#i need to get off of booktube

[waterlilychaser]

y’all know that trope that’s pretty popular in straight romance? the ex boyfriend’s dad? idk i just feel like the marauders fandom is just unhinged and incestuous enough to do something with that… like im thinkin draco malfoy… with james potter…

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

obsessed with people who somehow live their lives entirely ignorant of the englishspeaking internet. im watching dutch booktubers barely 6 months ago ENTHUSIASTICALLY recommend harry potter. no mention of Anything At All. just,,,"we all know this one right?? :D" we sure do! WE SURE DO DONT WE

[corrodedcoffins-blog]

Out Of Your Comfort Zone

masterlist

note: the original ask said fantasy but i dont read fantasy at all, so i went with a silly little romance novel i loved, which i think still displays that opposite thing the anon wanted. so i hope this is okay!!

warnings: my writing while i'm high (rambling that can be disguised as descriptive writing)

word count: 1.2 k

♡ summary: During a bookstore date Y/n's taste in books gets Spencer out of his comfort zone.

♡ Spencer Reid x fem!reader

request ✓

Finally, Spencer had a weekend off, where there was no chance of a case coming in at the last minute. And it’s not like Y/n hated Spencer’s job, she knew he did a lot of good. But it was hard sometimes when they would go a few weeks without sleeping next to each other.

It was the perfect morning to their perfect day, they had just come from a local art exhibit pop-up/farmers market. It reminded Y/n of Notting Hill, of course from the movie but also from when she lived in London while studying abroad. But now the couple was off to the local bookstore, they had looked at the farmers market, but they were all travel books, the irony was not lost.

Them both loving books was what got them to the second date, their first being filled with a debate about ‘modern classics’ and what classifies them. A topic they both clearly had a lot of opinions on as it took up the whole date that they hadn’t asked all the first date questions, so they needed the second date.

Them both loving books was what got them to the second date, their first being filled with a debate about ‘modern classics’ and what classifies them. A topic they both clearly had a lot of opinions on as it took up the whole date that they hadn’t asked all the first date questions, so they needed the second date.

And though their taste in books were quite opposite, there was a small overlap that was home to Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, The Bell Jar, and many others. But that was Spencer’s main area, classics, Y/n only read the feminist classics.

So when they went to the bookshop, the two would split up until Spencer finished looking in his favourite sections, since he could read so much faster than the girl it took her about three times as long to look through the fiction section.

Spencer was making his way to her now, stopping to read the backs of a couple books that interested him, even picking one up to buy. He walked past the isles of the fiction and romance sections, finally coming to a halt at the ‘J’s where Y/n was now. She didn’t even register his presence, too wrapped up in reading the summary of the blue and yellow book in her hand.

Spencer didn’t want to startle the girl, so he walked past her, her eyes rising from the book in hand to look at who she thought was a random person just browsing the store like her, eyes lighting up when she sees it’s Spencer.

“Honey, what’d you find?” She questions, Spencer assumes it was a rhetorical question since she didn’t give him enough time before she cuts in grabbing the second book from the stack in his arms, “I was gonna suggest this one to you! A subscriber said it was really good!”

Y/n was a booktuber, when she told Spencer that he obviously had no idea what that was, but a simple explanation later and he was caught up. And after a year of dating, she finally mentioned him in a video when she was talking about ‘Normal People’ . It was one of the books they argued could be considered a modern classic on their first date. And she mentioned his taste in books and now her followers left recommendations for him in her

comments, mostly on instagram when she posted him from time to time.

“Yeah. I was really impressed with another book by this author, her description of the caste system in India and the impact it has mentally was so moving.” “I remember you reading that. I’m not good at reading those types of books, but I love when you tell me all about them.” Her soft words brought red to Spencer’s checks while he hid his hands around her waist.

Recovering from the girl’s flirting, even after a year he still reacted the same to her words, his head rose from the spot in her neck to look at the book she had been looking at when he found her.

“What did you find?” “Oh, I saw a girl say it was a good book in her review and I want to do a video on age gap books since so many people ask.” Pacing the books over to him when he signalled his hand forward for it, turning it over to read the front, ‘Part of Your Word’ by Abby Jimenez in large letters was written across the front. It wasn’t a fairly large book, it could take him maybe five minutes.

Y/n was now turned to read more titles, stopping at any that caught her eye. All the while, Spencer was stood of to the side reading. It had actually only taken the man four minutes when he checked his watch. Proud of himself, he looks up to see that his girlfriend was apparently watching him, for how long, he didn’t know.

With a smile on his face, he asks, “What?” “Spencer. Did you just read my book? Before I even bought it?” She replied with a hand going to her hip and a jokey tone. “Well, first of all, you aren’t buying it bec-” “Why was it bad?”

Y/n often spoke before thinking, causing her to cut off people, Spencer was used to it he thought it was cute and she always made it her mission to not interrupt when he was really passionate about a topic.

“Because, I’m buying.” “Hon, no you bought last time.” “I don’t mind.” “I do.”

Spencer moved on from this conversation, they both know how it will end. Spencer will in fact pay, Y/n will say he didn’t have to, Spencer would say he doesn’t mind, she’ll say she does mind, and they repeat it when they pay for lunch after the bookshop.

“But I did read it.” “Don’t spoil, but what did you think?” She had watched a couple booktok reviews on it so she knew it was a little spicy, something she knew Spencer didn’t read a lot of, if ever.

“I think it was good. I liked how they talked about family relationships and verbal abuse in relationships, I think it was done well and it brought a lot more sense of realism. And I liked the leads, I relate to Daniel more than I thought, his dedication to making things work.. I won’t spoil it for you but- um yeah. And I liked the setting.”

His words sent a loving smile to rest on the girl’s face, she loved nothing more than to hear Spencer talk. His voice was deep yet not at the same time, and his mannerisms were adorable to her. And hearing him actually read and enjoy a book from the romance section that was written in the last few decades, was a big step for him. He didn’t even know about Twilight when they met.

“I’m glad you like it.” She said, truthfully, “I’ll be sure to mention that in my video.” “You don’t have to.” “You just don’t want Penny to see the video and by extension Derek.”

Their conversation continued while they waited in line, holding each other's hand while Y/n looks up to speak. They were interrupted when it was then their turn, Spencer paying like he said he would, and again at lunch, much to the girl’s disapproval.

“You don’t have to pay.” “I don’t mind.” “I do.”

[soracities]

hii! do you ever get into a huge reading slump? i would say ive been in one for about 3 years now and im desperate to escape it and read again but i cant find anything that's 'popular' enjoyable and have no idea where to start in finding content and books i actually enjoy by myself without tiktok or booktube 😭

Oh I've been in a particularly bad slump for at least 2 years so yes, absolutely! I think the key thing here is to try and remove the pressure off yourself as much as you can: don't look at every book you approach with the mindset of "THIS is will be the antidote to my reading slump" or "THIS novel will save me" because it will most likely stop you from actually enjoying the book: when you go in with such high expectations, you're also bringing a very distracting form of hyper-vigilance with you, waiting for the magic moment to hit, counting the pages until it does, being too conscious or worried when it doesn't in the way you envisioned it. It will turn reading into a chore, an endurance test which you either succeed or fail at, and this will only cement the slump further.

