This line stood out to me: Some books are better than others, but reading the better books doesn’t make you the better person. I’m glad this was mentioned because it feels the opposite sometimes in online spaces
"in that regard, it worked on me" - me too Sara. I've been thinking about that essay for the past few days. I think you captured the differences between Bookstagram and Substack perfectly. I often wonder why we can't "read and let read"! What's with all the shaming of readers? I think it's ridiculous and I will quickly and easily unsubscribe from readers/writers who are doing this. Appreciate you sharing your thoughts and your journey
This was a very thought-provoking read. I also want to challenge what constitutes an “intellectual or challenging” read. In the literary space, I feel like those characteristics are mainly applied to literary fiction and classics. But there’s plenty of other genres that can also be intellectually stimulating. I find that science fiction, historical fiction, even fantasy can be challenging in the sense of wrapping your head around new concepts. And not to mention non-fiction - journalism, history, biography, criticism. Even a romance or romantasy, while easy reading and entertaining, can get you to think about things you haven’t thought about before.
I listened to Ezra Klein’s conversation with Sarah McBride yesterday (it’s wonderful!); her take on our current political environment sounds a lot like the Bookstagram/Substack “divide” you describe. I’m so curious why this is … and wondering who benefits from it. As always, I’m grateful for your thoughtful essay and all the nutritious food for thought.
I was thinking the exact same thing! The divide that is explored in this essay seems to mirror the current political divide in the United States. I wonder if it is because the world has become an increasingly scary place and we have very little control, so when we find an idea that we like we burrow into it and fully embrace it and in the process forget that there are other ideas and thoughts that oppose our ideas. And these other ideas don't necessarily make our ideas wrong...or right....they are just different and valid.
I haven't listened to the podcast but will look it up. I do wonder where the human needs for binary comes from and what cultures push against this.... Something to ponder.
love this! I love how this newsletter has encouraged me to think more deeply about craft and what an author intends to do and how they do it, while leaving room for taste, mood, and life stage.
When I read the viral substack you refer to, I couldn't eloquently pinpoint what bothered me so much about it, THANK YOU. Your piece perfectly describes how I felt reading it.
I love both substack and bookstagram because it helps me find a wide range of books that interest me. I'm still discovering my taste in reading, and find it often changes. I refuse to judge others for their reading choices, let's all enjoy what we want!
I'm excited to read deeply along with you in your Margin Notes series, my copy of Brandy Sour came in yesterday from Blackwells :)
Loved this piece! It’s interesting, I don’t think all books are equal, but I do feel that for the most part, all reading is good reading. Some books one person might be reading could be considered higher literary quality than others another might read, but that doesn’t to me make one person more of a reader or a “better” reader than the other. Their taste is different, what they’re looking to get out of their reading life is different, but it’s not superior and doesn’t make them morally better than the other reader.
1000%! Love you sharing your journey! It's a common one for us literature grads.
While I didn't experience the paternalistic tone in the original piece, I did see a frustration with algorithms narrowing what people are recommended and thus engage with. We can assume that the Bookstagram/TikTok community is made up of certain types of readers and the nature of social media pushes popcorn books more than the denser ones. The latter of which is built into the nature of social media, so it's not a surprise if it feels like people's *interest* in books is only for certain genres/types—relying on social media to describe the full reality of reading is the first problem here. (Many readers aren't even on social media, gasp!)
What I think the author is actually misunderstanding/missing is that genre fiction and other so called "low brow" fiction can actually expand people's minds—and it can be more successful in doing so than the Literary/High Brow works. While people are reading for recreation, they are also getting important messages about character, virtue, morality, human condition, revolution, technological advancements, family/friend relationships, and so much more!
Books have as much power to educate/expand as they do to entrench/contract, just like social media. I think the original author just needs to reach beyond his algorithm.
Thank you Sara. I appreciate your perspective so much. One of the most formative experiences in my high school education was a class in which we were encouraged to read everything we wanted to read. I loved choosing my own books and I still do. I hope to find more books I love every week, and you foster that.
