Plot Twist, Please

Performative Reading Is Taking Over BookTok.. And We're ALL Guilty

• Susannah, Beth and Cass • Season 1 • Episode 39

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In this episode of Plot Twist, Please, we're diving into the rise of performative reading and how social media has completely transformed reading culture. From BookTok trends and reading goals to trophy books, aesthetic bookshelves, and the pressure to keep up with every viral release, we're discussing whether modern reading has become less about enjoyment and more about appearance, status, validation, and relevance.

📚 Spoiler alert: No books were spoiled in the making of this episode!
 ✨ Today's cocktail: Cottage Springs Vodka Soda Freezies
 🎧 Tune in, sip with us, and remember — keep your glass, your bookshelf, and your TBR full. 🍸📖✨

__________________________________________________________________________

Welcome to Plot Twist, Please – the ultimate bookish podcast for readers who love deep discussions, honest book reviews, and trending BookTok favourites. We talk fantasy books, romance books, thrillers, YA series, and everything in between whilst sipping on our favourite cocktails. From old favourites to the latest viral reads, we’re here for all the plot twists.

✨ Weekly episodes featuring book recommendations, character analysis, and spoiler-filled discussions. If you love BookTok, BookTube, and Bookstagram, this is your space!

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INTRO 
Music by TossedOnion - Just Vibin' - https://thmatc.co/?l=0191967D


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SPEAKER_03

Performative reading has become one of the most basic foundations of book talk at this point.

SPEAKER_05

I just feel like because you enjoy a story or a book, it doesn't reflect on like things that you do in your personal life or things you do in your bedroom or you could read the dirtiest, darkest romance.

SPEAKER_04

And be the most vanilla. And be the most beautiful. It's true though. 100%. The like Hallmark-esque romance, the Harlequin romance, dark romance, like just romance as a genre. People love to hate it. Why do readers seem harsher on each other than people and other hobbies? I'll tell you why. Like the book talk world can be very attacking, a very negative politics.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I was hating on all these hobbies and people overconsuming in these hobbies. And a lot of the comments I got were let people enjoy their hobbies. So I want to know where that logic got lost in book talk specifically. Where did the let people enjoy their hobbies not apply?

SPEAKER_05

Welcome back to Plot Twist Please, where we sip, flip, and spill the tea on books and booze. I'm Cass. I'm Beth.

SPEAKER_03

And I'm Susanna. And I think it's time we start this episode with a confession. I think performative reading has become one of the most basic foundations of book talk at this point. We're jiving right into it. Getting right into it. No holds barred. And before anyone comes at us and gets defensive about our title today, specifically, or what I just said, I want to be very clear. This is not an episode where we're pointing fingers at other people. We're pointing fingers at ourselves. We are just much to blame as everyone else. As our shirts would. Yep. None of us are innocent here. And we specifically wore shirts that show that we're performative readers. As you can see, Cass and I love Twilight. Edward Collins. That's also not Twilight. Beth also loves Twilight, but she doesn't have a shirt.

SPEAKER_04

I'm not one of those people.

SPEAKER_03

So what shirt do you have then? Mine's Avatar for Night Court.

SPEAKER_04

But specifically, Cass bought it.

SPEAKER_03

So I also have that one.

SPEAKER_05

Yes, we all do. The other thing you have that's book related, I also that's what I mean when she was like, What do you have?

SPEAKER_04

I was like, I don't buy those things.

SPEAKER_05

I'm not that kind of person.

SPEAKER_04

I did it. Yeah. But I'm not like a ban merch. Oh, it's my jam! I know. That is my jam.

SPEAKER_03

Book talk is built on visibility. It's built on showing people what you're reading, what you bought, what's on your TBR, what books changed your life, how many books you've read this month, what your shelves look like, what special editions you own, and what your reading habits say about you. Reading, which was once a fairly private hobby, has become something we perform publicly. And we don't even necessarily mean that in a negative way. The reason so many people started reading again is because they saw other people reading. The reason so many books become successful is because readers talk about them. The reason reading communities exist online at all is because people are willing to share their reading lives with strangers on the internet. But I do think we've reached a point where it's time to ask some uncomfortable questions. Because somewhere along the way, books stopped being just books, they became status symbols, personality traits, aesthetic accessories, social currency. And if we're being honest, I think most of us have participated in that in one way or another. Guilty. We've bought the trending book. I know specifically we have read books because they're trending.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. We get book FOMO.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's true. I I've posted about the pretty bookshelves. That used to be my whole shtick back in the day. We've wanted the special editions. I have a whole bunch of trophy books downstairs. It's not me. Yeah, no. Yeah. It's just me. It's just you. I'm alone in the hot seat. You. You're alone. You can make that my thumbnail. And we've felt pressure to keep up just so then we know what's going on on Book Talk and what everyone is talking about. It's true. We've judged someone else's reading choices. Correct. Well, sometimes. I'd say we're not as judgy as well. We're not very judgy because we're not perfect. We're not.

SPEAKER_04

I think the difference is we're not mean judgy, but we will judge some people. Each other. Some people think we're mean. Each other specifically. Some would even say.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Today we're talking about the epidemic of performative reading, what it actually is, how social media has helped create it and sustain it, why book talk thrives on it, and whether any of us can really separate our reading habits from our desire to be seen.

