I am getting my reading ability back in the next few weeks, having my final surgery for cataracts next week... I am planning on re-reading "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer, "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis, and "Dead Souls" by Nikoli Gogol... three books I have read and love, but it's a good jumping off point to start... Thank you for promoting reading of great literature...
@@williamward446 I love “Dead Souls”! I reread it last year, and will be reading it in the future. I was actually considering putting it in this video but thought that “Oblomov” might be a little easier to understand if you are just getting into the classics. And thank you for the recommendations! I’ve been looking at “The Canterbury Tales” for a while now, and it’s probably time I actually read the book. Hope the surgery goes well and you recover fast and easy :)
If you like multi-generational stories, two classics of french literature are Honoré de Balzac's La Comédie Humaine and of course Emile Zola's Les Rougon-Macquart, two very famed sagas that we in France study at least one book from each in high school
Hey Mary! I've been really enjoying your channel! The topics you cover and the quality of your videos are awesome. You can take your channel even further if you want. But there are some important issues in your channel that will not grow your channel easily if not solved. Thank You:)
I have read all of Stephen King's books and The Dead Zone is good! As for whether or not it's horror I say yes but I'll let you decide. It does get uncomfortably close to things in the real world.
This discussion reminds me of a comment on the r/fairyloot subreddit, on the post about "how much money do you spend on special editions per month" and the most upvoted comment was, and I quote (actually went to find it): "(I just stopped looking at my credit card statement and make biweekly payments 😇) Don’t tell my bf lol" By itself it's an incredibly concerning comment and one that reveals the state of overconsumption on the book community, but more than that it's the 66 people who upvoted it, who thought it was really funny/relatable getting into debt over pretty books and committing financial infidelity by keeping it from their partners. It just blows my mind honestly. I'm not going to shame people for wanting beautiful books, look I get it. I'm subscribed to services like fairyloot, I buy plenty of books, but only if it's within my annual budget which still allows me to pay for everything and save for retirement. And if that means I can't buy ALL the books I want? So be it. Living outside one's means is really dangerous, especially when it's not even for necessary things like food and housing. Credit card debt is normalised in some countries, but it's an incredibly dangerous thing that can really spiral out of control. It only takes losing ones jobs and suddenly they can't pay off the 15%+ interest rate on the credit card and then what? We are due for another recession soon, and a lot of people are going to get burned, partially because of excessive spending. Save while you still can. And I'm not even starting on the immense cost of overconsumption on the environment, which I think we all know is absolutely dire.
Orbital is the only one of these I've read, I enjoyed it but it's not a favorite. It's kind of like a bunch of pieces and you have to put the puzzle together in your own way. Several other booktubers that have read it call it "Snorbital" because they found it boring. James is a retelling of Huckleberry Fin from James' perspective. The faking his death and running away is from the origonal. It's about humanizing and adding depth to James who was just called "n word Jim" in the origonal. (the n word wasn't censored)
Oh thank you so much for clarifying! The last time I read Huckleberry Finn, I was very young and at this point I don’t remember anything about it. Now I know it’s a retelling :)
Yes! I mentioned I absolutely love the Martian, I started it at 8:00 p.m. and ended up reading the entire thing and got no sleep lol. I read Project Hail Mary this year and liked it 98% as much which is still very high praise it was 5☆! I am a science nerd and the only big thing in The Martian that doesn't make sense is the storm in the beginning because Mars doesn't have a thick enough atmosphere for that, Project Hail Mary has quite a few more scientific inaccuracies but they were necessary for the story and didn't harm it. If dnfs count Taming the Storm by Avory Phoenix was my worst book of the year that I read the first 37% in september and gave up. I don't dnf much I'm at 141 finished 2 dnfs. I read We by Yevgeny Zamyatin in september and honestly gave it 3☆ , I found it to be moderately interesting but personally confusing. I found the history of the book itself more interesting like how it was published translated into English first and the original Russian was published much later. I prefer 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. Two historical mysteries I liked in September were "The Fossil Hunter" by Tea Cooper which takes place in Australia and "The Fox Wife" by Yangsze Choo which took place in China with some magical elements. A low science sci-fi Adventure I really liked in August was Star Scrapper by J.N Chaney
@@zachreads Wow, that’s interesting! So the only big inaccuracy is actually what started the whole adventure. I really want to read Project Hail Mary, but I am in line for it in the library. It is apparently a popular book! I think I’m number 20, even though they have more than 30 copies in the library. I wanted to dnf Study for Obedience, but I kept thinking it would get better. I also don’t usually dnf. I will be giving away some books though. They were not amazing and I don’t want to keep them in my library. As for We, I agree, it was somewhat confusing. And the language was hard for me. I read the original, so not sure what language is like in English, but in Russian it was hard even though it’s my first language. I do want to give it another chance though. I read it about 7 years ago and I’m hoping that this time I will be able to understand it better. But I did like 1984 more as well. I actually want to try reading dystopian novels for like a month to be able to see the similarities and differences, identify patterns and find my favorite. It turns out there are so many dystopian novels I haven’t heard about before!
