fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #6787 ]

[ SECRET POST #6787 ]

⌈ Secret Post #6787 ⌋

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This is dumb, I know, but most of my friends have gotten into this TikTok "reading" trend, where you're supposed to quickly skim over books, and listen to audiobooks at pretty much all waking hours, while you're cooking, doing chores, driving, etc., and by doing this you can "read" several hundred books a year.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't help but see this as cheating. I'm a fairly fast reader, but between work and family obligations, I still only read 1-2 books a week by devoting my attention 100% to the book. Obviously I could consume more books if I skimmed, listened to audio while doing other things, etc., but if you're splitting your attention between the book and other things, I feel like you're bound to miss things. Especially driving, just in being an attentive driver and paying attention to the road, if nothing else.

My one friend especially likes to brag about reading 20 or more books a week (despite having a job, a partner, pets, multiple hobbies, frequently hosts parties, etc.) because she is constantly listening to audiobooks on her commute to work, while cleaning, etc. and only actually devotes time and focus completely to reading for a few minutes a day. I personally don't see how she even finds that enjoyable, but I'd just be like "whatever" if she wasn't constantly bragging about how she reads soooo many books and is "such a fast reader" (I don't see how listening to an audiobook while you're driving to work makes you a fast reader, personally, but maybe that's just me.)

*Not getting into the whole "are audiobooks a valid way to consume stories" debate, obviously they are, I just think you can't possibly completely absorb a story if you're doing other things while listening to it (and that bragging about being a "fast reader" is kind of a weird thing to say when you primarily listen to audiobooks).

I don't know, maybe I shouldn't care about this, but I have so many friends who've made reading their whole identity and it's all they ever want to talk about. Some of them make snide comments about me "only" reading a book or two a week and act like I'm lacking some sort of skill or intelligence that they have, to be able to "read so much more", when I personally can't help but see the way they do it as cheating. Maybe I shouldn't feel that way, but they're just so damn obnoxious about it that it bugs me.

Anyway, anyone else have friends that act this way or feel judged for "not reading enough"?

tbh my criteria for this would be 'if they can actually have a discussion about the book' then I'd consider it fine. Not how I read but if they can absorb the story and talk about it, cool, I'm a little jealous. If they can't talk about it or remember anything about it, say, a week later, I'd consider it not really reading.

Yeah, this. It's like how some people can watch a movie or a TV show in the background while doing something else and still absorb everything.

Skimming is cheating. Audiobooks, not so much. I spent a lot of time pre-pandemic walking to/from work while listening to audiobooks. If you can understanding the plot/themes/content of the book, then you've read it regardless of how you did it or what else you were doing at the time.

Like first anon said, it’s legit if they can talk about it.

I listen to audiobooks a lot and consider it the same as reading but only because I’m paying close attention to it. For instance, on a 12 hour drive I’ll probably only get through 6-8 hours of an audiobook depending on traffic and how many cities I have to drive through or interchanges I need to take. I pause it (or sometimes don’t even have a chance to do that right away) as soon as I have to focus closely on other traffic.

Ugh, I'm sure that TikTok isn't 100% garbage, but sometimes it's hard to tell. While I wouldn't go so far as to call this "cheating", I still think... what's the point? I could eat more meals per day if I only ate soft foods and swallowed mouthfuls whole but that sounds like a really good way to ruin eating and enjoying food. I don't WANT to cram books into my head at top speed and efficiency, wtf?

Your friend's comments makes it sound like she's into this for bragging rights like it's a competition to consume as many books as possible in the shortest amount of time. What a joyless way to go about things. People who do this are to be pitied, IMO.

Pft. She is cheating. That’s not reading, that’s bragging. Stick to your books, OP. You’re getting a lot more enjoyment out of them and you’re nurturing your attention span.

This reminds me of when I was in middle school, my father bought me speed reading CD-ROMs and forced me to do it daily. It taught me to read faster during school, but I didn't absorb anything written so it didn't actually make me "smarter" at all. That's what this sounds like to me. Listening to an audiobook as background noise during the day isn't the same as actually "consuming" a book, sitting to think about it and can discuss it, etc. It's like they want to check a tally of how many books read just to say they did.

Skimming isn't really reading. Audiobooks is reading.
But I think if someone is consuming books just to say they read certain numbers of books or to say they read a lot is really missing the point of reading.

LMAO I don't know why people want to brag that they've read X amount of books.

This is a v first world problem yk

I mean, yeah, as is all fandom stuff.

99.9% of things talkrd about are. Are you new?

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[ SECRET POST #6787 ]

"Cheating" at reading

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