This really resonates with me too. I’ve gone back and forth between as well. I used to read pretty much only classics and similar type stuff. I remember decades ago in my early 20’s I discovered Bridget Jones Diary (which normally I would have felt was not my thing), and I was like “Wait, this is fun! And it reads quickly and makes me laugh” I realized sometimes you can read fun and lighter books and it’s a good thing (groundbreaking I know). These days I still find myself guilty of literary snobbishness sometimes (getting eye-rolly about “Romantasy” etc) but I feel like in general I like my reading life best when it’s a good blend of serious challenging reads mixed with some other genres, other lighter things to switch up the mood.
I enjoyed reading your essay. I also liked the comments from others. "Some books are better than others, but reading better books doesn't make you a better person," resonated with us. I like "read and let read." When I was a newspaper correspondent I did a story about adult illiteracy which inspired me to become a reading teacher. I could not imagine anyone not being able to read a story. I thought the same thing when I became a middle school intervention reading teacher. I will tell you that my 8th graders struggled reading Jacqueline Woodson's "Brown Girl Dreaming," which has a lexile level of 990, equivalent to 5th grade. They absolutely loved the story and the class discussions. Something they would not be able to do with the classics. I just have to throw this in as well—I recently learned that high school English no longer requires the reading of novels. Instead, excerpts are read. Just think of all those students not enjoying a story in full. I recently wrote a novel and it is just a story meant to be enjoyed.
The thing that is magical about books is as an art form as a whole it covers so much ground that are all good. From entertainment, to feeling seen, to challenging our perceptions, to teaching us, to escaping, to healing and more. So all books have benefit for the right reader. (okay most books - sure there are racists etc who right manifestos and I am not sure all bro books have value 😂)
This line stood out to me: Some books are better than others, but reading the better books doesn’t make you the better person. I’m glad this was mentioned because it feels the opposite sometimes in online spaces
"in that regard, it worked on me" - me too Sara. I've been thinking about that essay for the past few days. I think you captured the differences between Bookstagram and Substack perfectly. I often wonder why we can't "read and let read"! What's with all the shaming of readers? I think it's ridiculous and I will quickly and easily unsubscribe from readers/writers who are doing this. Appreciate you sharing your thoughts and your journey
This was a very thought-provoking read. I also want to challenge what constitutes an “intellectual or challenging” read. In the literary space, I feel like those characteristics are mainly applied to literary fiction and classics. But there’s plenty of other genres that can also be intellectually stimulating. I find that science fiction, historical fiction, even fantasy can be challenging in the sense of wrapping your head around new concepts. And not to mention non-fiction - journalism, history, biography, criticism. Even a romance or romantasy, while easy reading and entertaining, can get you to think about things you haven’t thought about before.
All I will say is, I’ve been waiting for this response to THAT essay and it’s every bit as good as I knew it would be 💅
I listened to Ezra Klein’s conversation with Sarah McBride yesterday (it’s wonderful!); her take on our current political environment sounds a lot like the Bookstagram/Substack “divide” you describe. I’m so curious why this is … and wondering who benefits from it. As always, I’m grateful for your thoughtful essay and all the nutritious food for thought.
I was thinking the exact same thing! The divide that is explored in this essay seems to mirror the current political divide in the United States. I wonder if it is because the world has become an increasingly scary place and we have very little control, so when we find an idea that we like we burrow into it and fully embrace it and in the process forget that there are other ideas and thoughts that oppose our ideas. And these other ideas don't necessarily make our ideas wrong...or right....they are just different and valid.
YES! I think most of us struggle with a Both/And approach and fear makes it even harder.
I haven't listened to the podcast but will look it up. I do wonder where the human needs for binary comes from and what cultures push against this.... Something to ponder.
love this! I love how this newsletter has encouraged me to think more deeply about craft and what an author intends to do and how they do it, while leaving room for taste, mood, and life stage.