The fact that everyone was horrible in different ways was what I liked. I found it really refreshing not to have a protagonist to side with or a good guy and it was just an unravelling of the vicious cycle of greed in publishing. That all of them were "explainable but not acceptable" was really masterful imo, and I appreciated it for leaving me so uncomfortable. The ending was admittedly silly :p but I liked that the whole thing culminated to be crazier and less believable as it went heh I loved that June didn't have a redemption. Not every story ends nicely because people don't always improve, and June's arc was to worsen. Felt truer to life that way, although it's all fiction ;P
The more I think about the book, the more I like it that we don’t have a protagonist to support/side with. It pushes the reader to find their own meanings and interpretations. It did confuse me with the message though. When I was looking at the book reviews, I realized that I misunderstood what Kuang wanted to say. But hey, it’s all a process :) now I know what the idea was. And who knows, maybe my interpretation was also something that the author agrees with, but It just wasn’t the main idea. As for June’s redemption, I agree that it does feel more real the way Kuang did it, but boy I wish it ended differently. All the events were just so “ugly” that by the end you’re hoping something good will happen, and it still doesn’t.
Good day, Mary. Enjoyed your video about book burning in Germany. I see the comments are turned off, so I wanted to add here that it contributed to Austrian writer, Stefan Zweig and his wife, Maria, to take their own lives living in exile in Brazil. Zweig's books prior to the Nazi's taking over were beloved in Germany and around the world. When he learned that not just his books were being destroyed but those of many others, he believed that there was no going back from this, even if the Nazi's were defeated. A line had been crossed that he never imagined humanity capable of, considering how cultured Germany and Austria were respectively. And yet they let it happen.
@@LibroParadiso-ep4zt Hello! Thank you so much for the comment. I think I have heard about this story before, and I should have added it into the video. I can imagine how it could feel like there is no going back from something like this. There always is a line that, if crossed, makes people think that there is no future.
Musya, there is one more part of Musketeers - it is named Viscount de Bras Delon. I don’t remember the sequence of all the parts but it might be in the middle between 3 Musketeers and the Iron mask. There are also 2 more parts named like “10 and 20 years later”. But from my prospective all of them are inferior to the initial book.
I agree! I loved the first book, I feel like it’s the best. I also read 10 years later (I think) but I haven’t heard of Viscount de Bras Delon. I might read it too just to understand the timeline of all the events.
The only two Dumas books I've read are Three Musketeers and the count of Monte Cristo. I liked three Musketeers much more, one thing that helped was it was an annotated version and was full of historical references that I wouldn't have gotten. For Me Monte Cristo started amazing but I lost interest relatively early on, if you want to hear someone who loves Monte Cristo check out "Josie Talks About Books", It ts her favorite book.