SPEAKER_04

I was it's funny because like when you first brought up this topic, I thought about your sister. Oh, with her fake readings, with the fake reading. Oh, yeah, right. Well literally, like, I'm like performative reading. It's like, here I am. Okay, we're done. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Read like maybe 25 pages and it's been three years and it's still got the bookmark in it, and dust just like covering it. Yeah. And there's no other books in her house.

SPEAKER_05

If we ever have Mariah on the show, are you gonna call her out? Oh, for sure I will. Yeah. Coming for it.

SPEAKER_03

She's got thick skin. She's got it. She does. She's gotta have thick skin. She'll come at you for other things. She's like cast in that way. She's very argumentative. Oh, yeah. She'll get defensive and then like turn around on you.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. Today's drink of the episode, though, is Cottage Springs Freeze. I think that's what they're called. I should have looked into this. That's what they are. They're freezes. I'm drinking the white friezy. I've got blue. Also white. Beth's got white too. Nate has blue. No one chose. There's there's white, red, blue, orange. Why orange? Because there's orange friezies. Yeah, but white and blue are the best ones. They are the best ones.

SPEAKER_04

White, blue, and even red.

SPEAKER_03

They're like a unique taste that you can't replicate.

SPEAKER_05

It's also good. This tastes just like, you know, when your freezy melts, it tastes just like the syrup at the bottom when you're done. Like when you've eaten it.

SPEAKER_04

I know exactly what that tastes like because Ainsley will usually just that's what she leaves behind.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. That's what it tastes like in the drinking alcohol. Use the the seat. Yeah, you just like suck it right up. Yeah. She doesn't know how to do that yet. She'll learn.

SPEAKER_03

Alright, so before we jump into it fully, what are we reading? I'm reading The City of Phantom, The Dagger in the Flame by Catherine Doyle.

SPEAKER_05

Noise. Noise. Beth and I are reading the same book yesterday by Carl Claire Burke. This was a FOMO read.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. That was for sure a FOMO read.

SPEAKER_05

FOMO read for sure.

SPEAKER_03

So far. Is it living up to the hype? No. That's so far how it goes.

SPEAKER_05

So far. Yeah, I'd have to agree. It's not that it's bad. Like I'm enjoying the story. It's just the way it's written.

SPEAKER_04

So I said to Cass, I was like, how I write this book and how much I enjoy it will depend on how she finishes it. Yeah. You know what I mean? So you know how like in certain like movies, especially I'll say, like documentaries, things like that, because it is to me documentary style. It's like with the constant flashbacks, and yeah, you don't get any warning of where you are in the timeline. No. You know how there's ones where it's like you you're jumping around in the story a bit, and then everything ties up at the end, and your mind's just like if that's what happens here, great great read. If that's not what happens here, my brain hurts it, then I would say yeah. How many pages is it? Uh 300 and 400? It's under 400. I thought it was like 360.

SPEAKER_05

How about this? 362. It is 390 pages one pages. There you go.

SPEAKER_03

Okay. Not bad. Not bad at all. What comes to mind when you hear the term performative reading?

SPEAKER_05

Your sister.

SPEAKER_03

Apart from that.

SPEAKER_05

Oh, okay. Literally people only reading to post about it.

SPEAKER_04

People only reading reading the dialogue and then saying they read the book. Okay. Check out last week's episode. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Okay. What do you think it is, Susie?

SPEAKER_03

I think it's when people we've been guilty of this too, but when they make content and about like them reading, it's the same as like performative worship or performative praying for her show. You and me crying for the camera as but that was legit.

SPEAKER_04

We were crying. Shut up the case. Those were legit tears. But she did it first, and then she's like, you have to do this.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. Cass failed, but she didn't cry. So she didn't even try. I made a TikTok that was performative reading too.

SPEAKER_03

I haven't posted it yet, but like you pretend to read for the video. That's performative reading. I'd also say that jumping on the hate bandwagon or the hate train and like attacking other people, I think that's performative reading too.

SPEAKER_05

There's people it's definitely performative that are ganging up. They're creating armies of influencers to attack other influencers. Yeah, and like private discords and stuff. And like crazy.

SPEAKER_03

That's performative. Guys, calm down. Like the fact it's not that serious. Just read it. Just enjoy reading. Just read. My goodness.

SPEAKER_04

Thinking of enjoyment.

SPEAKER_03

So it's like just all this unnecessary drama. Obviously, there's things that like need to be called out and whatever. I'm talking about like these little petty things that people make content about. I think that's goes along like with the performative side of things. And then there's like the fun TikToks we do. Which people are guilty. Yeah, like I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I think it's part of the hobby of like I wouldn't even say it's part of reading because there's so many people that read that don't partake in book talk.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

But it's like the book talk being the hobby. There's reading and then there's like reading and TikTok mixed together.

SPEAKER_04

When the social media of reading takes a bigger precedence over actually reading. That's good.

SPEAKER_05

That's a good one. I like that. I like that. It's deep. That's that was deep. Profound. It's deep for a Sunday.

SPEAKER_03

Have you ever caught yourself reading for reasons other than pure enjoyment? Yes.

SPEAKER_04

Every other book. Why? Why? Because it's I get FOMO. It's the constant FOMO of like, what if I'm missing out? Oh, I'm not actually reading the book because I'm like enjoying it. Like, I gotta get through this book to get too. I'm not a big DNFer, so I will sometimes read for the unenjoyment of it. That's true. Yeah, that's your own fault though.

