HOW BOOKTUBE AND GOODREADS RUINED MY READING 

How did booktube/ goodreads affect your reading?

Slow reading is not celebrated enough. I'm a slow reader too. I take my time and don't rush. Reading (especially of fiction books) should be a leisurely activity, not a challenge or competition.

I'm in so much agreement here on this one! Donna Tart said in an interview, "its better to reread a book you love than constantly read new books you feel nothing for." Books are meant to be savored, thought about, and lived in. I think consuming them as products of commercialization makes the whole act of reading something akin to a hotdog eating contest. I hope more readers get out of that cycle.

Finally someone said it reading is a hobby not a competitive sport

I am beyond flabbergasted how social media affects almost every corner of hobbies in the way you described it. I'm myself from the artist community, drawing as a hobby and semi-professionally, and Social Media made me produce, produce, produce work to the point you don't enjoy doing it anymore but try to appease to the algorithms. That it also applies to reading in a way never even popped into my imagination, but here is another category of hobby that suffers from the endless curse of "content". Thanks for sharing that! I am happy you found a better way of reading for yourself again.

This is how im feeling too! The popular books are starting to feel like “fast fashion” and I’ve been losing brain cells. Now, my 2024 goal is to read all the classics and its been going so well so far! It’s been challenging but worth it. i’ve been getting so much out of it! I heard recently that “difficulty generates meaning” and its so true

Finally someone who puts it into words!! I hate watching the same books being recommended over and over in every single booktube video. I was even forcing myself to like some of the books that were realy hyped. When I discovered Dakota Warren's channel I felt like an oasis, finally someone who didn't care about the trends with such a genuine love for literature and a taste similar to mine!

I've noticed so much how booktubers seem to forget the characters names etc because they've rushed through so many books to stay ahead. It makes me sad for them because I love to savor every moment of good books and I dnf what isnt good because I have one life and i refuse to waste my time.

I love your hot take on “popular books”. I hated every popular book I read this year and ended up enjoying all of the “old books” I selected for myself way more!

This video is wonderful. Tbh, I'm a slow reader. I like to underline things. I like to look up vocabulary I don't understand. I'm also a writer, so I like to sit there and ponder on how an author wrote their prose. I like to analyze subjects and themes. In a good month, I could probably read like 3 books. And then you have people reading seven books in a WEEK. Good on them for being able to read so fast, but I cannot enjoy books that quickly as an adult, I was able to do that when I was younger, however. I think books are magical. Stories are meant to be digested, NOT inhaled. I'm glad you made this discovery for yourself and that you are re-examing your tastes. We all started reading because we love stories. Let us never lose that love. And if we do lose that love momentarily, it is always okay to take a break. C:

I am not a slow reader by any means, BUT I have a family. I have little kids. I have a husband. A home. People whose wellbeing depends on my attention. I could read 10 books in 2 months easily in college and after, even with a full time job, but thats out of the question now. Thank you for addressing this. There are so many facets to why someone may take longer to finish a book we may absolutely love. I have friends in similar situations to me that read 50+ books in half a year and when I asked HOW (our kids are all similar ages) she told me “we talk for 30 minutes at dinner time”. It broke my heart. I know that it works for some kids and families but mine would be broken hearted if I ignored them all day and had a “set” time to talk with them. I will read more when they are older. I will enjoy what I can read now. The comparison game is not fun. Much love to you ❤

Reading even one book a month is insane for most people. I've read 23 this year and when I tell my irl friends that number they loose their minds because they can't fathom reading that much, booktube etc really does skew ones view of how much reading is normal or a lot for that matter. So glad you made this video for some perspective!

Yes! So many booktubers are reading the same things over and over- books to me that look like garbage. There are so many good books out there that will never make it to booktube and people forget that. First time I have found your channel. And I love seeing you voicing this!

100% agree with you. It's not about how much you read. It's about what you get out of it. We are all different people, with different life situations and preferences. So tired of cookie cutter lemming social media.