I loved the Three Musketeers, and I was actually considering rereading the novel. There is a second part to the series that goes before The Man in the Iron Mask, if I’m not mistaken. And as for The Count of Monte Cristo, I have been thinking about reading this book for quite some time now. My grandparents have suggested it strongly. I will definitely watch the video you recommended just to make a final decision and see if it’s something that I would find interesting now. I have a feeling that it is a novel I might have enjoyed more if I read it when I was about 14.
I agree with you on everything you said in this video This year I have read so far 210 books but that's because I am unemployed, and dealing with mental and physical health issues I wanted something to focus on so I chose books. Now do I believe I read like this next year Oh Hell No but this year I needed something positive to focus on, I normally don't read more than 85 books a year. Going back 4 years ago I did an unhaul and got rid of over 650 books I had no intention of reading, and then looked back thinking I only brought these books because I was told they were great books to get, seeing the money I had wasted woke me up a lot and I made myself ground rules from that moment. My book rules 1. I buy a book through Kindle or audible to read if I cannot find it on Kindle Unlimited or through Everrand. 2. A physical brought book has to be read in 6 months or it's unhauled. 3. A book does not go on my bookshelves unless it's a 4-star read and above as well as being a book I plan to re-read. 4. I only buy special or limited-edition versions of my very favourite books. So far this has worked for me a lot. I also have been reading a lot more nonfiction this year as well as self-help books... I will admit though I love my sci-fi, fantasy and horror books
Those are great rules! I very much agree with the rule that only 4 star + books go on the shelf. That way you build your perfect library and know for sure that you will enjoy every book you have. I have also started using the library more because it turns out my local library has a lot of new releases. So I would take the book from the library first, and then, if I really enjoy it and think I will be rereading it, I can buy my own copy. Also, wow, 210 books is a lot! You are a fast reader! Books really are a great way to relax and think about something else. 2022 and 2023 were very stressful years for me for multiple different reasons, and reading helped me get through a lot!
@Merryreads reading has helped me this year with keeping me centred while working on my mental health and also other things, I am excited to build a library of books I look at with love and joy 😊. I listen to a lot of audiobooks as well as e-books, but I am sorry 2022 and 2023 were bad years for you and I am hoping things are getting better for you each day. My local library is a hit or miss with books a lot of the time but I do try when I can
@@crimsonwhispersva2498 Audiobooks are great, though I sometimes find it hard to concentrate. I feel like I miss details. But I think this is something I can work on. And libraries can definitely be a hit or miss. I live in New York, so I go to one of New York’s Public Libraries. It has like 60 branches, and you can “order” a book from any one of them. So they have a huge selection and they will deliver a book to any branch you want. But where I lived before, the library was much smaller and it was harder to find the newest books.
@Merryreads With how busy I am with writing and also learning to do digital art, Audiobooks are a great way of keeping my ADHD brain 🧠 centred and not wondering as much because I concentrate on the story as well as what I am doing & I get so lost into it. I can understand how audiobooks can be hard to get into or to concentrate on for some especially if ur like me and can listen at 2.5x the speed, but it did take me over a year to build up from 1.5x to 2.5x and get used to it. I live in the UK and the library I have near me is the biggest in a 40-mile radius with 6 floors... the top floor though is like a little museum of history to do with my Brough and area, so it surprises me when I don't see all the fastest books out in my library since it's so so big... I think that's great that ur library has over 60 branches linked to be able to have a huge collection available just by ordering to ur library branch.
@@crimsonwhispersva2498 Yeah I definitely think you can train your brain to understand audiobooks better/listening to them with a higher speed. And wow, a 6 floor library sounds like a dream! It’s also very cool that it has a small museum. I think New York Public Library has a small museum part as well. If I’m not mistaken, they have the original Winnie-the- Pooh toys displayed there.
What you're getting at: the participatory dumbification of culture accelerated by fashionable social media trends, personal branding and a race to the bottom mindset to see who can read the most books during a given time, never mind the titles being mediocre or subpar, which is besides the point 🤓
Neil Gaiman is a great author, I love American Gods! And also I’ve never read The Martian but it seems like a cool book. I loved the movie :) It’s super nice that you found out how to use the library to its fullest potential! They’re great places.
