i hate my books: when booktube consumerism bites

hi, i'm dee (the heroine) and this is my corner🌟

yes, we're talking about booktube consumerism which has made my unintentional book hoarding hobby a little unbearable. to put it simply, i hate all my unread books!

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[JentheLibrarianreads]

I agree with everything you’ve said here so so much!! I want to see more library book hauls on YouTube; less new releases and more “here’s this obscure books from 10 years ago that everyone’s already forgotten and I’m going to review it” 😂 I feel so much anxiety about unread books on my shelves, it feels so unnecessary. I want zero unread books on my shelves my the end of the year.

[tiffworthy]

I get really stressed when I have too many unread books on my shelf too!

[whatsdozdoing]

i think this is really interesting. I’ve only just started buying physical books so I only have books that I mostly love at the moment (there’s definitely a few that were disappointing reads). i still mostly read on e book and I think that’s saved me. HOWEVER I will say that over the past two days I have bought 5 books and so maybe the consumerism is starting to get to me…

[phrensies]

Omg I feel this every now and then. 😭 I’ve given away/donated so many books over the years and most of them I hadn’t even read. 😔 I’m trying to be better. I’ve also stopped watching book haul videos. 😭 I just need to be more financially responsible and intentional. 🤧

It’s not booktube’s fault. It’s really just my response to it. But I started excessively buying physical books when I started watching booktube. 😞 I remember when I was younger and only had a handful of books but reread them and really got the most out of them. 🥺

[pagesinthestars]

This
I feel like there's definitely books on my shelves I got because it was a "booktube fave, " and not because it was a book I felt like I genuinely wanted and would read. I feel like that's a huge part of why I fell into a slump last year was because the books I had, I didn't necessarily want to read. Big agree on what you said about booktube being a classist community. Hauls are such a big part of booktube and it gets encouraged because that's so much of the content that gets consumed, and I am over it. This is going to be the year that I read the books that I want and not give into the book buying and bending to the booktube faves.

[roshnisharma]

Thank you for talking about this. As a viewer, booktube also puts a lot of pressure to read more, which besides taking all the fun away from reading (as indulging in fiction is usually a leisure activity?) but also compels me to buy more, to “know” more, major FOMO basically … i hope you can talk about that maybe in another video.

[MckaylaKatharine]

Book content can feel so overwhelming! I am still trying to read books that released years ago, forget this year. But without new releases, I feel so behind and sometimes alone when consuming book content. My goal this year is also to read a bunch of my physical books, I have over 100 unread books and NEED to get that number down before I get too overwhelmed.

[ZebraFish]

I’ve been trying to borrow books from the library if it’s a newer release and decide to purchase it as an ebook if I like it or a physical copy if I love it.

[MercysBookishMusings]

I completely agree. This is very much where I felt a few years ago when I had too many books. It was just stressful! Now I think I'll have a 0 tbr by the end of the year and at least half of my reading is from the library. I highly recommend the library if you don't use it!
Good luck with reading your books and I hope you find some you love!

[hannahmay]

Defo have had phases of the absolute disguist vibe haha. I think it’s easier now because my shelves now aren’t in my bedroom so I don’t have to stare so often haha. I also tried to re look at it as a library of books to choose from instead of a stack of things I just spent money lol but maybe im deluding myself. This year im doing reading 5 from my shelf before I can buy one new one(which so far is showing me how much I read on NetGalley / physical arcs / library e books) so it’s definitely making me more intentional every month.

[ReadingIsLikeBreathing]

I have also fallen into the trap of only reading new releases, all those shiny bright new covers. This year I want to try to read more ‘older’ books (i hate the term backlist for me it sounds as if the books aren’t worth reading. Love your rant, because it echoes what I have been thinking 🙂

[_Mike.]

who cares about new releases... I know i certainly don't. I'll only read what I absolutely want to read and know i'll enjoy. The majority of fiction I read is either from the 70's or 80's or 90's. I ain't got time to be keeping pace with what's new so I don't even bother. Sure I read newer books too, but having the obligation to feel like you need to keep up because a handful of social media people are doing that is ridiculous.

