Hi Everyone – hope you’re all having a great day. I certainly am – I’ve done my bookish retail therapy for the day and I went out and bought After You by Jojo Moyes from Waterstones (if anyone is looking for a copy, I’d recommend you go to Waterstones; it’s half price at the moment!! :D). While I was in the bookshop, I was inspired for today’s discussion post. My discussion today is going to be;
So first of all: “What are bookish trends?”
By Bookish Trends, I mean books that everyone seems to be talking about. Off the top of my head, I’m thinking Harry Potter (JK.Rowling), Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn), Fangirl (Rainbow Rowell), Divergent (Veronica Roth), The Girl on the Train (Paula Hawkins), etc – the list just goes on… Basically, I’m listing books that everyone is talking about!
Is it a good or bad thing?
Hmm, I’m divided over this. I think it’s a good thing in one sense, because if you follow book trends, you won’t just be stuck on one particular genre – you will be reading a wide variety of literature, which can only be a good thing. But in another way, it could potentially be a bad thing. For me, reading should be fun, and if your reading is ruled by what is on trend at the moment, you aren’t really reading for yourself – you’re reading to please others, in a way.
Everyone probably has different opinions on this – and I’m not saying either opinion is right or wrong. I’m sort of sitting on the fence! 🙂
Me? Do I follow Bookish Trends?
Yes, I think I actually do! I’m always interested in what other people reading and reviewing, and if I see that several people have read a certain book, I will be likely to hunt out a copy of that book and read it myself! I personally think it’s quite good because this way, I have discovered a lot of great books. However, I haven’t really got a reading identity like some other readers do, because I’m reading all different kind of genres; I don’t really have one that I’d say was my favourite, to be honest. I admire people who have a set genre that they read and they stick to that, regardless of what anyone else is reading.
Can it be classed as pressure – or mere curiosity?
I would like to think I follow bookish trends out of curiosity of what others are reading, and because I think I might enjoy the books – and I do, but I also think I might be pressured into reading trendy books, in some sense.
For example, I find that reviewing newer, trendier books gets me more views and likes than reviewing lesser well-known titles – and so obviously I prefer to review newer books, therefore, you might say I am pressured into reading trendy books. 🙂
Where do you stand in this Discussion?
- Do you follow Bookish Trends?
- Are you pressured into reading popular books – or do you read them out of curiosity?
- Do you think Bookish Trends are a good or bad thing?
- Can you relate with any of the points I made in this post?
- Did you enjoy this discussion subject?
I really hope you enjoyed today’s discussion post!!
I would be really interested to see what your views are about the subject – so please let me know what you think in the comments section below.
Which just leaves me to say thanks very much for reading today’s post! Enjoy the rest of your day, everyone.
Poppy's Best of Books 
I follow bookish trends, and I’m iffy about it too! I mean I defiantly read different books that not a lot of people have heard of I’ve found out from my reviews, but I can’t help but to follow along with a good book that everyone is reading to see what the hype is about and to want to be involved in the conversations!
Love this post 🙂
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Thanks so much for your feedback, Amanda! It’s really interesting to read what your views are. And I’m really glad you enjoyed this post! 🙂
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I like to follow trends to find new books (even though I probably shouldn’t cause I have so many already) but if I read the blurb & it really doesn’t sound that interesting to me, I have no problem just skipping it. So I guess it’s I do, to a point.
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It’s really interesting to see what others readers think about this topic – thanks for sharing your thoughts! Yeah, I’m a bit like that – I stay clear of popular books which I think no, I absolutely won’t like. 🙂
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It’s a bit hit and miss for me. I DO read books that are gaining a lot of hype, but mainly because they do genuinely seem like something I’d enjoy. I’d never read a book that didn’t interest me that much just because it was part of a trend. I don’t think it’s necessarily a good or a bad thing, it just depends on the situation. I feel like for hardcore readers it can be good, because they might branch into genres they’ve not tried before – like I have done in the past. But then there’s times where it can become a bit too much and the amount of hype makes most readers cringe a bit (looking at you, The Fault In Our Stars and Fifty Shades of Grey). It all just depends on the readers 🙂
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It’s interesting to read your views, Ashleigh! And yeah, I thoroughly agree with what your saying – following trends can be a good thing because it can introduce you to things you might not have tried before unless it was brought to your attention by it’s popularity. But no, I’ll never read anything that doesn’t interest me – just because it’s had a lot of hype. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 🙂
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I’ve read books that came to my attention because of the hype surrounding them. It’s the same as letting a commercial convince you to buy a product. Sometimes you’re happy you tried or read it, other times (more often sadly) it’s a big mystery why it got so many good reviews. At least then I can form my own opinion about it.
