Yes, exactly!! And I find it hard to believe that those with reading goals in the hundreds are enjoying their books to the fullest extent. When I’m under a huge goal like that I’m definitely stressed and in a rush. Thank you so much for reading and commenting!!🤍
what a thoughtful and well-written post! I always get so incensed about people skimming books or skipping parts just to finish them faster. I want to engage with a text and try to understand it. thank you for writing this, it was a great read!
Thank you so much!! I totally get that LOL, and I used to be one of those people. I can still understand it depending on what kind of book people are reading, but in general reading hundreds of books a year is just a level of consumption that I can’t get behind haha:) Thanks for commenting!!!
Ooooh I have so many thoughts on this but I’ll start by saying I really enjoyed this post!
I have fallen down this hole before. One year, I had a goal of reading 150 books (finished at 153) and it was the year that my mental health was probably the worst it’s been in a long time. That was TOO MANY BOOKS to read in a year and I will never strive for that many again. But (and just my opinion/what works for me), as someone who is a fast reader (not a skimmer) having a goal helps me stay reading daily, which is a large part of my mental health maintenance and I know if I don’t hit the goal, it means absolutely nothing.
I may not remember the characters’ names or much of the story itself, but I can look at a cover of a book I read a couple years and a few hundred books ago and tell you EXACTLY how it made me feel and if I enjoyed it. As hokey as it is, I read for the vibes and if it destroyed me / gave me the feels / I couldn’t possibly put it down so I just HAD to consume the whole thing in one sitting, it’s prob getting five stars and I’ll think about how it made me feel for the rest of my days.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Yes, I think the concept of reading so many books is super admirable but the execution is SO difficult like none of us have the time to read them much less remember!!! I'm also a fast reader and can definitely understand wanting a goal. My "goal" is 25 this year, but I'm certain I'll surpass it considering how much I read:) And yes I think star ratings are super subjective and I can't blame someone for rating something they love five stars even if it's not an objectively five star read (my Letterboxd certainly has some suspiciously high rated movie-- *cough* FNAF). Thank you so much for reading and commenting!!! xx
What I do when reading is deep dive into the historical context and symbolic(take for example Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier ,the novel plays in Cornwall and also plays alot with gothic/mystery symbolism).For me,that's how I mesmerize my reading.
thank you for writing this! reading shouldn’t be about a competition on who has the most books read nor who has the “best” taste. it’s incredibly surprising on how BookTok has influenced how people consume art, in general.
also, the sentiment of being incapable of reading all the books in the world hurts me 😞 but, truth is harsh, lol.
Absolutely, yes!! I think we're so obsessed with being able to relate to everything that we get lost along the way and never truly understand the art we're consuming. Thank you for reading and commenting!!
Big fan of reading whatever I want whenever I want and taking however long I damn well please to finish it. If I'm going to interact with a work I am going to interact with it properly and feel no shame in that. I don't want stories to simply blur into one. I need time to feel the emotions, ponder on the questions a work is asking. This is one thing in my life I refuse to reduce to just another number.
I’ve always been a slow reader, which was problematic in school, the judgements of which left me feeling inadequate. Now I cherish my reading style, and I wouldn’t give it up for the world ♥️
But, I also believe in completely stopping a book if you're not enjoying it. Some people frown on DNFing, but think of all the books you COULD be reading and enjoying
YES! I completely agree with this. I have a really hard DNFing books when I've bought them, because it feels like I'm wasting money, but reading is for fun and I'm wasting my own time when I read a book that I don't like. Thanks for reading and commenting!
yes i love this! i've always been skeptical of 24 hour readathons because what is actually the point? it just feels like a race on who can read the most books. that's why when i read books, i like to make notes or write about it on a common place journal. it makes everything feel much more immersive!
I really like this comment because I hadn't even considered the 24 hour readathon standpoint. Like I appreciate the idea of setting aside a whole day to do something you love, but getting through five or six books in those 24 hours has to be mindnumbing.
I've considered starting a commplace notebook and really enjoyed reading other people's work on how they arrange their notebook!! I think I'm just holding myself back because I want to buy a nice fancy notebook before I start, which I can't afford right now. What do you think about your commonplace notebook?? When did you start it? Thanks for reading and commenting<3
i just have a regular lined moleskin! maybe one day i'll splurge on a paper republic or a filoflax, but my moleskin does its job.
i started one just a few months ago in november. i honestly love it. it's a bit messy but it's my mess. i just use a tab system to make it a bit more organized e.g. pink tabs for book reviews/notes, yellow for cafe reviews, green for recipes
I genuinely miss the days where I could read for fun but now I feel as though my mind is so consumed by case books and I never have time. This was a great reminder that reading for fun is meant to be exactly that. I don’t have to set reading goals each month or even finish single book this entire year. I can pick it up and put it down at my leisure. Who’s gonna stop me?
