I loved reading this! ❣️ I think you captured my thoughts so well in this sentence: I miss spending a week or two reading an 800 page books that I avoid now because it lowers my StoryGraph stat of how many days I spent per book and my Goodreads reading goal of reaching x amount of books.
Whitney this was such a good read (haha) and I agree that any type of social media starts as something people do for fun and then instantly get addicted to; they want to follow trends but they don’t want to be called “basic” or like “the rest”. They want to be unique but somehow they conceal everything special about themselves with layers that belong to someone else. I love the fact that I got to meet you in person in Albania and it’s amazing to me how people can meet each other in such a random way with no background to the other person’s life, but I’m glad we get to see it through these same social medias that we use. These same apps that we go on around bring us again together and we can share our thoughts and opinions. The only rule: be original, be true to yourself, true to you! Only that way we can enjoy this journey and invite other people that might agree with us.
omg Greta you are so dear i’m so grateful i met you!!! 💞💞💞 thank you for this lovely lovely comment, you are so smart and insightful i love to listen to your thoughts!! please start writing on substack omg i still think about the poem you shared with me in the bar 💌💌
This!! When I was younger I’d go to my local library and search the shelves for anything that looked fun. Titels and colors and painted illustrations, that was what I’d notice. I’d take home my favorite five and read them throughout the next week. When I’d finished a book, that was that. I could hate it or love it and it would not matter; I would go back the next week and put it back on the shelve. Nowadays, I am scanning bookcases for covers I recognize, taking home only the most popular ones. Then, when I’ve closed the last page, I need to log into goodreads, mark the book as read, think about how much stars it deserves and why, read reviews on why my opinion is entirely wrong and afterwards be able to discuss the topics of the book for months to come. It is honestly so tiring & as you said, takes away from the diversity of literature I read!
you have described my routine exactly!! it’s actually comforting to see other people have fallen into the pop book sinkhole with me 😭 but i love the way you described your reading when you were younger, i aspire to be that reader!
I took a translation course in January that really opened my eyes to this, and even though her work isn’t translated (she has really interesting things to say about native language, I’ll see if I can find the essay I’m thinking of for you), I really recommend reading Arundhati Roy!
thank you for your article! i totally agree. i log on insta and only see the same 5 cool girl books recommended over and over again. what happened to individuality to niche interests and translated works?
i agree it is! seems like it’s the performative side of social media getting to hobbies through goodreads/letterboxd etc. intriguing to see how we all change how we act when we know there could be someone watching!
love this! i think browsing a bookshop and just picking up books from reading the synopsis is an art that needs to come back, instead of picking up books because you’ve seen them recommended online
I am new to this platform and this is my first read!😄♥️ I loved reading this and I relate so much to what is written here as I am still in Uni trying to figure out how to effectively divide my reading time between prescribed works, the popular ones and the books that I actually wanna read!
this makes me so happy to read ☺️ i’m glad you found my page!! uni totally flips around your reading style.. i’m happy my taste in lit has been expanded but i’m totally missing my old reading habits! tryna get back into it this year!
It feels like reading is no longer meant to be fun if you don't read popular literature. Like let me fangirl over a cute romance story you have never heard of 😭
Right now I’m reading “Fifth Chinese Daughter” by Jade Snow Wong. It was published in 1945 and it’s cool to read a firsthand account of what it was like to be a young Chinese-American 80 years ago!
I agree!! I think it helps to make social media work for you, instead of the other way around. Goodreads isn’t solely for me to keep up with trends — it’s for a personal log of whatever I wanted to read and have read. Instagram isn’t for followers, it’s for making a cool visual diary for myself. Substack is for writing to the few, beloved people in the world who care about my thoughts.
I love Goodreads. I could spend hours reading reviews of books that I know I will never read. I also have a weird taste in books, I'm not sure I've met anyone who has read half of the things I have. I like things written a long time ago, but not too long. I love what you said about reading being a form of traveling---it's exactly that! I will add you on GR. Also, I hardly ever read any books published post the1970's but I have picked up Sally Rooney out of all things and she waits in turn.
Very nicely explained and I've been feeling this too. I'm not much on goodreads but booktok and booktube make me feel like I NEED to keep up with popular books.
As for recommendations, any translated works of Mihail Sebastian, my favorite author. Especially The Accident if you can find a copy of it
I loved reading this! ❣️ I think you captured my thoughts so well in this sentence: I miss spending a week or two reading an 800 page books that I avoid now because it lowers my StoryGraph stat of how many days I spent per book and my Goodreads reading goal of reaching x amount of books.
ahh i’m so happy that part resonated with u!! i feel so crazy when i obsess over my book stats but it’s a real thing 😭
Dalkey archive press publishes amazing, fantastically specific and experimental translated literature. Highly recommend
omg this sounds like exactly what i have been after, thank you so much for the rec!!
