BookTube

So. In an earlier post, I mentioned that I'm not a fan of BookTube. It's shocking, I know. Books and YouTube are two of my biggest passions, so why don't I like BookTube?

BookTube is the YouTube community surrounding books. While there are some authors involved, it's mostly fans discussing books. They do challenges which gives them rules on how to select books and how long they have to read them. They do reviews and give recommendations. They also try to facilitate discussion. A few big names in the community actually work with the authors to do book cover reveals.

In theory, I like all these things. I like challenges, but I would rather do them than watch someone else talk about doing them. I get excited when someone I watch gives book recommendations, and I add the ones that sound good to my list. But I don't want a constant stream of recommendations because I don't have much time to read during the school year, and my list is already a mile long. I'd rather it be a happy surprise. And obviously, I love talking about books; this is what my blog was supposed to be about, but with my aforementioned time restrictions, I don't get around to reading too often.

I never really got why anyone watched book reviews. If I haven't read the book in question yet, I don't want anyone's opinion to taint my reaction to the book. I want my reading experience to be separate so I can form my own thoughts. Discussion is for afterwards. On the flip side, if I've already read the book, why would I watch a review? People look towards reviews to decide what to read. It seems contradictory, so I never watch them.

Perhaps after graduation, when I have a bit more downtime and get back into the groove of reading nonstop, I'll look into BookTube again; it has been a few years since my last attempt to get into it. But for now, I'm happy without it.