I love this video! And I love you pointing out the job factor. Some of these booktubers do this for a full or part time job so we can’t even compare our reading! Great video and good dialogue

"Who is chasing us with a broom?" LOL. Thank you for this! You put into words exactly how I feel. Congratulations on making your Goodreads goal! 🥰

This is why i only have 5 books in my goodreads goals. Last year i only read one, this year I've read almost 20! I personally like to be given a guide of what i could read thanks to booktube, but i noticed most people read fantasy, and I'm more into contemporary😅 I used to feel shame for not having popular books in my shelves, but now I'm really trying to find my personal taste.

“And I used to read 10 books a year and I used to be SO proud of myself”. Girl, I read 1 book in 10 years and I’m still proud of myself😂🤣. Sometimes I’ll read more: up to 2 (not too heavy) books a day, but sometimes I don’t read for months/years on end. And that’s just fine, reading should be enjoyable and not feel like a chore. I usually go to the thrift store for my books, because it’s cheap (0,50 cents to about 3 dollars), or use the library app or borrow them from the internet. That way it doesn’t get too expensive, and if a book really tickles my fancy I’ll buy it and it won’t be a disappointment/waste if I don’t like the book. It also ensures that I’ll read books that are not entirely in my comfort zone. I’m a new subscriber, this is the first video I’m watching and I love it. Hello from The Netherlands ❤

This video just showed up on my recommended, and I'm so glad I decided to watch it. I'm someone who reads a ton of books, 200-250+ a year. I hate the way people talk about wanting to read "as much as me," when it's clearly not something they truly want to do. I hate being praised just for the act of reading, rather than for all of the meaningful conversations I get to have about the books I love. I hope that more people leave behind this gamified idea of reading and realise that we're all different, read at different speeds, and have different goals. The point is to learn and have fun!

I'm actually feeling better about my reading since I stopped being so vigilant about my Goodreads. It's like I forgot at some point I wa supposed to enjoy this thing, but then I remembered.

This year, I set my Goodreads challenge to 1 book as well. I don't care anymore about how many books I read, because, like you said: it's not a competition. The worst part was that it had become a competition with myself: I read X books last year, let's try X+5 books the next, and so on... I have also learned to DNF a book...it doesn't happen often, but now and then, if you're not having fun reading it, I simply stop reading the book. It has all contributed to rekindling that original love for reading I initially had.

I agree and relate to this video so much - I always feel that I'm missing out if I'm not reading what is popular instead of actually considering if I will actually like it !

I totally agree- you should read what you want at your own pace. I’m a new booktuber, but I won’t be falling into these competitive traps. It’s not authentic and not healthy. I can’t imagine reading 100 books in one year and actually getting the full pleasure from them. Thanks for making this video- it’s a very important point and well said.

I felt the same way... but now I try to be more intentional about everything in my life. Reading is just a hobby. I'm a musician before a reader, and I'm human before a musician. Sometimes, spending time with my family, drinking a cup of tea with my mother or my sister, are the best things I can do for myself, instead of reading 8 hours a day just to reach a NUMBER of books per year, books that I obviously won't remember. Thanks for the video. Sorry for bad English...

Completely agree! I hit my goodreads challenge goal for this year, but I ended up reading a lot of lackluster books and avoided a lot of the lengthier books I own. I'm setting a much lower goal for myself next year and focusing on quality over quantity too!

I understand that, there is a very thin line between your hobby becoming a job and a chore and no longer bringing you happiness.

YES, I love your point! I still have to learn reading for quality over quantity, and reading english books as a non-native speaker takes so much longer!

Thank you for this video discussion. I absolutely agree with you. Book clubs have never appealed to me, whether meeting together at a place (though I enjoy meeting other people), or virtual/online. Because I don’t keep up the reading pace with everyone else in the club and like you, I don’t have any interest reading and discussing the type of books that everyone else is currently reading. So I don’t bother joining book clubs at all. Plus, I don’t read as much as I used to. When I was in school I was reading books a lot and I enjoyed hanging out at my local library. I borrowed one to two books every few weeks and finished reading them by the time I had to return them. Now between my job and spending time on social media, my reading time has dropped considerably. I’ve become aware of it and I’m trying to cut down on the time I spend on the internet and picking up a book or my Kindle. And I only read what interests me which usually isn’t the popular books that others are reading.

