A few things! 1) don't forget to check the community tab for the next discussion like this involving romance tropes 💕 2) I'll be doing a part two for this specific topic, though likely not until May, as I have some in mind for March and April 👀 3) apologies that the outro section had the audio slightly off 🎧 4) here is a playlist with the other videos I've done in this style: kzfaq.info/sun/PL-WCMA9LkyewMRq4-oasDJqxD5Pu_MFHO 🎥

I don't get why anyone would shade someone for getting a book from the library. It's not even a financial thing for me, I just don't want a house filled with books I'm only going to read once. I also personally think the book hauls with hundreds of books is just as much a symptom of over consumption as the endless Temu and Amazon hauls. The people who have massive piles of unread books then do a haul of 50 more are not that different than the people doing massive clothing hauls every week. You do not need to be constantly buying things

The non-fiction superiority always gets me. Just because I'm reading fiction doesn't mean I'm not learning. Fiction is great for flexing your imagination, examining different points of view, and exploring the human condition. Furthermore, just because something is "easy" to read doesn't mean it intrinsically has no value.

One thing that bothers me is when someone just dismisses another reader’s dislike of a popular book as trying to be edgy. Like, no, some people just genuinely didn’t like a super popular book, and they don’t deserve to have their opinion invalidated for it. I saw this with another book tuber I follow, and her attitude was really disappointing.

I think my main one is just readers judging other readers. “It’s not reading if it’s an audiobook” and “adults shouldn’t read YA” and basically any comment on the validity of any genre, can be left in 2023!!!

One thing you said struck me kinda hard. The non judging for people wanting to read easy, happy things for entertainment... I get that. I work with juvenile delinquents as a therapist in a closed detainment facility. It's hard. I see self harm, suicide, mental health issues, familial trauma and abuse on a daily basis. Combine that with the anger and desillusion most of these kids have for society. The constant threath of violence. So in my day to day, I enjoy a bit of entertainment in my books. Sometimes I just need too shut off and not think about real life issues. I do love me some Robin Hobb, but I refer reading that at holidays, when my nerves are not as grated with trauma...

4:50 I think the people who can't get this sort of nuance into their heads and then scream into megaphones about it are the reason we're getting "Sokka isn't sexist/Aang takes his role as Avatar seriously from the start/Katara doesn't mother her friends because dead mom trauma who?" with the upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action remake. It's why so much media now is bland, flat, soulless, and sauceless.

I am so done with the word "problematic," and will sleep well if this word falls out of vogue along with the DIY design term "elevate." But back to books. We've been in the realm of morally grey characters for awhile, but some readers don't seem to understand what that actually implies. There will be times you won't like what they are doing, and don't support their decisions. That's the whole point. These readers claim to hate so-called simply black/white stories, but that's what they are actually demanding.

I've noticed the fandom thing with the new Percy Jackson show. And like a lot of subreddits will delete negative comments or they'll get harassed out of the community. Except for one subreddit, and then the other people will complain about how negative this one subreddit is, but it's like the only place you're allowed to talk about the things you didn't like about the show.

Reviewing DNFs is so helpful IMO. Every time I‘m trying to decide if I should dnf a book, I’m going through the 1 star reviews. Regarding rating DNFs: I don‘t mind when people rate their DNFs. I personally have a ‚system‘ or a ‚rule‘ where I differentiate between books I just didn‘t vibe with / were not for me (no rating), and books I do think are bad / offensive / etc. (1 star).

YES to the comment about reading books from past years. If I get fed up with current fantasy trends, I turn to the books published 20, 30 + years ago. BookTube focuses so much on new releases that many truly excellent older books are passed over because people just don't realize that they exist. My current favourite author who falls into this category is Lois McMaster Bujold

I don't think I've ever heard of someone being shamed for getting books from the library, but i have heard a lot of back lash from people saying you shouldn't buy books you should ONLY use your local library; and that fine if YOU want to use the library, but you also have to take into consideration that NOT ALL libraries are well stocked. I live in north Georgia, about 30 minutes from Atlanta, and my local library does not have any Sarah J Maas books, or anything like it. I went last week and noticed they only had about 3 Brandon Sanderson books (It was not that they were checked out, they did not stock them). I have the Libby app and I was able to find some ebooks and audio books, but I rarely find physical books. So, if you agree that it is not OK to judge people that USE the library, then don't judge people that can't or don't want to.

