Mx M

💖

Also why tf am I so nervous about the election of a major of a city on a different continent that I probably won't visit in the next ten years, my God

🧡🧡🧡

But that's just it. Those are general things that might also touch on how many unread books one actually needs in a personal library, but it is by far bigger than that & the core issues when imo do not lie in the book buying habits of a very small percentage of the population.

But overall, I don't think overconsumption of books in the sense that it is causing harm to planet and people... I don't see it.

Again, I'd love for publishing to get more eco friendly & conscious of environmental impact.

And we could all do with some eco friendly spending habits.

And the average person in my country does that about six times a year. Yes, we in bookish spaces do more than that and we go overboard sometimes and we can always argue about fucking special editions and destroying books that don't sell.

And that unhauling books should be done right, that too.

My eye twitches when ppl don't read but that's a whole other ballgame.

But especially looking at the practice of only seeking the licenses to read ebooks instead of actually selling and therefore buying the ebooks digitally, I think there are valid reasons for buying physical copies of things.

I didn't know the actual percentage of ppl on this planet who have 800 unread books on their shelves that they never plan on picking up, but I am very confident it's not a majority anywhere.

And I don't think there's an Internet issue with buying to own books you want to read.

*one at a time

And I will always come back to this one thing: a book doesn't turn blank or unreadable once it's been sitting on a private shelf for a couple of years. It doesn't fall apart (ideally) after reading it five or fifteen times, and it's also not an item you can only use once, or I've at a time.

My point being, ppl who love to read owning an extensive library is not a new thing. Traditionally it's probably always been more of a rich ppl thing in many places in the world, but it's not a product of harmful consumerism driven by influencers that evolved over the last decade.

Maybe I'm not active enough in those spaces to see these discussions, but it feels like the argument about how much reading is "too much reading" has been made out over and over again as a hot topic, we don't argue with ppl about how much watching of TV shows is "too much".

Like with a lot of arguments, books somehow always get a separate category when it comes to cultural goods we consume.

I haven't seen ppl argue about the overconsumption of vinyl albums, even tho those LPs have seen a surprising revival over the last couple of years.

I also think ppl compare different types of goods to be consumed with books in a way that doesn't make a lock of sense.

A book is not a lipstick or a reusable water bottle or a pair of jeans. It's not a perishable product, and while one might reread a book, that doesn't make it unusable later on.

Although I also think the price increases are taking care of a lot of that and I think in bookish spaces we've also seen an increase in content focused on libraries where ppl have access & the means to do so.

So just looking at these numbers I think makes it clear how very much not widespread the issue is.

I also think that certain numbers regarding physical media will see a little more of an increase over the next couple of years bc of political climate & censorship.

I also don't think this is a widespread issue in a way people are treating it.

Like, the average amount of books being bought in Germany in 2024 were ~6 books total.

Six.

I think it was around 18 in the US.

I understand and also feel a certain amount of distaste when I see content solely focused on getting absurd amounts of books only for then to get rid of an equally absurd amount of books one has never even picked up.

Mostly bc I don't get the point of it all.

The majority of ppl I've seen talking about this topic focus on the amount of books ppl in bookish spaces in the internet buy and own, how many is then they read, and how many they get rid of.

And like I said, I get that part.

I also think the conversations around AI and publishing are important from an environmental, ethical and legal standpoint.

However, that is not what we're talking about when it comes to the 'overconsumption' of books. At least not in the majority of content I've watched.

I also believe that there are definitely conversations to be had when it comes to the environmental impact of the publishing industry, like echo friendly paper production, the production and the dealing with waste and the logic behind 16 special editions for the same fucking book.

I also think that this is not a widespread issue causing irredeemable harm to a significant part of the population. I mean, I think it's great when ppl with a platform are conscious of the way they present and talk about their buying and reading habits, bc I like content creators with a conscience.

Like, didn't get me wrong. I understand that there's an issue when ppl try to build their whole content/platform around buying and then getting rid of books. I do understand the frustration & worry when the focus shifts permanently to owning books instead of reading them. That part I understand.

The issue of overconsumption in bookish spaces. And I've been listening to a lot of people and it's actually breaking my heart a little how some of these content creators are beating themselves up.

Anyways, let me ramble about this issue that I don't think actually is one.

Apropos of nothing, I'm really sick again, home alone and not sleeping well at all. Pain levels have kept me from reading and I've been watching booktube videos regularly.

And I feel like the one topic I keep getting thrown on my TL (probably bc I clicked on it more than once) is overconsumption.

That is very sweet! Also tonsillitis sucks so bad and I'm sorry you have to deal with it. Sending you a ton of healing vibes and hope you get better soon!

We're $1820 short for November essentials. I'm a single mom just unexpectedly laid off for the second time this year. Can you help? A quick share can make a big difference for me and my little family!

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I do need to fine tune a few things but it's still a really good cake ☺️

I'd absolutely send you some if I could ☺️

Close up picture of a slice of my chocolate coffee cake. It's a chocolate sponge cake with two layers, one chocolate coffee pudding and one layer of mocha yogurt cream with chunks of chocolate coffee beans, and a thin layer of chocolate ganache on top.

It looks pretty okay too.