultural shift in the literature world of the past 2 decades. I have been reading genre fiction consistently for decades now, and have observed a strange shift in what is hyped up in the community and what is actually good. Social media has been completely responsible for the horrible marketing trends of the past 10 years and I have observe the growth of phenomenon in real time. I'm going to be honest, this is completely normal based on what I've experienced in the book industry. Quality reads are not usually the bestsellers, anything that hold the attention of readers and is easy to read usually is. English is not my first language and the literary world I grew up in is slightly different, but obviously the same tendencies remain. I don't think good books that require much of their reader will ever supplant the larger public. There's a reason the thriller genre with writers like James Patterson have always been a the top of the bestsellers lists. They entertain. There's a prevalent notion, particularly in genre fiction, that books rare meant to entertain and a book have very little value if it doesn't. I've observed a worsening of this mentality with the rise of the superhero movies. People expect a spectacle and nothing more. Obviously, there are outliers, but they will always remain just that.

[@JudithRBos]

Yeah, this is a trent I have started to notice too. The fantasy genre is s big a big contributer to this as well, becoming more and more about spectacle and les representative of history anymore, to the point it is less and less believable.

[@pappywinky4749]

@@JudithRBos I wouldn't necessarily agree with that though. If anything thrillers and romance are the bigger culprit. Fantasy's was never really about history and a bit different in it's approach. More focused on wonder and adventure. It also depends on what part of fantasy we're looking at. If we're talking about romantasy and YA, I would definitely agree. I would venture that the genre is in it's golden age at the moment. There is a wealth of great quality books. For every Brandon Sanderson and Sarah J Mass, we find authors like Jenny Wurts, Robin Hobb, Gene Wolfe, Steven Erikson and Joe Abercrombie. While history was never the main focus, I would say that there's never been a bigger focus on it that before. The only difference is that the influences in settings are much more varied. Historical fiction has also evolved on it's on as well. Self-publishing is also full of innovative writers. Fantasy was always about adventure and imagination so I can't fault them for the spectacle. It's part of the magic, but it usually comes with tons of interesting themes and fascinating characters. Its the genre that brings me the most joy. Good fantasy books tend to inherently demand a lot of their readers because they are typically set in very alien worlds. There's a literary wealth to be found.

[@KatLim7778]

This was exactly what happened to me with The Midnight Library The book was hyped up so much I bought it then was disappointed and promptly stopped listening to recommendations. I want to read something I like, the genre I like because I’m wasting time and money on it. Platforms are just advertisements for the bookseller to get the common man to tell the common man “hey, you like this so buy it !”

[@nrbeck1]

I enjoy the randomness of the "new book" shelves at my local library as well as the other displays. One of my favorite books came from a summer library thing where they wrapped books in black paper with a vague description.

[@willowstyczinski4488]

@@nrbeck1 I read an amazing book last year because my library did the same thing! They just used brown paper and labeled the table as “Have a blind date with a book” since it was Valentine’s time.

[@Tessa_Ru]

You articulated this so well, i dont know that i have anything to add lol. I tried a couple of the "trending" books, and quickly realized that i was not illiterate enough to enjoy them as just entertainment. I mostly buy familiar authors, and lots of books from the used book store. If it's old enough, even the "garbage" reads needed to meet a certain standard to be worth their paper.

[@hillaryberg6771]

It’s funny how personal books are because I would consider The Secret History as one of the books that I was lied to about being good!

[@jackiemorrison2706]

You nailed it! As a reader long before social media (!) I can't wait to return to the days of seeking out a smaller local bookshop, independent publishers and word of mouth. I heard someone at a conference lately say that in future there will be AI produced books (for those who aren't that much into the content! or want that "expected" content you speak of) and there will be the rest - and there will be an audience for both. To him, this didn't seem to be an issue but to me as a careful consumer, I can see the risk of the "rinse and repeat/quick content" getting the publisher money, and the rest...not sure where they'll go (independent publishers?). I'm not even on TT but see the push of certain titles in all other social media and the momentum it gathers which is sometimes less to do with the book content and more to do with being in with the cool crowd. My greatest pleasure is my local bookshop where I know the sellers are genuine book lovers and that I can talk to them about books (and my local librarians). Great session - gives a lot to think about.