When I read the viral substack you refer to, I couldn't eloquently pinpoint what bothered me so much about it, THANK YOU. Your piece perfectly describes how I felt reading it.
I love both substack and bookstagram because it helps me find a wide range of books that interest me. I'm still discovering my taste in reading, and find it often changes. I refuse to judge others for their reading choices, let's all enjoy what we want!
I'm excited to read deeply along with you in your Margin Notes series, my copy of Brandy Sour came in yesterday from Blackwells :)
So glad you wrote this!
Loved this piece! It’s interesting, I don’t think all books are equal, but I do feel that for the most part, all reading is good reading. Some books one person might be reading could be considered higher literary quality than others another might read, but that doesn’t to me make one person more of a reader or a “better” reader than the other. Their taste is different, what they’re looking to get out of their reading life is different, but it’s not superior and doesn’t make them morally better than the other reader.
1000%! Love you sharing your journey! It's a common one for us literature grads.
While I didn't experience the paternalistic tone in the original piece, I did see a frustration with algorithms narrowing what people are recommended and thus engage with. We can assume that the Bookstagram/TikTok community is made up of certain types of readers and the nature of social media pushes popcorn books more than the denser ones. The latter of which is built into the nature of social media, so it's not a surprise if it feels like people's *interest* in books is only for certain genres/types—relying on social media to describe the full reality of reading is the first problem here. (Many readers aren't even on social media, gasp!)
What I think the author is actually misunderstanding/missing is that genre fiction and other so called "low brow" fiction can actually expand people's minds—and it can be more successful in doing so than the Literary/High Brow works. While people are reading for recreation, they are also getting important messages about character, virtue, morality, human condition, revolution, technological advancements, family/friend relationships, and so much more!
Books have as much power to educate/expand as they do to entrench/contract, just like social media. I think the original author just needs to reach beyond his algorithm.
Read, and let read 👏👏👏
Thank you Sara. I appreciate your perspective so much. One of the most formative experiences in my high school education was a class in which we were encouraged to read everything we wanted to read. I loved choosing my own books and I still do. I hope to find more books I love every week, and you foster that.
This really resonates with me too. I’ve gone back and forth between as well. I used to read pretty much only classics and similar type stuff. I remember decades ago in my early 20’s I discovered Bridget Jones Diary (which normally I would have felt was not my thing), and I was like “Wait, this is fun! And it reads quickly and makes me laugh” I realized sometimes you can read fun and lighter books and it’s a good thing (groundbreaking I know). These days I still find myself guilty of literary snobbishness sometimes (getting eye-rolly about “Romantasy” etc) but I feel like in general I like my reading life best when it’s a good blend of serious challenging reads mixed with some other genres, other lighter things to switch up the mood.
I enjoyed reading your essay. I also liked the comments from others. "Some books are better than others, but reading better books doesn't make you a better person," resonated with us. I like "read and let read." When I was a newspaper correspondent I did a story about adult illiteracy which inspired me to become a reading teacher. I could not imagine anyone not being able to read a story. I thought the same thing when I became a middle school intervention reading teacher. I will tell you that my 8th graders struggled reading Jacqueline Woodson's "Brown Girl Dreaming," which has a lexile level of 990, equivalent to 5th grade. They absolutely loved the story and the class discussions. Something they would not be able to do with the classics. I just have to throw this in as well—I recently learned that high school English no longer requires the reading of novels. Instead, excerpts are read. Just think of all those students not enjoying a story in full. I recently wrote a novel and it is just a story meant to be enjoyed.
The thing that is magical about books is as an art form as a whole it covers so much ground that are all good. From entertainment, to feeling seen, to challenging our perceptions, to teaching us, to escaping, to healing and more. So all books have benefit for the right reader. (okay most books - sure there are racists etc who right manifestos and I am not sure all bro books have value 😂)
As soon as I read the viral post, I was hoping you would write a reply. Thoughtful, concise, and well-expressed!! Thank you for sharing!