I'm new to booktube, but I've definitely noticed that new releases and classics get most of the shine. I've started digging throughout my 5 star reads from the past and doing some re-reads or finding things similar. I also left goodreads behind. I started using storygraph last year and I really enjoy the analytics. It gives me a clearer picture of what I actually enjoy. I try to watch people who enjoy different types of books so I can get a bit of diversity in the types of books I read. I'm a big fan of romance, but I don't want to burn myself out binging it constantly. Mixing in some non-fiction, literary fiction, and a bit of magic gives me much needed variety.

So far this year ive read 35 books. Im a slow reader but i remember the books i have read. 😊

THANK YOU. It is such a breath of fresh air to have someone say this. I'm also a slow reader, so this is very validating. Also, as much as i enjoy content from the BookTube comminity, i have never once picked up a trending book because they are never within my preferred genre. I find more satisfaction in reading what i find for myself, like you said so perfectly.

Respect to you for your honesty. I have watched other booktubers who stopped filming because they said they lost their love of reading. That is sad. I have read quite a few great books that I saw on booktube but I would like to read them with my old state of mind which is to enjoy the one book I am reading without feeling like I need to hurry to get to the next one. Sometimes I give booktube a break so that my brain can feel less/get a break from FOMO. Otherwise, I really want to continue reading The Count of Monte Cristo (which I see is quite beloved on booktube and so I got a copy) without feeling the pressure to finish it fast so that I can move on to the next book. Thanks for the ideas. Subbed.

Yes!! I totally relate to this, it's why I changed my Goodreads goals to 2 books a month (24/year) and never change it despite always surpassing it! I want to read for pleasure and I have a book club so if I read 1 book for pleasure and 1 for my book club a month I consider my goal met :)

im so grateful i found this and ive been down the rabbit hole of trying to speed up my reading process,, when i was younger,, i used to be able to read so much but now i can barely read over ten books a year as i like to take my time to read,, to really comprehend the text,, underline it,, take notes on each chapter,, it makes me happy and it helps me analyse the book more!! booktube and goodreads puts such pressure on my reading so im not on goodreads as much as i used to be! like many, i picked up popular books and they've either stayed on my shelf or ive simply not enjoyed them and thats okay!! i think this past year ive been picking up books i ACTUALLY want to read!! i appreciate this video a lot and it really made me reflect!! new subcriber here :)

I just found your channel, and I completely agree. I hope no one compares themselves to my personal goal of 200 books. I listen to audiobooks when I'm doing boring tasks, so I get through a lot of books pretty easily. I like to occasionally push myself out of my comfort zone in reading to potentially find different and interesting reads, and sometimes, that really pays off, while other times, it doesn't. I don't chase after the most popular reads, but I do look at the ones that might interest me and seek out award winners for their potential to be a great read. Read as much as you want of the books you enjoy, but don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone occasionally.

Such good points. Its not fun when its stressful so I stopped watching booktubers who read so many books. I only kept subcriptions to two channels, who review genres I enjoy and one of which that does a load of video essays too. This years, I want to read more of what i enjoy and not be bothered so much about my storygraph stats. I like reading challenges, but ive learnt to make them manageable to my circumstances, so they encourage me to read but dont stress me out! I also want to purge my TBR so I start reading books I actually like or want to read!

So much this. I've stopped tracking my reading and setting an annual book reading goal. Another thing I'm doing is using the public library more vs buying books. Sometimes I have to request a book from another library and it can take me a week or more to get it. Something about that added time gives me the space to live, think about what I read, and anticipate the new book coming to me. It makes it that much sweeter and my wallet thanks me. I'm here for slow reading and time in-between books.

