Hi friends! Something I forgot to mention was that this discussion is not meant to discourage critical reading. Being critical of anything you consume is incredibly important. Rather, I wanted to highlight how "good taste" can often be weaponized. Josh Cook says it best at the end of his article: "Ultimately, perhaps the biggest difference between the humane good taste I’m trying to cultivate and the weaponized good taste used as a tool of cultural authoritarianism is the latter is something you have and the former is something you do. Humane good taste is a practice. It’s not about possessing expertise but about using whatever expertise you have developed to enrich the lives of others."

this video is so refreshing. I find that I can't watch a lot of booktubers because they make me feel almost ashamed for some of the books I enjoy. I think critical reading is so important and should absolutely be encouraged, but sometimes it's ok to just read books that make you feel good

@hunteriskindacool

5 күн бұрын

Yes! Language is so impactful and important! If we put everything on a binary, we really do flatten our experience. Thank you for watching!

Just because the concept of good taste is weaponized doesn’t mean all tastes or works of art are created equal. We’ve known this since at least Aristotle’s time.

"The best books are the ones that you love" Indeed!! I'm in love with my favs!! Thank you for this 💕💞

@hunteriskindacool

5 күн бұрын

Thank you so much for watching!

Your channel feeds the intellectual hunger I'm currently going through 🙌🏻thank you for your awesome work!

@hunteriskindacool

5 күн бұрын

I am honored 💌 thank you for watching!

I love James Joyce for his playfulness and artistic freedom, Cormac McCarthy for his unsparing vision and haunting, distinctive prose, and Anne Rice for her unapologetic romanticism and angst! Octavia Butler is my favorite SF author, I love her ideas and the way she conveys them so thoroughly with astute prose. I also love Sally Rooney’s detached prose and amazing character work (and spiciness). Great video :)

@hunteriskindacool

5 күн бұрын

BEAUTIFUL! Thank you so much for sharing :)

One of my favourite ideas about this is from the art historian Dave Hickey, who once wrote: "Bad taste is real taste, of course, and good taste is the residue of someone else's privilege." (Dave Hickey, Air Guitar: Essays on Art & Democracy)

@hunteriskindacool

4 күн бұрын

That is SO GOOD! Thank you for sharing! I'm definitely going to have to read the whole essay.

Dear Hunter, you are creating exactly the bookish content that I am missing on my 'for you' right now. I love it! ❤

@hunteriskindacool

5 күн бұрын

Thank you so much for watching :')

Really interesting discussion. Personally I tend to read books that are usually considered in the category of classics, however, it is important to understand that academic elitism and various historical circumstances have caused damage to the image of certain genres, styles or voices, and them not being considered in the realm of what is generally believed to be good literature. Personally i think that people should be able to enjoy whatever piece of literature they want, after all, not everyone reads for the same reason, which means that the activity of reading can be something different for each person, and that has to be respected.

Hi ! really liked the video - and i do see where you are coming from, discussing the inherent ideas of 'good and bad taste' in media - i think you missed a few important points, especially to contextualize how our tastes, as communities, are built. Good and bad literature isn't subjective, its much more of a relative question, since what incorporates the canon of literature depends upon its context, such as time periods; for example, Jane Austen was once considered bad literature for it was 'vulgar' to the general public, and nowadays she's considered one of the biggest writers of her time. And yes, unfortunately for many centuries this notion was predominantly built upon the views of white men, but it was and its still very cultural, no one's taste is built in a vacuum outside of context. Beyond that, as a English graduate, I just think that its important to point out to young audiences that there is good and bad art and that these notions aren't personal and that literature analysis and criticism exist for a reason. Another thing is that without the reaffirmation that literature criticism isn't about personal taste, it opens margins for speeches reinforcing that 'any book is a good book' and that those who criticize the lack of ambition in readers - especially young ones - are just being mean or hateful, when in fact its a much more complex question. Classics - and mind you, that doesn't imply 'old literature' since we do have plenty of modern classics - are studied and put in a higher ground for a reason, and its important to ensure that young readers understand that.

@hunteriskindacool

3 күн бұрын

Thank you for taking your time to share your thoughts and add to the discussion! I really enjoyed reading through ☺️ Totally agree on all fronts! I’ll definitely try to be more nuanced in my next video. I like your elaboration on the difference between literary criticism and personal taste-especially about how culture can build both taste and critique standards.