Yes!! 100%!! Pick up that book and even if you don’t finish it until June that’s OKAY. Reading doesn’t need to be a race🤍 Thanks for reading and commenting!
love this! i’m lucky if i finish two or three books a month. i joined insta three-ish years ago and thought i was a bad reader for so long bc people were posting reviews like every other day 😭
Thank you!!! Yes, this is so real. I’ve fed into the nonsense before and can’t remember half the books I’ve already read😭😭 Thank you for commenting!! I so appreciate it🤍🤍
Nice take! I personally am the sort that can't put a book down once I pick it up, finishing in about a day or two, but occasionally I enjoy drawing it out and underlining, savoring.
This is very real, it’s super difficult to put down a book once I start:) I think the big difference is that once you start a book you’re actually enjoying, you’re more willing to read it instead of skimming!! Thank you for reading and commenting🤍
I’m a book girlie and I try to read as much as I can, but seeing people online finish an unrealistic number of books each month makes me feel like I’m falling behind. So thank you for pointing this out, you’re right.
Realest thing I’ve seen all day!! The art that is sitting down and reading a good book over the span of however long it NATURALLY takes to read seems to have become a lost one. It feels like reading—an activity that is intended for leisure and enjoyment—has become a competitive sport. As someone who reads at my own pace and refuses to read some of the popular “booktok” books, I often find myself feeling alienated in this generation’s culture of reading.
Yes!! i’m really trying to ignore the how many I’ve read in a year and lock down on focusing on what I want to read, instead - DNF’d more books than ever
Couldn’t not agree more!! Books are an art we should savorrr !! And reading should be enjoyable not stressful
Yes, exactly!! And I find it hard to believe that those with reading goals in the hundreds are enjoying their books to the fullest extent. When I’m under a huge goal like that I’m definitely stressed and in a rush. Thank you so much for reading and commenting!!🤍
what a thoughtful and well-written post! I always get so incensed about people skimming books or skipping parts just to finish them faster. I want to engage with a text and try to understand it. thank you for writing this, it was a great read!
Thank you so much!! I totally get that LOL, and I used to be one of those people. I can still understand it depending on what kind of book people are reading, but in general reading hundreds of books a year is just a level of consumption that I can’t get behind haha:) Thanks for commenting!!!
Ooooh I have so many thoughts on this but I’ll start by saying I really enjoyed this post!
I have fallen down this hole before. One year, I had a goal of reading 150 books (finished at 153) and it was the year that my mental health was probably the worst it’s been in a long time. That was TOO MANY BOOKS to read in a year and I will never strive for that many again. But (and just my opinion/what works for me), as someone who is a fast reader (not a skimmer) having a goal helps me stay reading daily, which is a large part of my mental health maintenance and I know if I don’t hit the goal, it means absolutely nothing.
I may not remember the characters’ names or much of the story itself, but I can look at a cover of a book I read a couple years and a few hundred books ago and tell you EXACTLY how it made me feel and if I enjoyed it. As hokey as it is, I read for the vibes and if it destroyed me / gave me the feels / I couldn’t possibly put it down so I just HAD to consume the whole thing in one sitting, it’s prob getting five stars and I’ll think about how it made me feel for the rest of my days.
Lastly, HAYMITCH 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Yes, I think the concept of reading so many books is super admirable but the execution is SO difficult like none of us have the time to read them much less remember!!! I'm also a fast reader and can definitely understand wanting a goal. My "goal" is 25 this year, but I'm certain I'll surpass it considering how much I read:) And yes I think star ratings are super subjective and I can't blame someone for rating something they love five stars even if it's not an objectively five star read (my Letterboxd certainly has some suspiciously high rated movie-- *cough* FNAF). Thank you so much for reading and commenting!!! xx
What I do when reading is deep dive into the historical context and symbolic(take for example Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier ,the novel plays in Cornwall and also plays alot with gothic/mystery symbolism).For me,that's how I mesmerize my reading.
Great essay,Kat
Thank you so much!! I need to read Rebecca, it's on my TBR!! That's a cool way to prepare to read, I appreciate you commenting and reading<3
thank you for writing this! reading shouldn’t be about a competition on who has the most books read nor who has the “best” taste. it’s incredibly surprising on how BookTok has influenced how people consume art, in general.
also, the sentiment of being incapable of reading all the books in the world hurts me 😞 but, truth is harsh, lol.