SPEAKER_03

Sometimes I read for the unenjoyment, like because my TBR card. I've had like the the dagger in the flame has been sitting on my physical TBR since last year. If I think about it. But I didn't want to read with the hardcover, so I got it on my Kindle as well. How performative of you. It's very performative. Very overconsumption-y of me. Very over-consumption-y. OG subscribes on my uh channel will actually come in at me.

SPEAKER_05

I'm going to tell you something. We had a viewer pop up on our comment section. Did they hate on me? No, they actually said I've been a viewer of Susanna's original channel for a long time now. She's like, and I actually love this side of her more. Or she didn't say more. She said, I love this side of her a lot. It's nice to see a different side of her other than the one that's on your main channel.

SPEAKER_03

The hater. The hater vibe of me. Yeah. Yeah. I am a very I have multiple personalities. It's true. She's a Gemini. Don't say that. Now people are gonna hate me just for being a Gemini. Why? I'm a Scorpio.

SPEAKER_04

People hate Scorpios too. I don't think people hate Libras. It's hard to hate a Libra, honestly. We don't do things bad enough to make you hate us. Geminis get a lot of like a lot of flack, though. Yeah, there's reason for that.

SPEAKER_05

There's there's reason. Same for Scorpios, though, too. Like we're I don't know. I've never hated a Scorpio. We're petty. Grudgy for sure.

SPEAKER_04

A little.

SPEAKER_05

Very grudgy.

SPEAKER_04

You guys are a little judgy. Grudgy, judgy. Grudgy, petty. All the ease.

SPEAKER_05

Grudgy, judgy, petty. It makes a lot of sense, actually, for Harrison. Also, someone said I need to do a segment that's sass with cast. And I really liked that. So that's really whoever that was that did that. That was funny. And I need to start thinking.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. I'm apparently the darkest one of the three of us, so I'm just gonna have one dark window over here.

SPEAKER_03

Scones! Scones! We're gonna get into reading as an identity. So, reading used to be something that people just did. There's no other like extracurricular activities or tasks that aligned with reading. It was just reading. That's it. Yeah. People didn't even like have Goodreads fable, like anywhere, anywhere to track. Yeah, that was my thing. I just read all the time.

SPEAKER_04

Even if I would literally be puking in a bucket with motion sickness, just being like yeah, because I couldn't read in the car. It would make it. But you just like continued to the book would be so good. That'd be literally this thing. There'd be my mom be like, put the book down, but I can't read rooting at the cottages growing up.

SPEAKER_05

We went camping all the time. I'd always bring a book. We were camping or we'd be at the beach. It would just be And then that was it. You read the book, yeah, and you closed it, and you carried on with your day. You didn't post about it, you didn't log it in an app.

SPEAKER_04

You didn't like I think maybe that's why I have such a hard time coming to terms with books, because it was just like I used to finish a book and then I'd go swim in the water, and that would be like my cleansing time. I don't have that anymore. We just had this conversation in a group chat.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, we did.

SPEAKER_05

You and I move on like that.

SPEAKER_03

Oh yeah, and then Beth sits with them for my feelings for a good chunk of time. Susie and I are like, Oh, that's a great book. If I finish in the morning, well, moving on. So yeah, I literally will like have another book lined up, and as soon as I finish that, I'll do my review on Fable and then start reading the first chapter of the next book, like immediately.

SPEAKER_04

I will say, so I finished listening to Crescent City. I feel very empty inside still. Oh, that's the worst. That's how one Sbron and Broken Heart was for me. I finished it Friday morning. I'm still sitting in those feelings.

SPEAKER_05

Maybe that's why you're not enjoying this book as much either.

SPEAKER_03

It could it could be, but I did start it before I finished Crescent City, but there's a new one coming out, so you will get back in that world soon enough. And there's another Actar six and seven that are coming out.

SPEAKER_04

I'm not as excited for those.

SPEAKER_03

Well, if it's Elaine's story, I'm curious to see how that plays out.

SPEAKER_04

But I think, yeah, I do think it depends. I'm honestly after finishing Crescent City, I am interested to see if there would be a little bit more Nesta as well. I'm over Fera, though. Yeah, she can get bent. That's so mean. There's a Scorpio in you.

SPEAKER_03

Holy cow. We're done with the story. She got pregnant, that's boring. Moving on. I yeah, we're moving on. So now people identify themselves by what they read. Back when I was a kid, I can't remember ever tying a title to the kind of reader I was, but now there's like cozy fantasy readers and thriller readers or dark romancers or um what else? Just plain romance readers.

SPEAKER_05

And if you're on Fable, Fable gives you what type of reader you are during that month or period of what books you've read. So it's another thing.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. So it's like it's tied to your identity. Back when I was a kid, like that wasn't even something I thought about. I just was reading whatever. Yeah. I liked thrillers. Yeah. So now it's become part of our own personal branding. And I think we do that with a lot of stuff. But books is like one of the main things I see that come into our personal branding or our identities.

SPEAKER_04

That's true.

SPEAKER_03

It's a huge thing. Another kind of discourse that was going around in terms of like judging people for what they read was Colleen Hoover. Now, I will say that when I first started reading, I was a fan of Colleen Hoover's books. I just found that they were an easy read.