Everyone is different and I don't know what kind of books you like most, but the best thing I can advise is to go back before your slump and see what some of your favourite reads were. One way to ease back into reading is to revisit books you loved and read them again--this eliminates some of the pressure and I think it can also help rebuild that excitement because you know you're returning to familiar ground you've enjoyed before. That, or find other works by those same authors whose writing / style you liked and slowly expand from there. I don't log my reading through apps or websites anymore (and I stay away from booktok like the plague but that's a whole other conversation)--I have an ask on how I find my books here and I hope that helps too--but I've heard really good things about The Storygraph so if tiktok and booktube haven't done it for you, this might be a much better way to move towards books you actually enjoy because it's based on your preferences, not an influencer's or what an algorithm is pushing.

Whatever book you decide to try next, I would also advise you to start slow and / or small if that's what you need (more here)--don't force yourself to plow through several hundred pages in one sitting or 2 days. Sometimes breaking a slump is far more sustainable when you do it chip by chip, slowly, but consistently in a way that makes it less daunting than thinking you have to finish 2 novels every week. Something as simple as setting aside 15 minutes to read in bed before you go to sleep each night can do it. You can also look at audiobook versions, or short story collections in whatever genre it is you enjoy most!

Best of luck, anon, and I hope some of these answers will help 🤍

[themoonking]

breaking / preventing bad booktok habits

no one asked my opinion, but i've been thinking about this a lot so i'm going to give it anyway.

consumerism on booktube is a tale as old as time, and it's just as bad if not worse on booktok (due to the norm on tikok being to post something new at least once a day), and that leads a lot of book influencers (both on youtube and tiktok, and even instagram to an extent) into some really bad spending and consumption habits

this is my very long opinion piece on some tips and changes to make if you've already developed these bad habits or feel like you're about to.

tldr: stop buying in to hype and by more mindful about what you buy, and REMEMBER THAT LIBRARIES EXIST.

go to the library

quite simple. allows you to read as many books as you want without spending money or cluttering your home. and if you argue back that your local library is small / doesn't have a large selection, that's all the more reason to support it!! it won't grow or improve if it doesn't have people behind it.

getting rid of books

don't feel like you have to get rid of books even if you enjoyed them. i myself have larger book collection than most people i know. but you do have to make peace with the idea of getting rid of books from time to time. stop treating it like the worst thing that ever happened to you.

next time your bookshelf is full, don't immediately jump to buying a new shelf. instead, go through your entire collection and see what you really want to keep. do the marie kondo thing and take everything off the shelf so you can go through each book one by one. go over it multiple times over a couple of days, so you can come at it with fresh eyes.

when you look at each individual book, really think about it. ask yourself: did i even like this book? if i did, will i ever reread it? was it important to me or was it just a book i enjoyed and will never think about again? if i can't remember my feelings on a book, am i willing to reread it to find out?

if you have books that you were neutral on, that you liked but not in any notable way, or that you straight up didn't enjoy, it might be time to move on from them. donate to your local library: if you didn't enjoy them, there might be someone out there who might, and if you did enjoy them, they're right there if you ever have the urge to read them again.

don't think about book purges as tearing apart your perfect collection, but instead think about it as making room for something new that you enjoy and appreciate a lot more.

if you've gone over your collection multiple times and you still have no room, then feel free to buy a new shelf and expand your collection. obviously, as you read more books you'll find more that meant a lot to you that you want to keep. again, it's not about mimimalism, it's about mindfulness.

unread books

some book influencers (and their fans) have a MASSIVE problem with unread books. as in, they have 100+ on their shelves and they keep buying more to add to the pile. if you have books in your collection that have remained unread for years... it might be time to get rid of some of them. sorry.

do the same thing with the unread books as you did with the read books: go over them one by one and really think about why you're keeping them.

how long have you had it? if you've had a book for 5+ years, and you haven't felt the urge to read it yet, do you really think you're ever going to? read the description: does it seem like something that actually interests you, or did you buy it on a whim? perhaps it interested you when you bought it, but time has passed and tastes change; does it interest you now?

if you haven't touched or even thought about a book in multiple years but you can't bring yourself to get rid of it because "well maybe someday i'll need it!!" consider how dangerously close to hoarder mentality you're getting.

if you're really convinced that you'll enjoy a certain book, set it aside. make the books you set aside your priority for the next 6 months / the next year and don't buy anymore in that timeframe. if by the end of that time you haven't read the books you set aside, it's time to accept that you are simply never going to read them, and its better that they get some use rather than collect dust.

once again: donate any you get rid of to the library. if you're worried that you're going to suddenly want to read them (even though you haven't for years) and won't have them anymore, remember that if you give them to library they will be right there for you to borrow whenever you like. except that, in the time between you donating them and reading them, they won't have simply been sitting on your shelf gathering dust. instead, other people will have gotten the chance to read them and perhaps enjoyed them more than you ever would.

buying books

quite simply, just be more mindful about the books you buy.

when a new book becomes trendy on booktok or booktube, don't buy it right away. a lot of book influencers' unread books tend to be ones that they bought because they were really popular online, but that they lost interest in when the trend died out. if you're worried about missing out, remember that the book will still be available when the trend dies, and if you're only interested in something so you can partake in the trend... you're not really interesting in the book. you're interested in the clout.

when a book trend catches your eye, takes some time to think about it instead. first of all, does the book actually seem like something you're interested in? yes, everyone on booktok is talking about this new historical romance, but do you even like historical romance? this new epic fantasy is filling your youtube recommendations, but do you even like epic fantasy? look at reviews. look at reviews from people you know have similar tastes to you. did they like it? were the things they liked about it things that you enjoy?

if after thinking it through you're still engaged, go ahead and buy it! once again, its not about mimimalism. it's not about having less books. it's about mindfulness.

if you're subscribed to a book subscription box (or, god forbid, multiple book subscription boxes) maybe take stock and see if you actually want to remain subscribed. in the past 12 months, how many books from them have you read, and how many have you actually enjoyed? in my opinion, unless you've read an enjoyed the majority of books you've recieved in the past year, it might be time to unsubscribe. also always know that if a particular month's selection really interests you, you can simply buy the non-subscription version of the book without paying for all the ones that don't interest you.

like many book lovers, i enjoy wandering aimlessly around the bookstore even if i don't get anything, but if impulse buying books is an issue for you don't go to bookstores for fun. stay away from book-specific online stores. if you're spending issue is really bad, it might be time to block book-related social media tags (aka abandon booktok).