I've done the 100 books challenge once and never again will I try this ever again, it really sucks the joy out of reading. I realized I love to take my time with the books I read, and it's the best way for me to remember the story, each year after that crazy goal I've been reading less but I've been enjoying every single one of the books even the shitty ones lol

I've been away from the trends for a while now and I can say that made my reading experience so much better, because I don't feel like competing and I don't feel like I'm obligated to like some book just because is the hit of the moment. I loved your video!

One thing I noticed that I started doing after watching booktube is that I get a strange feeling of dread at the end of each month, if I'm still in the middle of a book. It feels like a crime not to finish books at the end of the month, so I would stay late to finish a book, or worse delay reading a book on the last day of the month even if I'm in a mood to read because I wouldn't be able to finish it at the end of the month. Am I the only one who does that 😢?

Thank you for this video. I've always been a fast and voracious reader. I stopped in my teens or so and got back into reading regularly in Jan. 2020. From the latter through this year, I put pressure on myself to finish a certain amount of books per year. It was so stressful and completely self inflicted. It was only by watchng another RU-vidr's video that said to not make a goal for yourself, that I gave myself permission to not pressure myself. It's sad that's what it took. Sometimes you don't see it for yourself. I would usually finish books I didn't like, so I wouldn't lose the time spent on them by starting another book instead. It was rare I'd stop a book I didn't like. I didn't like about a third of what I was reading. I would also wait to read thicker books at the end of the year, after I'd already reached my goal. Doing that didn’t make me happy. There were plenty of times I wanted to start off with a 500+ page book and didn’t. I didn't want to risk running behind and not reaching my goal. Thankfully I wasn't into following what was "trending." I'm sure that saved me extra heartache. For the rest of this year and going forward, my annual goal will be zero. I've already put down books I was a decent amount through, and then they took a turn or repeated turns to where they became intolerable. Your video is a bright spot in my reading journey. Thank you.

This is such an important topic to be talked about ... and hopefully, more booktubers would do that, especially for younger readers . That way, we all would have more diverse books to choose from and discover beautiful hidden gems . Thank you, Rana

Quite agree with you, I don’t count how many books I am reading, I read when I am in the mood and I choose whatever book I feel like reading at the time. It is much more enjoyable like this, come across unexpected gems and sometimes not, but I like it like this. I never know what I am in for and that makes it exciting

I just got back into reading after years of reading no books at all. I will say that using Goodreads and booktube is making me obsessed with reading more and more as I am always researching books to add to my “list”. It’s really fun for me though. I feel like I’ve rediscovered a long lost passion. I notice that I don’t like reading hyped books, rather I like finding hidden gems that nobody is talking about (The Ember Blade, for example) 😅

I agree! I'm completly baffled by people who are like "I read a 100 book this year", but if they do a yearly wrap up they often don't remember to book or say only what's in the blurb (so do they remember anything? idk) Also a big thing on booktube are hauls, with like 20 books every month. Only later to make an unhaul video. I think this just normalizes an unhealthy "buying for sake of buying" behaviour

I read whenever I'm in the mood and if a book bores me I drop it without hesitation. I do get a little kick when I can tick off a book but it doesn't control my reading habits. So far this year I've read 14 books. It's not a whole lot but for me in the last 5 or so years it is. Realistically I've picked up more than 14 books but only a few grabbed my attention. 2023 has been a fantastic year for reading and I can't wait to see what other treasures I find.

So glad I found you 😊 yrs ! Enjoyment not competition x

I randomly got a couple of your videos on my home page this week. I think that even though there are so many booktubers reading a huge variety of books, we are more likely to see the larger creators, and or books that have trickled down from the larger creators predominantly in Booktube content. You have to work harder to find the people who are reading other things.

Really well said! I've been thinking a lot about this lately. I was asked to write a piece about reading poetry, and one of my main points became how "completion reading" is especially bad for poetry. It's so easy to lose track of the treasure in words when distracted by the temporary bliss of checklist completion.

