i “love” how people talk about books in 2026

Audio books do not count as reading they use completely different parts of the brain. I will die on this hill

I have listened to like 15 warhammer books this year alone. Move over Tolstoi, Marine shoot bolter here

Am I so out of touch with whatever online book communities are like that I didn't understand a word of this? Like, I read books to just enjoy them and PRECISELY to get away from the internet for a couple hours

It's the best time to be a writer, go get it guys. AI can't replicate your mistakes and quirks and the barrier to entry is only a broad as your patience and willingness to edit your manuscript.

I'm waayyyyy above book reading. I can't even read.

Me: "I read shadow of the conqueror, it was pretty good"
Person: "omg i can't believe you'd buy that slop, it's so bad, and the author is crazy"
Me: "oh sorry you feel that way, but I enjoyed it"
Person: "I can't believe you liked a book that glorifies (bad thing)"
me: "you mean the thing the villain did that made them the bad guy in the story?"
Person: "well if its in it, then it glorifies it clearly"
me: "did you read any of it?"
person: "no"
Me: "what do you normally read?"
person: "......................................................................................................nothing."

I read on yt everyday. I like to call it “The Comments”

People saying at minimum “I bawled my eyes out” with Flowers for Algernon.

Or “it completely broke me and reduced me to a sobbing mess”.

C’mon

This is very funny. I laughed heartily.

“This video sponsored by Audible”

But you see, manga IS literature

A coworker gave me shit the other day for "only reading cheap smut" at my desk. When I asked for clarification on what books he thought were smut (the last book I read at work was Stiff by Mary Roach) he gestured to the book I'm currently reading.... The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough.
I guess a depiction of a man and woman on a book's cover equals smut, right?

i love anyone that reads pretty much any book. thank you for supporting libraries and bookshops

I Like audiobooks .

i've only read 2 books this calendar year

Technology has ruined my attention span so, sadly, I can't really sit and read without my mind taking off into space anymore. Love me some audiobooks while I'm doing work around the house though.

This made me want to punch my screen. Good job!

I think when reading is on the decline, books switch from a hobby to a discipline that people can take pride in.

It's always been weird to me how audiobooks are considered like some sort of taboo, visual learning isn't the only type of learning and they are also an accessibility tool for the blind.

I've been reading the redwall books finally and they are delightful. If you need a pallet cleanser or just a classic good va evil fantasy I highly recommend

5/29/26
I read the Book of Bill last month. It was cool. I also read the Incomplete Book of Dragons a few times last November. Pretty decent read. Other than that, not much, to be honest.

People will constantly bemoan the fact that interest in reading is declining and then act like this to someone who's getting into it 😭😭

well, the Anime,
then the Manga of that Anime,
then the Light Novels of that Manga,
then the Fantranslated chapters of the Webnovels that the Light Novels are based on,
then finding the actual raw untranslated Japanese Webnovel and using the shty google translate to read the chapters.
then, leave that webnovel tab unclosed in my browser. forever.
i did that for several series I'm following. they usually update once a month , if im lucky.
only five of the series' Im obsessed with has enough fandom members for there to be some fanfictions for me to read...

Audiobooks are cool. It's not the same as reading though.

01:02 okay that took me out bye 😭

man carrying the conversation

You just described the r/writing subreddit in a minute and 20 seconds.

This is exactly why I avoided booktok when I was on tt. I hate the discourse and it’s also so boring. People just volley the same “debates” back and forth. It’s truly dull. And people going on about audiobooks are the worst offenders. I don’t listen to them frequently because I have auditory processing issues, but of course they count! Count for who exactly? I read because I like to read, not to score points on the internet.

"What have YOU read this year?"
"............... just the news...."

Yeah this culture of scrutinizing other people's hobbies needs to die out. Reading just is not allowed to be "enjoyable" in of itself. A lot of people only read as some means to an end, rather than y'know to have a good time.

Tbh I was kindof going down the same path, but thanks to this video, now I can go back to reading loli hentai for 3 hrs a day

The secret to reading a lot is to be okay with reading fun shit that no one will remember in a few decades. Every now and then you get in the mood for a great book, but it’s the trash that keeps you going.

I've read the title of the video and this comment that I'm writting right now, I like them

I don't listen to a lot of audiobooks myself, but I really hate how some of these gatekeepers talk about them. I saw one idiot in the comments of another youtube video saying that audiobooks are "basically radio dramas" and you can't say you "read" a book if you listened to it. If they weren't being 100% serious, then it was fantastic ragebait. I had to close the app and just stare at the wall for a minute. Radio dramas. THAT'S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT MEDIUM!!!

I always say "listened to" being told a story and reading are definitely to different worlds. Both are great

Saying listening auto books is reading its like saying listening to a podcast is reading.

My backlog is an amalgamation of Yuri Manga, The Expanse/Malazan Series, Russian Literature, and WW2 history. Should pick some smut to throw into the mix.

Being told that audiobooks don’t count is just weird

Audiobooks count as reading and I will die on this hill.

0:14 the bible?

no books

Fun fact about Audiobooks: It's neurologically equivalent to reading, the only difference is that the point of "entry" for the story goes from your eyes to your ears. Interpreting language, conjuring imagery in your head, all the processing is equivalent.

Asking these people what they’ve actually read is always the quickest way to end the conversation LMAO.
A friend of mine kept going on about how 200–300 page books are “too short” and how I need to read WAAAAY more books, so I asked them what they’d read this year. Absolute dead silence 😭
Just let people enjoy their hobbies, we’re all stressed enough already.

Oh no, I just bought the book about a man trapped in a whale yesterday.

I read Harry Potter sorcerers stone for the first time, 4/10, it’s the second book Ive ever read since 3rd grade, going to give a little life a try next