[@ThoughtCemetery]

I'm strangely grateful for those "booktok made me read it" signs on shelves and tables. This way I definitely know which books to avoid like the plague.

[@lisasstitchingandsuch]

I literally just gave up on Babel last night with like less than 50 pages to go. I just couldn't believe not just how bad it was but also how NOT FUN it was to read. And yet it wasn't just hyped on Social Media it's also won a ton of awards. How?!

[@pckrichards7980]

The fact is, different people have different tastes, and even though I’ve tended to like the more popular books I’ve read, there’s a clear difference between those written for TikTok and those not. I liked the forth wing series and I’m not ashamed to admit it doesn’t average above a 3.6-3.7 stars right now

[@rebekakuszinger4050]

After 30 seconds into your video, you gained a new subscriber. I agree so much and I haven't even finished your video :D

[@MyMessyBookshelf]

This was a great discussion. I am so happy to see people I’ve never seen reading finally picking up books but I am having a hard time out here being surrounded by people reading the same book 😅

[@Computra]

Agreed! I think there is far too much of a push to put out content that I'm sure they are just recommending no matter what they think!

[@ToriMorrow]

I think it’s unfortunate people treat all of Booktok the same because of the trendy books they see on the surface. Like any bookish space, we have to find the creators and recs that work best for us. Booktok is massive, with creators who’ve built large platforms on literary and translated fiction, classics, scif/fantasy, Black romance, nonfiction, historical, etc. But I feel no one ever goes beyond the ACOTAR and Colleen Hoover recommendations

[@valencaluisa]

Regarding the Staff picks vs. Trending topic, my two cents is that usually the demographic that will be interested on "booktok books" perceive the staff as this older and probably boring entity, while they view the virality of a book on tiktok as endorsement from their peers. From my experience working in a bookshop, "staff picks" work a lot better when they have a name or even a face attached to it: customers tend to trust more a suggestion when they know or at least recognize the type of person who is making the suggestion

[@ImaginaryAlchemist]

I currently work in a bookstore, I’m in the US though. We still do the “book of the month” thing. Occasionally they’ll decide we need to sell more and pressure us. They’ll constantly pull us aside and ask why we’re not selling enough, or encourage us to push the book on people who are just browsing. I’ve always hated that system. I hate having to push a book on someone that I’ve never even read. It feels dishonest. I know that the only reason I’m recommending it is because some publisher decided they wanted to sell a particular book.

[@lizzyp1414]

Reminds me of the Oprah's or Reese's book club books. I've read enough of those to know that they are usually generic and boring and just not for me. They're basically an anti-recommendation at this point. I've realized that a lot of people might only read 1 or 2 books every year, and so the books that are selected for the celebrity book clubs are meant to appeal to a mass audience that honestly just doesn't read much. I read enough to already know what kind of books I like and what kind of tastes I have.

[@DanielSprouse]

I miss the niche magazines that, almost as an afterthought had a books section. Staff writers we trusted after yearsandyearsandyears of accurate book reviews were how we knew to buy a new author. For me, it was various sci-fi magazines. Damn, I miss magazines.

[@CinziaDuBois]

They sell these gorgeous niche magazines at a bookshop in Edinburgh and I wish I could buy them (every time I’ve gone to the shop I’ve been on no-buy haha). But the glossy niche magazines are SO missed. Last year, I subscribed to a history magazine and it’s AMAZING

[@juliaw1010]

Thank you so much for mentioning Babel 😁 I’m like on 75% of the book and I was questioning myself and why I don’t like it. I rarely read “worldwide popular books” but quite liked Yellowface so Babel surprised me with how much I don’t like it. Probably will stick to the classics when reading foreign literature because the quota is quite limited as I try to read as much of my country’s fiction as I can manage during the last several years.

[@biankatoth1786]

I actually really liked the parts that were about the language but the story was just meh.

[@mendyviola]

I’m so old school, that I go to an actual bookstore and browse through books.

[@eviesholette]

I read Crank the same year you did and at the time I really liked it, but thought that the mom was very creepy and manipulative. It would have shocked me at the time to learn that the mom was supposed to be a self-insert character. I tried to read the book again a few years later in high school when I picked up some of the later books in the series at the library and found it unreadable. It's interesting how my opinion changed so much between the ages of 11 and 15/16. It was one of the last times I picked a book because it was popular. Especially considering I was ahead of the hype with Twilight and one of the first to denounce it for drivel. (Which didn't stop me from finishing the series lol.) Another great video! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and opinions with us, Cinzia!

