I think it's an insult to us who can't read with our eyes when people say that consuming audiobooks isn't reading. Whether it's with your eyes, hands (braille) or ears, we're all consuming the book with our brains in the end, so, it's all reading IMO. So, I agree with you, Alice. Fun fact: I have an audiobookstagram and have noticed that it's very different from bookstagram because of the stigma. Luckily I have built a community of mostly bookstagrammers who are very supportive of me reading with my ears, but a lot of people skip because of their own assumptions.

@wombat4583

5 ай бұрын

Well I agree with 'it's not reading' as you're listening and not reading (which are separate things) but it's just a valid of an experience. I don't really get why anyone would put it down aside maybe an elementary school teacher trying to teach kids reading.

@arlissbunny

5 ай бұрын

Right there with you @liz_alva. I almost wonder if those who believe that listening to a book is not reading have difficulties with absorbing information aurally. They don’t have the ability so they doubt those who do? Maybe?

@lindsey1412

2 ай бұрын

It's an extremely ableist and ignorant take to say audiobooks don't count as reading. It makes my blood boil every time I see it

@wombat4583

2 ай бұрын

@@lindsey1412 It isn't reading by a technicality but it's still consuming and enjoying the story/contents. Instead it engages with listening and comprehension skills rather than reading and comprehension skills.

I agree with you on rating books. If I give 3 stars it’s a good book, but not very good. If I give 4 stars I like it a lot and when I give 5 stars, I love it.

Having a lot of books gives me the feeling that I can't die before I have read them all. It gives me an illusion of eternity...

In regards to the comment about not trusting reviews from people who read 200+ books a year, I kind of agree with that, but only because I have watched so many reviews from those people of books I have already read. I stopped watching those channels because they would get so much wrong. I'm not talking opinions. I'm talking about actual plot points, names, dates, themes. It felt to me that they either didn't actually read the book, didn't retain anything they read, or missed a bunch of the book trying to read it too quickly.

@MissMo33

5 ай бұрын

That's exactly what I wanted to say as well. Sometimes I have the impression that people who read that much don't necessarily take the time to really comprehend the books or are able to base their "I really loved that book" on any arguments. But on the other hand it also depends a little bit on the kind of lit they are reading, t.ex. YA is less of a challenge for adult readers

I have a friend who reads sooo fast and so many books per year and I used to be jealous. Until I found out that they do not have a whole film and/or audio version in their head with different voices and stuff while reading. Now I‘m comfortable with my slower reading because it’s way more immersive for me 😊

@futoijosei

5 ай бұрын

I love that feeling, like watching a movie in your head. A well written book is the best movie experience. But then I don't like watching the movie or book because it isn't the same.

I also don't consider listening to audiobooks as reading, but it is consuming the book. I think it's dumb that people fight over this. It really depends on how you define reading. Psychics do readings, but it's really sensing. People listen to podcasts, but you're not reading the podcast, so it really depends on how someone defines it and in what context.

I agree that book collecting and book reading are two seperate hobbies. I personally do both - I read books, but I've also been collecting my favourites, and books from my childhood because they're sentimental to me. I won't have kids to pass them onto or anything, but they make *me* happy and that's what's important. I love the thrill of coming into my office and seeing shelves lined with books. That said I do buy most of my books secondhand, and I'm not hugely fussy about specific editions and aesthetics (there's only one book I collect different editions of). Otherwise I'll only double up on editions if the one I have is super tatty or I find a cover I like better.

For me the star ratings I give in my reading journal are based entirely on whether I find the book enjoyable and worth my time.

It was an interesting comment about a 1 start for a book not remembered. I think there are 2 ways I can’t remember a book: 1) it is just bad, no plot, bland characters, no concept, etc; 2) I read a book at a hard/busy/depressing time for me, when I needed smth to take me away, and the book worked perfectly, I loved it, but because I was not in a good place, I might not clearly remember the details, just remember my emotions. With the content: yes, seeking new people helps. I have subscriptions to booktubers from different countries, different personal backgrounds, and tastes. It helps to add a variety of stuff to my tbr. Though I have to admit, that certain books tend to show up almost everywhere (Like The Yellowface, for example). There are also trendsetters and more established channels (someone whose tastes in books influence other booktubers’ choices, which is not bad, but add to a feel that everybody reads this and that), and newbies. If the last ones share their own taste without following the trendsetters too much, they are definitely stay on my radar.

oh I forgot to put my rating system for everyone to compare and contrast... lol... 5 is must have a physical copy for my shelf and I adore it. 4 is really good and definitely recommending. 3 is "good" no capitol G, no exclamation point. it just wasn't BAD in anyway. "it was fine" kinda thing. 2 is "I didnt like it, but maybe someone else will. 1 is usually a DNF for me, but if I did finish it, it also means I cant imagine anyone liking this.