if you have an issue with your unread books getting out of control, set aside a physical space for your physical to-be-read and always ensure that your unread books can fit inside that space. if it starts to overflow, thats your sign that you need to ban yourself from buying books and focus on the books you already have (and then actually stick to that!!).

i personally have a three-tiered utility cart that i use (they're really common, you can find them a lot of places, but mine is specifically from ikea). it has a little wooden table lid that goes on the top tier that prevents me from storing anything in that layer. my unread books go in the bottom two tiers. if they get to the point that, to store them all, i have to remove the lid and start putting them on the top tier, i know that i need to slow down in my book buying and stay away from the book store. if, after that, it gets to the point where the entire top tier is full, then i know that it's time for a full book-buying ban until they're all read.

other methods i've seen people use: keep a separate, much smaller bookshelf in another part of the house. keep them in stacks but use a ruler to measure how tall the stacks get, and go on a ban if they get above a certain height. limit unread books to how many can comfortably fit on the bedside table. etc.

in general, it's best to NOT store unread books on the shelf with your other books. if they're on your shelf next to all your read books, you may not really be able to comprehend how many unread books you have, which can lead to the number getting out of hand.

and if you're buying books less for the pleasure of reading them and more for the pleasure of buying them (aka you genuinely not as a joke say "buying books and reading books are two different hobbies")... babygirl you have a shopping addiction </3

special editions

a lot of book influencers have a lot of special editions of books, but rarely have they read all of them. a lot of people really like collecting special editions, which is why my advice to unsubscribe from book boxes might, perhaps, be difficult.

however, many people who own a lot of these special editions don't really care about what's inside the book. rather, they care about the clout that comes with having a lot of special editions. even if they aren't an influencer, if you consume a lot of book content, you might get a feeling of superiority knowing that you have this type of collection that your favorite creators have.

essentially, when you go through your special editions, treat them the same as your other books from earlier but also ask yourself:

(1) is there anything actually special about this special edition? some special editions have exclusive bonus content such as cut chapters, interviews with the author, special art on the inside, et cetera; is this one of those or is it just the trade version with a recolored cover?

(2) if i have multiple different special editions of the same book, is there anything to actually distinguish them? do they have different exclusive bonus conent? different exclusive covers made by different talented artists? or are they essentially the same, except this cover is a slightly different shade of red, and this one has gold foiling in a slightly different spot?

(3) assuming i've read it, did this book actually mean something to me? do i care enough about this book to want a special copy of it? if i thought it was just okay, or even disliked it, wouldn't it be better off in the hands of someone who has it down as one of their favorite books of all time?

if you're going over your book box subscriptions and you say that you wouldn't be interesting in reading a certain book if you don't get your hands on the special edition, remeber that your experience of reading will be exactly the same if you have the exclusive special edition hardback or the standard trade paperback. it's like the tiktok trend; if you're only interested in this book if you have a special edition, you're not really interested in the book. you're interested in the clout.

essentially, the base thing you have to consider is: do you want this rare, expensive copy because the book actually means something to you, or because you want the online social status that comes from having a rare, expensive copy?

conclusion

once again, the main point is: be more mindful about the books you buy.

actually think about if you're interested in reading something instead of buying books you'll never read on a whim. think about whether your buying something for yourself or for clout.

and remember that libraries exist!! donate books to your library, donate funds to your library, borrow books from your library, etc. if you like audiobooks or ebooks, download whatever app your library uses. if your library doesn't have a book that you'd like to read, put in a request and they might purchase. participate in your library's events and activities. get involved in your library. show your local library the love it deserves!!!

bye. if you have another tip about breaking or preventing bad book habits, feel free to reblog w/ your tip.

[ckmstudies]

June 11th:

I've really fallen off my study game. I got a massive headache yesterday and wasn't able to dedicate any time to studying after spending all day with my mom. I was supposed to have finished area two of my study course, including taking the area two practice test and the first mini exam, but I just finished the course material for the last module of area two tonight. So even though I'm going to be about a day behind schedule, going to spend all day tomorrow reviewing areas one and two and take the first mini exam on Tuesday. I need a 50% on the mini exam to move on to the third area which might be more difficult than I'd like it to be. I did just over 16 and half hours of studying this week which is about an hour more than last week but my goal was 20 hours this week. Next week's goal is 25 hours so I've got to find some extra motivation soon!

Today's accounting topic: The use of information systems in an audit and what an auditor needs to change about their audit when a client is paperless.

Other activity: I've been getting back into reading recently! I'm reading for about 30 minutes before bed each night and I've been watching some booktube videos to see what's new out there that everyone is talking about.

[just-antithings]

It's official, antis are now attacking published authors.

Oh this has been happening for a while, mainly within booktwt circles (booktok too but I haven't personally seen much of it and can't name off the top of my head drama I've seen there).

Some instances have gotten big enough to end up being noticed outside book twitter (it's almost always YA booktwt too...) like when some YA authors bashed their old English teachers for making them read "problematic" classics, or when Becky Albertalli got harassed so much, she came out as bi (and then get attacked again by an ex-Buzzfeed youtuber that said Albertalli had still been privileged for "appearing straight" and insinuating closeted queer people are inherently in a privileged position compared to out queer people). Then there were the booktubers and bookstagammers harassing Leigh Bardugo about writing a rape scene in her first adult book Ninth House, to the point that Bardugo felt the need to talk about her past trauma. One booktuber I've seen apologized in a later video, though based on some of her later videos, I have doubts she's trying to change /that/ much.

I'm not sure if the other anon is talking about Nyla K when mentioning the author who got their books taken down from Amazon (it wouldn't surprise me if it's happened to plenty of other authors), but Nyla K has been called pedophilic, primarily because of their m/m/m stepcest/twincest (twin teens and their stepdad, pretty sure) book, where the twins are underage (17? I think?). The booktuber I mentioned above called her writing "pedo incest" in passing, as a "gotcha" because Nyla K is friends with another author said booktuber was ranting about.

Then there was what happened with Ava Reid's book Juniper & Thorn, her twt thread saying it almost didn't get published, due to some of the dark topics in the /gothic horror/ book.

And all the authors I've mentioned other than Nyla K are traditionally published. While many publishing houses have their own drama and issues, harassment like the above isn't going to hurt as badly as if they'd been self-published. Nyla K having their books removed from Amazon has likely hurt their earnings, and while it looks like they've leaned into it (their IG last I checked says "banned & proud"), it's still a fight they shouldn't have to fight, just because the neopuritans decided their books shouldn't exist.

And in the case of the publisher first thinking Reid's book was "too dark", I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have worried about that if Reid was a man. It's been said over and over, but all of this backlash from antis is hurting minorities the most.

as it always does and always will

also they’ve been attacking neil gaiman for a good while now

[bibliophilecats]

Mid-Year Book Freakout

I saw this going around on booktube and @theinquisitxor's post and since I like this kind of book tag, here is my version.