When it comes to people who mostly(or only) do audiobooks, I’ve had it where those people have judged me for not reading as fast or as many books as them. Also, people who claim that reading comics or manga don’t count.

Omg yes I agree with that first point so much. I see so many people online basically wanting MCs to be perfect with no flaws and I'm just thinking wouldn't that just be super boring? And it's ridiculous to think that because a character acts or thinks a certain way that means the author condones those things. That'd be like condemning an actor for playing a villain in a movie. It just doesn't make any sense

I like trope marketing because it also lets you know if there's a personal thing you don't like in there that might not be indicated in the summary! For example - age gap, alpha male LI, etc.

About the audiobook thing: on a technical level its different from looking on a page("reading"), but that doesnt make it worse than reading a physical/e book. Both things are valid

Getting mad at content warnings is wild. My father died this month. I really dont want to read a book where there's paternal death right just now, so a heads up is totally fine!

r/books likes to call anything that isn't an American classic a junk food book without substance that people only read because they don't want to think and just be entertained. And on more than one occasion, will use a jingle keys analogy. I can't stand the pretentiousness and condescension. So many readers online still think reading is this high brow activity, and regurgitating the same books that the school system hammered into them somehow makes them intellectuals. I don't care if it's Sanderson, Twilight, insert something mainstream and popular, if people have fun reading them and it creates more readers, then those books DO have substance and the people who rag on them aren't suddenly more intelligent because they can name the reading list given to them by their English Professor.

What makes the audiobook discourse really funny to me is that it's literally harder and time consuming for me when it comes to audiobooks. A 12 hour audiobook I would read with my eyes in about 3-4 hours and I must make a more conscious effort to remain focused on what I'm hearing.

Thank you for reminding us how important audio books are. A good friend of mine is visually impaired and is unable to read a physical book any more. She loves to read, so audiobooks are a a great boon for her. I sometimes don't rate something, if I feel that the book has a subject that isn't aimed toward me, so for me to rate it would be unfair to others. As far as writing vs subject matter or plot. When I review a book, I will say that although the writing is dry, the subject is very important.

I think the Audio book thing is silly. For me (only my opinion, feel free to disregard) I don't consider it reading. Reading is reading a physical book. However, if someone, as you pointed out, has a disability or processes information better through an audio format, its still valid and they are still enjoying the book being read to them. Its no different than having someone read you a book in real life. I know its a hot topic and many people are firmly in the camp that its reading and I respect that, I just don't see it that way, but think its still a valid way to enjoy books.

The one thing I don't understand about other readers are the ones who go onto Goodreads and rate a book that hasn't been published but is promised. For example, the third book in The Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff has several star ratings from 5 to 1. I want to read it too, but I just have it on my want-to-read list. Why give a star rating for a book still in the works?

Odd thing, the moment someone starts posting something needlessly cruel, I ignore them. Those posters have nothing to bring to table. Nothing.

As a new author who has an EXCEEDINGLY heinous character let me tell you this. I am NOT my character, he was created to be the 'evil big bad'. Also, I have found that most authors make their 'big bads' so evil due to the fact that they DON'T condone that behavior and want to use it to highlight their character's evilness. That said, yes, sometimes authors go so overboard with their 'evil' characters that it can present as if they DO condone their character's actions. I think we as authors need to listen more to our readers, which is one of the many things I am learning as I work on my Master's Degree (no not bragging please no hate? lol).

One for me is I don't like when someone attacks someone else for getting upset that a book got spoiled for them.. what I mean is, a book is out for a while, someone posts a spoiler, someone else politely says something like "aw no I wish there had of been a spoiler warning here I haven't read this one yet"... and then someone will (unfairly) attack that person!! "The book has been out for 2 years you deserve no empathy" and shit like that... Not everyone is going to read every book as it comes out...nobody can possibly do that😅

Great to hear your thoughts on some of these things. I am on the other end of the tropes-talk/spoilers, though. There are some plot and character tropes that ruin a book for me, hate them every single time I read them, and I value my time. So, I would rather know up front if I probably won't enjoy a book because of what's in it. Then, I can decide whether to waste my time and give it a try, or not. I do not share in the enemies-to-lovers romance plot fantasy, for example. Or the Power Fantasy character who is a Chosen One that breaks all the world's/society's rules with no lasting/real consequences, acts like a jerk and everyone still loves them, and is great/successful at everything they do even without much training. I'm going to struggle to read through these and end up rating these books low, and I don't like being negative towards something not aimed at/intended for me and my interests. Light trope spoiling helps me prevent that negativity, or at least be prepared for/have proper expectations towards it.