@70spulp

3 күн бұрын

@@hunteriskindacool Oh darling, thank you for the video and for reading and replying to my comment :) it is really really exciting to see literature discussions that go beyond booktok and that have so many interesting and good insights such as yours.

The subject of good art, be it books, music, or paintings, is something I consider really subjective. I've watched tons of book tubers recommending novels as 'actually good novels,' which inconspicuously made me question my taste in books. And it's not just books but also the sort of music I consume that made me debate my own taste because, being a novice, I obliviously narrowed down my vision to those exclusively considered 'elite' by others. Thankfully, all of that changed when I finally started to prioritize the arts that resonate with me and myself. Irrespective of whether they're 'elite' or not, good art for me is the one that resonates with my life. And that in no way is meant to inferiorize the taste of people who like art that doesn't appeal to me. Everyone's choice should be equally revered, and inclusivity must always take the lead. Thanks for bringing up this topic on how people weaponize the idea of "good taste" for cultural authoritarianism. It's indeed a thing that needs to be neutrally discussed and it's great that you highlighted this!

@hunteriskindacool

5 күн бұрын

Very well put. Thank you so much for sharing such a thoughtful comment! I think a lot of people will relate to what you outlined :) I'm also so glad that this video resonated with you! In researching/writing for this video, it really helped me to trust my taste again.

@jungkooksboozybud

4 күн бұрын

@@hunteriskindacool Pleasure's all mine💌. I'm so looking forward to devouring more such content!🤩 And thanks to YOU again! ^_^

I think I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Your content is like a breath of fresh air. I can see that you actually put in a lot of effort into planning out your videos and topics of discussions and don't just try to follow trends online which makes you channel one of my favorites here. I really enjoy this video :D You're awesome!!

@hunteriskindacool

Күн бұрын

Thank you so much! That means a lot :)

Every time I watch your videos there's always something I end up writing down in my notes app, whether it's something new to me or something I've been thinking about that you’ve been able to put into words. I always appreciate you sharing your thoughts/ideas/opinions/etc. Also with this discussion of 'good taste' in literature, I used to think that all I liked about books were the ~vibes~ when in reality there were always certain tangible aspects that I connected with and that reflected my personal experience and how I saw the world (although at the time I felt that because I couldn’t connect with a book academically, I wasn’t justified in liking it and therefore refrained from talking about it). I’m now starting to talk about books with others more and I'm always trying to engage deeper with books. Thanks for the amazing content! :)

@hunteriskindacool

5 күн бұрын

Thank you so much 🥰 Your comment means so much to me! I completely understand what you mean. I also felt like I couldn't engage in discussion because I didn't have the right "vocabulary" to discuss books in a way that seemed "correct". I'm also still learning how to be more open about my experience when I read, because like anything, it's so subjective! And there's something so special about sharing the ways in which we connect to things. Thank you for watching and for the lovely comment!

I have to say, I like this video a lot :) Whenever people talk about 'taste' I am always struck by the fact that so many novels are scorned almost purely because they are widely enjoyed by women-for example romantasy or YA. The blatant sexism is one reason I’ll always defend these genres from people ‘better taste’, regardless of whether I personally enjoy them. And also, I’m just glad that some people are reading at all-there has really been such a decline in reading in the last few decades that I’m just glad that people are enjoying the act!

@hunteriskindacool

5 күн бұрын

Absolutely! Couldn’t agree more :) I feel like you can divine a lot of meaning from Romance, YA, or Romantasy. Encouraging people to read anything that they connect with is always top of mind for me! Thanks for watching ☺️

I was a voracious reader but then became friends with book snobs and I kind of quit reading as it wasn't fun anymore because I felt pressure to read only respected books. I quit being friends with them and now zi'm back to reading how I did before.

@hunteriskindacool

4 күн бұрын

Amazing! I'm happy you rediscovered your passion for reading.