1.Best Book so far in 2024: I actually read many highly enjoyable books this year - I gave 7/28 books full marks. Among those, I want ot highlight The Grace of Wild Things by Heather Fawcett. A bitter-sweet middle-grade novel, losely inspired by Anne of Green Gables (the author says it is a reimagining but to me it felt more "inspired by").

2.Best Sequel you've read so far in 2024: Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell. When I first heard that there would be more Simon Snow books, I was really sceptic (well, I thought "money grab"), but now that I have actually read the books, I am amazed at how much I enjoyed them. And while the second book in the trilogy is completely different in tone and setting and the third actually gets to the main story again, I loved that in the second book, we get to see Simon struggle with the fact that "the big fight" he had been trained for all his life was supposedly over and he was without any idea what to do now with his life.

3.New Release you haven't read yet, but want to: Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner

4.Anticipated Release for the second half of the year: I have big hopes for The Masquerades of Spring by Ben Aaronovitch

5.Biggest Disappointment: Julie Caplin's Secret Cove in Croatia and other books from that series. I read The Little Teashop in Tokyio some years ago and enjoyed it a lot - unfortunately, it seems that time was a fluke, a perfect alignment of circumstances because I tried three other books of hers and found them boring or DNF'd. The Croatia novel annoyed me so much, I had to refrain from throwing the book across the room (if I hate it, at least I might get a little resell money out of it).

6.Biggest Surprise: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. I saw this book everywhere, which already put me off. And I do not particularly like the cover. My sister loved it though and convinced me to try it too. It was a good decision.

7.Favorite New Author: Darcie Little Badger. I love Elatsoe and hope to read more stories set in that world.

8.Newest Fictional Crush: none so far.

9.Newest Favorite Character: Mallory Viridian from Mur Lafferty's Station Eternity.

10.Book that made you cry: The Grace of Wild Things by Heather Fawcett

11.Book that made you happy: The Simon Snow trilogy be Rainbow Rowell.

12.Most Beautiful Book you've bought/acquired this year: Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands, UK edition.

13.Book you need to read by the end of the year: In the Serpent's Wake by Rachel Hartman. I have already forgotten nearly everything from Tess of the Road so I should probably read that one too. Actually, I want to read all sequels before I forget too much from the previous book(s).

I tag @linebetween @the-forest-library @lizziethereader @books-are-portals and everyone else who wants to do this.

[broodybuck]

Title: Slow Burns Are Overrated

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes

Rating: E

Tags: 18+ explicit smut, social media AU, no powers AU, pre-serum Steve, booktuber Bucky, internet famous, top Bucky, bottom Steve, couch sex

[ao3 link]

Steve's not the biggest reader, he can admit this. But he is obsessed with watching one, very specific booktuber online. And alright, fine, Steve will admit it's only because the guy is hot.

Bucky Barnes can talk anyone's ear off about every novel Steve has never touched, but Steve will watch every single minute that Bucky uploads. As long as his beautiful face is on the screen.

Bucky doesn't talk about much else other than books and his cat Alpine who makes an occasional appearance in his videos. And so, Steve truthfully had no idea where the guy lives. He could've guessed New York simply from the slight accent in his voice but the city is huge and maybe he's from New York but has moved away. There are a thousand excuses Steve could tell himself when he happens to walk into the man himself in the small Brooklyn bookstore down the street from his apartment.

And yes, Steve doesn't read. He actually has never stepped foot in the place before today but he was walking past it and instantly thought of that cute face he watches online and just thought, why not? So he walked in for the first time ever and right into Bucky Barnes. Just as he was rounding the corner from the romance section because of course that would be the section he was browsing.

Steve's stunned the moment he recognizes the brown, wavy hair in front of him. The cute, dimpled face he's replayed for hours on end.

"Sorry, didn't see you there," Bucky says but the words only ring in Steve's ears because the voice matches, the face fits. It's Bucky freaking Barnes standing in front of him! He can't get over it.

"Are you okay?"

Steve quickly blinks out of his trance.

"What— um, yes. Sorry, I'm sorry for bumping into you."

"It was my bad, I wasn't looking," Bucky defends with a smile.

Dammit, that smile looks gorgeous on him in real life. Steve's mouth falls open slightly, he's so staring again.

"Romance fan?"

"What?" Steve asks shaking himself free again.

Bucky motions to the book in his hand. Steve looks down to see the romance novel he picked up. It was the last book Bucky raved about on his channel. A gay romance about two boys from the city. Steve couldn't help himself, he got curious.

"Oh, um. Actually, I'm not much of a reader. Trying it out."

"Well, that one's really good," Bucky tells him. "One of my personal faves."

"Yeah, I kn—" Steve stops himself. He can't humiliate himself anymore by admitting how often he watches this man on his laptop. "I've heard it's good, I mean. Hopefully I like it."

"I hope you do, let me know."

"How... would I?" Steve stammers like an idiot.

"I'm gonna be reading in the back. I spend most Sundays here. If you drop by, maybe I'll see you again," Bucky says, he even sounds hopeful.

Steve can barely form words, he's too shocked. He bites his tongue and nods.

Bucky smiles and walks around him to head to the back of the store where comfortable chairs are sprinkled into the corners.

Steve knows exactly where he'll be next Sunday.

~~~

Steve has never read a book so damn fast. He reads the entire novel in a week. Which for him is unbelievable. He knows Bucky can read a book in a few hours, he's documented this many times.

Still, Bucky doesn't have to know how long it took Steve. All that matters is that he can go back to the bookstore and tell Bucky all his thoughts.

The next Sunday, Steve finds him right where he said he'd be. In the back corner of the store, nestled into a deep red armchair with a novel in his hands.

He looks lovely, Steve takes a moment to stare until Bucky's eyes catch the slim figure lingering ahead of him and looks up.

Steve raises the book in his hand in a desperate attempt to prove why he is standing there.

"I read it," Steve says, stepping a little closer so he doesn't need to speak too loudly. He stops in front of the chair Bucky's sitting in. Bucky stares up at him with those bright blue eyes. Steve swears his legs could give out at any moment now.

"What'd you think?" Bucky asks.

"I loved it!" Steve exclaims and little too loudly. He winces and blushes. "Shit."

Bucky chuckles and stands so they're more eye to eye. Except they're not because Bucky is taller than him, so now those blue eyes are angeled down at him. Steve's not sure which is worse.

"I'm glad, what was your favorite part?"

Steve answers without really thinking, just genuinely blurts out what he liked best, "How much they wanted each other."

Bucky's eyebrows raise high and Steve's face goes hot.

"I mean, the build-up. You know? I guess I like a slow burn — I heard that's the word for it," Steve rambles on and leaves out that he learned all these terms from Bucky himself.

"Yeah, slow burn," Bucky smiles. "I like that too."

"Yeah," Steve nods and then suddenly, he's lost at what to say. He looks down and clutches the book tightly in his hands.

"If you liked that one, I could suggest a few more," Bucky offers. Steve's eyes jump back up.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Bucky says and starts leading them right back to the romance section. "How steamy do you like stuff?"

"Steamy?" Steve asks like an idiot. What else could steamy mean? But it's too late. Bucky turns around with a smirk on his face.

"You know, raunchy. The book you read is pretty tame. But if you want more spice, I know a really good one."

"Yeah, I could do with more spice," Steve lets slip and he can't believe he's just said it.

Bucky looks pleased though. He spins back around and scans the shelves for a mere second before finding the book he wants. He hands it over and Steve recognizes the cover immediately. It has orange flames and a rose on the front. He remembers Bucky reviewing it in one of his recent videos and rating the book a level 5 for spice. That's the highest level. Steve's face burns just thinking about it.

"G-great," Steve says nervously. "I'll let you know what I think when I'm done."

"I definitely want all the details," Bucky croons.

Steve's eyes go wide at the impish tone in his voice. The idea that he wants to talk about all the sex in the book. And god, Steve wants to go over every last naughty word with him and he hasn't even read it yet.

He rushes home to do just that.

