There was a time in school when my roommate and I would not move from our corners and stay inside the entire weekend because we just had to read. We would read as if the words had the answers to all of the universe’s problems and as if the characters were our only truly allies and loves. It was particularly concerning when I finished Anna Karenina in one weekend, because I thought the only way for me to know whether I should root for Vronsky, Alexei, or Anna would be to fully immerse myself in the words, and putting down the book would mean coming back to reality. And I couldn’t leave the mystifying world of old Russia like that.
The current version of me could never imagine doing that.
It used to be so easy to lose ourselves into books because we used to pick up books that we found interesting, not those that were deemed interesting by Booktok. The choice and the effort made every book slightly more interesting but ever so often now, I pick up a book that I see a little too much of on Instagram. Maybe, I was already biased; no book could be that great that every person on their reels is chanting its praises. Not every book can be a bestseller and yet New York Time will concur otherwise.
Aaliya Shroff, an English Teacher from (redacted) school, goes into how writing itself has changed through the years. We discuss the influence of BookTok in today’s reading culture and how great stories reveal what is happening and what characters are feeling, rather than simply telling us.
In an era of binge-watching, why is reading an entire novel considered an impressive feat?
If you could read one book in one sitting, which book would it be?
Which contemporary author would you chant praises for?
Give me your views on Booktok!
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