I was so excited to see that you read Green Rider, I read that back in the early 2000s and no one ever knows what I'm talking about, I was giddy to see you'd read it. I like to change things up when reading, new, slightly older, classic, it seems (to me at least) to create a bit of a palette cleanse. Reading too much new stuff makes me feel like I'm coasting at times through the book, but reading classics back to back can be a slog. But rotating seems to be a good balance for me and opens up a lot more authors, writing styles, etc that I would have otherwise missed by sticking to just new or just classics.

Maybe it's a niche genre thing, but I've seen people act like it's a major betrayal to rate ANYTHING less than 5 stars. Like it's our duty to boost books simply because they are part of the community.

When it comes to your channel personally I am an avid watcher and one of the main reason I come to your channel is because you do review new fantasy. I am somebody that has a hard time finding things on new Fantasy so most of my info is from KZfaq, but at the same time you did a couple between your two channels a couple of rereads which I also like to watch. I think it' s important to promote both because were all here at the end of the day to find our new favorite read hopefully. Thank you for talking about the Crane Husband last year it was one of my favorites of the year and I would have not heard about it if you did not review it. Keep up the great work.

Thank you for the video, I would love a part 2 to it))

When I am unsure if I want to read a book I go look at the 1 & 2 star reviews. Sometimes people complain about things that I enjoy in my books.

I love the one talking about reading speed!! I wouldn’t say I’m a slow reader but I’m not an especially fast reader as well & sometimes I’ve felt that I don’t belong in the reading community because of this :(

21:52, ey, that was my opinion! Ty for reading it! As a Sanderson fan, it's kind of embarrassing seeing others prasing every book he writes without being critical.

Ugh yes like people need to chill when it comes to their beloved books 😂 like people can like different things and we can all still get along 😂

I think you do a lot of new fantasy, BUT I think you balance it well with "older" books. Your review of Green Rider has introduced me to a new favorite series!

I’m scared for the next videos. I think there are a lot of people who enjoy crapping on romance and looking at some of the comments already posted I think it may go that way.

I think DNF reviews are useful, it's still a review of what someone has read and why they decided to not continue. If they had finished the book it might have been a one-star and if you know you won't like it, why finish it just to rate it super low? Rating DNFs is questionable in my opinion though, you didn't read the entire thing and you obviously didn't like it if you DNFd it, if you've marked it as DNFd or reviewed it people get that you didn't like it.

For a very long time, Booktube and Booktok were cesspits of multiples of those traits: very judgy of both authors AND readers over both content and personal behavior. Very much into performative denunciations and purity testing.

On turning to older books, as a woman of color who reads primarily in English, I’ve realized that as I’ve grown older and more cognizant of racial and gender prejudice within literature it’s honestly easier for me to simply avoid books written before a certain time period. When I say this, I don’t mean books that are considered “classics” or extremely popular etc, I simply like knowing what I’m getting into before reading it. I read books to enjoy myself, and facing prejudice that I already experience daily in my entertainment is not my idea of a good time. This is why I feel that content warnings and acknowledgment of potential harmful content in older (and in general all) literature is really important. Just saying “that’s just the time they lived in” doesn’t negate the potential harm and discomfort a person might feel when forced to confront it in a non-critical (as in non academic) setting.

I can feel the Malazan people rising up. Because I've read the first three books twice and it's just not my thing. But I know people who think Malazan is the greatest and if you don't think so you better be able to write an in-depth essay on why or you're just not intelligent enough to understand the book

Loving how passionate ye are getting here!! You tell em! 😋

I try to rate my books honestly though I find it hard to sometimes say why one was better than another. I have read 6 Sanderson novels and only ranked 2 with five stars. To rank something five stars it must really touch me and move me in some way.

I know that it's popular to say that we shouldn't judge what kind of books people read, but we're in a time when it's really important to read history. It really worries me that so few people on booktube and readers in general read history. I do think booktubers and readers have some responsibility to read some books that they may not be entertained by.