I’m very excited about getting introduced to Neil Gaiman. And I also really enjoyed the beginning of the movie! That’s why I wanted to read the book. I have very high hopes for it!
Lessons in Chemistry is currently my favorite book of the year, I absolutly loved it! So you aren't dissapointed I will mention the food isn't a very big part of it, the next book I have where food is vividly described is Piglet by Lottie Hazell. I love The Martian and Project Hail Mary! I Just finished Star Scrapper by J.N Chaney it has the same humor but is more adventure rather than science focused but it was great too! You are saying Gaiman correctly, it's closer to "gay man" than "guy man". I do like "Coraline" and "The Ocean at the end of the Lane" by him but haven't read Neverware and personally very strongly disliked American Gods. The Tenents Downstairs sounds interesting, the feeling you are hoping for sound a bit like one of my favs "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson I finished Atonement last night and liked the writing but don't like bending reality to keep a preferred narrative going aspect of it, (spoilets) I thought the Brioney meeting Cecilia and Robbie near the end felt off to me and then finding out they both died in the war is one example that bothered me. I'll still give it 3.75☆ so I liked it but didn't love it. The Robbie in the war sections reminded me of "Lovely War" by Julie Berry which I really liked and is about Greek Gods taking an intrest in two love stories during WWI.
Thank you for all the recommendations! I will definitely read “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” cause I’ve been looking for a similar feeling to the documentary I was talking about for a while. And as for Atonement, I definitely know what you mean. I didn’t pay that much attention to it when I was reading, probably because I watched the movie before and knew what to expect. But with how much Cecilia was trying to stay away from her family, and especially Briony, seeing them together does feel a bit off. Oh and I’m very excited about The Martian. I’ve been trying to get hold of this book for a couple of months now!
I'm so glad I'm not in the book community online and just enjoy reading a vacuum. Why does EVERY SINGLE interest and hobby need a plethora of drama and controversy and infighting and TAKES?
5:15 Not everyone has the same: reading speed, free time, enjoyed genre, average book length, reasons for reading. Please stop judging other people using yourself as a metric for normal. There are lots of different normals and many content creators are upfront that this is their full time job so their stats will look different than a student or someone working full time or someone with kids, etc. My personal best month when working full time was 40 in one month, but reading was my only hobby that month and I don't have kids and at least a good handful were graphic novels, etc. Unemployed my best was 50 in one month, but I took a week off reading entirely so I could spend time on other hobbies and not burn out. Sometimes books can be consumed like an episode of a TV show-- for the entertainment value they provide, short, sweet, and fleeting. And sometimes they're consumed like textbooks-- to learn something new and remember indefinitely. One way is not superior to the other and it's honestly so gatekeepy when people act like it matters. genre discrepancy example-- There are a lot of romance readers who top 500 books in a year, while epic fantasies readers are more likely to read tomes and be lucky to hit 100/year.
I agree with all your points :) It’s completely normal to read a 100 books per year if that’s your speed and you are actually interested in a genre. But unfortunately, I often see book bloggers reading certain books just to fill their goodreads TBR goal because if they don’t, they are not successful or competitive or whatever. And every genre is good and valid, it’s the representatives of each genre that I question.
@@Merryreads That is definitely not the vibe of your video. The whole tone is very judgmental, it seems like you look down on the Romance genre as a whole and I was honestly shocked to see you say you like Romance in your comment section because the video was kinda hateful toward them and belittling, tbh? The publishing industry has ALWAYS been supported by Romance and dime novels and wouldn't have the capital to publish the other literature without them. Let people like what they like and read at the pace they read. We're spoiled for so many options and choices in our current era and you can just put up your blinders and ignore those that don't appeal to you. It's just as valid to read a book because fulfilling a goal feels great as it is to re-read a favourite comfort novel when you had a bad day as it is to challenge yourself with a translated book outside of your wheelhouse. There's no right or better way to read or have a "genre representative."
