Reading

[zevthepaparazzo 848]

idk where to post this but it's going here 

why is reading aesthetic now 

but people aren't even reading good books 

like people on "booktok" recommend "viral" books that are just smut and nothing else 

more like "p0rndisguisedasfantasytok" 

also the commodification of domestic abuse/rape disguised as "dark romance" 

if reading is trendy now why can't they read wuthering heights or dorian grey or to killah mockingbird or hero of the story or ramona quimby 

i'm not much of a gatekeeper, but i highkey wanna gatekeep literacy 

am i insane for saying that?

Edited 5 hours ago by zevthepaparazzo

[PartySick 163,583]

I thought this was about "reading 💅" not actual reading

I guess I'm not surprised there's a "booktok" but I always find most recommendations lowkey trash, even the best sellers. I usually just pick up silly audiobooks to listen to at work when I get tired of listening to music. Usually dark themed fantasy stuff, post-apocalypse is my favorite genre  nothing like a good story

[zevthepaparazzo 848]

20 minutes ago, PartySick said:

I thought this was about "reading 💅" not actual reading

it's about the former 💅

i think

Edited 5 hours ago by zevthepaparazzo

[LateToCult 40,993]

I’m so old now. Nonfiction has become my go-to. When I’m in the mood for fiction I go digging around AO3 😭

[Nite 5,736]

I'm not big on booktok but booktube has served me pretty well. There are a lot of channels that make long videos and take their time with their reviews and if you find someone who matches your taste you get some great recs out of it. Especially if you look out for channels that actually talk about the books and don't just show off their bookshelf and hauls. A lot of mine are German but I really like these channels:

 

If you like scifi/fantasy:

 

 

[Zombiecat 17,257]

1 hour ago, PartySick said:

I thought this was about "reading 💅" not actual reading

I thought that or that it was about "Reading" my home town  

[Lucas 28,061]

Shows the influence of social media on people. My best friend who was terrible at school and never opened a book in her life is suddenly spamming her Snapchat with stories of her reading books. Even though she's my best friend I can't help but cringe at it 

[CautiousLurker 19,576]

How dare people read things that actually bring them joy/lets them escape the dredge of routine rather than reading stuff that's going to fill them with existential dread 

Is social media playing up the aesthetics of reading? Sure, probably. More so than it was in the past? I actually doubt it, considering a lot of books that are considered staples in literature became such because of politics, and that's not always a good thing.

I remember forcing myself through War and Peace at f*cking 14 because it was mandatory reading at school - to say I couldn't relate to the book at all would be an understatement.

War and Peace is basically about a rich guy who is depressed, and to try and cure that depression he goes to fight in a war and dies 

In retrospect it makes sense why it became a staple of Russian literature at least - IT'S OVER A 1000 F*CKING PAGES LONG so perfect to torture children with, and it also subtly communicated to the reader that the cure for a man's malaise or sense of discontent is combat, as the main character's death is framed as kind of triumphant - a concept that a power-hungry state is entirely neutral towards 

So yeah, scent-driven musclebound men with barbed pps >>>>>>>>>> Leo Tolstoy and his ilk, let people enjoy reading what they want, I'm happy to die and and haunt this hill till humanity itself perishes 

[Morphine Prince 107,659]

Booktube is way better, just tune out BookTok. 

Even though I think people are just reading trash, at least they are reading, and that’s better than nothing. 

Last year I decided I wanted to get into reading again. In 2024 I read 4 books. This year I’ve read 9 (although I started back reading in July). But I’m proud for continuing! 

Books I wanted to read and enjoyed. Several gothic horror books. I plan on continuing reading and incorporating it into my routine cause it has honestly rewired my brain. 

[Pablo 7,994]

Yes lowkey, let people read what they want. Should I gatekeep what movies you watch? Why does anyone watch new movies when Citizen Kane, Gone With the Wind, and Wizard of Oz exist?? Le sigh

[dynamite 61,506]

I haven't read a book in years. I wish I could, but my concentration span was decimated years ago and never came back. Even reading posts on this forum feels difficult. 

Edited 1 hour ago by dynamite

[princedeeblebleble 2,234]

I generally never look for recommendations, I just go to a book store and if the title or cover entice me and the short description on the back pulls me in I buy the book  do I have a lot of unfinished books? Sure, but does my little book case look amazingly chaotic? Also yes. 

I just bought The full moon caffe by Mai Mochizuki last week and finished it in 3 days cause it was BRILLIANT, but I mainly bought it cause the cover was stunning, on the off side I'm also slowly making it through some really interesting tarot books in research for a project.

[Bronco 14,198]

4 hours ago, zevthepaparazzo said:

am i insane for saying that?

Yeah. 

Like are Wuthering Heights & Picture of Dorian Grey good books? Absolutely. 
Are they everyone's cup of tea? No, I despised studying Wuthering Heights. Same with Catcher in the Rye - I do not know why any teen relates to that **** lol 

Reading should be an enjoyable hobby. For some people the enjoyment comes from things like horror and social commentary. Other people find enjoyment in worlds that feed their desire for escapism. Some want romance and others want grim dark science fiction. 

Decades of gatekeeping literacy and force feeding the established classics onto people has only served to alienate people and fuel illiteracy.