This video is gonna be a discussion video about why I only own 4 books.
And my thoughts on consumerism in the booktube community.
But before we get into it.
And, pretty much the only reason we're even getting to this in the first place
Is because I wanted to shout out Jackie from Leisure Reads.
She is an amazing person, who has sent
me the box set of Six of Crows.
Therefore, doubling my book collection
from two books
to four.
This was the highlight of my Monday.
Cause as you know, I am a hoe, for Six of Crows.
Jackie reached out to me and said that she was going to
Book-nas-fast
She was planning on getting in line for Leigh Bardugo
And asked if I wanted to get her to sign my copy
I told Jackie, "Thank you so much for even thinking about that
But I actually only own two books, none of which are Six of Crows."
But she asked for my address anyways, just in case she saw something that she wanted to send over
But I definetly did not expect for her to send an entire package of the box set,
Along with a tote bag, and a personal letter.
This is honestly so sweet, and I am so shook.
(Hero by Mariah Carey plays in the background) And then a hero comes along
Look at how beautiful these babies are. *sighs in happiness*
I'm gonna read the letter that she sent me
"Hey Cindy, It's Jackie from Leisure Reads"
"After talking to you and hearing that you only own two books"
"Neither of them being Six of Crows, I thought I would get them for you."
She was probably like "this bitch is in poverty or something so let me help her out"
"The intent was to get them signed at the National Book Festival, however apparently the world had other plans"
"and I was not able to get anything signed by Leigh Bardugo"
Girl, do not worry about getting it signed.
I'm just honored to even have these books in the first place
and if anything, I kinda wish that you had signed them
"Hearing how much Crooked Kingdom meant to you, I was dead set on gifting you a copy"
"I just wish I could have gotten it signed."
Honestly, the lesson here is that if you cry like a bitch on camera, people will feel sorry for you and give you books
"Anyway, consider it a 'Thank you' present for being so welcoming/birthday present"
"So far, I am really enjoying Six of Crows, even if I suck at reading lately."
"Congrats on a thousand subscribers.That truly is amazing."
"I have included a tote bag from the festival that I thought you could use for your library books"
I'm glad that she knows that my arms are weak. That I would need a bag to carry them.
Because it's true
"I hope it isn't stupid to send you these books. I just thought that you should have a copy of a book that profoundly impacted you"
"Hopefully you'll have the chance to get them signed in person"
"Your Booktube friend, Jackie"
It is not stupid, at all.
It's amazing! and super thoughtful and sweet
so, thank-you so much! and to everyone watching this
I want you guys to just unsubscribe from my channel right now and just subscribe to Jackie
Thank you, once again, for leaving me shook and please check Jackie out
She is fantastic, and sweet, and just an awesome humanbeing
Now that I'm done gushing, let's start the discussion.
Previously, I only owned two books
And now I own four
I'm probably the only Booktuber, in the community, that has so little books
And the only way this record will be broken is if somebody's house burned down and their bookshelves were destroyed.
Thankfully, this is not Fahrenheit 451
All of the reading that I've done has been with library books.
If there is a new release that I want to get, I just make my library order it instead.
But I've never actually ordered any book for myself.
And there are two parts to why I don't own or buy books
The first reason is just the way that I grew up.
This is the part where I tell you my tragic background story, so just bear with me.
I grew up with parents who are very irresponsible with their financial decisions
And just their decisions in general
They're addicted to gambling, they waste money on the stupidest bullshit.
Growing up and seeing their irresponsibility made me really self conscious about where I spent my own money.
Because I was trained to believe that it was always in limited supply.
and that I needed to keep as much as possible or else my parents would just waste it on something else
I grew up never asking for toys, or books, or DVD's, or whatever.
Cuz I worried about spending money, um, when my parents were just gonna give it all away.