Yes to everything here! I luckily quickly noticed that the popular books often do not appeal to me. After reading a few tiktok romance and haating them, I left those recommendations behind haha. I have always read a lot of books, even pre-booktube, but I set my yearly goal low (for me) so that I don't feel pressure to read more than I would normally. There are always phases of our lives where we read more or less and that is ok. However, I'm trying to be more intentional this year with focusing on reading longer books. I think that pressure of having a high number of monthly read books creeped up to me last year and I was reluctant to read longer books as the 'books I read this month' number would be lower. But I often adore long books, and I am so glad that this year I am working to prioritize them and work through my long books TBR. Great video!

👏🏼 Yess I totally agree! Every popular booktuber only recommends/reads the same books which other popular booktubers recommended or read too (ahem, like the notorious colleen hoover books 💀) It’s gotten to the point where it doesn’t matter which video you click on cuz it’s the same stuff over and over again😅 Like you, at some point I also started reading hyped books only to feel disappointed by them later since they weren’t what I liked… I would like to add another thing that mainly booktubers ruined for me. I used to watch spoiler-free book reviews before buying a book to see whether it would be worth it for me to read or not. Little did I know that by doing this I not only put my freedom to choose books in someone else’s hand, it also completely ruined my reading experience. I would subconsciously read and judge those books through the lens of reviews instead of my own true opinions. It was as if those books already got “labelled” in my mind without ever giving them a chance to be read without any external prejudices. I have now stopped watching and reading ANY reviews before I finish a book and that resulted in me being able to think and form opinions based on my OWN norms. I’ve been enjoying reading much more now!

booktubers are so worried about reading what everyone is reading but I'll tell you my case as a viewer: after one year watching the same thing over 10 channels or more, I dropped most of them. I only follow 2 now, and it is not because I read what they read. One of them I follow because he is super creative and a sweetheart, the kind of person I'd like to have as a friend. The other, because she is a very critical reader and brings good insights, what is lacking in most creators. You'd think that by now people would have learned that doing what everybody else is doing just to fit doesn't mean success in the long go...

Yes! I made a hard rule for myself that my reading goal will only ever be 52. One book a week is comfortable for my reading pace. I usually wind up with more, but I never wanted to lament over not reading 100 books a year.

I enjoy Goodreads and it’s fun to catalog things you read, the problem for me is that I get too deep into it that I burn myself out. Now I have a hard time finishing the books that are on my TBR. Hopefully I can get back on the grind soon but I really enjoyed your video!

I’m new to booktube (honesty I don’t even want to dive into booktok because it seems like a hot mess over there), and I’ve been astounded by the amount of books people are reading. I’m currently trying to get out of a reading slump but I used to be an avid reader, I even started and hosted a book club for seven years and loved it and felt so accomplished to be able to say I read 12+ books a year! I think there needs to be more representation in the booktube/goodreads world of people who are more selective and slower with their reading lists and I really appreciate this perspective. It shouldn’t be a competition. I understand for those RU-vidrs whose literal job it is to read that many books so they can review them and create content, but for the rest of us who have full time jobs or work from home or have children (that takes up a lot of free time) and/or other hobbies, I think having a shorter list is a realistic and reasonable goal. Besides, I’m not going to watch a channel that only reads what’s popular on goodreads because that’s just not for me. I would rather watch RU-vidrs who read more diverse work and would love to see more of that.

I love this video and relate so much! I came to the exact same understanding. I was falling out of love for reading, felt it was more of a chore than the joy it used to be - because I was going for the popular books that I ended up finding average for my taste. It really took a toll. This year I decide to stop listening to the mainstream and focus on what I know I've always loved best. As you said, I reached for those backlist titles that have been sitting on my shelves for years and a quite a few turned out to be some of the best books I've ever read. What a wonderful year this has been!