I do wish more books had content warnings available. I was reading recently what I thought was kind of a light, easy read and smack in the middle of it, a sort of graphic SA scene!! I was not prepared for it to be that gross, I wasn't prepared for it to be present in a book that had, up till then, been a beach read. I didn't throw the book across the room or anything, but I did feel a bit like I would have liked to be emotionally prepared for reading it and that maybe the author hadn't been so glib about it.

To answer your question, sort of: I’m not certain about the reading new fantasy or not as I haven’t heard of many of the books, but it does seem like it. It also seems like the focus is primarily traditionally published books (books where the author had a publishing deal) rather than more of a variety of independent and traditionally published. Either might not be the case, but it just seems like it. As a reader, I read more independently published via Kindle Unlimited as reading more traditionally published is out of my budget for delving into new authors. I also love to see more indie books get read as traditionally published already get so much help promoting their books.

it does come across like you're reading mostly new fantasy but it's also noticeable when you pick up something older. for me i think the divide is not old vs new but popular vs hidden gems (not only on your channel but on booktube in general)

I agree with the first one for the most part, as long as the text treats, the actions appropriately. What I mean is, I hate when a main character does something bad, but then there aren’t appropriate consequences within the story.

Great Video!

I think reading/rating multiple books by one author is naturally going to become a bit biased. For example, I love VE Schwab and I’ve read majority of her books and really like them. Because of that, she’s an auto-buy author for me and I go in with the expectation that I’ll love the book. Now I don’t rate every book 5 stars just because she’s a favorite author but I also don’t try to compare her books with each other. Although for me, Shades of Magic still holds an extra special place in my heart so it’s hard not to think about how that story made me feel verses her other books, but I still rate it fairly as I would any other book. But it does have the edge that I already know how I feel about her writing and storytelling so rating it high isn’t really a surprise. I think maybe making the bias clear from the start is important. I tell my irl friends and bookstagram friends that she’s a favorite author so odds are I’m going to like the book just because I’ve got the history of liking her other books. But I’m not fabricating that enjoyment or blindly loving the book either. But the bias is there compared to an author I haven’t discovered or one I’m just starting to read their books.

Also to you Elle, I think some think you only read new releases since you make an effort to actively talk about new releases, and as you have said yourself, it's so that others can know what they want to invest in. I would personally like to hear about backlist books more but again, as you said, if about half that you read was new and half not then there's no problem. There wouldn't have been a problem if the ratio had been "less balanced", you should read what you wanna read and honestly that's no ones business, keep it up!

I just like this piece of advice. Buy and read the books you like. Don't read the ones you don't like. The end.

I love using my libraries. Yes, I could afford buying a book (and do if I loved and want to re-read it or have it on my shelf) but often I want to try it first, especially if I have never read from this author before. I love listening to my audiobooks when doing other things (cooking, taking a walk etc) For DNFs, I'm happy storygraph has a did not finish option unlike goodreads (I know there are shelves etc but still). If I made progress in the book and want to leave a review as to why it didn't work for me. I also always add trigger warning tags in my ratings, even if I don't leave a written review since that's possible on StoryGraph and people then can look them up on the book page. I do think content warnings should be in the book (maybe the first page) so if someone needs them, they can check them and if you think you are ok, just go to the next page.

Getting upset about content warnings is something I dont understand. There are content warnings on movies, games and partially manga, so why would it be bad if you give content warnings on text-heavy books?

If i had one thing to add to this list it would be: your favorite author is not your God King. You don't need to go to war for them. You don't need to devote your entire life and personality to them. They are going to be flawed human beings...and that is ok. Becoming so invested in that person to the point of worship is not healthy for you, or for them.

As someone who has been having physical limitations lately regarding holding physical books (long enough to actually read them and turn the pages) for reasons, I appreciate the point of not judging people for the medium people use to read. [Edit: I read ebooks lately only. Not listen to audio books. No hate, just clarifying.]

Great video! I like these types of videos. imo: I would say that if an author is able to acutely describe trauma or depression no matter if the prose is basic then that would mean they are a good writer (ie Sanderson, I pick him because I know people don’t think he is a good author even tho he can is so great at plot and characters) just different types of prose.

Well I wouldn't technically consider listening to an audiobook as "reading" as there is no reading involved.... Still a valid form of consuming a book though.

Is that how Malazan is pronounced?! I've been saying it wrong in my head for years...