Butt... Most of the readers who read booktok books aren't gonna be reading tolstoy/whatever literary fiction anyway. Easily digestible fiction was always gonna be more lucrative. I *really* don't think booktok is making people read less of the 'gud' pnes
It IS. Not because the people who watch it every single day would ever bother reading actually interesting books but because the platform itself is causing a lot of issues with its users' ability to focus and keep their attention on a single thing (have a look at Healthy Gamer GG if you need to hear it from an actual medical professional). Which is sort of required to read something like Tolstoy.
@@quantumvideoscz2052 Imo more important than the attention span thing is instilling kids with a love of reading. Most readers have what I call a brain movie screen? And that's pretty difficult to develop as an adult. If you love reading you'll fight through the attention problems. Because the projector keeps running, the outside world falls away as you enter a state of 'flow'.
Re: buying books to fill home library: There IS the idea of decorative books, purchased because they look good on the shelf and improve the room's decor. Heck, there's a market for faux books that have nice looking covers for display purposes but don't actually have anything inside them.
One of my favorite atmospheric books is The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave Speaking of yellow The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is an all-time fav and very atmospheric (also short, the first time I read it was three times in a row). Another fun fact about yellow is, in the movie JAWS the shark is represented by yellow, when you see yellow the shark is near. ⚠️🦈
Thank you for the recommendations! And I love it when books/movies have little symbols like that. A TV show that has A LOT of those is Mr. Robot. It is a little messy at first and hard to understand, but when you see the whole picture, those symbols and details open up in a completely new way
tbh my problem isnt the overconsumption part since most of the people making those huge book hauls and read so many books make all of their money by making book content, my problem is the fact that most of them still buy their books at big corporations with bad working circomstances etc. they could at least buy them second hand of from a small local bookshop imo
i did think your points about the quality of some of the new books and "reading books just to say you've read it" are completely valid and worth pointing out (also my apologies for the spelling mistakes, english is not my first language)
@@macephrufus6538thank you! And oh wow that’s cool! Those were the ones that came to my mind right away. All three have a very different atmosphere for sure, but all are so good!
Ugh thank you for verbalizing this! I've stayed away from the over consumption of reading topic because I don't want to sound pretentious like "omg are you even ReAdInG it?" but you nailed it: what's the point if you don't even get to enjoy *remembering* having read it?
@@The_Open_BookThank you! I just think there could be better ways of doing the hauls like going to the library or showing second hand books. And you don’t really need to show 30-50 new books, you can show 5 and tell about them after you finish. I think another thing is that these unread books are actually weighing on you in some way. You know you have to read them, but you don’t want to, but you promised you will read it, so it’s a vicious cycle.
I have terrible memory and forget what happened in the book a year or so later but it’s nice because I can reread it and it’s almost like I’m reading it for the first time again
like booktok existing isn’t going to stop people from publishing “deep books” nor did booktok really even make more authors put out mediocre books because that’s subjective anyways and some people read purely for escapism and that’s perfectly okay.
@@amayajiselle7096 omg that's exactly my frustration w these types of videos, it also feels like people forget that booktok isn't only talking about romance and romantasy. They're just the loudest ones on the app. +people act like u can't enjoy "real and deep literature" and the easy to read popular booktok books at the same time
i wish that some book hauls creators bought used books. almost all the books i own are preowned they read the same as a new copy. There could be a few bumps and scratches but it reads the same as a new copy and it lowers book overconsumption because a new book doesn't need to be printed.