~~~

Steve beats his previous record and finishes the second book in four days. Bucky would be proud, he thinks. And then he remembers every sex scene in the book — which was twelve, he counted — and gets hot all over just thinking about them. They were so graphic and all Steve thought about while reading them was Bucky.

He still has a few days before Sunday. So, in the meantime, Steve opens his laptop and sees a new video uploaded from Bucky. He clicks on it and begins watching right away.

Bucky starts out with his classic introduction and then gets into the books he's read this week. He holds up a book Steve recognizes and it takes a second for Steve to recall it's the book Bucky was reading in the store last week.

Bucky begins reviewing the novel with a soft smile. It's such a coy, sweet smile that Steve smiles too. He can't believe he's met this man in real life, he can't believe — Bucky's talking about him?!

Steve replays the clip.

"I guess that's what happens when you meet a cute guy in the bookstore. Leaves an impression on you, so I'm bumping this book up to a 3.5 rating."

Steve blinks and plays it again. His ears must be deceiving him but no. Bucky's talking about how he has fond memories of the book because of who he met while he was reading it last week. And Steve knows it was him. Saw the very book in Bucky's hands. Was at the same bookstore with him.

Steve sucks in a breath. Does this mean he actually has a chance?

~~~

Bucky's in the very same chair when Sunday arrives. This time, when Steve steps into the back corner of the bookstore, Bucky notices him immediately. Almost like he was waiting for him. He stands and smiles happily.

"Hey."

"Hey B—" and that's when Steve realizes they never exchanged names. And when Steve realizes how creepy it is that he knows exactly who Bucky is and hasn't told him yet. "I'm sorry."

Bucky looks at him funny.

"I uh, know who you are. I watch your videos," Steve confesses.

"Oh," Bucky responds simply. Steve can't tell if he's mad or not.

"I should've told you. I just couldn't believe I happened to run into you."

"So, you're actually a reader?" Bucky asks.

"Oh no, that wasn't a lie," Steve laughs. "The day I met you was the first time I ever stepped foot in here. You uh, inspired me... kinda."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm sure you get that all the time," Steve assumes.

"Not really."

"You don't?"

"Most of my viewers are already long-time readers and most people who come up to me don't even want to talk about books, they just tell me I'm hot," Bucky explains.

"I can't exactly argue there," Steve says quietly.

Bucky smiles, surprised, "I wouldn't mind it so much from you."

Steve rubs his neck awkwardly.

"I uh, watched your last video. I thought you might've been talking about me."

"I was," Bucky confirms and it feels surreal to hear.

"You're... interested?" Steve whispers.

Bucky looks confused, then frowns.

"Wasn't it obvious?"

"I mean, I kinda got the feeling but you're like way out of my league."

Bucky shakes his head, "Man, I've been waiting all week to ask you your name and now I'm out of your league?"

"No, you're outta mine! You could have anyone," Steve readily corrects and hears how ridiculous he sounds. "And it's Steve."

"It's nice to meet you, Steve," Bucky smiles, ignoring everything else.

Steve smiles much too wide and looks away.

"Um, so I read the book you recommended," Steve lifts it up in his hand. "It definitely had spice."

"Wanna talk about it over coffee?" Bucky offers.

Steve stares at him. Perhaps it's the romance books talking or maybe the unexpected confidence that emerges from Bucky Barnes telling scrawny Steve Rogers he's in his league.

"I got coffee at my apartment."

~~~

He's making out with Bucky Barnes. Holy shit, he's making out with Bucky Barnes on his couch, Steve thinks as he straddles the man and sticks his tongue in his mouth.

He never thought it would get this far. Then again, he knew what he was offering when he suggested his apartment and Bucky didn't really hesitate... so there's that.

Bucky grabs him by his waist and shoves him down against his crotch. Steve has to pull away to moan at the gloriously hard friction between them.

"You know, I don't usually do this," Steve decides to say then.

"Right," Bucky breathes, "you like slow burns."

Steve grins and kisses him for that. Their kiss turns desperate again and soon they're pushing off each other's clothes.

"This slow enough for you?" Bucky teases as he's pushing the head of his cock in. He'd been opening Steve up for the past twenty minutes so Steve's well and ready for nothing slow.

"Slow burns are overrated," Steve growls.

Bucky laughs darkly.

"Fuck slow burns," Bucky agrees and then pushes in further.

He's still going much too slow for Steve but the burn is delicious so he decides he can pick his battles. He waits until Bucky bottoms out and they both make a satisfied noise at the feeling.

When Bucky starts fucking him in earnest, Steve's suddenly reminded of his surreal reality. His internet crush with 800k subscribers is fucking him in his apartment on a Sunday afternoon.

"Jesus, fuck," Steve hisses.

He's definitely not going slow anymore, thank god. Bucky's fingers are digging holes in his skin, holding his hips back as he keeps fucking him harder and faster.

"Fucking christ, Stevie," Bucky says, the nickname rolling off his tongue so easily. "You're so tight."

"Split me open," Steve grits and right when he says it, he realizes that was a line from the book they both read.

Bucky groans like he likes it and swears again.

"I'm close," Bucky rasps.

Before Steve can urge him on, all of Bucky's weight pushes him down into the couch and Bucky lies on top of him pumping his release into him until he finally slows and breathes heavily by Steve's ear.

"Did you?" Bucky asks.

Steve shakes his head and Bucky lifts up instantly. He turns Steve over, grabs his cock and starts stroking him. Pressing breathy kisses along his jaw until Steve comes.

"Fuck," Steve breathes turning to look at Bucky.