I use Goodreads stars more or less according to the hover suggestions on their page. So a 1 more or less is "did not like it", 2 is "it was ok", 3 is "liked it", 4 is "really liked it", 5 is "it was amazing". But 2 feels harsh if it's a book I felt was okay, so sometimes those end up as 3. Ideally, I would want half stars (or out of 10), because I feel like five is not granular enough at times.

4:22 the way I use goodreads: three stars is definitely not "I liked it". 3 is mediocre, 4 good, 5 excellent. Overall similar to the way we were assessed at school.

When it comes to rating, I just follow the little guidelines Goodreads gives you as you're about the click on the amount of stars: 1 - didn't like it, 2 - it was ok, 3 - I liked it, 4 - I really liked it, 5 - it was amazing. And yes my ratings are inherently subjective if I really liked one book (aka 4 star) it could be possible that anyone else might things it was just ok. And that is fine! Before rating any book I consult my reason and my gut feeling to give it a final star count, it that makes any sense.

The pristine book comment - I am 100% in agreement with you. I was obsessed with keeping my spines perfect and even now I wouldn't dog ear e.t.c but if I'm reading a chunky paperback I break the spine now because otherwise I don't enjoy the reading experience as much. I wish all paperbacks were floppy like the American editions but they're few and far between here in the UK 😢

@TheBookCastle

5 ай бұрын

Gosh yes, I wish books were floppier!!

What an interesting theme for a video. I would say im a book collector as well as a reader. It is almost more important to me to have all the books an author i really enjoy in my collection than whether or not i have actually read those books. I just want to have them all and im sure i will get around to reading them eventually!

14:20 This character thing can be confusing, cause we can confuse character as cast member of the book and character as adjective or personality. You can enjoy a book where the main character has an unlikeable or even a villain-esque character. The issue is that most characters are poorly created/written and then you simply can’t enjoy the book.

Rainbow shelves can work, if you are a visual person, you remember the cover and the colour, so it is easy to find. What I do think is ridiculous is having the books reversed. How are you ever supposed to find anything. I don't care if people dog ear their own books. But I don't dog ear and Ive lent a book to a friend once and I got it back with dog ears. So I think please don't dog ear someone else's books. Or at least check upfront if the owner minds.

This was fun! You should definitely do a part 2. I read 150+ books a year, and I definitely am very generous with my star ratings, so not sure there is a correlation between reading a lot and rating more strictly. I think it might just be personal preference! I'm just pretty happy with the books I pick up. I do DNF about 15% of the books that I try, though, so maybe that's part of it - I just don't bother to finish things I don't like. Not a controversial opinion, but I guess a strange practice is that I DNF books at whatever point I get tired of them - even 85%.

15:40 not always, have awesome examples of Three men in a boat and works of Simak, which got v.popular mostly due to beatiful translator's work

You either like a book or you don't. You can't make everyone happy. For all books that have a strong fan base, there are equally as many people that hate it or it's just not their thing.

re the lack of variety in content... I just realized when watching Lala's 'reading books others fav' or whatever its called... her yearly one where she compares herself to tons of other creators... that one... it helps me find people similar to her, who is similar to me. I really wish every content creator did that video, as it would be SO useful. if you and I have tons of books in common, and then you go and find 10 people that are super similar to YOU... then you've just given me 10 more people im similar to that maybe my jacked up algorithm wouldn't EVER show me, cause the algorithm is totally wrong all the time and giving me way too many recs that are secretly for my husband or bff. no. im not interested in cooking enchiladas just cause someone I know is, algorithm. I promise. lll just eat their enchiladas when they invite me over. lol

@TheBookCastle

5 ай бұрын

You know what, that is a very good point! I watch those videos too and discover loads of people, it's the best!!

