I Miss Finding Books Myself

I remember the days when I would roam the Barnes and Noble aisles for hours, scanning book after book until the sound of the classical music over the speakers made me sick. As awful as that may sound, it was so much fun! I would go into it so open-mindedly, only swayed by cute covers or recognizable author names. A whole event was made out of tracking down my new favorites, pulling muscles in my neck in order to read every sideways title, and practically laying on the floor in order to thoroughly read the synopses to know what was worth my time.

But, now, Book Social Media does seemingly all the work for me. I always go to a bookstore with a purpose. Sometimes I don't even go to the bookstore! My Amazon Kindle and apps like Libby bring the books right to my fingertips in seconds. Bookbuying has been (debatably) disgustingly oversimplfied.

Bookbuying and bookreading are two very different hobbies -- you can ask anybody in the book community and they will respond with resounding agreement to this claim. Book Social Media, such as BookTok, BookTube, and Bookstagram, has made bookbuying all the more enticing. When every post you pass on TikTok is reccomending the same book, you're bound to want to buy it, even if just to say you did or to see what the "hype" is all about. The "Is It Worth the Hype?" genre of videos has exploded with the rising popularity of BookTok and its favored featured titles.

While I myself have bought a few BookTok staples, and while I am a sucker for finding BookTubers with taste alikened to my own and buying a myriad of their 5-star reads, I miss the feeling of mystery that comes with a book that I have discovered myself. Bookbuying is quickly becoming a sport where the trophies are the same 20 or so books regurgitated over and over until you know what the book is all about without even reading it. To have 'Daisy Jones and the Six' on your shelf is almost a bigger feat than even reading it. It's all about showcasing -- who has the best taste, who has read the most books, quality and quantity, no compromising.

Now, it would be hypocritical to say that I don't like when people reccomend or veto books, as I clearly take the mass' opinion in account under my own volition, and I have my own BookTube channel and Bookstagram page where I do just that. What can I say, it's fun! However, I long for the time when I would go into a book relatively blindly, feeling as if I were about to uncover a hidden gem, and slowly figured out for myself how I felt about it with no bias from anyone's unique views or star ratings.

I can't say that I haven't absolutely loved the books that have been suggested to 'me', but I will say that my last 5-star book was one that I found myself from an author that I love. Sometimes it's as simple as that!

Sharing a love for books, reading, and literature is not a bad thing...at all! In fact, I'm thrilled that more and more people are becoming readers nowadays, and I feel that social media has undeniably played a large role in that uprise. So many people love so many different kinds of books or even find different things to love in the same book. There is so much to share throughout so many genres, subgenres, tropes, etc. And there is something for everyone!

The problem lies here: I end up feeling burnt out from reading, not only due to the competitive nature of reading the most books but also from the pressure of reading Book Social Media's best and brighest. My TBR (a list of books that are yet To-Be-Read) is an endless, ever-growing, borderline unaccomplishable list because it keeps getting topped off by the newest internet sensation. My favorite BookTuber posts a monthly wrap-up: + 5 books. TikTok shows me a video of 'if you liked this book, read this': + 2 books. Goodreads shows me a list of the most anticipated romances of next year: + 10 books that haven't even been released yet. Not to mention adding books that I know aren't something I would like just because of their Book Social Media Royalty Status. Don't get me wrong: it's great and even important to branch out and give new genres and authors a try. But when I add a memoir about politics to my TBR, I'm just kidding myself at that point.

It would just be nice to see a book in a bookstore with a flashy cover or intriguing summary and give it a shot with no prior expectations; no one saying it's the best or worst book they've ever read, no one comparing it to another popular book, no one saying it made them cry. Just you and a book you think you would enjoy, no pressure.

But the community of book lovers only grows bigger and our love for sharing the stories that have affected us (negatively and positively) is as strong as ever, so I don't see Book Social Media stopping or slowing any time soon. Book Social Media can even be extremely helpful when you don't have any idea what to read or you're in a slump or you actually do need to buy more books (but you probably don't need to, I know your shelf is full). It's simply the sheer mass of book content that can get overwhelming and leave me feeling burnt out. But, at the end of the day, I love reading, I love consuming said book content, and I love buying books.

Maybe, just maybe, I will try to pick up one book a month that I haven't seen on my phone screen before, just to keep things fresh. Or maybe I'll just shut up and keep adding Taylor Jenkins Reid books to my Want-To-Read on Goodreads, who knows.