Sort of…within reason. Demarcations can be too severe, and snobbishness is certainly a real thing. And it’s also possible that an author could be uncanonised because of their race/sex etc (though tbh I find this difficult to imagine in a modern eng lit department). But being so relativistic that as to deny the existence of a canon, or any differential in worth etc is it’s own extremely tendentious position. So you end up in this bind where Stephen King is great literature because…you like it? This is useful if you do read pop novels solely and feel bad about. It tells you what you want to hear, and has the added bonus of putting you on the correct side of some political movement. But if you actually care about literature, or any art, do you want it to be the standard position that there’s no qualitative difference between a restaurant menu and a great work of literature? Btw another thing worth pointing out, is that this is not a radical position. It’s the standard among academics younger than 50. The vast majority of younger academics are now believers in relativism and adherents of modern ideas about art. There are few if any defenders of the canon in important academic positions. The reason you’ve even heard of Harold Bloom is because he was the last prominent example of his type, and he died a while ago in his 90’s. So be as relativistic as you like, but keep in mind you’re not a radical and you’re not challenging authority, you’re actually in authority and are the finger wagging elite, chastising those few left who do believe in a canon and the value of a received critical consensus. You won so much, you became the conservatives.

@nezahuatez

Күн бұрын

It’s funny how you wrote all this, doing the silly generation bashing and speaking on academia and their “relativism” that you neglected the actual point of the video and the real, substantial points it made. I don’t even understand half of your argument or what it is addressing because it’s built on a fictional narrative you created stuffed with strawmen. You don’t even properly understand the idea of a canon, something that has only existed in realm of English literature since the late 19th century and mainly to commodify learning through university degrees. The most traditional and standard vein of academia as far as literature is concerned is that of the editor or the archivist: preserving texts and producing accurate transcriptions.

@HkFinn83

Күн бұрын

@@nezahuatez if you don’t understand something feel free to ask and I’ll try my best:)

Wow ! 😀 excellent topic, I just discovered this Channel and I’ll definitely be back 👍 Gonna check out the archive. Thanks for sharing

@hunteriskindacool

5 күн бұрын

Thank you so much!

okay i think it isnt insane to say that "good taste" has historically been whatever white men think is good . like thats an objective fact, and the whole "of mice and men is highbrow lit" thing is like an exemplar of that. we're just not living with the same historical context that did put elite interests on top. now awards are still very gatekept but cultural currency is arguably worth more? and then republicans and book bans are a completely different topic entirely because THATS about the dumbing down of the american public for authoritatian interests which is a severely different issue than popular culture disputes.. but i think that "good vs bad" is a huge red herring when the discussion should surround quality. the hunger games is going to be a modern classic and that is largely due to the influencers of culture being young woman like seriously it was all of us reading ya dystopia that made it the phenomenon that it was. HOWEVER the movies arent quality because the social commentary is just boiled down to hollywood garbage revolving around a stupid love triangle like those boys didnt represent ideologies. like the focus is in the wrong place and thats why i think its pointless to say "colleen hoover isnt ruining literature stop shaming people!" when shes turned publishing into a rat race of who can string the most tropes together. thats QUALITY this is not about good and bad. like anyone can say murakami is polarizing i hate his weirdo behavior to women and thats why i dont think his books are good but there is an introspection to them that people do like and reading has always in that sense been about preference and perspective, booktok is objectively evil lol that’s like saying “let people like shein it’s just a brand :(“ when it is now a rat race to keep up with their bad practices because they run the industry. THATS objectively bad for society i really don’t care how much one person likes the hobbit or hemingway if anything people should be expected to read across genres i just dont think you should use "let people like things!" as an excuse to render valid criticisms null and void

@hunteriskindacool

4 күн бұрын

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I think the point I was trying to get at is not dissecting the inherent quality of books, but rather the power we occupy when we assert what books we deem as good or bad. More so on the notion of "good taste" being used as a tool to make others feel inferior. I really appreciate the time you took to write out your reflections and potential areas of further discussion :)