@eliotopian

5 ай бұрын

@@TheBookCastle ✨💯✨

About the Goodreads rating thing: The most popular complaint I see is the lack of half stars. But I think quite the opposite. Either have a proper 7 scale (5 is too little, 10 is too much, half stars make no sense) or just use the system as it is defined. I on purpose reduced the range of ratings I give. So if a book is ok, or mostly a disappointment it gets 2 stars. If I am bored, or really disappointment, then it gets 1 star, even if I think others will love it. I didn't like it so it gets 1 star. 4 stars is something I really liked. And 5 stars has to be amazing, or life changing. And I sometimes go back and reduce the rating if in a few months I look at the book and don't remember a lot from it. Also, yes, the LOTR movies are a much better entertainment experience than the books. If you are keen on the other aspects of the writing then you will prefer the books. But I think most people just want to experience a fun adventurous piece of fiction, and for that the movies are superior.

I have my books organized by genre. A have a whole shelve dedicated to my vintage books.

There is a contradiction with people that say you should not hoard books and people that say your books don’t have to be pristine. If you don’t want me to keep my books, then let me keep them in good condition so I can sell them to the used book stores 😅

Entertaining! There are so many opinions...😅 I hope whatever opinions we have, we all enjoy our reading. 📚❤️

@TheBookCastle

5 ай бұрын

This!!!

My main take away from this is - everyone's different, read, review, etc however makes you happy and leave everyone else to do their thing! With goodreads I find people's ratings really harsh - for me 3 out of 5 is more than 50%, so for me 3 is "good, enjoyable". 4 is very good, very enjoyable, 5 is excellent, loved it. 2 is OK, and 1 is rubbish. But I rarely use 1 because if I'm not enjoying a book 50 pages in, I don't finish it. I like Storygraph better because the ratings give you more of a breakdown. But when people go "This wasn't very good, didn't enjoy it" and then give it 3 stars... weird to me. I do sort of get feeling like you don't read enough when watching youtube, but it's like any social media - you can opt out of comparison. I watch channels where people read 200 or 300 books a year, but usually they work in publishing or reviewing so that's a major part of their job. I also watch channels where people read less than I do in a year. I am fine with either, I only want to read a lot to get through my giant TBR and enjoy books, not to compete with people on the internet. So you can just opt out of it and enjoy the reviews.

This was entertaining! Proves reading in and of itself is sooo multifaceted. Every person has a different experience with it. I’ve only written in a book (series) once -the Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson - and that was to help me get through the massive numbers of pages of those 4 tomes. I underlined and made comments. It’ll be interesting to reread all those comments when I reread the books this year before the 5th book is released. Definitely make a part 2 video 💀😁👍

Thanks for such an interesting video! 1. Completely agree with your take on Dan Brown. 2. In the end, the stars only mean something to the individual reader, like The Midnight Library is a four star on GR and I gave it two stars. I'm sticking with that😊. 3. I appreciate your way of thinking and presenting❤, you are one of the best reviewers!!!

@TheBookCastle

5 ай бұрын

Thank you!! 🥰🖤

for goodread, when I rate it it goes like this: - 5 stars I loved it and will definitely read it again - 4 stars very good book, I'll recommend it, not necessarily reread it - 3 stars I enjoyed reading it but I don't consider it excellent in terms of writing - 2 stars, I liked some elements but I consider the book bad - 1 star I hate it I hate it and I want to remember never to read it again - not rated, I read it, I want to forget it. it didn't necessarily make me angry but it wasn't good/for me

@MLLatUtube

5 ай бұрын

I agree with your 5,4 and 3 ratings. I rarely have one or two stars because I usually dnf those books.

I totally agree with you regarding Dan Brown. I don’t read him for literary or scholastic purposes, strictly entertaining. They are my potato chips of books. Fun to enjoy no nutritional value.