I loved this, Rana! I too set my Goodreads goal to 1 this year for the same reason!

i was on bookstagram for a long time, like 2013, and in 2020 i had to stop. i was just trying to keep up with new releases, i was trying to read short books so i could have a higher book count for the year, stressing when my monthly wrap ups weren't "enough" etc. i left so i could learn how to read for fun again and not for content creating, which feels crazy, but this competitive vibe in online book communities, like turning reading into a sport, is so weird and not normal. i'm so glad i stepped away, now i read longer books and take my time and don't care if i read just one book in a month. it's too bad these online book communities always turn into capitalistic hustle culture. it's so refreshing to hear criticism like this, and i'm so glad your video was recommended to me!!

I remember having a bookstagram and always feeling like I wasn't reading enough. Especially when everyone was posting their monthly wrap ups and mine was 4 on a good month and others were 7+. I also found any posts I made that weren't popular books were barely interacted with. So eventually I started picking up those books less, avoiding long books, constantly checking how much I had left in a book whilst reading and calculating how long I'd read it all. It was so ridiculous! And yeah a lot of it is on my FOMO and slightly competitive nature, but I soon realized this thing that was supposed to be fun, was making me enjoy reading less. My Goodreads goal this year is 20 books and I might not even reach that, but I've read a lot of really good stuff. Some of it being fanfic or fancomics that don't could towards my goal and I've have probably not 'wasted' my time on before due to that. Which is ridiculously because it's still reading and they've been one of my favourites of the year. Anyway all that to say I totally get where you are coming from in this video and I'm glad others have similar feelings.

I would rather read 40 books and love 90% of them instead of reading 100 books is something that really spoke to my soul. Thank you for this.

I'm so glad I started reading Terry Pratchett via "Thief of Time" - It introduced me to the world, the philosophy, many of the main characters, or the character genres, and so much of the humor and intelligence. I've since read many of Pratchett's discworld books - and I'm sorry I didn't look through your bookshelves with you to see if you've already discovered them, but you seem amazing and thoughtful, and in case you hadn't tried it, I would recommend starting there. 🥳

I think booktube is a good for inspiring to start reading - for those who lost this desire for any reason, as well as for those who have never been into reading before at all, but at the same time I so strongly agree that it can be exhausting if you try to turn everything into competitions. So, yeah, balance and all that. Talking about apps and rereadings: I like storygraph app as it counts rereadings too Thank you for the video!🌷

Well said. Read at yourn own speed and what brings you joy. Cheers and Happy New Year!

so interesting to see your perspective! i never cared about reading books, then i got into goodreads and booktube, and it actually motivated me and i was reading all the time! was just a phase tho, now i'm back to not reading books lmao. but those things definitely made me read so much more! the juicy goodreads reviews on certain books are still worth visiting the site for, tho

Couldn't agree more, I'm so glad I found your channel!!

The message really resonates with me. Thank you.

This video and all off your opinions about booktubers all reading and pushing the same books out, I shear with you and is the sole reason for me just adding your channel as one I would like to follow. I look forward to hearing more about alle the books that you reads and what you think about them, expanding my horizon with books that other booktubers probably aren't going to be reading or talking about.

I follow few booktubers because of that. And I rarely watch videos of people talking about their recent readings also because of that. The numbers are always so high, so unbelievable for us, simple mortals, it makes me incredibly anxious. I struggled a little, sometime years ago, for feeling pressured by the booktwt and booktube comms, and have since strayed away from it so I could manage my experience better. I feel much better, nowadays, reading slowly, ending the year with 15-25 books read, most of them unpopular or even unheard of; my reading quality is getting higher by the year, and I'm happy with my pacing 🤗

This video put into words EXACTLY everything I was feeling. I was never quite able to put together the words to describe what I was feeling, but THIS. YES. There was one year where I had read 100+ books and felt exactly what you described. I barely remembered a single thing I’ve read or enjoyed. I remember being so worn out by the guilt and pressure of a hobby I originally enjoyed so much. I used to be such an avid re-reader of books I loved but then I came to feel guilty on rereading those instead of making progress on my TBR list. Eventually I was so burnt out I’ve stopped reading books altogether and deleted GoodReads. But I think I’m going to start reading again! This time, without the pressure of Booktube, Booktok (their tastes also does not align with mine). Goodreads still isn’t going back on my phone as I’ve discovered I enjoy reading SO much without it. And thank you so so much for this video! It really has given me new motivation and helped a lot!

