Why we're so OBSESSED with what other people read

Are audiobooks real books? Are book influencers lying to you? Is performative reading the only type of reading you can find on social media? Is non-fiction more valuable than function? Will we ever stop judging other people based on what they read or don’t read?

Your guess is as good as mine, but here are some thoughts anyway.

time stamps

01:49 The reading aesthetic
9:07 overconsumption and fetishising books (yay)
11:10 cool girls who read
15:12 can we trust booktok and bookstagram book influencers?
10:40 the war on fiction
35:08 audiobooks are not real books (and other ragebait)

Videos mentioned:

Lady of the library - Can We REALLY Trust BookTok and Bookstagram
   • Can We REALLY Trust BookTok & Bookstagram?  
Vlogbrothers - Do Audiobooks Count As Reading?
   • Do Audiobooks Count As Reading?  

My own videos:
Booktok and overconsumption
   • BookTok and overconsumption  
Booktok and anti-intellectualism
   • Booktok and anti-intellectualism (ft. 'the...  
The reading aesthetic is ruining literature
   • the 'reading aesthetic'  
How women took over literature
   • How women took over literature (or why men...  

Articles mentioned
https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture...
https://www.wellandgood.com/health/re...
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/...
https://www.ft.com/content/9c2907d5-2...

research by According to Alina and Norma Maher