"That was amazing," Bucky smiles. He kisses him on the lips, hard and long enough that Steve feels like he can go again. Bucky pulls away still breathing heavy.

"Better than all those romance books?" Steve teases.

Bucky playfully glares at him.

"Way better than fiction, sweetheart. You're a goddamn dream."

[esta-elavaris]

Do you have any writing YouTubers that you watch? Or writing streams and the like, I’d love to know what your writing process is like!! 💞💞

I don't have many that come to mind, I'm sorry! When it comes to creatives on YouTube I tend to lean more towards folk like Rachel Maksy and fibre artists rather than writers - I'm kind of leery of a lot of writing YouTubers because the ones I happen across give me the impression of being more concerned with looking like writers, or telling others how to write, rather than actually writing. Like one recently who tried to act like 2.5k words was insane and unrealistic and not doable.

It's the sort of thing that just can't be taught beyond reading a lot and writing a lot, even my creative writing teachers at uni flat out admitted as much and focused on helping us be the best writers we could be in our own individual ways rather than being all "you must write for three hours per night and before you start you must set your story out into this detailed plan" etc. so I always wince when I see influencers hitting out with advice like that, and a lot of them do because they want to be the ones with ✨the answers✨ // the "right" way of doing things, when there just? Isn't one? Like seeking out advice and new methods to experiment with is all well and good, but I've been in writing groups before where folk have posted showing off the stack of 30+ writing "how to" books they'd just bought (not an exaggeration), and like? At some point you need to just write, get feedback on it, and work things out from there, rather than reading theory and using that as an excuse to avoid actually writing until you've read all 34584 books about it...most of which will give wildly contradictory advice from one to the other. I get the temptation people have to be like "but if I read all of these books before I start my story, my story will be PERFECT from the very first draft!!!" but that's just not the case.

Fic is actually amazing in that respect because you can get feedback for your general style and test out what people do and don't like about it. It got me out of my habit of stupidly heavy introspection in every single chapter when people were like "bestie, enough" during Little By Little 🤡 Not saying there aren't any good writing-focused YouTubers out there! I just haven't found many that I vibe with 💀 my favourite booktubers are Emmie Reads and throneofpages, and CarolynMarieReads (who does also discuss writing!)

I do really really like book The War of Art by Steven Pressfield in terms of other media about writing, I reread it every now and then and I buy it for every creative in my life, it's phenomenal - a lot about how we get in our own way when it comes to creative endeavours and how to not do that, and how procrastination is the enemy. He's done quite a few podcast appearances, I think, if you don't want to get the book! I know Joe Rogan himself uhhh isn't great but his podcast is actually worth watching when he has a good guest, and Steven Pressfield is among them, but he's also been on others all over YouTube if you're not willing to tolerate Joe. Steven King's memoir On Writing was also good, from what I remember of it.

Mostly I just take the stuff David Goggins says, though, and apply it to creative avenues rather than the workout-geared stuff people usually use it for, but I get that he's not for everybody. He just makes a lot of good points about chasing fear and doing stuff when you don't want to, which is a lot of what I struggle with when it comes to writing, I'm always convinced each chapter is absolute dog crap until I'm told otherwise lol.

The content I engage with on that end of things does tend to be more mindset and general, though, rather than stuff that gets into the mechanics of writing. I'm pretty lucky in that I was obsessed with reading pretty much as soon as I learned how, and writing quickly after that, so I learned a lot by reading and mimicking whatever I was enjoying at the time before I'd been at it long enough to develop my own "style". Even now I can look at stuff I write and see the influences, there are just enough of them now that it ends up being its own thing, so I don't approach things from a very technical "ah yes, here I will use free indirect discourse because this will add depth to this character's perspective" or whatever, I'm just feeling my way through based on what I know has/hasn't worked in the past.

I'm not into the whole side of things where people present it as "your story should have X amount of beats and it should follow this graph if you want to write this genre, and these three tropes", it's too scientific and it takes the joy out of it for me, personally. I go into stories with a vague idea of what I want to happen and half of the fun is working out how to get there. I usually know like two or three things that will happen in a story when I start it and the rest just happens as I write. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't! The only indicator I tend to have is how much an idea scares me. The ones where I go in confident are always boring, the ones where I'm certain I won't be able to pull it off are always grand.

The best analogy I've heard for it is that it's like walking through the dark with a flashlight - as you move forward, you can see just far enough ahead that you know where you're going in the immediate future, but you don't know what's at the end of the road.

The only thing I'd really, really recommend, beyond lots of reading and experimenting with what works for you, is daily writing. I think my stuff improved so stupidly quickly when I started that, and the hardest part of writing is actually sitting down to write rather than the writing itself, so if you write daily you take the "ugh, I really should write today" out of it, and everything is easier from there. It's not even difficult, either, I've had days where my writing was done on my phone on the bus on the way to or from somewhere. It's just about showing up.

I hope some of this massive essay was helpful 💀 I'm super flattered that you're interested in my process! 💜 Feel free to ask any questions anytime I love an excuse to inflict dissertations on people.

[canpandaspvp]

KEEP TALKING ABOUT THE SBI FIC THING IM REALLY INTERESTED!! I've always wanted to study that side of the fandom under a microscope but it's scary.

buddy that place is WILDDDD. ok so things you need to know abt sbi side

1. they're damn good writers

2. i don't think they know how to write fanfiction

3. in another universe they create some very well known, published authors

because essentially everything they write is so fucking detached the second it enters an au. with dnf and the general dt side of things, there are differences. sure often times it's a bit more identifiable as fanfiction but that's not a BAD thing. it literally just means people know how to write fanfiction which is what they were intending to do anyways so like hooray

with sbi, i've read SEVERAL (as in i can go into my bookmarks right now and count out at least 10) fics that have just changed and deviated so far from the original source material that it's hard to even understand what they're talking about. in that regard, 100% dnfers get caught out before sbiers, but that's only in the circumstance that they get published at all. sbiers are really creative -- TOO creative, obviously to the point of creation ocs with names and descriptions that often times only vaguely resemble phil, tommy, wilbur, and techno -- which gives them the upper hand publication wise.

that leads into dark sbi which, let it be known, i have NEVER EVER liked. i personally thought it was harsh and unenjoyable but also goddamn did they make some good stories. obviously i read them bc even though i hated the vampires and the kidnapping and shit, it was good. the upper hand of writing fanfiction is that shit is more fast paced and attention grabbing, due to the lack of exposition and shit. so sbiers likely get published first, get discovered on booktube (not booktok cause they only read romance that's packed with tropes to the point of dysfunction), and they at least semi-spread from there until someone is who can't handle any difficult topics in fiction gets upset. but that's a different kind of controversy entirely

sbiers are good authors but they're stuck in this weird limbo of "it's not fanfiction it's just inspired original content" which sort of creates a new genre entirely. they pull some good fanfiction elements into its own realm entirely and it's really frustrating when you want to read fanfiction of something but if you're looking for something fast paced and good to read that aligns with the weird fanon universe they've created, they're your subfandom.