SPEAKER_04

I think everyone kind of went through Colleen. I've only read one of her books. Only one?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, very surprised.

SPEAKER_04

I mean, that was a pretty good book.

SPEAKER_03

That was a very good book.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

But like now, I don't go for her books. Like I'm not a huge fan of her writing anymore. But if someone posted one of her books, people would make assumptions about their intelligence, their tastes, their reading habits, and even their values. And on the flip side, there were people who seemed almost eager to publicly distance themselves from Colleen's books because not liking Colleen Hoover became a signal that you were a more serious reader with better taste. I think that's where performative reading comes into the conversation. Because when people start making assumptions about your character based on what you read or what you enjoy, it's hard not to become conscious of the books that you're reviewing, the books that you're reading, and the books that you're making content about. Because if you're constantly worried about like someone judging you for something you like and you're keeping that hidden because people are coming into your comment sections judging you about it, making you feel like a horrible person when you know deep down you're not. You're going to police your own content. It's like the joy out of reading.

SPEAKER_05

Why can't you be authentic with yourself? Or even just like walking on eggshells.

SPEAKER_03

Walking on eggshells or like feeling inferior to other people because they think that your reading tastes are like a baby level reading. You guys read a lot of dark romance as well. Do you like want to talk about like your experience as dark romance readers or even things that you've seen in the book talk space? Like, I must be oblivious.

SPEAKER_05

Is there discourse with dark romance readers?

SPEAKER_03

I mean, like, I'm pretty open about my opinion of dark romance. Like, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

We've talked about in one of our earlier episodes about that one author who had like the reading. Oh, yes, that yeah. Yeah. Part of the problem with dark romance is it's so wide. Wide of how dark that you could be light gray to black.

SPEAKER_05

I just feel like because you enjoy a story or a book, it doesn't reflect on like things that you do in your personal life or things you do in your bedroom, or yeah, you can't be able to do that. You could read the dirtiest, darkest romance. And be the most vanilla human. And be the most beautiful.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it's true, though.

SPEAKER_05

100%.

SPEAKER_03

Well, for example, you really like masked men and you read about chasing in the woods, but you said in one of our previous episodes, like if that ever happened to you in real life, you wouldn't enjoy it. You'd be terrified.

SPEAKER_05

Oh, being chased is one of my all-time worst fears. But you enjoy reading about it. Love reading about it. But if someone actually did it, actually, someone did do it. I was in grade eight. I was turning 16. And if you know anything about me.

SPEAKER_04

What?

SPEAKER_05

You were just turning.

SPEAKER_04

I was gonna say I was turning 16.

SPEAKER_05

How many grades were you held back? Got my years all mixed up. I would have been you would have been like 13, 14. Oh no, wait. I think I was turning 19. I don't know, Cassandra. This story is starting to sound very untrue. Because Kyle was there and Kyle 16 or 19. I was 19, because Kyle was there and I've only known him since I was 19.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, so out of high school. Out of high school. Not even in school.

SPEAKER_05

Completely not even in school.

SPEAKER_03

And I get my hair to actualize.

SPEAKER_05

He'll vote for this story. Okay. Okay. So if you know me at all, I love horror. I love everything horror movies.

SPEAKER_04

But if it comes to anything like haunted houses, I was gonna say, so I have been bugging her for years because I love haunted houses, like haunted houses. Yeah. And every single time, like there's like a new one, or there's like this haunted circus that was here, and it was like, we should go do it. She's like, absolutely not. Like, you are the darkest person I know. Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_03

Didn't you guys used to do that when you had your Bessie's Boos and Booze podcast? Like you'd go to haunted places. We went to urban.

SPEAKER_05

She said it was different. It's different. Like abandoned places are different.

SPEAKER_03

No, they're not, they're still haunted.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, but it's different. Haunting is a haunting. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03

She's doing it.

SPEAKER_05

Let's go with this.

SPEAKER_03

This game is a very good thing. If it's abandoned, she's like, no. If it's abandoned, wouldn't that make it more terrifying around?

SPEAKER_05

Go like tour like um abandoned places. It's really fun. We should probably do that again.

SPEAKER_03

There's a tea house in Paris, bed and breakfast in Paris that's like coming down the hill that is haunted, apparently. Mariah said so.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, we already went to the old angel inn in Niagara this week, and I did not have a ghost experience. I was very sad. That's really unfortunate.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, I wouldn't want a ghost experience, but at the same time, I'm very intrigued by that.

SPEAKER_04

So I wouldn't sleep ever again. I might pee myself a little bit, but it would also be the greatest moment of my life.

SPEAKER_05

Back to my story. Yes. 19. Your fake story. I was like, I'm gonna conquer my fears of haunted houses. So I gathered some friends, asked Kyle, he'll vouch for me. And we went to the haunted house. It was his boyfriend at the time. And uh it was his house? No, like him, Kyle, his boyfriend at the time. Okay, and then she who shall not be named. Okay, yeah. And then someone else. Anyways, we go to Brantwood Farms, okay? Like the bottom of the barrel type haunted house. Like just for children. Yeah. Well, no, it's the adult one at night. It's the one at nighttime, so it is scarier than the one during the day, but it's like, it's not like production level. When they say like you get paralyzed with fear, it's a real thing. My legs gave out. Kyle had to help carry me out of the haunted house.