[@mammasflapjax]

I'm a huge fantasy fiction reader and I fell victim to BookTok during the Fourth Wing hype but my word, did I learn my lesson after that.

[@Ana.89C]

Because of this I had to go back to classics 😭

[@jen3566]

The only big win I’ve had recently for series recommendations via social media (finally got around to a rec from Elliot Brooks with the First Law setting by Joe Abercrombie) was the First Law trilogy. I’m so glad I missed the general hype of his work and only saw a couple of Elle’s videos saying how much she loved them. Going into his work blind only amplified how stellar his character work and sense of humor is in such a serious and “dark” fantasy setting. I certainly used to have way better luck just browsing local book stores though. Letting the cover or title make you go 👀 and pick it up. It was actually just more fun that way. Then if the book was good enough (which it almost always was) then you get to run back to your little friend group and pitch it. Twilight was the first trend book I ever fell into. And that actually led to one of the biggest book mistakes I made. I was trying to chase the sense of community in the paranormal romance genre but find something a little “better” than the Twilight Saga. With no one to blame other than my own poor middle school judgement, I picked up the House of Night series by the Cast duo 😬 I read the first book and thought it was ok, and said to myself “well it’s only the first book, surely it’s only going to get better as they have more experience writing the series going forward.” WELL I bought about a dozen of the books before trying to finish the second book, which was so bad that I DNFed the whole series, and couldn’t even sell it second hand because it was on a list of series the shops already had too much of being pawned 🫢 My best friend made it about 6 books into the series and said it definitely never got better. It was just too melodramatic, inappropriate, and insincere for us. So social media recs and irl browsing recs have their own pros and pit falls, but irl browsing and trusted friend’s recommendations certainly have the better track record in my experience.

[@nathantaradiercks973]

As a prior bookseller, I completely agree. Talk to booksellers, browse shelves, frequent your library, speak with friends.

[@elenakalliste]

I remember working at Barnes & Noble 15 years ago, shortly after 50 shades of grey had come out. It exploded and we literally had them on 5 or 6 displays and we were getting them by the caseload every day. Just the sheer volume turned me off. But, also, the content was clearly dumb. I normally worked in receiving where I could have all the opinions about books without having to fake it in front of customers, but one day they needed help on the cash registers. So I went out and helped and every single person was buying that damn book. And one of them asked me if I read it, and I said no. They told me I should, and I said (truthfully, but to spare their feelings) that I prefer non-fiction to fiction so I don’t think I’ll read it. And they grabbed my hand and told me it was so good that I HAD TO READ IT. I almost screamed “I work in a bookstore and have access to thousands of books and I would literally choose any of them over this crap” but I just grabbed by hand back from their clutches and told them to have a nice day and went into receiving and screamed for like 30 seconds straight. I will never read a book because it’s popular. The last time I did that it was Harry Potter and look how that turned out. 🤦‍♀️

[@TheMacJew]

I feel that so hard. I'm tired of seeing the same 10-15 titles that I'm always happy when a customer and I can openly kvetch about our dislike.

[@gnostic268]

Right. I worked at Waldenbooks before they went bankrupt. Oprah's Book Club was huge and people were desperate to get the latest book chosen. Most of the time they were not very good. We were allowed to check out any book from the store as long as we kept it in pristine condition and I never chose any of the OBC books. Bestsellers and favorite authors were usually my choices.

[@fuzzymurdermittens]

I worked in a bookstore at that time too! I tried to read it so that I knew what all the hype was about. On page 2 an elevator travels upwards at terminal velocity. I put it back on the shelf and gave my Customer Service Face™ a really good workout hiding my true opinions.