@winkcloud

4 күн бұрын

@@hunteriskindacool mmm i dont think you got my point at all :/ im talking about this "good book, bad book" detraction as a huge misnomer. people who say "you cannot read smut all day" dont actually care if you read a book or two like that, we're saying the sensationalization of that is degrading the quality of literature as an industry in real time. like there are repercussions to that. this was never about putting people down-as many bad faith arguments exist you have to realize that there are good faith arguments that actually have merit. i'm really saying theres no use in saying "this is what a GOOD book looks like" because like i said, every book has its fans and its haters that is the NATURE of books. theres not one universally lauded book that everyone says is great-most people first experience classics in school and if you prefer the mortal instruments to wuthering heights nobody is standing there ready to shame you. again, most people enjoy both genres. nobody is ever putting down fantasy as a genre? not when works like Dune are so critically acclaimed? when Game of Thrones was a cultural event? that's a useless argument because it isnt representative of the real world at all. "let people enjoy things!!!" is a new, social media buzzphrase often used to dismiss any sort of real criticism and thats why the US is experiencing this wave of anti-intellectualism as we speak. nobody wants to think critically about the books they read OR the media they consume. how many times have you seen someone say "it isnt that deep" about a real analysis? the world has "the curtains are just blue"-ed themselves into a lack of critical thinking skills and it isnt wrong to point that out. it IS wrong to bury your head in the sand and say, once again, "let people like things." you're misrepresenting the argument altogether and thats evidenced by your failure to understand your audience, too-people who say you cannot read "dark romance" all day aren't the book banning republicans who want to oust whatever the hell "critical race theory" is or any novel in which two women kiss, they're the ones saying to pick up a banned book. you can't like EVERY book but you at least need to diversify your worldview. that's not a bad thing at all.

@hunteriskindacool

4 күн бұрын

@@winkcloud I see! Apologies for the misunderstanding and thank you for taking the time to write out your thoughts. I am not using this discussion to back the “let people like things” argument, and I do think we should be critical of the things we consume. Thank you for pointing out other areas of this topic that deserve further discussion!

A lot of this is really representative of critics like Harold Bloom who tried to create a "Western Canon" which had lots of problematic implications and was often used to diminish the importance of marginalized voices. Ultimately, reading is a conversation between the reader and the book, and like the speaker in your video said, different readers can take different things from the same book, so it's difficult to entrench books as good or bad in a vacuum. Your point about readers challenging themselves to read different viewpoints was really well put, approaching it as a process instead of essentializing the books themselves.

@hunteriskindacool

4 күн бұрын

Great addition to the discussion--thank you! I also like how Brandon Sanderson put it in one of his lectures where he said, "a book isn't finished until it's read. I am the screenwriter, and the reader is the director, set designer, the special effects..." It's so cool how people can divine so many different meanings from the same book. Thanks for watching :)

As soon as you mentioned being young and wanting to have good taste, "the cool girl" trope immediately came to mind (then you said it haha) YES! I entered community college at 17, and I remember it being common discourse to trash young adult literature, especially books like Twilight (which I'm still ashamed to admit sometimes that I loved as a teenage girl lol) and then me scrambling to read "better" books to appear more refined in my tastes, and when I would talk about my "cool girl" taste in literature and media, I would always get the "you're not like other girls" line from guys, haha. Man, what a toxic time. Now, I read what I want, when I want, and although I've fallen out of interest of creepy vampire dudes stalking teenage girls, I still love fantasy and science fiction, contemporary literature, translated works, whatever I can get my hands on, and I don't really care what anyone thinks of my taste! (and I stay away from booktok, the few books I have read that were recommended didn't vibe with me sadly)

Read throughout space and time, reach all human experiences/\

@hunteriskindacool

5 күн бұрын

Yes! Books can serve as clarifying exercises that give us insight into all the infinite ways one can be human.

Oh my gosh I love this video so much. Such an important topic and I appreciate you speaking out about this.

@hunteriskindacool

2 күн бұрын

Thank you so much for watching!

This is such an interesting video! Thank you for delving into this topic❤

@hunteriskindacool

4 күн бұрын

Thank you so much for watching! I appreciate it!

@chocolateoreo6489

4 күн бұрын

@@hunteriskindacool happy to love🫶

Yes to reading more books that interest you personally, not what you feel you should read. Nothing makes me stop reading faster than when someone tells me I should read a certain book. I do try to challenge myself with classics, translated fiction, non fiction, and poems but I also love browsing what’s popular and seeing if it interests me, if so I’ll add it to the tbr! For example, I’m reading “Possession: A Romance” right now but I also have “The Husbands” checked out on ebook and I have some new litfic checked out as well. I also am in the middle of a romance manga called “Sweat and Soap”!

Whoa, this was recommended to me and I find your content about reading really speaks to me. Just finished your video about reading deeply and unironically, I do think you have a ‘good taste’ in literature. I would like to know more (aside from the books shown 😅) and actually hear more about your reflections on the books you read. I also realized you just started this journey as content creator and I hope you’ll post more about reading.

@hunteriskindacool

5 күн бұрын

Thank you so much! I am definitely doing more book reflections in the future, but I prefer essay style where I do a deep dive on one book at a time :) stay tuned for that!