a lot of fics also appeal to personal issues that people are able to project onto easily (i speak from experience) so, while dnf is typically shorter, more accurate, and lighthearted, sbi has dynamics that people often crave in their real life and more people that they can insert themselves into. um that sounds weird but ykwim

they also have The AU's which dnf has but it's just not to the extent that sbi has it. the trifecta:

1. superhero aus

2. royalty aus

3. foster care aus

ran that tag for a good 2 years minimum. those are the sort of Peter Parker Goes On A Field Trip To Stark Industries type of aus where you have a good baseline that people get attached to, so you can sort of rewrite the same story different enough that people feel like they're reading smth new each time. and it works!! if people were to publish an sbi fic (which would likely fall into one of those 3 categories), it'd be realllyyyyyy recognizable just bc it was such a staple in the community. ifl im missing some other big categories but those are just the aus that i remembered off the top of my head that showed up a fuckton

don't get me wrong, i ❤️ dnf fanfiction and you def could publish it if you tried hard enough, but those authors do shit right. the characterization is so niche and specific, the dynamics are so unique, and often times, there just isn't enough in one fic to build and create a story. so much of dnf fanfiction relies on the fact that you already know those two, you know who they are, how they behave, their stakes regarding each other, etc etc. with sbi, the authors end up essentially writing their own stories so much so that they have to tell the story like it's a novel rather than fanfiction. it's very interesting imo esp bc fanon tommy for example is so extremely, incomprehensibly different from c!tommy or cc!tommy, with only enough hits of similarity to keep you hooked into the story with the illusion that you're actually reading the same character, when more often then not, it's like 1/4 tommy, 1/4 fandom misinterpretation interpretation, 1/4 author projection, and 1/4 recycled oc. again, speaking from experience.

also, sbi authors are pretty cocky about their writing, and it's really noticeable when they write a fic with the intention of changing the names and couple minor details to submit to an editing company for a few rounds of revision before they publish their nyt bestseller a few years down the line. they didn't need to leave the fandom to abandon their shit. lorehead analysts have a decent grasp of their content (but i'm biased), but lorehead writers?? different monster entirely. the second dsmp stands for something like "delicious small mtown pforsuperherovillanvigilanteshenanigans" then you know they're too far gone. they're attached to THEIR characters, not the dsmp's; if it means sacrificing the original source material for real life recognition, they'd do it in a heartbeat. i don't blame them but the point still stands.

this is all over the place i'm so sorry idek if i said anything you wanted to know but

tl;dr sbi fanfiction sort of became its own medium between fanfiction and original work so they're more likely to get published, but they fall into the same dynamics in the same type of universes that would easily get them figured out. dnf writers just seem to mind their damn business more. anyway, most dnf writers that left the fandom seem to want to completely forget that they ever did That. usually they just orphan/delete and move on cause they're embarrassed.

sorry again i'm so not good at explaining my thoughts but i did NOT spend 2 1/2 years reading sbi fanfiction 24/7 for nothing. i need to put my experience to use somehow so thanks for letting me do that 😭😭😭

[marscia]

On life post-grad and how I've been, where I've been

It’s been almost a year since I finished my bachelor’s degree. Funny though, I don’t miss university at all, when all I could think of before graduation was how much my life would probably feel so weird without uni. But I think I just felt so burnt out in those last few months that all I wanted was to wrap things up and move on—which I did quite easily, to my surprise. Though, despite wanting to write about my experience in terms of graduating uni and shifting to working full-time in corporate (which was quite the change of environment!) sooner, I just could not get the right words out of my system and was always faced with a blank Word document. Now that it’s been over ten months since, I’m starting to get my rhythm back.

I now work in marketing for an e-commerce website that houses international luxury fashion, beauty, and lifestyle brands. I execute and produce (mostly) video content for the website’s social platforms, mainly Tiktok, Instagram, and Facebook. A lot of people I know describe their first few months of post-grad as overwhelming, confusing, etc., but luckily it wasn’t the case for me (which I’m very thankful for). I was given the opportunity to apply for Vogue and managed to submit my writing portfolio and even snagged an interview, but after receiving a job offer from a different company that met my requests, I took it without hesitation. 

I immediately started two weeks after graduation. So far, the work environment has been wonderful. The company values work/life balance and I always get to enjoy my weekends and hours outside of work. I’m aware that this is a privilege not many people have, so, I’m extremely grateful for it. 

What really threw me off, though, was the sudden shift in where most of my mental energy goes. In university, I was always thinking in the context of theory application and research. But now, at work, I’m required to think in the context of aesthetics and what makes something visually appealing and how to effectively translate that into an equally appealing visual content. It’s a different kind of challenge; though I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss being directly involved in academics and writing essays.

I still fall behind on some days and forget to eat lunch, or drink water to keep my body hydrated. I sometimes spend way too much time on my phone and lose what could have been a couple more hours of sleep. Reading slumps hit me more often now than it did when I was a student; because no one warns you that when you start working full-time in corporate, you get home every day, tired and socially exhausted, and most days all you want to do is close your eyes and take that nap you’ve been dreaming of since lunch. 

But I try. I’ve managed to get back into the habit of doing my skincare every night before bed. I watch Booktube to inspire me to read and lately it’s been such a big help; I’m slowly getting back into reading again. I bought a new shelf to organize the stacks of new books that have been piling up all over my room the past couple of months—now it looks so pretty standing next to my desk. Last month, I decluttered my closet to make room for new clothes. This weekend, I’m planning to buy new sheets and a comforter I’ve been eyeing for a few weeks now. I’m doing alright.

It’s comforting though, that one day you’re crying about finals and the next, you’re drinking a hot cup of tea on a Monday night after a long day at work, telling yourself that you did good and tomorrow’s another day. And you realize that no one’s after you. There’s no need to rush and everything will be fine. Things always figure themselves out, anyway.