[@flowerfield3468]

@elenakalliste Harry Potter is and was a fantastic book series for young people, and the author has given millions of her money to charity and has even set up her own women’s shelter for r*pe and domestic violence victims. I’m very glad Harry Potter was a big part of my childhood. 🥰🥰

[@ClaireGreen-wd2gm]

Ive always been a reader so when I suddenly started seeing girl at work reading in the breakroom Id try and get a peek at what they were reading. It was always 50 Shades. Ive never read the books or seen the movies but Ive run across movie clips on YT shorts and its so cringe but also some of them were hilarious without meaning to be. So bad its practically a satire of itself. 😅

[@NaeOnYT]

I have found that most viral books don't interest me because they're just not the kind of stuff I gravitate toward. I don't care for most YA, romantasy, romance novels, contemporary fiction, etc., and that's what a ton of BookTok/BookTube recs are. I have better luck browsing the library or looking up a book I loved on Thriftbooks, then clicking around the related books until I find some stuff that tickles my fancy.

[@peckishpagan]

0:11 AGREED! I don’t think most people actually read those books. Or they’re so caught up in wanting to “OMG I LURV THAT BOOK!” that they look past the fact that the writing/storyline/characters are actually an insult to our intelligence. I’ve ruined books for entire the entire club😂

[@Gillian.Ashcroft.66]

What about the books that are hyped before even read by many ????? WTF 😂

[@Roseforever84]

@@Gillian.Ashcroft.66 Literally everything by Aiden Thomas. Terrible, terrible books that have an average of 5 star ratings before they’re even out. It’s wild

[@lesliemoiseauthor]

As an author published by a small press, I felt that remark about small publishers.

[@benreadsgood]

There’s definitely a big difference between a book being sold/read and people thinking a book is ‘good’. Hate reading and the content associated with it is often just as popular as people waxing on about how much they loved something (perhaps even more so). Sadly, so much of this is down to what people are interested in. I’m on a side of Booktube that reads literary fiction, indie presses, translations, etc. and it is just so tiny compared to channels focused on popular genres. To be totally honest though, I don’t think ‘recommendations’ works in a one-sided environment. Whenever someone asks me to recommend a book, the first thing I need to know is what sort of thing they like. And I try to keep that ethos in my own reviews: I include my reaction emotionally and intellectually, but also try to think about what sort of readers might jive with what the book is doing.

[@shawnkubiak9125]

I got 1 rec off of tik tok and she was an English professor talking about classic lit. That was good. I found one book recommend off a website because I wanted to try the horror genre, not realizing it was a tik tok trend. It was horrible

[@grimnirnacht]

I just assumed that my tastes in books were so far off mainstream that I haven't bothered with recs in sooooo long. It does make it a lot harder to find good books though 😕

[@winterburden]

Thanks for this wonderful video Cinzia!

[@CinziaDuBois]

You're so welcome!

[@katem3553]

I've gotten into the habit of purposely avoiding books if they're trending...BUT I do still support booktok etc. I've lost track of how many people I know who started reading because of booktok. It's inspiring people, which is a wonderful thing.

[@dianaisme]

I got The Secret History recommended to me online. It was my favorite read of 2024!

[@trippishine]

I really love that book❤

[@dianaisme]

@trippishine me too!!!

[@Redbird-UJ76]

I'm not on TikTok but it seems like they enjoy mostly easy reads without much intellectual adversity.

[@ocdtdc]

Really enjoyed your perspective of being a bookseller and the tailored shopping experience of going to a bookstore in this.

[@gvd3975]

As a booktoker I fully support this message. This is also why I tend to promote indie author, I'd rather share a book you've never heard of than be another voice shouting to read mediocre CoHo or even Fourth Wing. I will say though, booktok helped get me back into reading after a 7 year hiatus, so it's not all bad.

[@dollyweird]

I have never related to something more. I go out of my way to avoid books that are recommended by booktok or influencers period.

[@sarrahchang4424]

@@dollyweird same. I also avoid anything in the blurb that says x trope or fresh new Romantasy.

[@emion7834]

I hope this doesn’t come off as weird, but you have absolutely lovely accent and voice. So calming.... (Also great video, I greatly enjoyed it!!!)

[@lukabarisic7080]

I was abou to comment the same thing, so take my upvote instead.