@@aether2002 yes, I’ve been trying to do the same. I got a used book for one of my english classes, and it was completely fine! I do like to do my book shopping in person though, and used bookstores often don’t have the book I’m looking for. And ordering them doesn’t feel the same. That’s my only issue
I totally agree..! I used to aim to become a writer, up to the point of working in literary journals and getting my own works out there in indie mags, all the while being a bibliophile with a love for the classics specifically; I also kept tabs on booktok and booktube, and the gap between what I thought literature was to me and the actual book market as maintained by book influencers kind of jaded me. I could never find an agent, let alone an audience, because everyone consumes YA and romance without the author's heart in it en masse--everyone wastes both their shelf space whilst living off of shallow, cheap "spicy" novels devoid of creativity that sell well. And the thing is, many spicy novels like that are often very beautifully written, with alluring characters and simple yet enticing plotlines. There would be 0 issue if they weren't mass produced to fit a certain mould like they're toys. From the standpoint of a bookworm, it hurt even more: there was no love for literature in mass consumption, and there, as such, remains none... there's naught but bookmakers treating books like they ARE TikToks, bite-sized pieces of media that never fit together to form a message much like social media, discarding them left and right without treating books with the proper affection they deserve, without ever rationalising what they read or reading between the lines (literally lolol) It's such a shame. Overconsumption defeats love; consumerist culture, when leaking into the arts, sucks the soul out of them.
@@melanchoartie It’s so interesting to hear about it from the standpoint of a writer! It does often feel like books are treated like TikToks. And I’m not against romance or YA, I find some of the books very interesting, and they help me relax, but I do wish book market was more “colorful” and offered more than just that more frequently.
@@Merryreads same here! I enjoy some romance and YA myself, and when a writer knows how to write what they want to get across or when they’re so passionate about their project it leaks into their writing, the work is beautiful regardless of genre. Romance and YA have always been important genres and niches to fill in the literary market. It’s just sad they get mass produced with no love to them these days, and it’s sad this mass production dominates the market. It’s like there’s artificial scarcity of books beyond these genres, all just because people treat books like collectibles or TikToks or short form content and the market adjusts accordingly…
I keep a list of books I want to read digitally , I only buy new books when I'm done reading the ones I already have. I also buy some books on my kindle but I prefer physical copies. Plus it's more satisfactory to see your library grow over time...
@@mennamohamed2338 That’s very true. I definitely prefer physical copies, and I love seeing my library grow. It’s just a very slow process :) And I actually like your method: only buying new physical copies when you are done with the old ones. That makes a lot of sense!
saving our book market and `not buying dumb books` contradict each other. publishers and bookstores and authors are reliant on lots of dumb books being sold so they have the money to take a chance on publishing the better literature that you obviously want to read. and please dont liink mysteries in with `dumb books`.my guess is high iq readers gravitate to mysteries.
I see what you mean, but I don’t necessarily agree. Publishing business is not doing well right now, even though they are publishing a lot of those “dumb” books. Instead of spending their money on printing weird romances, wouldn’t it be better to select higher quality books and spend money on those? The thing here I think is that not every book has to be a classical book, or not every book has to be intellectual. Easy to read romance/mystery/thriller etc novels are very much necessary. They help you relax, decompress and just have a good time. Just make those books good. Think the plot through, make the characters believable, and just take your time writing this book if you are the author and reading it if you are a publisher. Make sure everything makes sense and the story is strong. In the end of the day, it represents you/publisher/bookstore.
@@Merryreads the thing is without the "dumb" commercial books there wouldnt be any budget for the "higher quality" books, since there is a smaller target audience for those, they could possibly lose a lot financial stability and publish even less of the "high quality" books
I would agree that mainstream, daft books need to exist because they allow publishers to exist. And small book shops, those suffer the most. It is sadly a fact that making a good and interesting story that has an actual point takes time while basically anyone can write the next Court of Thorns and Roses if they had the time and the trust of the publishers. And books of similarly nonexistent standards can be made as swiftly as if they were entrusted to a factory line, making them good sources of income for the publishers and shops. Of course, writing like G.R.R. Martin is a bit of an extreme, even more so Tolkien, but a good story still takes time.
Right? I just went to the used bookstore yesterday and got a bag of science fiction trade paperbacks. They’re genuinely the entertainment I prefer. Functionally very limited difference between that and maxing out your kindle unlimited shelf. There’s nothing new under the sun lol
Capitalism has nothing to do with this. People consuming popular, mainstream media they are told about and that they can easily understand and easily digest is a story older than the very invention of capitalism.