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Hi Igne, yeah, I agree with what your saying. Thanks for sharing your views. 🙂
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I have read the trendy book on occasion, but I usually pick what interests me. These day’s I’ve done quite a bit of beta reading, and the author chooses me instead. There are a couple of authors I’d love to return to if I ever find the time.
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Ooh, beta reading sounds interesting! That sounds really good – and yeah, it’s always good to know what you like. Thanks for sharing your views! 🙂
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I have one out with betas right now. You have to be willing to return the favor, and that’s kept me pretty busy this year.
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I bet it has! It sounds really good. 🙂
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I do sometimes. I have read books because of the hype (Divergent, Hunger Games, etc), but if the book is getting tons of hype and still doesn’t sound like my thing, I won’t read it. So, I have skipped books like Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, and The Martian because their concepts didn’t really interest me.
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Yeah, that’s a good way to be I think! Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 🙂
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I tend to stick to my preferred genre however, when the fifty shades came out I was sick of hearing about it so succumbed. Very good marketing for this book. Read it, not bothered about reading again, read far more enjoyable books that have little or no hype.
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Ah, right! Yeah, I’ve heard so much about ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ but I don’t think it’s my kind of thing. I’ve heard it hasn’t got much of a storyline and stuff, so I don’t think I would really enjoy it. 🙂
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No, it’s pretty boring to be honest. Best left alone.
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I can be a bit contrary about books and if there’s a lot of hype around a book it quite often makes me wary. If a lot of reviewers I know and like are giving something a great review I’ll look out for it but if it’s just loads of general reviews I’ll pass.
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Ah, that’s interesting! I suppose it’s always disappointing if you expect a popular book to be really good and it’s not. 🙂
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I don’t think I’ve read all that many popular books. I have read none of the ones you listed up there, except the first couple chapters of Divergent … I stopped after a bit because I didn’t like the main character, setting, or plot. Or any of the characters, actually. And the writing style was pretty depressing. That’s just my opinion, of course … I think differently than a lot of people.
So … I don’t think I follow trends. I read a lot of classics and historical fiction, a little bit of fantasy (as long as it’s not too weird), literary or contemporary fiction. I’ve also recently become obsessed with steampunk … although I admit I haven’t read much … like, at all. XD
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Yeah, I noticed that you read some lesser-known books by looking at your blog, Kellyn, and I think it’s definitely good to recommend some books that people are less likely to have heard of before. 🙂
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Yes, I think I have. Of course, I spend a lot of time reading self-published books (or at least I have recently … though I haven’t gotten too many reviews of them out, honestly), so that may be why. 🙂
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I’m always curious about books that are trending, sometimes I concur and give in to the hype into reading these bookish trends. But sometimes, I also feel like pressured to doing so, and when I feel pressured, I’d rather make way for other books instead. Maybe, bookish trends are good for people who have the same tastes and can’t wait to compare notes. For me, it’s okay.
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Hi Claire, yeah it can be a good thing or it can be a bad thing, I suppose. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 🙂
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I only read those that seem really interesting to me. And then I either buy them after everybody has already read them, and read them when…well, at some point! 😄. I just generally pick things I think I’m going to like, regardless of its popularity. Getting more views is cool, but how about recommending a book no one has heard of before? 😃 Great post Poppy!
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Yeah, it’s good to know your own mind! 🙂 And I like the argument that recommending a lesser-known book is good, too. I do that occasionally like I did the other day with ‘Mind Games’ by Teri Terry. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your views, Anne!
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Occasionally is good 😉
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I’m probably quite the opposite! If everyone is raving about a book, unless it’s a story that interests me particularly I’ll almost go out of my way not to read it – not sure why I’m so contrary 😀 I do tend to browse books quite a lot, whether online or in a bookstore or library, and I’m open to just about any genre, so perhaps that’s why – I enjoy finding lesser-known gems.