Loved the video overall, thanks for sharing your thoughts

Alice, every time I start one of your videos I feel happy and welcomed when you do your "Hi, everyone! It's Alice!" 👋🏻greeting ☺ I kind of think people rate books generously, but I also think it's going to be skewed no matter what because people are reading what sounds interesting to them most of the time. If we were all picking up books willy-nilly then it would probably seem less generous because the positive bias wouldn't be as present. For me, 3/5 is like my default and then I go up or down depending on if I feel more positive or negative about it. Unless I'm super disappointed, absolutely hated something, or thought something needed a lot more work, I'm probably going to rate it at least that 3. And those outcomes are less likely to happen if I'm going into things with an open mind and knowing some of the synopsis, so I'm not completely taken for a loop. I'm definitely on that side of book reading and book collecting/buying are two different things/hobbies. I love having my own library of books, some I'm read and love and want in my collection, some I haven't read but am excited about getting to at some point. I know I'm not necessarily going to get to a book immediately and I'm okay with that. If I end up "wasting" money by buying too many books, not ending up reading them, and then getting rid of them somehow- that's my problem. And as long as it's not financially detrimental, if someone wants to spend their leisure money on creating their own library so be it, good for them. I also am very aware of books going out of print, wanting certain editions, things like that. I have a good number of books that are hard to find now, either in general as a title or that specific edition, so I don't want to get rid of them. And yeah I agree that most people who have a lot of books are at least doing some reading, whatever their ratio of read to unread is. I also agree with your explanation of reading and audiobooks. Especially if you're able to have a detailed conversation with someone about a title, it's not like you're going to say, "Oh, you didn't read that book," if you find out they read it through audiobook. Though, I'm still the type of person who clarifies how I read a title, but that's because it was part of my experience of it. 13:00 I think this person says this with the assumption of positivity, like these people are raving about every book they read. (at least that's an interpretation.) Also, I think many people who are able to read this much are likely reading many manga or comic volumes, which of course is still meaningful, but not the same as reading a bunch of 170,000-word books. ooof, I definitely don't agree that translated books are "pointless," as that person wrote. That would be incredibly limiting if people only read from their native language or additional languages they know. Yeah, something is bound to be lost not read the exact words the original author wrote, but I'm so thankful I'm able to read a translation of that work since I don't know the original language and I am unable to learn every language. 24:43 I totally agree with what you say here. There are all kinds of people reading all kinds of books on various platforms. You just have to seek things out, get past what algorithms automatically recommend to you for content and try to make it curated more to you. Also, I think people just need to branch out more sometimes, like watching videos and looking at profiles/accounts who don't have many subscribers/followers or views. I also think part of it is new releases being sent to people and book boxes being sponsors, things like that. omg look at all these responses I had- this comment is so long, lol

Great video, Alice and I loved hearing your thoughts, and a little bit of sass with it 🤍 Like you I agree/disagree, but what a great conversation 🌿

Such a fun video to watch! I was surprised when you added your own unpopular opinion at the end. A German booktuber has done a project last year to reread the The Lord of the Rings series and do videos with comparisons to the movies. Her conclusion was that if you found it boring when you were younger, you might enjoy it more now 😊 Totally understandable though when you think of the movies as better than the books, I do, too! Maybe it's time for a reread.

@TheBookCastle

5 ай бұрын

That’s interesting! I read it when I was in my late teens so maybe it would be interesting to reread actually 🖤

I can't stand cracked spines and dog ears it just annoys me I hate it and I am really passionate about it. It just feels like a crime to me.

Love the video and hearing your thoughts. I absolutely think that audiobook counts as reading, without a doubt. However, (haha) I can't believe that someone could follow the book properly if they are listening at such a high speed. I think 1.5x is already too fast. I just can't believe that someone could fully be immerse in the book or maybe provide a true rating/review if you're listening to it at 3x speed. Though, at the end of the day, this doesn't bother me. I don't care how people enjoy their book but it's just as someone who look to booktubers for recommendation, based on listening to something at 3x speed while at the same time doing something else, I don't know. I would be hesitant to take their review of the book, for a lack of a better word, seriously.

I don't use the star-rating system. I try to talk about the books I've read in the most objective way I possibly can, hoping it helps others to decide whether or not to read it. :D I've actually created my own rating system, because I don't like the stars. Great video :) You explain things so well! Oh, and I also didn't like Little Women 😂

I don't tend to rate books, I put a star rating in goodreads (though I dont think i will be using it much this year). Instead I talk about what I liked/disliked about a book. Star ratings are so subjective I dont find them helpful unless its from someone who's reading tastes are similar to mine

My controversial opinion: ebooks are better than physical books. They just don't take up any space and most of the times I only read a book once anyways. Besides, ebooks are cheaper. Most books I get are less than 3 euros. I do like physical books, but too many books make a room feel too crowded for me and I want to be able to store other stuff as well.

@ElinWinblad

5 ай бұрын

Most ebooks are 15-25$

@nevaidos

5 ай бұрын

@@ElinWinblad Not in The Netherlands when you buy them with a discount, which I mostly do. Even if I were to buy them at full price, it would still be between 5 to 12 euros.