[@eleanormorrissey8239]

I see part of the issue is the dream of becoming a "book influencer", being sent free books and early releases etc, so a lot of people build their profile by jumping on the hype so they get views and engagement, and so at the surface level of booktok you see the same type of books being circulated. As a heavy but somewhat picky reader I've learnt to read between the lines and suss out quickly what doesn't sound like my cup of tea (maybe I've missed out on some gems but the second I hear romantasy I'm scrolling past, because I know I'm a romance as a subplot person). But I have seen the benefits of getting recommendations from social media, if you follow people who like to do more detailed reviews rather than cute canva graphics showing tropes, and the people who promote more diverse reading e.g. reading a book from every country is fun and educational content. When I was young I got recommendations from newspapers and magazine, and looking back they were all written by the same type of person. At least now there's more attention on "what do readers want". Downside to that though is capitalism is never going to really care about quality, like after the Barbie film Hollywood was like "So, MORE films about toys," as though that is why the film was popular. And I love TSH (after hearing about it on social media) but I cannot with every dark academia copy that thinks an academic setting and characters who are a little snobby matches the complexity and class commentary... All in all this is a good and important discussion to continue to have!

[@benkenobi_]

Bro i almost only read classics now because of this

[@blizpix]

@@benkenobi_ Exactly, just made the shift because I realized there's a reason a lot of these older books are classics, and life is short, I don't want to waste hours of my life on unenjoyable fluff. That said, there are some fascinating authors around nowadays, I like sci-fi a lot, and adore Greg Egan, and literally no one I know has ever heard of him.

[@whatisanamewhatisaface]

I was literally just thinking this. I am so tired of algorithms and the fact that people and big shops like Waterstones are immensely driven by these algorithms. You walk into Waterstones and you see the same five books everyone is reviewing on YT, IG and TikTok. I miss just walking into a bookshop and discovering something for myself and then finding out that I either love it or hate it.

[@thcusandsunny]

Very personal stance here but I was in my late 20s when I learned being a "NYT bestseller" doesn't mean anything as to the quality of the writing or whether it's for me.

[@ImaginaryAlchemist]

Basically every author is an “NYT Bestseller.” Oftentimes publishers will manipulate sales numbers just to get on the bestseller list. So it doesn’t really mean anything

[@thcusandsunny]

@ImaginaryAlchemist yep! But I tell you I'm naive and for the longest time saw that as a badge of certified quality. Dumb me. Better late than never!

[@ApricusInaros]

I do listen to recommendations on social media, but mostly on which author writes in which genres. From there on I research the author thoroughly, his/her background and catalogue. I then pick books that sound interesting to me, unrelated to if I heard of the book title before or not. Social media does help me to navigate the large mass of contemporary writers, which otherwise I probably would never hear of.

[@kidneyprivilege]

As a current bookseller, I'm totally biased but I can't agree more. Every shift, I'm itching for a customer to ask me for recs so I can handsell something I've read recently and loved. Something I've noticed recently is that some customers don't actually want you to recommend stuff you like. Instead, they just need you to pick something from the pool of books that are super popular. A bit depressing to deal with but I'm glad most aren't like that.

[@mirro906]

My TBR is like a thousand miles long but I am taking in ALL RECOMMENDATIONS!

[@rosamundraven]

There really isn't much "I" can do to make people understand the importance of reading. All I can do is live my life, showing others how good books are and how reading is important. I don't have social media, so all of this doesn't really bother me. And it also doesn't bother me because my tastes are each day less and less influenced by "trends". If something is trending and is something I now I like or have a high likelihood of enjoying, I'll probably look into it. If something I like is trending, it makes it easier to find it. If something I don't like is trending, and simply ignore it; and get call boring by people around me 😅

[@stefanreitersjo4454]

thought-provoking ideas as always my dear Cinzia!

[@CinziaDuBois]

Thank you so much!

[@hallievanoutryve3109]

Funny, the books on the thumbnail were some of the most commonly recommended books on Goodreads- according to my history and ratings. They seemed like they may be right up my alley according to synopsis & reader reviews. I really should have known better. Couldn’t finish either, although I did not give ‘Secret History’ a fair shot so may try again one day!

[@empressah888]

@@hallievanoutryve3109 A Little Life is a masterpiece, but I agree with the others mentioned being mediocre. I also had that option about Piranesi too.

[@given2501]

God this video reminded me of how I took the bait and read Circe (everyone was praising it) and it was an absolute pain to get through. Didn't like even a single line of it.