I read manga. I notice I haven’t read most of my manga in my library. I stopped buying manga and I asked people to not buy me manga unless I ask. That way I can catch up on the manga I have. However it’s been overwhelming to read different series all at once. So I store most of my manga collection and kept the ones I know I’m planning to read, or manga I know I’m going to reread. I’m not going to buy a new manga series unless it’s something that really interests me or if I read most of my manga library. I’m trying to cut back on overconsumption with clothes. So I’m doing the same thing with my hobbies too.
@@Msoxcookie Yeah, having a lot of unread books, or being in the middle of multiple series is definitely overwhelming! I tried reading multiple books at once, but I just can’t concentrate well this way. I need to stay in one story, otherwise I start forgetting details/characters etc. I’m trying to buy less clothes too! I’ve just recently bought a couple of things I was missing, and donated everything I wasn’t happy with anymore, and I’ve never felt better! My wardrobe now has only the clothes I like and that match with each other well.
I’m tired of overconsumption leaking into every single hobby. But especially books. I love my local library and wish more people would use theirs. I’ve found so many books I’d never pick up at a store that I enjoyed so much at my library. And I just can’t afford the amount of books I read in a year. Like 30 books at $20 each is $600. And that’s lowballing the price of new books. I do tend to buy nonfiction books about my special interests (I’m autistic) but those I always buy used if I can. And I keep them for reference. Not all book buying is bad but buying just to fill space?? That’s rough
@@SkyeSoleil I agree! I buy new books too, but I only choose something I really want in my library. Because, as you said, it IS very expensive plus, I don’t have enough space for all of the books I want to read. I’ve recently gone to one of the newer and buster branches of Brooklyn Public Library, so they get a lot of book requests and try to stay on top of things, and they had so many books that only came out about a couple of months ago! I was very pleasantly surprised because these were the books I wanted to read, but wasn’t sure I wanted to buy. What topics do you read about, if you’re willing to share? I don’t read nonfiction often, but want to read more of it, so I’m always looking for good nonfiction book recommendations :)
100 books can be read depending on your life and reading speed. But not every book you read needs to be owned. I saw a video of someone showing 300 books she read that year. That's scary to me 😂 so much room and money and the sheer volume. Imagine doing that every year. They probably get rid of a lot. I'm somewhere in between. Mostly read 60 to 80 books a year. Most are ebooks but also some new books because I do love having books. But I keep them for very long and I also want to buy less instead of more. Booktok books give romance a bad name, love stories CAN be impactful and comforting. Some of the best stories are love stories.
I agree! I think it’s fine to read 100 books a year, as you said, it depends on how much time you have and how fast you read. The problem is that a lot of bloggers do it just “to cross the book out”. Not because it’s impactful or important for them. And yeah, romance can absolutely be beautiful! Love is one of the most important topics in literature and has been for centuries. And ebooks changed my life! Not only they are often cheaper (especially classics), they are also so easy to carry and don’t take up space.
9:43 Just a reminder, enjoyment of books/reading in general (plain characters and mediocre plot included) is subjective; there is no ‘right’ way to choose or consume words on paper!
@@veagrace that is a very good point. What I meant was that it feels like now many authors try to write fast to produce more books, but they forget to do their research or they don’t think the plot through. And even though the story could turn out beautiful, it ends up being meh. But yes, it is always subjective and I don’t think there ever was a book that is loved by every single person who reads it
Very excellent points. Imagine if these book tokers promoted the use of libraries and second hand books. It is very possible to download too many free ebooks. I signed up for two free kindle ebook newsletters and ended up downloading over 1000 over the course of two years 😩
It would be a game changer! I think some bloggers are starting to talk about using libraries and going to used bookstores slowly. It’s like how now some fashion bloggers go to second hand stores to make an outfit from used clothes instead of buying new ones. And oh, I agree. I downloaded a bunch of free books thinking that I might read them later, and I almost never do