Haha I agree with all of these

The problem people have is that they believe they are super human (perfect) or sub-human (garbage). If you like something that doesn't make it good, if you dislike it that doesn't make you bad. If you like a flawed character, guess what? You are flawed. Liking bad characters doesn't make you bad, liking good characters doesn't make you good.

I love this video. I agree books, both that are fiction or non-fiction, are for entertainment purposes. It shouldnt matter which kinds of books you like to read, as long you are getting joy from it. Judging people for what they read shouldn't be an issue either because everyone enjoys different things and are able retain things differently. Ever so often I love listening to audiobooks while i read along to the book, and that im a super slow reader. Books are expensive, and i get why people go to the library. I love your videos, they are amazing

For DNFs - It would be beneficial if rating databases allowed you to write a review without a star rating. Or at least a flag saying you DNF'd so those reviews could be filtered to/out and the average rating updates based on that filter.

Can you please do video of adult fantasy book recommendations with strong and complex female characters

New Releases: I have been watching your videos for a few years and would have guessed your new release total is more than 50%. I would have gone with something around 75%. You read more new releases than I do, so maybe that is why I have this perception. - I often wait to hear your thoughts on some new releases before diving in. We don’t always like the same things, but your input helps because I value your opinion.

There is a book coming out soon about mad max and elves and stuff. It's called Sands of Elysium, would you review it?

I was just talking to a friend about how “morally grey” is now just basically evil that people think is “hot.” Tbh I think VE Schwab does some of the best morally grey characters out there with Lila and Holland from Shades of Magic to Victor in Vicious.

I enjoy your videos so much, so much sensibility in one person, whish I could have similar approach. I tend to get angry at people who don't like book because it was too 'feminist', as it is so shallow and ... Wrong.

I've heard rumor that its not okay to leave 1 star reviews on books. While I don't often leave 1 star reviews, I think leaving those reviews and backing up the reason why it was rated that low is 100% okay. I've only ever rated one book at 1 star because the book was labeled and sold as a historical fiction and the author preached about how historically accurate she wanted to make the story, but the facts were so far from historically accurate that it was painful to read. I ended up leaving a long winded review about why I rated it 1 star and pointed out every single historically inaccurate claim she made and went and left cited reliable resources for the author and review readers who would be interested.

At least in the Romance genre, tropes can be a nice shorthand in discussing and recommending a book. You can figure most of them out through the summary so I don’t consider them that spoilery. When authors use them in promoting it helps me prioritize certain books.

Flaws can make a character more interesting. A too-perfect character sometimes annoys me. If a character is beautiful, has a perfect figure & does everything perfectly, they don’t seem real to me.

I am someone who likes most content warnings and trope signaling. Because I don't want to waste my time and money on a book with stuff I don't want to read. It's not always apparent with the synopsis if a story will contain something I don't enjoy reading. I don't think it needs to be excessive with the warnings, but I like it when book reviewers put a bunch of recommendations together for "if you like this, read this" sort of thing. Like here are some no spice books. Sometimes I'm able to catch if a book is worth my time in the general reviews, but not always.

What instrument do you play? Currently, I am tending towards music that only uses acoustic instruments (my favorite is the accordion [you can laugh now if you like, but I stand by it]). First, let me say that I love libraries, going to the library every week as a kid was the highlight of the week. Just because now (I mean the last 30 years) I have developed a compulsion that I must own the books (& music--no digital/streaming media) that I read is a different matter. 2d-I gave up SFF in 1990 when I read Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum. Absolutely wonderful book, which I would recommend to everyone. I would also say that I would read anything he wrote (that's how I started to get into semiotics), but since he died last year, I doubt he'll be writing much more. On good vs. bad writing, I would instead use the term thoughtful vs. lazy writing. Effort doesn't cost anything. Put in the time, hone the craft to a Razor's Edge (for all you Maugham fans out there). I think it is a moral imperative that anyone who writes at any level, or readers at any level should read Stanley Fish's How to Write a Sentence (& How to Read One). It will change your mind about both reading & writing. That's what I want in a book: well constructed sentences that expose nuances (or even ambiguities) of the scene in question, with thoughtfully considered & chosen words. If one can write this kind of sentence, then I will read the book no matter the genre. Now, I must admit that most of the books I currently read range from the end of the 19th C. to middle of the 20th (with the above named exception), & in 20 or 30 years, I might work my way up to the new millennium. I will never denigrate someone for what they are reading, but will try to steer them towards more thoughtfully & well-constructed writing.