SPEAKER_01

Wow.

SPEAKER_05

And then as I'm exiting, does this son of a bitch with a fake chainsaw chase me down the alleyway? And that was that might be the fear. And I never want that again, but I love reading about it. So weird. It's so weird. So I love that in real life.

SPEAKER_03

But it just goes to shove. See? That's it. It does point the fact that, like, just because you read about something does not mean that you like it in real life. No. Condone the behaviors or partake in them in your personal life.

SPEAKER_05

Just because I read Haunting Adeline doesn't mean I want to shoved in places, you know? That would be so dangerous. Duts everywhere. Unless it's unloaded, then I mean it's fine. But if it's loaded.

SPEAKER_03

Was it loaded in Haunting Adeline?

SPEAKER_05

Very much so.

SPEAKER_03

That's insane. Safety was on. Not safe enough. I have no idea how guns work.

SPEAKER_05

So safe. I mean, I see the discourse now that we've talked it out. I see the discourse, but I've seen it all over the place. I've seen discourse about everything. We're on see, this is where your algorithm is a thing too, because we like dark romance. So we're on the positive side of dark romance where you don't like it. So your algorithm would be like discourse central.

SPEAKER_03

Also, train my algorithm to show me discourse, drama, and like overconsumption stuff.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So that's what I see. Even if people are in support of dark romance, like if there's drama surrounding it, they'll like come up on my free page talking about it. That's how we found that author. Yes. With the see, yeah.

SPEAKER_05

That was that's a no-go.

SPEAKER_04

We don't do that. Based off of this conversation, do books actually say something about who a person is? No.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, no. I think it says something about like what that person enjoys in terms of like fantasy and fictional reality. Yeah. If they do like the darker stuff, I think that does say like something about who they they are as a person, but not in a bad way.

SPEAKER_05

I think it's just like I think it's just their form of escaping a reality. Yeah. And it's just their form of enjoyment.

SPEAKER_03

I think dark romance is given such a like bad rap because of like the other problematic tropes that like.

SPEAKER_04

I will say that there are some authors that I think have given bad romance a bad rap. Romance or dark romance. Dark romance, a bad rap.

SPEAKER_05

Rep or rap? Rep. There you go. Try again. She's fine. We corrected it. We worked through it. We got there. Um, I think yes, when it comes to certain dark romance authors, they definitely go too far. I'm talking about what they write.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. I forget what the what the premise of the book that we talked about. We talked about it.

SPEAKER_05

It was like something to do with baby. Yeah, it was really wrong. It was very funny.

SPEAKER_03

I don't care who you are. Like, I know we say like we're not gonna judge people for what they read, but like if you are like I mostly judge the author for writing something like that.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, that's it was very wrong. It had something to do with a baby or a very young child. Don't cross that line. There's lines you don't cross. And that was that's not okay. And that's where we said, like, that's not a dark romance, that's like just bad, right dark.

SPEAKER_04

Even romance, though, as a genre has a bad rap.

SPEAKER_03

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04

It is like the most loved, hated genre, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I think all of like the very classical, like people who only read the classics and like those kind of readers. I think romance dark romance, or like no, just classic, classical literature. Oh congenital.

SPEAKER_04

But even like the like Hallmark-esque romance, the Harlequin romance, Harlequin silhouettes, like all of those, like there's such hate on for like those type of romance, and then you have like, but then you have like the diehards, like so many people love those ones. Um, dark romance, like what just romance as a genre. People love to hate it.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know why. Like, why are you hating?

SPEAKER_04

Like, as soon as you add romance, yeah, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I will say that I don't like the hallmark yes I don't like hallmark movies, I think they're really cringy, and I also don't like the hallmark vibes. She loves Hallmark movies.

SPEAKER_04

You're like Nate's parents here. She loves wide spectrum guys, very much so.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, I can't stand Hallmark anything from Hallmark to demonic.

SPEAKER_03

Best of both worlds.

SPEAKER_04

Best of both. No, someone could give me a two and one if I can have a demonic hallmark movie. I don't feel like that could ever be done.

SPEAKER_03

You can if they can do hot frosty, they can give me you know what you should watch? A Twilight parody. You get the dark and then also the Hallmark vibes. I think I would like a parody, actually. But it would be up that alley, for sure.

SPEAKER_05

It'd have to be a fanfic, not a parody.

SPEAKER_04

Parody's like a joke. That's what I mean. Parody's a scary movie. Hallmark is like it's like the sprinkles on a cupcake. The cupcake's the best part. If anything, I don't like the sprinkles. I disagree, but next question. Moving on, Beth. Is there such a thing as a cool reader? No. I think people think they are. And if you have labeled yourself as a cool reader, please leave this chat.

SPEAKER_03

I've actually never seen any TikToks that like have the the POV, you're a cool reader.

SPEAKER_00

Wrong. Upon further research, apparently this is a thing.

SPEAKER_05

This is a reader's edition of things that people do that I find extremely cool. If you do any of these things, I think you're cool.

SPEAKER_03

I think they think internally they might be, but I don't think they're better.

SPEAKER_04

Like, there's always like the people who are like, all I read is non-fiction. You know what I mean? Self-help books. Every time I see, like, when people are like posting like the like all like their stack of self-help books that like they're reading right now, it's like working on myself. And I'm just like, wanna die.