@ExLibris-Alys

5 ай бұрын

In the UK the most I’ve ever paid for an ebook is less than £10 (but that’s rare) and most are around £2.50. I also get daily emails sent to me with a list of books that are either 99p or free.

Have you ever read the same book in two languages? I would be fascinated to hear how they’re different if you did that.

@TheBookCastle

5 ай бұрын

I haven't but it could be a fun experiment!

I do agree with you on the LOTR films being more entertaining than the books. However, I think the Hobbit book was better than the films lol My controversial opinion is that Jane Eyre is a bit boring and overrated 😬

I’m like you! Everyone has different taste

My rating system is like or don't like. But I normally read 650 to 1000 books a year so everyone should go at their own pace. I don't review books (I memorize things I like, my brain literally won't shut down, so I sometimes have to wait years to re-read something).

I never rate book. If there is any rating it’s that it is DNF, Bad, So, so, okay, pretty good, very good and excellent. That is how you would rate it if you were telling a friend. And about how many read. I do not worry about but wondered. I don’t do audio so when some said they listened at a higher speed, it all came together. 😂😂😂

i do think that a lot of people are too generous with their ratings in the sense that they use a 5 star scale but refuse to actually utilise all the stars. I know many people refuse to give books 1 star because it's too 'harsh'. I just think that makes using a 5 star scale pointless 😅

@wiktoriagrochola3256

5 ай бұрын

Also a lot of people seem to think that a 3 star means a book was bad which might lead them to rating books higher.

@wiktoriagrochola3256

5 ай бұрын

@@user-ul5bo2yb8k I'm the same actually! Though I actually stopped rating books a while ago

@the_eerie_faerie_tales

5 ай бұрын

I don't even rate anything lower than 2.5⭐ because at that point I would just DNF it. I don't get why people keep reading books they don't like at all .. like why waste your time on a 1 or 2⭐ book.. a 2.5 to me means it wasn't great BUT I was curious enough to know it ends and there weren't too many annoying things along the way (only had a couple books rated 2.5). A portion of my books are "good enough" at 3-3.5⭐ but most of them are 4-5 stars and a lot of favorites because I'm fairly good at picking books I think I'll like.

@wiktoriagrochola3256

5 ай бұрын

@@the_eerie_faerie_tales for sure! I DNF like crazy. I recently DNFd a book at 90% because I just didn't see the point of wasting my time when it was so mediocre 😅

@the_eerie_faerie_tales

5 ай бұрын

@@wiktoriagrochola3256 lol omg I did the same with Packinko.. I was like.. I don't care how far I am, I just don't care 😆 already wasted 90% not doing another 10%. learned my lesson and now DNF a lot sooner lol

The comment about rating books with unlikeable characters low made me think of a dilemma I have that I haven't solved and that relates to this comment. When I rate a book, am I rating it objectively based on my opinion of what makes a good book? Or am I rating my personal reading experience? I feel like I'm not consistent about that. A book that's my favorite might not be objectively the best book. And an unlikeable character might or might not impact my enjoyment of the book based on my personal preferences. If I were to rate it objectively, maybe it would be 5 stars but maybe I hated the experience. I'm curious how other people rate books, based on objective criteria or just what they like.

@TheBookCastle

5 ай бұрын

I feel this too!! 🖤

Hahahha Alice ! I totally agree with you for Lord of the rings !

I find the five star system to restrictive I bunch a lot of books under three but they may actually be a little lower or a little higher

This was a fun idea. I recently listened to/read Little Women for the first time (I’m 64 and a reader). Unfortunately, the full-cast audio production I got was not good. I may have enjoyed it more if I had read it, but to me the relationships amongst the characters were artificial.

16:00 without translation I wouldn't have read 80% of the books I read what? also you only care about authors from certain countries and that's it with that mindset, that's so limiting? it's putting such a huge hole in your culture and understanding of the world.

I absolutely love your accent where are you from? You remind me of an actress from the older movies. My oldest daughter loves older movies etc. she was watching your videos w me and she said mom I love her make up!

@TheBookCastle

5 ай бұрын

Thank you! I'm Norwegian! Your daughter is so sweet

@danieleigh6468

5 ай бұрын

@@TheBookCastle love to listen to you talk! Love your videos. Hugs from Virginia

@ExLibris-Alys

5 ай бұрын

@@TheBookCastleYou’re Norwegian? 🤯 Wow, to my English ears you sound totally American!