[@amw6846]

So...I guess my main question is how similar this is to the history of mass-produced pulp novels marketed towards (for example) young women who worked in factories -- I think Abby Cox did a nice little talk about that. My understanding is that often good books do not sell particularly well and that the pulpy stuff kind of subsidizes things the publisher might see as a loss. I'd also like to add another reason for buying and (maybe) reading what's popular on BookTok, and that's the ability to talk about it with others IRL or to be seen in public as a certain kind of reader. This reason for book purchase is older than the internet, but with the internet driving new readers, I could see that being given a boost by trendiness. Personally, I trust staff above BookTok/best sellers. Sometimes in a store I'll look for signs by a staff member whose tastes seem to overlap my own and then see what they recommend that I haven't read yet. Also, I've run across a couple small bookstores where the taste of the manager who orders the books really overlaps mine, and I find amazing, quirky books I never would've discovered otherwise that way.

[@Tessa_Ru]

@amw6846 i do that. I have never actually met this staff member, but the little sticker saying "Recommended by Holly" gets me to take a second look at a book at my local Coles lmao

[@vincentwise3188]

I get some of my book recommendations from my local library page! It's a fairly large system and any of the staff are able to recommend books. Since the staff obviously don't get paid to promote books and spend most of their time in the library you get a fair mix of obscure recommendations and more "trendy" recommendations that they genuinely liked.

[@sparrowsparrow7505]

"Get rekt recs!" Now, this is art.

[@bad-girlbex3791]

Elite 👌

[@maryhornsby9441]

I like Booktube recommendations because I like feeling like I am part of a large book club and I like hearing people talk about books that I've read to hear their thoughts. That said, I know who I am watching and that I mostly watch them for entertainment: not book recs. There is a difference. I like their personalities and how they talk and what their interesting ideas are. But I also take their recomendations with a grain of salt. There is often a video where "I read 6 Kindle Unlimited Holiday Romances" surprise, it puts them in a reading slump because its SO BAD. I like hearing about new releases too, so if something catches my eye, I add it to my TBR list on Pinterest. What works for me is I am constantly haunting my Free Little Libraries and buy most books from Discount Library Sales where I can go and browse older books I've never heard of for cents. I've encountered some surprise favorites this way and has diversified what I read.

[@heartyinspirations]

Absolutely agree. I think it’s a cash grab in the book community as it is in the beauty and fashion. It’s just that in the beauty community you have a bit more transparency sometimes not always. In the book community, things are going faster as they are tossing around 20 books with no justification of why you should read it or not. So for me it’s not what to read is why to read it and a nice discussion around the book rather than giving me 20 recommendations in three seconds

[@willowstyczinski4488]

I’ve never had any interest in anything about TikTok so BookTok has no influence on me. However, my local library and favorite little local indie bookshop have both had a table with books wrapped in brown paper with hints about the genre and story written on them. Above the books is usually a sign saying “blind date with a book?”. I’ve read some of the most interesting books that way. Considering I’m trying a no-buy this year I’m contemplating taking a selection of my own books that have been neglected for years, wrapping them up, numbering them, and then picking a random number out of a hat to determine my next read.

[@GKnapptime]

3:48 I remember reading crank in middle school! It was a book I knew my parents would be upset to learn I was reading, so I enjoyed it simply for the taboo subject. I remember nothing of the plot, characters, writing, etc, so it was fun to hear you drag on it! Brought back memories 😂

[@paulajf4205]

I work in the book industry and am a voracious reader, but I am not on Tik Tok so thankfully I'm not a trend follower in that regard... for the most part. I can tell you, you are right about A Secret History. I read it many years ago at someone's recommendation and after having put it down initially after a few chapters. When I picked it back up, I was all in.

[@speaking_bookish]

*I didn’t see that you actually mentioned this until after I commented 😂 I find your ideas thought provoking and I also agree that while tik tok has inspired more ppl to read and also boosted sales which in turn help to keep brick and mortar book stores in business, I’m often find that mediocre books that would never previously seen the light of day being picked up by traditional publishers based on popularity alone which muddies the waters when looking for books- you can no longer trust that a book traditionally published at the very least is written well. But I do want to add on the bookseller front (and you may know this from your own book selling days assuming these practices are similar in the UK) that the thing I hated the most about that job was the pressure to push their monthly chosen books to readers simply because they were the monthly books. It wasn’t required that you actually like the book, in fact it isn’t even required that you’ve READ the book- they just insist that you convince customers to purchase them even if it means gibbing about your own feelings toward said novel. To add insult to injury, the monthly chosen books were often just books that didn’t sell well and needed a boost to sell as much of the stock as possible. Everything about this practice turned me off. On the other hand, I appreciate so much when a bookseller recommends a random book based on their own experience with it. I’d just say to anyone shopping at BN to keep this in mind when the booksellers are attempting to sell you their books of the month!

