Thoughts of a Bookworm #1: Why reading feels more trendy than it used to be.

We have all been there, seeing that one book that has been advertised everywhere. It’s been on the telly, on Twitter, Instagram and everywhere in between. So surely, this means that owning it means that we are part of the club? But somehow, no matter how hard we try, life seems to always get in front of our reading goals.

Recently, I was on social media and it seemed to me that there was some sort of favouritism to specific books. This doesn't take away how important or brilliant pieces of work they are, but maybe they have become too overrated in a short time frame? What if the people that are reviewing these types of books have become a little too biased? After all, they have all become well read in those types of genres and have probably read all the tropes that come with it.

However, I think that one of the reasons books are more on trend is Instagram (something which is a rabbit hole in itself and I'm not proud of falling into it so quickly). It seems like books are now getting the filter treatment like some of us do to our own faces because we don't feel confident in our own skins. How did we really get to this point? I don't think that I have ever seen an ugly book in all my life that it needs a primp. Whether it be tanned by the sun, crinkled by water, or has a smattering of notes inside them. These examples tell just as many tales about the books existence as well as the story within it. Why erase something that is profound at showing a human's own journey through literature?

I think that it is important to talk about how different a bookworm was before all social media and the focus of the story, rather than simply just a cover. As it seems like now more than ever there is a unspoken competition to see who has the best cover out of their competitors. Doesn't this just bring us back to the lesson that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. But I'm not sure if these days this lesson is used or ignored.

Don't get me wrong, I love books and I don't really care that much if people are picking up more books than ever since lockdown. In fact, I welcome it. It is lovely to see more people to talk about particular plot points that I wasn't able to talk about before. But maybe we should look at the whole picture of how the industry is changing how books are consumed because of this. Either way, these thoughts are not an attack on anyone, that be a reader, reviewer, author or publisher, it is just my way as a bookworm to try and make more sense of the book world and my thoughts.

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