Definitely, Lord of the Rings movies are way better than the books in my opinion. Little Women, meh. Thanks for another interesting video. 😊

You dont have enough adbrakes

For me 5 stars = incredible, no notes; 4 stars = very good but some notes; 3=so so, kinda neutral, 2=I didn't like it, 1=I feel personally victimized by this book

@TheBookCastle

5 ай бұрын

Love the 1 star definition 😂🖤

My own possibly somewhat hot take: If you're feeling pressure from BookTube/Bookstagram/BookTok, you're probably the one putting it on yourself and the solution is to just... not.

1 star - absolutely atrocious, 2 stars - pretty bad, 3 stars - okay but not good, 4 stars - good and worthwhile, 5 stars - amazing.

@ExLibris-Alys

5 ай бұрын

I agree entirely with that rating 👍🏻

I have an observation. When women review historical fiction, they review books by women, about women. They review books based on how fun they are, not how accurate or well researched they are, although sometimes women will say they're "learning" from historical fiction. They almost never mention what historical nonfiction they're reading to learn more, and never in preparation for the fiction. When men review historical fiction, they review books by men, about men. They review books based on accuracy and research, often based on nonfiction they've read, at least as far as military history, material culture, and such things go. I don't think they much care about diversity in history. They also care about fun, but it's not the only factor. My unpopular opinion is that I wish women reviewed like men, but with more care for diversity of subjects. White male reviewers tend to only read about white military men and possibly ancient Greek women sex workers for some reason.

@thebookborough

5 ай бұрын

I've noticed this awhile ago for historical fiction and other genres. The fantasy books that men tend to read is often different than the ones women choose. I can see it even in marketing and book sub picks (most cater to women). I love historical fiction but I read for fun and not to learn so I don't ever comment on historical accuracy unless it's glaringly obvious. I'd read nonfiction if I wanted to learn.

@TimeTravelReads

5 ай бұрын

@@thebookborough Yeah. What I wonder is why more readers don't blend fiction and nonfiction? Wouldn't it add to the experience? If you're going to read fantasy for example, why not read about things that tend to pop up in fantasy, like statecraft or naval warfare? If you're going to read historical fiction, why not read nonfiction about the time period or maybe even the individual in the fiction book?

@thebookborough

5 ай бұрын

@TimeTravelReads Not necessarily. It only adds to the experience if someone is interested in those topics. A lot of fiction readers read solely for entertainment, so reading nonfiction in conjunction with their fiction would be a chore and uninteresting.

@TimeTravelReads

5 ай бұрын

@@thebookborough So why are men more interested in nonfiction? Why are they less likely to view it as a chore? Why do women read solely for entertainment? Why wouldn't they be interested in the nonfiction components of their entertainment? Why do I, read like a man?

@thebookborough

5 ай бұрын

@TimeTravelReads Only you can answer the last question. I have a different perception than what you have. Most fiction readers, both men and women, often don't read nonfiction. It's not only women that read for entertainment. Most nonfiction readers, both men and women, often don't read fiction. Men tend to lean towards logic, action, adventure, and less emotionally charged books. Nonfiction is factual based so it's not intended for you to connect with characters, use your imagination, etc. This is why you don't see them reading romance. Women tend to want to read books that will stir them emotionally or inspire introspection. Women tend to read more than men, which is why romance is the best-selling fiction genre and religious texts as the bestselling nonfiction, yet nonfiction generates more sales (likely priced higher per unit). It's not only nonfiction that's viewed as a chore, it's any genre someone isn't interested in. A romance reader can view scifi as boring and a slog. It's based on personal preference as is their reasoning for not reading nonfiction.