[@enikovarga2533]

I’m a lit major in university, I usually get my book recommendations two ways: I always ask for book recommendations from my professors whom I really like the vibe/attitude/personality of AND booktok. And they would tell me about book they really like or book they think i’d like. Let me tell you, the first (via personal connections) is wwaaaaaay better. Ask people for book recommendations, ask librarians, ask your friends etc.!!!

[@emmaginationlove]

I always bypass anything social media marketed and go straight to the Staff Picks when in Waterstones because i assume book shop staff are much more discerning than the bandwagon deep pocketed viral option. But I'm old (42) and can remember a time where there would never be a social media marketed table in a shop. My depressing thought is that people who haven't cultivated their tastes outwith social media trends might never be able to.

[@supersnek5]

I have read some stuff that I loved due to some crowdsourced recommendations. Mostly from tumblr lol and I suspect that's because I was easily able to search for people in the same interest niches as me and see their tastes first. I don't think I would have read Impulse (1995) if I hadn't seen a bunch of people on tumblr raving about it, and I'm so glad I did! I think the only booktok rec I tried was Song of Achilles (3/5 stars ~ excellent prose but very shallow characterization). Most of the booktok novels I see peddled a lot just don't interest me, so I recognize that my tastes don't align with their generalized group. That said, I think the best way to see if a booktuber/toker's recommendations would be worth picking up is to see how they feel about books you've already read (so you can see if they like what you like and if it's for similar reasons). An approach that focues more on the individual person rather than on the amount of people hyping a specific book.

[@emin5488]

I never or rarely read a book recommandation from booktoks or prize awards. A booktok having a Coleen Hoover recommandation is a big red flag for me.

[@FarrenCroft]

I remember a friend recommended me 50 Shades of Grey a couple of years after it came out (we where around 18yrs). I'm so glad I didn't listen to her

[@sandaleenqaiser]

Wow this really made me consider how and why i choose to read certain books and feel underwhelmed by some of them. The anecdotes from being a bookseller were really insightful.

[@Lost-in-Hades]

I agree with the video overall! I've never been one to take recommendations in general, so I'm definitely not likely to pick up a book from social media. That said, I do think there was a bit of a logic with regards to book displays. Just because a TikTok book display is more successful doesn't mean that every person who came in and bought off of thise two displays was convinced BY the display. I'd be interested in the data, because to me it seems obvious that a display of books commonly recommended online is going to do well because people are more likely to have already come in looking for them and can easily find them on a prominent display. There's no way to know what number of those sales was determined before those people walked in the door, and I'd argue that without those numbers, we can't really know how many people who pick up a book from either display were convinced just by the display alone. It would be interesting data to look at; I wonder if a bookshop would be able to gather it via surveys at checkout, but it would be difficult to sift out people who picked up the book from the shelves and not the display since you cannot guarantee that everyone checking out will answer your questions.

[@Thestashdowndiaries]

There are only a handful of youtubers whose recommendations I trust. And I prefer those who will recommend back list books rather than always recommending new releases, but our tastes are never going to be identical. I've considered playing a sort of library roulette by using a random number generator to pick a shelf and then again to pick a book. It's a tiny library so pretty quick and easy to do.

[@rosinecarail2420]

Social media made me read The Stormlight Archive and I am very very grateful for that recommendation

[@O_M554]

I used to follow Jack Shepard until I bought a book he passionately recommended (On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous) and just absolutely hated it. Like, really hated it. I realised that just because someone sings from the rooftop about a book, doesn’t mean it is actually as good as they are saying/that I’ll like it. So I don’t watch him anymore which is a shame because he’s entertaining and I love being around the vibe of people who adore books as much as I do (I don’t have book friends in real life). There’s definitely a place for book influencers - I think we desperately need them. But we need more variety of niche interests available. I’d love to find a KZbinr who talks endlessly about philosophical/whimsical books who doesn’t have a dry personality (like I do!)