SPEAKER_05

I could not do self-help books. I get it. That's not me judging, by the way. That's just me saying, We're kind of judging. Kind. You might be judging.

SPEAKER_04

I've done some self-help books. I've tried. I've just closing every second. I DNF it. I haven't even DNF'd. It's just like oh, have you guys seen the show Four Seasons? No. I think I've told you this before. You need to watch it. It's got like Tina Faye, Steve Krell's kind of in it. It's super good. I've laughed, I've cried in this the series. I think it's just the two seasons. Yeah. I don't think they're gonna be doing any more. But in it, there's this uh one couple and they listen to a self-help book. And it's pretty much like about the three questions. And like, so if you come to like a crossroads in your life, the three questions that you're supposed to ask yourself to figure out what you're like you're supposed to do, if it's a yes or no. But I kind of laughed. So they've listened to this whole self-help, self-help book through the night. The kind of tone of it is what like you have this whole book for three questions, and that's how I feel about self-help. Yeah, that's a lot because I just feel like there's a lot of talking. Just give me the three questions.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I feel like a lot of self-help books don't actually help me. Christian ones help me more because it's about my faith, and then it helps me just that way.

SPEAKER_04

Well, I feel like Christian self-help books are more devotionals, right? You're working through something, it's more of a workshop than a book you read.

SPEAKER_03

I find all the self secular help books that I've read in the past have just been filled with bad advice. For me, personally.

SPEAKER_04

A lot of them are personalized, right? It's much for that person, that author, and it might work for some people, it's not gonna work for everyone. Sometimes if it's based off of like a certain science, that science can change. It's true. Why do readers seem harsher on each other than people and other hobbies? I'll tell you why. Like it the book talk world can be very attacking, a very negative.

SPEAKER_05

I'll tell you why politics. Yeah, politics in general is so toxic, but when you bring it into a community that of like something that's supposed to be enjoyful, enjoyful enjoyment for people, just as soon as it's a good idea.

SPEAKER_04

I also feel though politics and books have been around for so long, too. They're too neck and neck, and I don't like it. Like the book, the books, the Library of Alexandria is my Roman Empire. That's what I think about. Stop being toxic people, okay?

SPEAKER_03

Let just people enjoy their hobbies. I've had let me enjoy my hallmark demons. I did a whole video last year about how TikTok is ruining reading, coloring, and hobbies. If you want to check out the most awful version of myself, you can check out that video. It got almost uh, I think almost a million views. Basically, I was hating on all these hobbies and people overconsuming in these hobbies. And a lot of the comments I got were let people enjoy their hobbies. So I want to know where that logic got lost in book talks specifically. Where did the let people enjoy their hobbies not apply? Yeah, yeah. So I'm just like, there's a lot of different discrepancies between people's logic and then also their actions. Yeah. And I think we need to do that.

SPEAKER_04

Like for a lot of people, hobbies are consuming. You mean like people who paint, people who deal with like little die cast things and their little model cars, and it becomes consuming. It is a hobby that they love and that they enjoy, and reading is the exact same. Yeah, yeah. You lose yourself and your hobby. Yeah, and it is you do do it because you enjoy it.

SPEAKER_03

Hobbies are actually meant as like a coping mechanism for those struggling with mental health. A lot of therapists will say, like, color or you know, read your book, like do something along those lines to make yourself feel better. And if we're constantly tearing people down, you're causing that person more mental distress than anything else.

SPEAKER_04

Well, and I think too, like when it comes to the therapy of books and coloring and diving into hobbies, it's getting out of your own head.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_04

So, like books are such a great escape for releasing your own life and stepping into other someone else's shoes. You're not just sitting like fixating on issues and problems and just like making yourself mentally like your mental health worse.

SPEAKER_05

Yes, you're stepping away from that. Like when you do what like we do, and like a lot of other people that talk about books and what they read online, you do open yourself up to criticism. But the thing is, is like here's a really fair point that a lot of people don't know. If you don't agree with something, you can simply just scroll.

SPEAKER_04

So when reading starts feeling like productivity, good reads, fable, I think you and I can competition.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know, specifically picking books with shorter chapters and pages to up the book goal.

SPEAKER_04

At the end of last year, I had upped my book goal for the year, and all of a sudden, next no is like Christmas is coming up, and I'm like, I gotta I gotta read, guys. No one talked me.

SPEAKER_05

The only thing high on my on my uh fable is my TBR in the highest.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I think you have the most books on your TBR. Oh, it just keeps getting worse.

SPEAKER_04

I looked at yours probably at our at our book weekend last year. I thought Cass had the biggest TBR I had ever seen, and someone else had like another hundred books more. Was it Lexi or was it Carissa? It was Jamie. Oh, it was Jamie? Yeah. You were at three or four hundred, and she was like another hundred more than where you were. That's so overwhelming. Yeah, she said her number, and I literally was like, I'll never get to mine to finish 500 and something if it's under. You finish your TBR, it's going on your headstone when you die.

SPEAKER_03

I've actually had thoughts where I've like gone through and I'm like, before I add any more books.

SPEAKER_05

551.

SPEAKER_03

That's insane. I thought my 200 and something was like unbearable to look at. That's not too bad. But like when I was looking at mine, I'm like, I need to read all the books that are on my TBR right now, get it down to zero, and then I can start adding new books.