I used to be very stingy with five stars but I seem to have lightened up a little since last year. Three is a book that is fine, I most likely will never reread it though. Four I really liked it. Five, OMG best book ever! Listening vs reading is a matter of semantics for me. You’re consuming a book either way, either by listening or reading but I cringe inside when people say they read x amount of books that month and then proceed to list and they are all audio books. My brain is like no, you didn’t read 20 books, you listened to 20. Just semantics. I don’t care, just be specific. What I take away from that also though is quite often they listen at an accelerated speed. So really, how much of that author’s story did you hear. Same goes for readers who skim the books. I heard someone say they don’t read every word. Why do you even bother then?! As for unlikeable characters and low ratings, if it diminishes your enjoyment of the book, I understand how you could give it a low rating. A couple years ago, I read a book with an ending that was absolutely horrible and one of the characters was so awful I could give it only two stars. That’s the lowest I’ve ever rated a book. The execution of the story was fine but that ending ruined the book for me and two was as generous as I could get. I won’t read anything else from that author either. I have my shelves organized in a way that makes sense to me but they’d never been considered Instagram worthy lol. “Shots fired” 😂 there’s beloved books that I didn’t like either, not that one, but Bronte fans would not appreciate my thoughts on their favorites. This was fun!

Disclaimer: if this is your preference please don’t mind my comment!! I’m online mentioning this from a technical pov. That being said, I feel like you the would look better with a darker background because everything in your room being white washes you out especially because you are wearing white and your hair is almost white and you are a fair complexion. Again I’m not sure what you are going for and I’m a new to the channel so please feel free to ignore me, but I just thought I’d mention it just in case you cared about these things. Anyway, I loved the video thanks for the content 🤍

@TheBookCastle

5 ай бұрын

Thank you! I see what you mean but I kinda like how it looks 🖤🥰

@onourpath

5 ай бұрын

​@TheBookCastle I love your aesthetic -- it has a very dreamy, vintage kind of feel.

I guess I'll add my two cents, too.... sorry, this is long! My star ratings are: 1=ugh! shit 2=bad, with 1 or 2 interesting ideas 3=good, I liked it 4=almost perfect 5=masterpiece I rarely pick up books that I dislike, but it does happen. I can see how someone could think that I over-rate, but I really don't. It's just that I am at the point in my reading life where I know my own taste well. My feelings about rainbow shelves: "interesting" on the shelves of other readers; "nope" on my shelves. I have a professional artist friend, and he always cringes about "all those primary colors bunched up against each other!" Besides, I could never find any of my books that way. Booktubers who read 200+ books a year, do so because it's their job (partly.) The book industry does not stop pushing out books, and book workers have to keep up (which is an impossible endeavor.) There may be a display going up, an author visiting, a book club, reviews to write, book challenges, customers questions, and even the worker's own favorite genre. Luckily, most book workers love reading, so it's not a chore. I trust those folks, because they read so much -- they are quick to recognize good or bad books. I have tons of books -- a bunch of my favorites that I've read and kept, and a giant bunch still unread. I'm really happy about so many books -- I'll never run out! I consider myself a reader and a collector, and I love it! 💚 I can't keep my books pristine while reading; I underline quotes, notate, write in translated foreign words, look up maps/events/history/politics/art/whatever about the book, then add those notes in. My books are well loved with cracked spines, creased covers, dogears, underlining, writing, etc. I never dogear to mark my place, but only to mark that there is something interesting I need to get back to on that page. I sometimes also accidentally baptise my books with coffee. 🙄 I have some autographed/special edition hardbacks that I wouldn't read because I wouldn't want them "ruined," but I do "love" their paperback editions. It's interesting to hear, "floppy like American books" -- I wish that were true! I hate a stiff book, and there are a ton of them here. Regarding rating books 1 star if you can't remember them; not all of us have the same ability of recall. There are books I don't remember at all; because I was recovering from surgery and on pain pills, or a new mother, or trying to distract myself from issues..... 🤷🏻‍♀️ Also, there are books I know I didn't understand, and need to reread them. I leave these types of books as read, but unrated. Also, one star for me means it was a shit book! Translators can make a *huge* difference for a book. I often suggest that folks compare different translators by reading the same paragraphs from both books and see which one fits better for them. I'm so glad translators exist, because I would have missed so many of my favorite books. I love an unlikable character so much, I seek them out on purpose. They provide an opportunity to understand why people do horrible things. I'm all for unlikable characters, unreliable characters, and ambiguous endings -- this is how art imitates life! Lastly, I feel like the distinction between reading and listening to books is an answer to a problem that doesn’t exist. A book is a product to be consumed, and if disabled folks need to consume it in a different format than I do, there's no need for me to have an opinion on that. They are consuming the book, and I am consuming the book. I'm glad there are many different formats to fulfill every person's need, and happy that more people are experiencing books. (Yes, a book is not only a product; it's a piece of art, but that is a different conversation.) Yes, let's have part two!