I was feeling good because bipolar had ruined my reading habits the last few years, so i was barely reading 5-10 books a year. This year, my medication was stablized and i have read 30 books by november, and i feel proud of myself. But then i hear booktubers say they read 90+ books, and the guilt to read more and more. But i like to read the books and absorb them and pull quotes.

Thank you for your honesty. As an Author myself, I don't read other author's books. because I don't want 'Recycled ideas'

I had just finished writing my reading goals for 2024 when this video popped up. My #1 goal is to focus on quality over quantity because I’m starting to forget what the real purpose of reading is.

Hello Rana, I'm so glad I discovered your channel, I've been suffering with no reading enough or the books that where "trendy", thank you so much for expressing this reality, new follower from Spain.

i love everything about this. i feel you. i'm with you.

You make a point, I 100% agree with you,and I intend to do like you

I feel like I read a lot this year, but, actually, when I look it up Ive read like five books. Thing is now at the end of the year I’m actually reading because I found a couple of books I was interested in and I’ve finally admitted to myself that I only read when I read the books that I WANT to read. If I don’t do that, it’s not happening. I’ve read five books (I think?) in 2023 and except one, the rest I’ve read at the end of the year. The thing is that I have the feeling that I have read soooo much this year because I remember vividly every single one of them, because I was invested in them because I (again) WANTED to read them. I am very happy with my reading this year, not because I’ve actually read a lot or not, and not even because of the quality, but because I actually feel this beautiful tingly feeling of having the urge to read. And that for me is success in reading: that the books that you are reading make you want to keep reading more :)

Great point! When I read too many books, they all melt into one another and then I can’t remember what any of the books I have read, are about!💕

You put this across in such a respectful way without shaming anyone, thank you for that! I agree with this, I read 100 books in 2021 because I wanted to fit in,, but I didn’t feel any differently/Better about myself when I reached the goal 🎉

after watching this i had to instantly subscribe, i wholeheartedly agree with you. i look forward to your authentic book content :)

I loved this video! I just subscribed- I have no idea if we have similar taste, but we totally agree that popular books are trash and the reading challenges end any enjoyment of reading! Thanks for making this!

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 I have to remind myself this often. Of just going on my own pace. Thank you, Rana!! ❤

Valid and agreeable points were made.

You made great points! This year I finally got my tbr down to 0 and am starting fresh in 2024. I am now very picky in what I choose to read because I don’t want to waste time reading something just because it’s popular-just because it’s popular doesn’t mean every individual will find it to be good!

thank you so much for your insights on this! I definitely feel the pressure from booktube/booktok as well and try to cultivate more mindful reading again. I also deleted goodreads completely and now use storygraph because it somehow stresses me out less. in regards to reading goals, I have established in the last 2 years that my only goal is reading one more book than last year.

Thank you for this video! I can totally relate.

Yeah Totally get what tou mean. Stops me reading larger books as will take me longer to finish. Definitely considering this next year. 90 books is impressive but you have to enjoy it too 😊

the year i read the most books was 2018, and that's when i got through 50 books i think? i was in 8th and 9th grade, no job, barely did school work and it still took me on average a week to read one book, and that's just because im very slow (i think max 40 pages/hour in my native language). now in the past few years i've read maybe one book a year because i just cant bring myself to even start one because i feel like it's not going anywhere and maybe it's because i've watched so many people read like 3 full length novels a day on youtube that my brain just automatically is like nahh you're so bad dont even bother. which is a shame because i used to love reading, it was my one escapism method. seeing this video gave me the slight motivation that maybe it'll be okay and i can convince my brain that even getting 2 books read next year will be enough. thank you for this, you are amazing

Unaware to myself i reality i too been feeling a bit down about the amount of reading am doing , and this video helped get over that. Looking foward to your reviews.

