sorry, but her name is Given?? oof

When you DNF’d a book, do you mark it as a read book? I usually marked as a read book but i never added them to my yearly challenge/goal

This post is based on some thoughts I had after watching the video "performative readers, ‘book girlies’ & the aesthetification of books", by The Book Leo. It is a great video, I do recommend you to watch it!

But, basically, she gives her thoughts about how nowadays, especially with BookTok and similar, reading is becoming 'a performative act', and an aesthetic created around reading. She also talks about how people judge others based on what they read, like if someone only reads fantasy, then this person is not a true reader, is shallow, and all that blablabla that I believe most of us have already heard one day. And there is also the other extreme of people who follow a certain aesthetic and only read (or at least they appear to read) classics, are intellectuals, and simply put are the contrary of what she called 'book girlies' aesthetic.

Well, all that said, the video got me thinking about my own position as a reader, and what reading actually means to me:

A little background: I am graduated in language and literature, Portuguese and Ancient Greek in Brazil, and now I'm getting my PhD, in Classical Literature. So reading is a part of my job, and a big one. Not only that, but also reading the classics. Iliad, Odyssey, tragedies... and it is tiring. To the point that I took a break from reading as a hobby, and just now I'm getting back at it. And as a hobby, I only read the fantasy romance stuff. Am I less of a reader for it? Comparing to someone that read classical literature for fun? No. My point is: I don't think we should consider less of a reader someone that only read fantasy, romance, or fiction in general. Or think that a person is more intelligent than another because they've read classics only. Coming from a country where the latest researches show that the number of readers is decreasing fast, if you read, YOU ARE A READER. The type of literature doesn't matter. Just read what you like, and think, criticize, take notes, interact with the book you're reading.

Thank you for reading this long post! What are your thoughts on it?

I didn't mean to stay up till 1:45am reading, but I couldn't put it down till my eyes literally could not stay open.

Rocky my beloved.

Hello! Can you guys help me out and give your opinions or rather just please convince me to read or not read one of these series. Boys of tommen scared me to start it because its so thick and I’ve heard mixed reviews about Shatter me then on fourth wing I heard it’s not really that legit enemies to lovers and they’re overly freaky and forced spice

Im also begging you to give me your romantasy or other books (but preferably romance.) recommendations, I don’t want to trust booktok again 😔

Edit: Thank you for those who commented and lectured me about the authors. I had no idea about how problematic they are so tysm I get to know before I can even read those books, I would never let myself support such authors.