wait… i shouldn’t read?

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EP. 29 wait… i shouldn’t read?

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Beginnings

As a child, I loved to read. That was almost the only thing I did all day. I went to my favorite place in the world - the third floor of my local library, where all the fantasies that 7 year old me couldn’t achieve all came alive.

I didn’t know English when I first came to the US, so naturally I flipped my way through mandarin comics and picture books. But slowly, as I spent more time here, I fell in love with the English language. There was one particular instant that had me gone - during the first few lunch breaks in first grade. My homeroom teacher would gather all the first graders into one big huddle, and read out chapter books to us. Under the soft light peeking through the blinds, the warm soothing tone of my teacher’s voice, us little kids experienced millions of feelings with characters from Charlotte’s Web, Charlie’s Chocolate Factory and so on. Particularly, Matilda, by Roald Dahl was the book that started it all.

After finding out how Matilda was able to finish all the books in her local library - I made it my goal to do so as well. Walking through the rows of thick non-fiction books splayed across the short shelves, I tried to pick up books about koalas or encyclopedias explaining how bicycles worked, but simply couldn’t read any further. They were dry, and none of them picked my interest. So instead, heading to the colorful fiction area of the floor, I picked up the beginning of what was going to be a long long journey - my first Magic Fairy book. These books enthralled me, and soon I was heading to Barnes and Nobles to pick up the Ultimate Fairy Encyclopedia.

I had always loved fiction books. Moving back to China, me and my friend read through the fantasy novels lining the library, bought big hauls of books from Taobao, and downloaded stories off of our kindle. The happiest part of my one year stay in the US during covid? Books. Every weekend, my mom, brother, and I headed to the public library, where we could pre-order the books we wanted that week, and walked back home with stacks of books in our arms.

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Crumbling Validation

I loved reading. Even better? I found out that our society likes kids who read too. Getting praised for looking at a book while waiting for lunch became my new form of validation. Everything was great. I liked to read, and everybody else wanted me to keep on reading.

Except, that form of validation came only when I was a child. Back then, no matter what I read, it was a good thing.

Fantasy? Great. That meant long heavy pages with big words.

Reading Harry Potter in elementary school? Others look up to you.

Romance? How could that ever hurt?

Classics? Let’s send you to heaven.

At a young age, I had complete freedom and control over what I read.

Then, all of a sudden, walls were formed, and up sprouted limits to what I could and should read, all based on what society approved of. I was told, maybe you should stop reading that. Read this book! It was recommended by xxx, and look at how successful they are! Whatever can you gain from reading mindless romance with no content at all?

I loved to read. But what if I liked to read romance? Should I stop reading? Society supposedly likes people who read. But do they like people who read genres that are not classic, non-fiction, or contemporary? What could I have done wrong to suddenly be viewed as lazy, unintelligent, and mindless when I wanted to read a romance book? Reading the romance genre brings me a sense of comfort. I know the familiar way that the book will go - how the characters will hurt, but then find their way back to one another. I can imagine a world that has happy endings, though sometimes heartbreakingly sad as well. Are romance authors on a lower tier of writers, because they write about love stories, while “better” writers tell autobiographies, long planthares of description in classics, or informational text? Am I not a reader, because of what I read?

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Inferiority - Social Media and Cultural Hierarchies

This inferior classification of genres, readers, and books have a few main sources. A more scientific theory is the concept of a “cultural capital.” Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu proposed the concept of cultural capital, which refers to the social assets (such as education, tastes, and cultural knowledge) that individuals acquire. In many societies, there's a hierarchy of cultural capital, with certain genres or forms of art being considered more prestigious than others. Romance novels, often categorized as commercial fiction, may be seen as lower in cultural capital compared to literary fiction or genres associated with highbrow culture.

This inferiority is even further driven by the growing media representation of romance genres. With the rise of social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Youtube, the term “booktok,” or “booktubers” has a new meaning. Reading has become a trend. Colleen Hoover books, Sarah J. Mass, and many different authors have gained a sense of new found fame through teenagers sharing their recent favorite reads and the books that made them cry. As once a heavy consumer of such content - when the influencer has a true sense of meaning and joy in reading, the love is contagious. Watching a booktube video for 10 minutes can motivate me to finish a 600 page book, one that they convinced me would supposedly make my eyes bawl out. Even when I don’t want to read classics, the way that the one booktuber describes it pushes me to go ahead and borrow it from the library.

@mia, @GirlyBookWorm, @rachael|booktok

However, on the other side of booktok, with the ever growing audience that it is reaching - it has become a trend that people use to attract more followers, create more content, simply by repeatedly spread the same few trending books over and over again. The trend-driven nature of platforms influence the promotion of certain types of books over others, often times based on their accessibility, which influences their performance amongst general users of social media.

The accessibility of the “easier” genres of books can be defined by their predictability, emotional engagement, and appeal to one’s own desires. These books often prioritize exaggeration of feelings, frustration, yearning, and sadness - drawing readers in and keeping them invested in the story. Moreover, booktok and romance are a bright shining representation of what readers want in their lives. From the very beginning, the plot line or the blurb clearly states what the book is about - enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, or academic rivals, all based off of tropes that have worked in the past. These books envision scenarios that may never come true in real life, but still let the reader escape into dreams and imagination, only deepening its appeal. Specifically, romance is a big and extremely popular genre that is often recommended and portrayed on these platforms. While there are so many different types of books recommended and spread across social media, certain genres are promoted over others.

These books on booktok are often times particularly frowned upon - due to the trend driven culture and how easily opinions are influenced on social media platforms. When the public repeatedly sees the same types of book across their feed, it creates the perception of repetitiveness, unmeaningful content, and a lack of one’s own judgment in reading. This is why books that are popular on booktok are often viewed as general media content, with no actual meaning, but instead shallow algorithm recommendations influenced by popular opinion.

While booktok has played an incredibly important role in helping self-published authors spread awareness about their books, gathering more and more young readers, the association of popular booktok genres with meaningless hashtags and social media trends tends only further shapes this negative image of these books, despite what readers may genuinely feel and experience while reading.

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Art of Reading

Reading was once my favorite hobby, but is it something I should hide now? While the world arounds us starts to promote books via social media, it seems as if my love for reading is only shrinking and dissolving, day by day. I want to read certain books, but when my parents, when teachers, when critiques downgrade the content I consume, it’s hard to be motivated to keep on doing so.

Why were children never judged for what they read, but instead praised for their connection with all sorts of stories across the page? Why is it that growing up means the constant need to fit in with others, to act the way the society wants?

I pay respect to the readers who share their love for every type of genre. Reading first evolved as a way to keep records and communicate information. It played a crucial role in cultural transmission, intellectual exploration and education. And it still serves this purpose today, with even much more than that. Reading has become, for many, an escape to a much more beautiful world than reality, formed attachments between readers and characters that saves lives, inspires dreams, and starts new journeys.

However, the art of reading can never be defined by good, bad, useless, or meaningful. Just like all art forms - Judging a book is never by the content, but by the reader. The art is not in the piece itself, but instead in the eyes of those who see it.