Whitney this was such a good read (haha) and I agree that any type of social media starts as something people do for fun and then instantly get addicted to; they want to follow trends but they don’t want to be called “basic” or like “the rest”. They want to be unique but somehow they conceal everything special about themselves with layers that belong to someone else. I love the fact that I got to meet you in person in Albania and it’s amazing to me how people can meet each other in such a random way with no background to the other person’s life, but I’m glad we get to see it through these same social medias that we use. These same apps that we go on around bring us again together and we can share our thoughts and opinions. The only rule: be original, be true to yourself, true to you! Only that way we can enjoy this journey and invite other people that might agree with us.
omg Greta you are so dear i’m so grateful i met you!!! 💞💞💞 thank you for this lovely lovely comment, you are so smart and insightful i love to listen to your thoughts!! please start writing on substack omg i still think about the poem you shared with me in the bar 💌💌
recently, i finished reading ‘just kids’ by patti smith and it was so heartbreakingly beautiful
omg i love patti!! thank u for the rec!! ☺️
This!! When I was younger I’d go to my local library and search the shelves for anything that looked fun. Titels and colors and painted illustrations, that was what I’d notice. I’d take home my favorite five and read them throughout the next week. When I’d finished a book, that was that. I could hate it or love it and it would not matter; I would go back the next week and put it back on the shelve. Nowadays, I am scanning bookcases for covers I recognize, taking home only the most popular ones. Then, when I’ve closed the last page, I need to log into goodreads, mark the book as read, think about how much stars it deserves and why, read reviews on why my opinion is entirely wrong and afterwards be able to discuss the topics of the book for months to come. It is honestly so tiring & as you said, takes away from the diversity of literature I read!
you have described my routine exactly!! it’s actually comforting to see other people have fallen into the pop book sinkhole with me 😭 but i love the way you described your reading when you were younger, i aspire to be that reader!
I took a translation course in January that really opened my eyes to this, and even though her work isn’t translated (she has really interesting things to say about native language, I’ll see if I can find the essay I’m thinking of for you), I really recommend reading Arundhati Roy!
tahlia thank you!! that sounds so so interesting!! ☺️💌
thank you for your article! i totally agree. i log on insta and only see the same 5 cool girl books recommended over and over again. what happened to individuality to niche interests and translated works?
right!! i love strange books that tell me more about the person who recommended them. thank you for your comment!! ☺️
brilliant read! i feel it describes very well the effects social media is having on our hobbies, really enjoyed it :)
Thank you so much!! :) I didn’t even think about how it extends into our other hobbies,, this whole quantification of joy and leisure is so strange!
i agree it is! seems like it’s the performative side of social media getting to hobbies through goodreads/letterboxd etc. intriguing to see how we all change how we act when we know there could be someone watching!
love this! i think browsing a bookshop and just picking up books from reading the synopsis is an art that needs to come back, instead of picking up books because you’ve seen them recommended online
omg yess!! i love the way you described that so much ☺️
I agree with you about social media, we have to be carfull about obssesion with those apps. I also have Goodrears (and I have already followed you)
yess! i am such an obsessive person goodreads really touches on that for me 😭 happy to have a new friend there! ☺️
I am new to this platform and this is my first read!😄♥️ I loved reading this and I relate so much to what is written here as I am still in Uni trying to figure out how to effectively divide my reading time between prescribed works, the popular ones and the books that I actually wanna read!
this makes me so happy to read ☺️ i’m glad you found my page!! uni totally flips around your reading style.. i’m happy my taste in lit has been expanded but i’m totally missing my old reading habits! tryna get back into it this year!
It feels like reading is no longer meant to be fun if you don't read popular literature. Like let me fangirl over a cute romance story you have never heard of 😭
no for real!! i miss when i was reading obscure little romances that just made me happy!
Right now I’m reading “Fifth Chinese Daughter” by Jade Snow Wong. It was published in 1945 and it’s cool to read a firsthand account of what it was like to be a young Chinese-American 80 years ago!
yess i would love to read that, thank you sm for the rec!! ☺️
I agree!! I think it helps to make social media work for you, instead of the other way around. Goodreads isn’t solely for me to keep up with trends — it’s for a personal log of whatever I wanted to read and have read. Instagram isn’t for followers, it’s for making a cool visual diary for myself. Substack is for writing to the few, beloved people in the world who care about my thoughts.
I love Goodreads. I could spend hours reading reviews of books that I know I will never read. I also have a weird taste in books, I'm not sure I've met anyone who has read half of the things I have. I like things written a long time ago, but not too long. I love what you said about reading being a form of traveling---it's exactly that! I will add you on GR. Also, I hardly ever read any books published post the1970's but I have picked up Sally Rooney out of all things and she waits in turn.
yess i love when people have weird taste in books! i think you are definitely using goodreads the right way ☺️
Very nicely explained and I've been feeling this too. I'm not much on goodreads but booktok and booktube make me feel like I NEED to keep up with popular books.
As for recommendations, any translated works of Mihail Sebastian, my favorite author. Especially The Accident if you can find a copy of it
the pressure is inescapable!! thank you so much for the rec, i am not familiar with that author/book!