@Aerithrocyte

5 күн бұрын

@@hunteriskindacool yes and I am currently reading How High We Go In the Dark before watching the video!

@hunteriskindacool

5 күн бұрын

@@Aerithrocyte I hope you like it!

I used to feel bad for reading Nicholas Sparks books but really, who cares? It made me feel emotions and made me a hopeless romantic.

@hunteriskindacool

2 күн бұрын

LOVE! Thanks for watching friend :)

When I was younger I always said I had great music taste because I loved the music I was listening to, so obviously I thought I had great taste. I feel like that applies to all of this!

Yuuup. This. This. This. I'm so tired of people shaming others for what they like to read its so annoying. 😒 like i don't even like a majority of booktok books but im not gonna sit here and shit on other people for enjoying them. Smh.

love this video!

@hunteriskindacool

4 күн бұрын

Thank you so much!

thoroughly enjoyed this analysis ☕

@hunteriskindacool

4 күн бұрын

Thank you for watching!

3.1k views in 1 day 🔥🔥🔥

@hunteriskindacool

4 күн бұрын

!!! Thanks for watching friend !!! 🥹

Hell yeah I'm subscribing after this video

@hunteriskindacool

3 күн бұрын

Thank you so much!

Personally, although I do agree that "taste" is a pretty slippery concept, I do also think there's a difference between literature that stimulates your mind and literary "junk food" (to use a slightly uncharitable term - but then everyone loves junk food, and for good reason). The only difference between the two, however, is that the author in the first kind of writing is being deliberate with theme (or with form where theme is intentionally absent, as in certain kinds of literary modernism). So fantasy novels, romances, mysteries, etc. - all are perfectly capable of being "high" literature - they just get excluded from being widely understood as such because they don't exist within the perceived "canon" (a much more harmful idea, which Zoe Bee's made an excellent video about). In fact as far as I'm concerned, fantasy novelists have sometimes been much better with theme than literary ones, as so many "naturalist" writers try to ignore the importance of theme so they can prioritize being "realistic" or "true to life" (a very dumb idea which to my horror has even spread to some fantasy literature over the past couple decades). Anyway I digress. The main point is that a "good" book does only what the author wanted it to do - it is the best it could be for what it is, and should be loved for being that. Sometimes that means it's pure entertainment, and sometimes the author is trying something more complex with theme or with form. In the latter case, the reader might get more out of the book in the long term, but that doesn't mean the other book is "bad" - it succeeds in doing what it was intended to do, and that's a beautiful thing as well.

I understand where you are coming from but i think you missed few important pointsbof the whole idea of good vs bad. Just saying that theres no objective criteria is wrong. Literary critics, professors, those who evaluate these books have them listed - points that point to a good book - style, new or highly developed technic, composition, depth and width of topics that author explores, etc. All these are legit reasons to call a book good and a reason to appreciate a craft of writing. But i wouldnt mix in here your personal preferences. It is totally normal to see good points in a book but have 0 emotional connection to it so not finding it amazing for me personally. Second, the concept of taste was always a sign of belonging to a specific group. I know these, so im fitting into this group, i dont then its clear i had different education, origin, etc. It looks to me that now replacing "academia" and "hard books" and "classics" with "i read widely, poc, minorities, etc" you just specify what group you belong to so ppl interested in being part of such group are looking out for such individuals and in the very same way look down on those who are interested in dead white men and what they have to say about life and the world. So no revolution there. Reading is a common activity and it would be great if people asked themself what they want to get from this experience and what they enjoy. This way they wouldnt feel bad over anyone's comments but will happily hold their own ground and will have a fulfilling time with a book