I think people really need to stop with making assumptions about an author's views just because a character isn't exactly like you In real life everybody is different so that means that every character is different and just because a character is in your demographic but isn't the same of you does not mean that the author has any negative issues with your your demographic and you should stop treating them like they do because of it

I personally don't put ratings or reviews on any fiction I DNF. I will occasionally do so for non-fiction if I feel like there are actual problems with the research and analysis, and the author has already laid out their main points. I think reviewing fiction DNFs and putting so at the top is fine; rating them kind of skews the system.

"The privilege, time, money and resources to read"... what

Yeah, I almost never read non-fiction because I prefer to learn about cultures through fiction books and films from a said country and podcasts/video essays about it. I'm learning japanese now so I prefer to "challenge" my brain through that.

Even though I agree with most points....you definitely need to JUDGE people who read Fourth wing and not even consider it fantasy....but great fantasy.

I think the point about toxic fandoms can be turned around, as well. For example, I've heard a lot of people say bad things about danmei as a genre (and fandom), especially the 'cult following' phrase gets thrown a lot. When in fact any fandom can be called 'cult following', be it Sanderson or SJM. But when referred to danmei, it's something universally agreed on, bizarre & negative. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I hate this judgement of a whole genre based on nothing but vague impressions.

on your "morally gray character" point it´s mostly an unbalanced concept because we have an overrepresentation of the sympathetic villain and very rarely a hero with some serous asshole traits that don´t happen do be justified in the story or subject to immediate character development

On the question of if you read a lot of new fantasy: it does seem like a lot of your videos focus on new fantasy, I don’t think this is a bad thing but if you wanted to know. I like knowing about new fantasy 😂

Ultimately people can post whatever reviews they want. If they’re not professional reviewers, then they have zero obligations. Sure, possibly moral ones, but even those are based on everyone’s personal moral compass. Also like… not giving biased reviews? How? Everyone is biased. Even supposedly unbiased professional critics are biased.

The audiobook thing is so silly to me. As long as the story is possible to consume that's what matters. People have different preferences, there are BLIND people out there who would probably enjoy the story, some people take in stories better through audio. I personally like both ways (books and audiobooks) and will do both at the same time. Audiobooks can help me get through a book when my concentration makes it hard (ADHD over here.) I have both audiobook and physical book versions of several books. Sometimes it's because Iike the narrator of the book AND because I want the physical copy on my shelf. (Rosamund Pike reading Pride and Prejudice is a big treat for me, especially since I love the 2005 movie.) I also enjoy taking walks and I love listening to podcasts and audiobooks when I do that. We all have our preferences and reasons for those preferences.

suggestion for readers tripped up over your point number one... if one can't separate the morals of the fictional characters from the morals of the author should prob'ly stick to reading "Little Golden Books" something a little more on their emotional and intellectual level

If I DNF a book, I won’t rate it and almost never review it. If I do review it, I start the review with “DNFed at --“ followed by why.

I agree if you are going to review a book you DNF you should disclaim that you DNF the book.

I absolutely cannot, CANNOT afford to buy books with any regularity unless it's a used book store. I'm able to buy maybe 2-3 new books a year. Books are very expensive. I bought a 5 books series in 2023 and it was $20 per book and that was maxing out my book budget. As for audiobooks, my husband works 8 hours a day on a job that he does solo in his own space and he listens to things while doing his job. He listens to audio books, podcasts, and twitch streams. Then he drives to and from work for 3-4 hours depending on traffic. He's not going to spend his few precious hours a week reading when he gets home, and it would be stupid not to take advantage of the time he can listen to a book. I listen to audio books sometimes when I go for walks. My only thing about audiobooks is don't say "I read a bunch of books" when what you did was listened to them. It's not the same thing. I can't hold a book open and read it with my eyeballs while I'm driving (unless I want to get in an accident). Audio books are no less a valid way to take in a story, but it's misleading when you say you read that book when you didn't. Just say you listened to it.

Tldr: every opinion is valid and true, and don't you dare judge other people.

Also stop judging readers who give only 3+ stars. Many readers don't hate read and simply DNF books that otherwise might get a 1 or 2 stars.