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Ah right, do you really?! 🙂 Yeah, I think it’s good to enjoy a variety of different genres. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Helen! 🙂
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I do. And I probably miss some good books because of it. But I have all good intentions of catching up on reading them one day 🙂
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It happens that I reach for a book because it looks like everyone loves it, recommends it to me, etc. But most of the times I don’t much care. I might add a certain hyped book to my TBR list and it will stay in there forever.
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That’s really interesting, thanks for sharing your thoughts! 🙂
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I certenly enjoyed this discussion post! 😉
I think it is good to follow trends bc that way we can discover some genres we wouldn’t otherwhise.
But it can also be not so good bc if you follow only trends you’re missing out on books that came out long time ago but you only read new hot releases, if you know what I mean.
As for me, I really want to follow trends, bt at the same time I am really bad when it comes to it.
There’s so many trendy books on my tbr but I often do not read them when they are new, and I can’t even tell you why.
It’s not like I can’t bc I often do buy them or I do have an opportunity to borrow it from a friend, but somehow I am always excited before book’s release, and then I am just putting and putting off the reading that often when I finally grab the book, that same book is not trendy any more.
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Aw, I’m glad you enjoyed the topic, Irena! Thanks! 🙂
Yeah, I know exactly what you mean, and I agree, there are fors and againsts the subject. It’s interesting to read what your own experience is with trendy books.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!! 🙂
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I love listening or reading other peoples thoughts on books. It helps me find new authors/ genres really easy. On the other hand I have found out some really over hyped books aren’t worth it for me…. So I guess I’m excited to find new trends but also a little wary now. I tend to borrow from the library before I decide if I want to commit to owning the book 😀 Because if I could I would own all of the books!! 🙂
So yes this was a great topic!
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I want to say I don’t because I get really tired of everyone reading the same thing at the same time, but honestly I’m guilty of following the trends too, just not always at the same time. I do want to branch out though, and I think I’ve been doing a fair job of it.
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Aw, good! I think that as long as you enjoy doing what your doing, it’s fine! 🙂
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Like you said I think i follow bookish trends out of the curiosity of what other people are reading. I’m kind of half and half on this issue because while I enjoy reading a lot of popular/trendy books, I always enjoy reading what I want, when I want -no matter how old the book is. But mainly I just read for myself. 🙂
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That’s great! Yeah, I read out of curiosity, too, really. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 🙂
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I like following book trends out of curiosity, but I also like picking up the occasional less known book–great post! 🙂
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Thank you! Yeah, I completely agree. 🙂
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It’s a good point, I do follow book trends. I think I’m just lazy in the way that I don’t want to read a bad book lol so I like to see what other people other reading and enjoying. That sounds kind of sheepish now that I think about it, but hey I have discovered many great, new books this way! So, I guess I am for it 🙂
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Thanks for commenting, Allison! That’s really interesting – thank you for sharing your thoughts! And I agree with you – if bookish trends are going to get you to discover some really great books, then I think it can only be a good thing!
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What a great topic! I like your perspective- that it is a great way to learn about new books. I think I try to follow books for curiosity, but sometimes it comes down to pressure. For instance, I hadn’t read FIOS until the movie, but constantly was questioned why I hadn’t started it yet. This was more due to my volunteer work in cancer, but I also wasn’t sure I believed the hype.
I also appreciate your honesty about views for more well-known titles.
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Thank you! I’m glad you liked this post. It’s interesting to see what your experience is – thank you for sharing your thoughts. Yeah, I wouldn’t have come across some of my favourite books such as: ‘Me Before You’ and ‘The Hunger Games’, etc, if it hadn’t been for the hype surrounding them, so I’m quite glad of bookish trends. 🙂
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I have always read books that I find in used bookstores or that others have recommended. It’s very rare that I read a “trendy” book. However, because it happens so rarely, I find that I really enjoy the discussion and conversations with others as they read it too. Because of this, I’ve been trying to read more new releases.
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I get most of my books secondhand, too, and usually I find a lot of popular books which I recognise from proper bookshops, etc, there too, for a fraction of the full prices! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
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