@hunteriskindacool

5 күн бұрын

Thank you for the comment and for your thoughts! I see what you're saying but I think we perhaps have missed each other slightly. In the video, I am arguing that taste is highly subjective, but I don't mean that there is no objectivity when it comes to analyzing or critiquing literature based on craft itself. I also believe that we should be critical of all things that we consume! But since I am a mere hobbyist reader--not a critic, nor an academic--I was painting with broad strokes a bit, and trying to discuss how we often look at books on a good/bad binary without providing nuance. Additionally, I agree that sharing what you enjoy reading can be a community signal, which is great! However, I think Josh Cook says it best: "Cultural authoritarianism in literature manifests through the policing of reading choices, often making people feel inferior for not adhering to certain literary standards set by those in power." So my point was not that you can't share the genre, authors, or titles that you're interested in; but rather my point was that if you are sharing your "taste" with others, be wary of the language that you use and the position of power you occupy. It’s not about possessing expertise but about using whatever expertise you have developed to enrich the lives of others. It is not about hoarding whatever influence might come with that expertise but about sharing it with others. Totally agree with your last sentiment! Josh Cook also writes that "declarations of quality, declaring this book “good” and that book “bad” is a fundamental aspect of weaponized good taste, one that brings together assumed authority and those incorrect assumptions of “standard” human experiences. Rather than thinking in terms of “good” and “bad,” I think about books in terms of “success” and “failure.” Does this book achieve the goals I think the author set for it? Does it meet my personal needs? Is it likely to meet the needs of this reader at this moment? What impact could it have on the social, cultural, and literary context in which it exists?" I hope this provides more clarity to what I was trying to say in the video. Regardless, thank you for sharing your thoughts and for watching! I really appreciate the discussion ☺

@aperson3817

4 күн бұрын

Ah what interesting points! It's really interesting to me when we talk about objective criteria-I'm personally not of the mind that books are 'good' based purely on subjective measures, but neither am I totally convinced by the objective argument (ever the fence-sitter, very annoying!). One way that we can think about this is just to get to the heart of the issue I think: what are the objective criteria for a book's goodness? Lots of critics, throughout history and today, have argued endlessly about it: the Ancient Greek were obsessed by the idea of catharsis (but today we are not so much, bad-feelings being released is de-emphasised overall, and we don't really even think of this as a criteria), the first scholars that studied 'literature' as we know it were obsessed by the idea of the 'natural unity' of the work, which later the modernist critics disavowed. The postmodernists took a jackhammer to everything and said all of those previous criteria were illusory. Ultimately, what are the objective criteria? There's a lot of disagreement over what should be counted or discounted, and even on the stuff that most critics agree with (e.g. quality of prose) there's wide dispute of what counts as 'good' or 'bad'. Famously Virginia Woolf hated 'Ulysses' for its absurd density, but many many scholars believe it to be one of the most interesting and insightful prose ever written. Terry Eagleton talks about it really well in his ‘How to Read Literature’, but to proceed with the book, he has to set some arbitrary criteria that not everybody would agree with. He takes them as objective, but they are no more objective than somebody else's preferred criteria. What is legitimate and what is not? While Eagleton is well-respected, his opponents are also-this is one way that you can't be a fence-sitter (darn to be me!).

@hunteriskindacool

4 күн бұрын

@@aperson3817 Thank you so much for your thoughts! This was such an amazing addition to the conversation. I definitely want to check out Eagleton’s work :) Within this video I don’t think I presented a conclusive answer to this argument. I wanted to highlight how we as individuals could be more inclusive when talking to peers about the books we read! There are so many ways this discussion can branch off into more nuanced areas so I really appreciate those who have taken the time to add to the conversation ☺️

I agree mostly BUT stuff like certain romances, most YA, romantasy, and smut, have the same value of fanfiction which is purely indulgent. There is no criticism and nothing to say. YA and romantasy genre feel like they are mending all books together, and there is nothing original, nothing different, nothing poignant. It is completely fine to read those genres and books, BUT DO NOT ONLY READ THOSE BOOKS. As a long-term reader of fanfiction and fanfiction author, fanfiction online is not literature... You can't JUST ONLY READ FANFICTION AND CALL YOURSELF A READER. You can't read only YA, you can't read only romantasy, you can't read only thrillers. You need to diversify.

@hunteriskindacool

5 күн бұрын

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! I actually think that YA, Romantasy, smut and even fanfiction have plenty to say--even if they are indulgent. These genres appeal to readers because they can say a lot about self worth and autonomy. The message of these books could simply be that certain bodies are deserving of pleasure. I also think that fanfiction plays a HUGE role in representation--how amazing is it that a fandom loves a story so much that they take it upon themselves to create an extension of that world that is more inclusive! That is so exciting and cool! To me, all of the things I've listed are valuable :) I hear you! It can be frustrating as a reader to see that a lot of newer books are just mashing together popular tropes and storylines without bringing something fresh to the table. However, I feel like this critique should be aimed at the publishing industry rather than at readers. I totally agree on the importance of diversifying what you read! What we read can show us all the infinite ways that one can be human! So it's incredibly limiting to only read one genre. To me that's like eating the same food for the rest of your life lol. However, I also recognize that people have limited time and the world is literally on fire so I really just love when people read anything at all! My goal as a reader is not to police the reading choices of others, but to bring along as many people as I can into the wonderful realm of books ☺ Thank you for sharing your thoughts and for watching! I really appreciate it!