Absolutely, yes!! I think we're so obsessed with being able to relate to everything that we get lost along the way and never truly understand the art we're consuming. Thank you for reading and commenting!!
Big fan of reading whatever I want whenever I want and taking however long I damn well please to finish it. If I'm going to interact with a work I am going to interact with it properly and feel no shame in that. I don't want stories to simply blur into one. I need time to feel the emotions, ponder on the questions a work is asking. This is one thing in my life I refuse to reduce to just another number.
Yes!! I love this!! Not everything needs to be a statistic. Thanks for reading and commenting!
I’ve always been a slow reader, which was problematic in school, the judgements of which left me feeling inadequate. Now I cherish my reading style, and I wouldn’t give it up for the world ♥️
Yes!! I love this, you should only be competing with yourself🤍 Thank you for reading and commenting!
This was such a beautiful piece–I love!!!! the last line so much
"I'd like to argue that we are meant to be the rebellion" how powerful is that??? Would love to read more on this topic if you write anything xx
WOW thank you so much!!! literally this means so much to me🤍🤍🤍 definitely considering a couple other related pieces 👀👀👀
"Reading a book every day is ridiculous."
Facts.
But, I also believe in completely stopping a book if you're not enjoying it. Some people frown on DNFing, but think of all the books you COULD be reading and enjoying
YES! I completely agree with this. I have a really hard DNFing books when I've bought them, because it feels like I'm wasting money, but reading is for fun and I'm wasting my own time when I read a book that I don't like. Thanks for reading and commenting!
yes i love this! i've always been skeptical of 24 hour readathons because what is actually the point? it just feels like a race on who can read the most books. that's why when i read books, i like to make notes or write about it on a common place journal. it makes everything feel much more immersive!
I really like this comment because I hadn't even considered the 24 hour readathon standpoint. Like I appreciate the idea of setting aside a whole day to do something you love, but getting through five or six books in those 24 hours has to be mindnumbing.
I've considered starting a commplace notebook and really enjoyed reading other people's work on how they arrange their notebook!! I think I'm just holding myself back because I want to buy a nice fancy notebook before I start, which I can't afford right now. What do you think about your commonplace notebook?? When did you start it? Thanks for reading and commenting<3
i just have a regular lined moleskin! maybe one day i'll splurge on a paper republic or a filoflax, but my moleskin does its job.
i started one just a few months ago in november. i honestly love it. it's a bit messy but it's my mess. i just use a tab system to make it a bit more organized e.g. pink tabs for book reviews/notes, yellow for cafe reviews, green for recipes
I love that!!! Thank you so much, I definitely want to start one soon:)
This!!!
I genuinely miss the days where I could read for fun but now I feel as though my mind is so consumed by case books and I never have time. This was a great reminder that reading for fun is meant to be exactly that. I don’t have to set reading goals each month or even finish single book this entire year. I can pick it up and put it down at my leisure. Who’s gonna stop me?
Yes!! 100%!! Pick up that book and even if you don’t finish it until June that’s OKAY. Reading doesn’t need to be a race🤍 Thanks for reading and commenting!
you’re so welcome!
love this! i’m lucky if i finish two or three books a month. i joined insta three-ish years ago and thought i was a bad reader for so long bc people were posting reviews like every other day 😭
Thank you!!! Yes, this is so real. I’ve fed into the nonsense before and can’t remember half the books I’ve already read😭😭 Thank you for commenting!! I so appreciate it🤍🤍
Nice take! I personally am the sort that can't put a book down once I pick it up, finishing in about a day or two, but occasionally I enjoy drawing it out and underlining, savoring.
This is very real, it’s super difficult to put down a book once I start:) I think the big difference is that once you start a book you’re actually enjoying, you’re more willing to read it instead of skimming!! Thank you for reading and commenting🤍
I’m a book girlie and I try to read as much as I can, but seeing people online finish an unrealistic number of books each month makes me feel like I’m falling behind. So thank you for pointing this out, you’re right.
Realest thing I’ve seen all day!! The art that is sitting down and reading a good book over the span of however long it NATURALLY takes to read seems to have become a lost one. It feels like reading—an activity that is intended for leisure and enjoyment—has become a competitive sport. As someone who reads at my own pace and refuses to read some of the popular “booktok” books, I often find myself feeling alienated in this generation’s culture of reading.
Yes!! i’m really trying to ignore the how many I’ve read in a year and lock down on focusing on what I want to read, instead - DNF’d more books than ever