SPEAKER_04

So my I'm not so much worried about my TBR. I have like a mental list of books that I need to read right now, and then there keeps being more added to it. And then some of them, and like that's where I think I'm having a hard time with some of the bigger books. That I'm like, I have so many books I need to read, and that book is so big. Yeah, yeah. That's my issue with Crescent City.

SPEAKER_05

They are big, and I don't want too big.

SPEAKER_03

Well, many are so good though, so thick. And now the second book because I killed him. Yeah, I want to read that book.

SPEAKER_05

I already read that one so badly.

SPEAKER_03

It's over 800 pages, and I'm like, oh you guys literally didn't even want to read Alchemized or uh 700 pages.

SPEAKER_04

Alchemized is a thousand. Alchemized is like a thousand or one. Manicold is like 700. Maybe it's that like there's one that we were talking about that was 700, and I was like, I think you guys should try to get that at one point, like read Alchemized.

SPEAKER_03

They are selling it in like two separate books now to make it less intimidating for people, I think. But I won't do it.

SPEAKER_05

Why? Because those characters are it's different characters, it's the same, but I know who they're based on. It's different. I can't do it. I would do it, but it's down there on the list, it's not on my priority list. Nah, it's number one on my 551-page TVR.

SPEAKER_03

As a creator, because now we've entered the book talk space, we've entered book two, we've had this podcast, it's quite a large chunk of our time doing this. Do you feel more pressure to read certain books or read a certain amount of books more now that we're a creator, rather than when you were just like reading for the pure enjoyment of it? 100%.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, I'm kind of like 50-50 on that. Yes and no.

SPEAKER_03

I feel like we have more pressure to read like trending books, yes, um, putting them as our book club books for the month, like getting talking about it.

SPEAKER_04

When I think too, because like we we have, yeah, like we have our book club books, and then there's books that you guys are reading that I'm like, ooh, I want to read that too. And then there's also like my own books. I'm like, oh, like the second or third book of this series came out, I need to read that. And then this other book comes out, and it's doing like everyone seems to be loving it. It's like, okay, well, I need to read that.

SPEAKER_05

But that one has the first book, so I gotta get the first book read first. Like Metal Slinger.

SPEAKER_03

I'm gonna I'm gonna skip that one. It's like spicy rating. So I'm just like, yeah, I'm gonna like it. I've been I've come to the point where I look at the spice rating and I'm like, if it says spicy, I probably won't read it. I'm alone in that. I know.

SPEAKER_05

I feel pressured to definitely like finish books, not to where you guys are, where I have to get a certain amount of books a month or that's mostly just us, though.

SPEAKER_03

That's what I'm saying. Like, not to your like at in a creative space and like posting content and stuff. Do you feel more pressure in that way?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. It's definitely changed how you look at reading.

SPEAKER_03

I think at some point I have prioritized quantity over the experience of the books. Like, we've talked about how sometimes we'll read like short novellas just to up the book goal, which is totally toxic. Don't agree with doing that. I'm just neurotic.

SPEAKER_05

I haven't done that this year. I only did it at the end of I did it in December because I was like, oh, I gotta get up. And I was under my book goal by one book. Yeah, but I haven't read any novellas this year.

SPEAKER_03

That's good. I did a lot in January and February because I was like, I'm gonna get a head start on this. Yeah, you did. Well, I was just introduced to the novella game in December and I was like really enjoying them. Not that they were like great quality books and like super. Some of them are good. The Cross Me Dead was are those novellas? They would be they're small, yeah. They're shorter books, but that was really good. That was probably the best shorter book I've read in a long time.

SPEAKER_05

It was so poetic and just beautifully written. If you haven't read that duet, go do it. The mindfuck ones are a little bit more novella to me, I think. Those ones are pretty short, those are very short, but we read those like three years ago.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, yeah. I literally had no idea novellas existed until you guys introduced me to them. The only one I had ever read was Frost and Starlight by Sarah Jamasse. That was it, and that was not great. Terrible.

SPEAKER_04

That was not a great book. I was kind of upset about spending the money on that one. I was like, oh. It's like a little bit of a big thing. But it costs it costs the same as like the full-size books. Wild. Right?

SPEAKER_03

It's not like you got like half price. Have reading goals helped or hurt your enjoyment of reading? Both hasn't hurt mine. The pressure hurts mine. Yeah. Like trying to finish a book faster. Like, oh, I've spent like five days reading this book. That's so long, but really, that's not long. No. Compared to like my husband. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Constantly, like, Susie's probably read another book while I've been still reading this book. You guys are so toxic.

SPEAKER_03

It's it's I don't know where we're not toxic, we're competitive. It's toxic behavior.

SPEAKER_05

I'm not gonna deny it because it is pretty toxic. Where are my vibe readers at? I'm just over here cruising. Just like talking windows down, hair blowing in the wind, reading for the vibes. Where are you people at? I could not hair just blowing too much.

SPEAKER_04

Like my wind, the wind blows my back.

SPEAKER_05

It's not blowing in my face.

SPEAKER_04

When it was humid the other day, I was lost my mind just with my hair touching my like anything.

SPEAKER_03

So because I said like I've rushed through a book or thought about rushing through a book just to finish it, have you guys ever had that temptation to rush through a book to finish it?