@some_numbers

4 күн бұрын

​@@hunteriskindacool Hi, I am so happy you took the time to read my comment! I am speaking from personal experience and what I see in my day-to-day. And of course, my opinion. Tl;dr: No, I disagree, you need to diversify your reading then you can call yourself a reader. If you only read the same stuff, especially if it is smut, over and over, then you are just indulgent and doing the equivalent of self-pleasuring or brainrotting. I am by no means a literature snob and I have written and published a lot of fanfiction works in the past, gosh, 10 years... and I do notice a pattern of decreasing quality in fantasy, romance, and YA especially. It reads like fanfiction. I am not saying it as an insult, I am saying I rather be reading the free writings of a familiar fandom online than spend 20 dollars on the same quality of work about characters I could care less about. Not saying every book in that genre is bad or terrible. Hate U Give, the Outsiders, and Perks of Being a Wallflower are beyond excellent novels. But you really cannot compare those to arguably most YA. (Personally, most YA reads awfully and the attempts at discussing dark topics are abysmal and honestly cringe). Everyone is copying everyone, books are becoming tropified. You blame the publishers, but they are doing what they think we want and what appeals to the bookish community, and its working in their favor if those subpar series or novels are reigning in money. I am most concern with booktok and the seasonings being added to books (I mean the spice ratings) as I have seen it with my own eyes minors buying spicy books just because it is popular and marketing exposure really does have a huge affect. The parents do nothing nor should they be expected to because as a society we consider reading to be "smart" and "intelligent" so they in fact encourage it. In normalizing female gooning we risk warping our perception, whether it is a minor or an adult, on sex and love (I started seriously reading at 11, and unfortunately fell into reading smut which 100% as, a now psychology major, I see has negatively affected me and my future relationships). If a man watching PornHub everyday is detrimental to his mental health than wouldn't a woman reading only smut have similar effects? It's not cute to base off your personality on reading smut. Just how it's not cute for a man to make porn their identity. To a lighter topic, I am very bitter. When I started reading at 11, I was very in-tuned with Booktube. I would watch several different booktubers, small and big, and see their recommendations. I see the same books being read and I thought that they must be great, so I begged and got them. I tried to read them and I thought there was something deeply wrong with me. Why do I hate Six of Crows, why do I hate Shatter Me, why do I hate Simon vs the Homo Saipan Agenda, why do I hate Red Queen, and literally every popular book I bought? Everyone else keeps talking about it, and I spent so much money on books that were practically forced fed to me on every video I watched. I actually stopped reading published works because I thought I was stupid and stuck to fanfiction. It was only when I was 14 and my 8th grade teacher lent me the book Fight Club (honestly shouldn't have read it at that age, but at the same time I was deep in my smut phase) that I realized two things: YA sucks and I actually love reading. I had over 30 books of trash that I spent god knows how much on because of the constant exposure from booktube and now booktok and my young naive mind. I see the same problem of the same books being recommended over and over again. There is no diversity, only this hivemind of what I should like too. It made me question myself for a long time and I honestly feel like this is driving people away from reading. Thank you for your time in reading this if you did! I did love your video by the way, just because I disagree doesn't mean I can't appreciate the work that went into it. I wish you the best!

@hunteriskindacool

4 күн бұрын

@@some_numbers Thank you again for taking the time to reply! I think it's wonderful that we can have this discussion :) Thank you for sharing your personal experience as well! I was definitely painting with broad strokes in this video and wanted to highlight the issue with making others feel inferior in the name of "good taste", but I definitely understand your thoughts about the detrimental affects of reading ONLY spicy books/smut/romance. I'm not on spicy book-tok, nor do I really interact with other creators recommending those books so there was a blind spot for me there. This conversation about over indulgence to the point of detriment really reminds me of Huxley's Brave New World! Maybe I'll do a more nuanced video on this topic using Brave New World as a comparative guide to explore this conversation more. I really appreciate the nuanced discussion!