[SlantedSpines]

I think it's also the struggle of being a mood reader and acquiring books that don't speak to us at the moment/not having enough time.. Like even when I check a stack of books from the library I want to read, I only end up getting to a few of them and then I have to return some of them and try again at a later time :, ) Like who do I think I am, thinking I'm going to read ten literary fiction books in the two-week loan period 😂

[misosoupcup]

Oh I feel this!! I love booktube and have been watching booktube since I was a teen, but more recently i look at a lot of their bookshelves and i just get overwhelmed looking at the wall of books behind them. I still do love a good bookshelf covered in books, but the over consumption that is kind of expected of booktubers and readers kind of needs to be examined.

I usually get my books second hand from a used bookstore or from my local library/school library's catalog that they are getting rid of so I tend to buy more books than when I used to. However, I also use my local library to check out books if I want a physical copy of them or I check them out as e-books. I don't think my book buying habits have become a problem yet, but i am also trying to not over consume and buy books i won't read. I think for me the best solution i have found is to read a library or e-book copy of the books you want to read, and if you Really Love the book than I think its worth my money and I will probably reread it and treasure it.

[literarydiversions]

That's more or less where I'm at with my collection at the moment! I've come to the conclusion that the only things I want in my library are books I love and plan to reread, beautiful editions of books I enjoy, and books I'm SUPER excited about reading super soon. I don't think there's any books in my library that I've owned unread for more than a year now and it's a breath of fresh air! I always want to have books on my shelf that I've got as options (new books to suit every mood, so to speak) so that I can shop my own library when I feel like it but I also don't want to be overwhelmed with my unread collection. I think you should give yourself permission to relate to your books however you like; some people want books > infinity, some people only want a tiny TBR shelf, but all these wants are totally valid. You should absolutely unhaul if it's giving you stress! <3

[yoongibean]

HEAVYYY on the paperback release comment 😓 I picked up reading as a hobby again over a year ago and I try to utilize my library as much as I can, but there's so many books that I want to read that aren't available or have a super long wait thanks to booktok (just last week I finally got to borrow an audiobook that I placed a hold on 14 months ago...), so I have no choice but to go out and purchase it. Since I'm a little late to the game, lots of books I want already have paperback editions out but I'm def not used to $30+ hardcovers for new releases.

[shrklotte]

i feel you on this 1000%.

at the start of 2021, i went through every single book i owned and sold/donated/gave away every book i either a) had read and didn't enjoy or b) had decided i was probably never going to read and was ruthless about it haha.

it gave me so much more energy and enthusiasm about my reading because now i only had books in front of me that i definitely wanted to read. i also bought a little book shelf specifically for unread books and it can only hold maybe 40 books. now i have a good way to make sure i don't have more books than i can reasonably expect to read.

[samantharose]

I go through cycles of wanting to purge through the things that I have (books included) haha I refer to it as the urge to purge. But I still enjoy buying books from time to time. And I agree that I want to have books that I really really love on my shelves.

[steffikreis]

I am trying to reduce the amount of books that sit on my shelf unread for extended periods of time. And i have noticed that what helps me is really being very honest with how interested i am in a book (i used to buy books just because they were popular). I make sure i read the blurb, check reviews, and if i am in a physical store i like to open the book to a random page and read it to see if the writing style is able to keep my attention. I try to avoid spontaneous purchases mostly and rather have a list of books that i know i am interested in (spontaneous purchases would often end up being cover buys or just ‘oh i’ve heard of this’…again not having considered if i am personally interested). For this year my goal is to only be allowed to buy 1 new book for every 2 physical books i read from my TBR….at the end of the year i will check which books i havent reached for at all or ended up DNFing and probably get rid of those. I still find it hard not to buy books just for the joy of buying but ultimately the regret is bigger than that few moments of joy. I also feel quite uncomfortable sometimes having so many books at home i havent read or didnt really like. I am more and more switching to a reading ebooks and then if a book is a favourite i will sometimes buy a physical copy….or some books like classics or favourite authors i just know i want a phyiscal copy of. I know that is technically still a consumerist angle but i am much more comfortable with the idea of having a library full of books i love than a library of mostly unread or just meh books.

[glamwithjinx]

The only books that I keep are signed books. Apart from that I donate my books once I have read them and a lot of the books I buy are second hand 💗