SPEAKER_04

Only if I hate the book.

SPEAKER_03

Okay.

SPEAKER_04

No, like I said, like I said, this one we were talking about skimming. Yeah. I I can't. If I start skimming a book, like I stop reading altogether and I'll come back to it because it's usually because I'm tired.

SPEAKER_03

That's fair. One of the things that I wanted to mention was how trophy books, special editions, and bookshelf culture is also a big part of the performative aspect of book talk. Like trophy books are basically just performative. Yeah. And as someone who collects trophy books and has them displayed in my entryway, like first thing you see, I can admit that it's very performative of me to do that. And it's not because I care what people think or I want them to see what kind of reader I am. It's just the fact that like I personally love the books so much that I want them in my home, not as books I would actually physically read, but as decor items. Especially the sprayed edges. And back in the day, the good old first started my YouTube channel day, I judge people so hard for that. And now I am more done. I think the more I looked into de-influencing the content, the more I influenced myself to do it. I was a massive hypocrite. But at least you admit it.

SPEAKER_04

But I also think it's different because like back in the day, you'd go to we'd go to Indigo, you'd pick out the your different books, you'd get all excited, you'd you know what I mean? Like you'd have those books, whereas like now everything's on your Kindle, and yeah, and then you're it almost just feels a little empty.

SPEAKER_05

I go to Indigo and take pictures of the books that I want to read, and then I go home and download them on my Kindle.

SPEAKER_03

We do, yeah, I do that too, because most of the time they are cheaper. If you want to watch our Kindle Prices are out of control video, you can check that out as well. We did those like a few months ago, I think. It was last month. Historically, Kindle prices have been cheaper, and now they're kind of out of pocket and they're the same price as like a paperback and indigo.

SPEAKER_04

So there's not much difference between the two.

SPEAKER_03

There's not. However, we do still take photos of physical books and then we get them on our Kindle still. But I do that mostly because I enjoy reading on my Kindle more than holding a book. It's just easier, more compact, easier to throw into your purse or an upper bag. I think that a lot of the reason why people curate a bookshelf and get the trophy books is because it communicates something about that person's identity.

SPEAKER_04

Let's get to some questions for you guys. Can performative reading lead people to become genuine readers? Genuine. Genuine. You sound genuine genuine, just like my nana. Isn't the guy who sings pony?

SPEAKER_05

Yes, his name is Genuine.

SPEAKER_04

That could be why I say it.

SPEAKER_05

But it's genuine.

SPEAKER_04

Let's do it. Run it. Jump on it. You are hilarious. Genuine. Does the reason someone start reading matter? Have we become too obsessed with authenticity online? And is judging performative readers just another form of performance?

SPEAKER_03

Let us know in the comments below. We'll probably get offended by that last question if you answer yes. Because we are because we're kind of judging performative readers. No, actually we're not. We're just discussing it. We're both. We're already guilty of both.

SPEAKER_04

And performing simultaneously. We're guilty. You are welcome. Which leads us to Lindy Loved.

SPEAKER_03

Which I'm I don't have one. Oh my gosh. Like harmonized. You guys have had lots of practice. I'm gonna do Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. Page 213. I think it's very fitting for Miles today. And this quote definitely says something about me as a person, and you'll see why. I was relieved when it was late enough to be acceptable for bedtime. That's the quote. That's the quote. That's it.

unknown

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_03

I went to bed at 9 o'clock last night.

SPEAKER_04

That was very bella of you. So I did Hunted by the Demon's Vow, A. N. Coddle. This is page 376. How he looked at her, disgust, desire, a warped obsession that was devious and violent. How he looked at me. Like I was the son he used to worship, only to now cast a shadow he could never crawl out from beneath. Envy, frenzied, and fuming. It wasn't just a sibling rivalry. I felt the anger boiling in his blood. He wanted to eliminate me, ruin me, but he belonged to rage. It was ingrained in him. I belonged to ruin, and it was mine to uphold. Nice.

SPEAKER_05

It's a good one. Mine, because I brought it up in this episode, is from Crown Me Yours, the Heartstring Duet, Book Two by Liv Xander. Page 173. I have longed for you, he whispers gently. Longer than I had a name for longing. My own wife, my own companion. The words settle between us like stone sinking into still water, letting that gold-tinged warmth in my chest rise. I have likely loved you longer than I realized.

SPEAKER_03

I have that one highlighted too. It's a good one. That was such a good one. These quotes, guys. I know. Right? You know what? I want to do something different. Um before we end off. Let us know a line you love. Ooh, I like that. Yeah. Put it in the comments, a line you love from the book. Give us the book, the page number. And if there's any spoilers, make sure you put that before the quote just so people know.

SPEAKER_05

And the author's name.

SPEAKER_03

And the author's name. Yes. And then let us know what lines you love. Convince us to read those books. Yeah. Give us the best line from it. And on that note, that's it. Ciao. Bye. You can find us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at Glotwist Please Pod. We're also anywhere you can get your podcast. So make sure you're following or subscribed so you never miss an episode. If you love this one, hype us up a little. Leave us a comment, drop a rating or review, and tell us what you would like us to read next.

SPEAKER_05

Thank you so much for joining us on this episode.

SPEAKER_04

And as always, keep your glass, your bookshelf, and your TBR full. Cheers. Cheers.