If you read about an MC doing something in a fictional book and connect it to ANYTHING besides it being a part of a FICTIONAL story you’re reading, you’re an insane person 😂

The naive pseudo-self righteousness of the kinds of people who just blanket refuse to examine things they have ethical disagreements with, marks them as being unworthy of consideration.

People shouldn't shade anyone for using their Library as there could be any number of reasons why some readers get the majority of their books from Libraries. I'm a frequent Library user myself and love knowing that I can get most of my books put on hold if I want. Some people are able to access the Library and some aren't, both of which really shouldn't be a debate. Another thing that bothers me is when there's shade thrown about the amount of books someone reads in a year. Each person is different and reading is a personal thing for most people, not a contest. There seems to be even more shade for those who read at a higher volume and there really shouldn't be shade for it. Also, I don't think people should judge others about whether they read fiction or nonfiction along with arguing what format is supposedly valid because they are all valid and if people want to take a break from reading to do other things, that's also up to each person.

i didn’t like fourth wing and find active joy in judging people who did

Not me typing up a very long winded review while you started to mention long-winded reviews - fully paused until you said "about books you dnf'd" and was like "oh ok we good then" lol

I want readers to stop saying “ I read a book” when they only listened to the audio! Please be honest and just say you listened to it. That drives me crazy. 😂It's a rule that only a community of privileged people came up with. Reading and listening involves 2 different senses. It's pretty clear that there’s an agenda to make reading books a sport with the high number of books “read”. So don't let the Booktube community shame you out of common sense. Audio books are not reading, Its just as easier more accessable way to consume a story…and that's OK! Just admit it.

I really don't care if someone wants to review a book they DNF'd but I need them to PUT IN IN THE FIRST LINE OF THEIR REVIEW. Please. 😭 I always like to read reviews after I finish a book, and the top review on a popular Romantasy was this huge negative thing and if you check the tags, she had put it in her DNF shelf and mentions it in like the very last line of the review. The things she didn't like about the book were resolved in the final quarter, but obviously they wouldn't know since they dnf'd it. But their review was still the top review you'd see on the book's page. Just seems kinda crappy. I ended up leaving a comment asking if they could make it more obvious that they'd dnf'd it and that was a mistake lol. So i think you made the right choice in choosing not to do that on the similar case you had found.

eyyy that was my comment at 31:44, so to answer your question: no! not targeted at you and I don't particularly get that impression of your reading habits. It was more based on overall Booktuber/Bookstagrammer/etc reading habits...I feel like so many times I'll see a video/post where someone is complaining about, say, reading their fifth mediocre fantasy or scifi book about so far that year and I just wanna be like...first of all, Sturgeon's Law!! 90% of everything is crap!! read something older that has survived the test of time!! or, you can read something under the radar that hasn't been able to become passe!! I know people who make some degree of living doing this have to chase the algorithm, so it behooves them to read what's now and new but...I dunno. It just makes me a lil bummed sometimes. Like, you (generic you) can keep bitching about how fantasy series might never be finished...or you can go and read Mercedes Lackey and John Mallory's Obsidian Trilogy. Why complain about the cozy scifi trend saying "there's no scifi about cool ideas and technology that I want to read any more!" if you haven't already read Timothy Zahn's full back catalogue, you know? But that's just how I think of it 😂

Excuse me. I'm crying over someone being mad about library usage. Not cool.

If you call yourself a big reader and you DON’T have a library card, I am judging you. Just being honest. 🤷‍♀️😂

About the content warning one. I literally had a conversation yesterday about how I find it super odd that books don’t have some sort of system like the ESRB for video games. I teach dance and one of my parents asked if a book I was reading (Mistborn) would be appropriate for her daughter as she loves fantasy and I had to do a LOT of looking to simultaneously not get spoiled but also find out if there was any sexual content, super gory scenes, etc. in the book

1. Audio books are not reading - yes it is. 2. Downvoting not-yet-released books on your low opinion of it - that is stupid, and we get that in video games as well. Just ridiculous. 3. Sigh, yes I admit that I'd give someone the side-eye if I saw them reading something like Colleen Hoover, yes I would, and I like to turn the covers around in bookstores so the front isn't showing lol XD🤣 However, if you want to read those kind of books, it's your life so happy reading! Reading is a great thing 🙂 4. I'm glad I ditched Goodreads years ago haha. Seems just like a popularity contest nowdays, sadly.