[@xjulesiscools89]

I often end up preferring the books I randomly pick up that I had little to no idea about beforehand than I do the books that have been recommended by everyone and their cousin. I think one of the reasons is because most of those recommended books come with expectations that are rarely met.

[@rubicscube007]

Had the exact same experience with Babel. It's true that different people enjoy different books... But part of my just feels heartbroken for the world in which so many booms not only do I dislike but genuinely think are uninspired and lacking in nuance receive wide praise.

[@DebWrites]

Given how much the social media companies, in theory, know about us, you'd think they'd be excellent at making recommendations, and yet ... They still tend towards this median, or who happens to have paid the highest price per click that day. What potential we are squandering.

[@robertsherman2285]

You sure went deep on this one. I have a simple take on forms of communication. If someone tells me, if I see it on TV, hear it on the radio, read. view it or hear it it on any media platform, book, news source or magazine, or if everyone knows something, then I know it's a lie. If I see it with my own eyes it's 50:50.

[@alexreid1173]

I get book recommendations almost exclusively from specific content creators who have given recommendations I liked in the past. I only read bestselling/hyped books when they genuinely sound interesting to me. I know that my taste in books does not tend to align very well with bestseller lists or most professional critics, so I’m not going to give their recommendations much weight 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@andreahomer9434]

Agreed! Some of the most hyped books of the last few years have made me want to scream into the void. I fell for the Captain Corelli, Crawdads, Sally Rooney etc hype and I honestly didn't like any of them. To those readers who loved them, that's great and I'm so glad you thought they were fabulous. However, they put me off any book that has been hyped by others. I also agree with you that book 'recommendations' nowadays often don't mention the book or the writing and can sometimes have the book as nothing more than a prop to match the decor. I find this so sad.

[@SingBlueSilver-m7t]

Personally, I avoid books recommended by social media like the plague. I prefer staff recommendations or just browsing shelves and finding titles or covers that look intriguing. If I'm drawn in by the blurb on the back cover then I'll buy and read the book.

[@marcevan1141]

I agree with your basic points here. With books-just as with movies-there is always a lot of hype and consensus opinion surrounding mediocre work. I do have to say that, contrary to the hype and consensus opinion, I hated both "A Little Life" and "The Secret History. "

[@lethalchicken1173]

I've never had a TikTok account, so this is an informative glimpse into something I otherwise have no desire to spend mental energy on.

[@renee1390]

I met a girl irl at a coffee shop that bragged about how she dunked on a professor by pulling out “A Little Life” to prove that she’s dedicated to reading. The professor was gay. She laughed, because she interpreted his shock as him thinking she wasn’t capable of reading. She did not know what the cover was of. I think booktok is very dangerous Edit: I remember reading Ellen Hopkins as a younger woman and I knew it was messed up and no one listened to me!!!!!

[@FreedoPan]

I don't trust anyone but my own judgment at this point. Look what is happening with books like 4th Wing. Bad quality books have been promoted non stop. Harlequins were always part of the publishing industry but let's not exaggerate about their literary value.

[@adrianmcmahon5731]

Book recommendations are only really worth it to me if I have a very good idea of the persons tastes and how they intersect and overlap with my own. I don't use TikTok but I follow a steadily expanding group of Booktubers as I come across ones who appeal to my existing tastes or are enough of a differece to throw up unexoected choices to broaden my horizons. Even so there's only a select few who I trust well enough to know their opinions are highly valuable to me right off the bat.

[@frostyantiromantic7910]

I would definitely pick staff recs or bookseller recs because chances are they are lesser known literary gems. On the other hand, if I’ve wanted to buy a book and it says booktok or trending, I lose interest because overhyped stuff always does that to me. When everyone in school were reading Harry Potter I promised I wouldn’t, and I did after almost 8 years, only after the last movie had released and the hype died down. People who buy for the trend rarely do it for the community they find there, but for their personal gain of increasing engagement by reading something that is famous.

[@alexjones8843]

I tend to trust recommendations from friends more than anyone else, but the issue I’m falling in to now is that a lot of my friends are falling for the hyped books that are mediocre and recommending them before they’ve actually read them. I find myself repeatedly asking “oh have you read that yet” more often than I should have to