Hi! I'm new to your channel. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!! I agree with everything you said, and it's also a feeling I have had in my mind for a while. I'm genuinely curious about your opinion on the three popular 2023 books you read! It'll be a cool idea for a new video. You seem genuine and transparent; not many "booktubers" have that essence in their videos! Been enjoying your channel

But I think it’s important to note that there’s nothing wrong with reading the popular releases. There is a reason why they are popular in the first place, and if you have an average taste in books, you will probably like those books. You don’t always have to be different. And I don’t think goodreads is ruining your reading, it’s more about how you control your own reading with goodreads as a tool.

I must say that Iam glad that I found your video discussing this issue plaguing booktube and bookstagram. I started getting invested in reading and cataloguing a lot during the pandemic as opposed to my previous inclination of reading and reflecting on what I read as I was a bookaholic for a long time. After following this routine of massive channel booktubers of reading 100-200 books in 2021, I felt a similar burnout and took a couple of months off to recharge. After the break, I decided to focus on quality and reading essentials or classics of a genre which piqued my interest. I stopped following any influencers who read 100 books a year and could barely string a sentence about the books they had read. For me, personally Steve Donoghue and Michael K Vaughan, the two older gentlemen booktubers resonated deeply and I made a new lifelong goal to read well focusing on nourishment and enjoyment of soul. Best of Luck and Good wishes to your new endeavor!

Loved it! Subscribed!❤

💯% agree with you. Also, I, too, found it difficult to read English books fast, even though I have a masters degree in English literature, especially that booktubers read 300+ pages in 5 hours or less 😮. I've always thought I was just a slow reader until this year I started reading Arabic books, and yes, I read Arabic books much faster since it's my native language 😅. So, that too affects how many books people can read in a month, most booktubers are native English speakers, so it makes sense that they are be able to read faster than unnative speakers of English. As you also said, it's their job too, so they are stressing every day to read as much as possible to make content. Thank you for the video. It always feels good when someone says what we think out loud.

Thank you so much!!! I’ve been noticing this thought pattern in myself too, quality over quantity !!

I liked your rant. I mostly follow booktubers from my own country because I relate more with what they read, and I think it jas helped me diversify my readings. In fact, one of my preferred ones I like it because it reviews not so known books and it has a slightly different taste to me, but still similar enough for me to try out their recommendations. Have a nive reading year!!

I relate to this video SO MUCH!!! I always feel like a failure when I only ready 90 or so books a year, because I follow people who read like well over 100 or 200 books. And I find myself reading books that I don't even really like, but I'm just reading them because they are popular or they are short so I can finish them quickly and boost my book reading count. I loved this video and you've made me really rethink my reading goals for next year :) I think i would much rather read fewer books if it was all ones I enjoyed, or mostly enjoyed, rather than focusing on getting as many books read as I possibly can

i feel like i really just watch booktube for motivation. like, i really want to read more so i watch people talking about books or doing book-related challenges, but when i read, i barely read what books they talk about

Yes!!! Reading should be done because you genuinely enjoy it and do it in a way that benefits you. Putting pressure on myself to read the “right” way made it so much less fun and fulfilling. Thank you for this lovely video

Well said. I just joined Goodreads but have been a self-motivated avid reader my whole life. I don't read much fiction at all. Sounds like you have reached a new level of maturity where what other people think matters so much less. Congratulations!

When i first started watching BookTube i made the mistake of assuming the accounts with the most followers were the best accounts. After a while it because obvious that they were all reading the same things and worse, most of them didn't seem to have any actual thoughts or opinions on what they were reading. You don't have to have a literature degree to talk about books, obviously, but it's always clear when a booktuber actually reads because they like reading, and when they're reading to make videos.