Let’s Talk About Books
Let’s talk about books. Specifically, the type of book that you read when you’re bored, or feel like you need to get back into reading because it’s the ‘hype’ now. That was when I truly started reading more than I used to – until today.
Books have always been a form of escapism for me. I was the kid who spent her days reading in my bedroom – novels, mostly (Twilight especially). I would browse the internet back in the early 2000s (yes, I’m old now). I developed an infatuation with stories from a young age that still has not left me today. I would write my own short stories, or my sister and I would put on Christmas plays for our parents. I also loved acting during those times – I was always first up for the choir or school plays. Neither of my parents read, so it wasn’t an avid hobby when I was growing up. However, I think the stories, by allowing me into different worlds, is what drew me to reading.
As a lot of you readers will know, one goes through stages of reading. You’ll read twenty books in one year, which – for me at least – is a hell of a lot. However, studying at university has definitely helped me rediscover my love of reading. Granted, this can sometimes be difficult studying English Literature — when I’m forced to read a four-hundred-page book in less than a week, it can make me hate it. Although so far this year, I have already read some fantastic books. To me, the mark of a truly great read is when I’ve finished the book and find myself wanting to immediately start it all over again.
In the age of social media, it can feel like reading has become less of a hobby and more of a chore. What is your Goodreads challenge? How many books have you read so far? Ten books ahead of schedule, ten books behind. You haven’t read A Little Life yet? Don’t worry – me neither. This sort of pressure makes it feel like, to me at least, aren’t even being read properly, or appreciated as a work of art — it’s a tough one. Although, one could argue that the rise of social media has been – in some aspects – advantageous. This brings me to my next point: Bookstagram and BookTok.
Bookstagram & Booktok
I love Bookstagram (I have one myself) but sometimes BookTok scares me — it’s so quick! Only last week I watched someone talk about Holly Jackson’s new novel, The Reappearance of Rachel Price. I went back on TikTok soon after and they were already talking about something else. I can’t catch-up. Still, it reaches so many people, young and old, and gets them excited about old classics – one of the reasons I love books. You can read something that’s just come out, or you can pick up Jane Austen or Emily Brontë – and still have something new to say. Books are now being made inclusive to people with disabilities and those who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community – which is just fantastic. Recently I’ve tried my hand at science-fiction novels, and I am loving them. I’m usually a fantasy girl myself (if that wasn’t already obvious). I’m enjoying the philosophical factors that sci-fis include, from the rise of technology and its indispensability (Zed) to the ideology of Immanuel Kant (The Thing Itself).
The things I’ve discussed are only a few of the things that make books so wonderful. It’s difficult to express my passion and opinion of them in such a small space of opportunity, but I know I’m not alone in my thoughts. Please, read and reread those books you’re infatuated with and talk consistently about them. I haven’t stopped rabbiting on about The Serpent & The Wings of the Night since it came out late last year; and I won’t stop until every fantasy fanatic reads it — at this point, Carissa Broadbent should just hire me.
Reading can help us to understand one another, and diverse authors can give people a glimpse of the world they live in. Books can help us get through heartbreak, scare us, make us laugh – there are a myriad of possibilities. There truly is a book for everyone.