[commander-gloryforge]

okay bit of a ramble incoming but. me and writing, we havent had the best relationship lately, mostly because ive been dealing with imposter syndrome a lot, and writer spaces dont seem to be as welcome as they used to be to me. but for the past months ive been trying to get into a more healthy mindset about writing. its just difficult because many of the author communities im apart of dont seem to agree with said mindset.

so. heres a thing that happened. theres this book series, a ya romantasy, that kind of went viral on booktube/booktok for being mostly shitty. i've watched a couple of reviews of it, most of them negative, can generally agree with most criticisms of the book, and it is, in my mind, ticked off as a "bad book". dont be like that author, dont do what she does, dont write like this, everyone will hate your book.

me and my father were sitting in the garden, next to eachother, me writing and him listening to an audiobook. he tells me about how good it is and how much he likes it. theres dragons, its so cool, its such an interesting world, he's at book two now and cant wait for the third one to be released. to my surprise, its the exact book that booktubers everywhere talk shit about. now ive seen people on the internet that liked the book, but theyre just some guys on the web and i dont know them and their opinion doesnt mean much. but my dad? i know him. i know his tastes. and he likes it.

and i think that made me realise something. i still dont like that book, but someone, a person whose taste and opinions i (usually) value, does. he doesnt care about the plot holes that others see, he doesnt know about the discourse surrounding certain tropes, he likes it because its fantasy, and theres dragons, and theres magic, the fact that theres a disabled protagonist is cool to him, and THERES DRAGONS! and so many other people also like it. for whatever reason.

its a "bad book", apparently, thats what most people call it, but to some its a good book. and if someone just constantly keeps finding issues with a book, then it wasnt for them in the first place wasnt it? critiques and negative reviews and rants are still valid and, i'd say, needed. but in the end, they dont matter much. the book isnt offensive or "problematic" or anything but it really is just kinda bad and people still like it and it really is fine.

my writing is gonna be bad to someone. my writing style is convoluted and kind of silly and just. bad. okay. and there are people that still like it. that doesnt mean i dont want to improve and get better as a writer, i do. for the people that like my stuff, for myself, i will get better, but like. its fine. im fine. someone will like what i write. there will be bad parts of my writing that some people will hate, and some will ignore, and thats the fact for every book and every kind of art.

ill be fine. ill just keep writing and things will be fine.

[bisexualchrissycunningham]

Readers, I am on the verge of giving up on the romance genre. I need people to recommend books that I won't hate.

Please, I'm dying. I just wanna read cute stories about love without a bunch of regressive gender stereotypes or just straight-up abuse. Is that really so much to ask??? Anyway I'm gonna list things I love and hate about the genre and perhaps some of you kind people could make some suggestions based on that?

Romances I've liked: Emily Henry's Happy Place (I actually cried at this one!); Talia Hibbert's Get a Life, Chloe Brown; Evie Dunmore's A League of Extraordinary Women series; Alexis Hall's Boyfriend Material; Casey MacQuiston's Red White and Royal Blue (although the politics in this one really turned me off the first time I read it); Meg Cabot's The Princess Diaries series (a classic); Sangu Mandanna's The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches (I love a romance that has a lovable cast of supporting characters and some other elements going on beyond the love story!); Jen Wang's The Prince & the Dressmaker

Stuff I hate in romance: Most enemies to lovers (cause the most recent wave of this trope is primarily men abusing women in some way, but if you've got a suggestion that isn't that, please tell me), when Being Tall is treated as a entire personality for men, generally men being So Large and women being So Smol cause it almost always leans into weird gender shit that makes me uncomfortable, super innocent virginal girls who are almost childlike being "corrupted" by mean fuckboys, the entire dark romance genre (are you seeing the trend about things I hate... lol), Instalove (Chanel Cleeton's Next Year in Havana was SO guilty of this)

Romances I disliked/DNF'd: Abby Jimenez's Part of Your World (the female lead was insufferable!); Jasmine Guillory's The Wedding Date (some of the character work was interesting but I just got bored with the story tbh); Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan's The Royal We (just SO boring but that's what I get for reading Will & Kate fanfiction); anything that started as R*ylo fic cause they, and Twilight before them, are basically the blueprint for what I find fundamentally un-romantic about a lot of romance (I might be willing to give something by Ali H*zlewood a try, as a few Booktubers I trust have said her writing has gotten better with each new book she's published BUT the word steminist is the most cringe thing I've ever heard so maybe not)

Romances that sound interesting but I've been burned so much I just don't know: Helen Hoang's the Kiss Quotient; Beth O'Leary's The Flatshare; Lyssa Kay Adams' The Bromance Book Club; Olivia Waite's The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics, India Holton's Dangerous Damsels series, Nisha Sharma's Dating Dr. Dil

Heeeelp.

[ssolessurvivor]

ughh now that I've been home all morning my brain is telling me that I'm worthless and will never amount to anything, I'm working on getting books out that I will realistically never read again, dusting and reorganizing, cleaning which is needed. catching up on booktube videos which is calming, helping me feel ok but then again tanking me back into the depths.

ever since that one crazy coworker of mine basically cussed me out about six years ago telling me I'm a terrible human being and she hopes I fail in life, why does that always come back to haunt me when I have every right to use my time off whenever I feel I need it.

[chellyfishing]

so i was listening to someone talk about adult literacy rates and it made me sad bc i know what it’s like to really really want to read but struggle to do so! so i thought i would offer some tips i think might help if you just can’t seem to read anymore:

find what you need to focus. do you need complete silence, do you need lo-fi music, do you need to turn off your phone, do you need to pound down some coffee? whatever it takes, whatever works for you, but if the setup you have going right now isn’t doing it, change it up till you find what does.

read what you want!!! reading broadly is an important and admirable goal but if you struggle to read at all then don’t worry about any of that. read pulp, read ya, read bodice rippers, whatever the heck grabs you. the important thing is that you read at all!!

watch booktubers. this might sound silly but i love to watch booktubers talk about books. i think this can be helpful for people who struggle to read for a lot of reasons! one is that it can give you ideas for what to read, because booktubers read a LOT so there are lot of recommendations. another is that it can just get you excited to read! listening to people talk about plots and characters and so on can really make you want to pick something up asap. i follow sooooo many that i can’t list them all but if forced to pick my favorite is rachel comma reads with.

LIBRARIES. make use of libraries!!! money should not be what keeps you from reading! libraries are free and many of them offer easy borrow-from-home ebooks through apps like libby and cloud library. get a card. get multiple cards. feel good about supporting a vital public resource!

make time. this one’s hard. i’m not going to put in my dissertation here about how laziness is fake but one thing i will say is that you can, nay, must decide to make things a priority to get them done. you have to choose to read. even if it’s just a little bit in a day, make the choice to devote that time to a book.

talk to book friends. this is similar to point 3 really, just a matter of forming kind of community and discussion around the activity of reading. get friends into a book with you, let friends get you into books.

keep trying. i would hazard a guess that most of us are what’s called “mood readers,” which means what gets us to the end of a book is simply that it’s what we feel like reading. it’s okay to pick something up and put it down again as long as you make sure to keep trying till you find what hits. don’t force it if you hate it, but do make that effort to find what you don’t. and if one day things just aren’t happening, fine. try again tomorrow. that’s all. just try.

so that’s it, i think! reading is really important. it strengthens language skills, critical thinking, imagination, empathy, compassion—everyone should make it a goal to read just a little bit more than they do now. there was a poll that went around recently about how many books people read in 2023 and one of the winningest options was zero. that’s depressing!!!! WHAT WOULD LEVAR BURTON SAY ABOUT THIS?? do not let this man down!!!