I just eliminate the desire to just want any material things
That level of thinking has brought forth over to adulthood.
now I see books as something that I don't need to purchase
I pretty much eliminated any desire to even own books in the first place
Now I know that this sounds like a really sad story, but like, don't worry, I'm okay.
I'm at a good place in my life where I could actually buy hundreds of books if I wanted to and not have to worry about my bank account
cuz I have a really good job and I'm smart about my finances so it's, it's fine.
But I think that the way life has conditioned me makes me unable to splurdge on these things
And I've gotten to the point now where I have just embraced minimalism as a lifestyle
which is pretty much the second part to why I don't own books
I place more value on the experiences that I have rather than the things that I have
So being able to enjoy a really good book is enough for me
and I don't feel the need to own it
I don't have a bedframe, or a desk, or a chair
but I'll go to foreign countries every year
and go to museums and spend money on lots of good food
just like I don't have a bookshelf but i'll read a shit ton of books from the library
and still be really happy and enjoy it
some people get a lot of happiness from buying books and owning them and building up their collection
and I think that's awesome but for me, I am content with just experiencing the book itself
returning it to the library and having the knowledge that if I wanted to read it, I can always check it out again
or at the very least, there's always gonna be a copy somewhere
that being said, when I do receive books, I'm obviously very excited about it.
I got this book as a gift from my boss on my first day at my job
and I won this beautiful book from a giveaway.
and I think that fact that I own so little books makes the books that I do have feel even more special.
I've seen a few discussion videos that talk about the consumerist culture of BookTube
and how it encourages people to hoard more books and enjoy them more for the materialism rather than actually reading it
when it comes to people hoarding a bunch of books versus not having any at all
my opinion is:
Who give a fuck?
people should not be shamed for owning too little books or too many books
If people like buying books, they can buy books
It's their money, they can spend it however they want.
The only issue I would have is if people felt pressure to spend money on books when they don't have the means to.
I wasn't aware that this was even a thing until I watched a ranty viedo by Bookmescotty
where she complained about a few BookTube things, one of them being something that she describe as
"BookTube vanity"
It was a notion that BookTube culture and haul videos and big BookTubers pushed forward this pressure
to have new books and hardbacks
as the only way to get to their level and become a "big" BookTuber or become an established BookTuber
or even to be validated as a reader.
but when she started off, she felt pressure to go along with this trend
so she would literally eat Top Ramen five days a week just to afford hardbacks
when I heard that, I was aghast.
like, what the fuck? Sis
It doesn't have to be this way
it's really shitty that people feel this way because it shouldn't be the case.
books are literally the only hobby where you don't have to spend money on anything.
the reason why books are amazing is because as long as you are literate, anyone can enjoy it.
it doesn't matter what economic class you're from or how old you are, or what gender, or sexuality, or race, or whatever
anyone can read voraciously as a hobby.
and what I love about books is that they are accessible to everyone.
this is thanks to the library which I use all the time.
there's also second hand bookstores, free trials on audiobooks, and you know, you could actually even download audiobooks for free
and I hope that people don't lose sight of that
just because they see grand bookshelves stretched out across walls on BookTube videos
because that pressure creates this weird economic barrier to a hobby that literally should not even have that kind of barrier
so if you have ever felt bad about not owning any books or not being able to afford any books
I hope that you can take some consolation from this video
knowing that ya girl only owns four books
and this has not been a detriment to my reading experience
or to my BookTube channel or to my Bookstigram whatsoever
This is a hobby for you to enjoy
so don't get caught up in this make-believe narrative that you have prove yourself
this applies to the rest of whatever you assume is required of BookTube too.
you don't need a book collection or a fancy camera or even expensive editing software
I film from my iPhone and I don't even have a tripod. I just prop it up on boxes
and I edit my videos on iMovie which is free
I've spent zero money on BookTube.
and let's be real, ZERO effort too.
and the thing is, I could go ahead and buy these bookshelves if I wanted to
I could set them across the wall, I could organize it by rainbow colors, I could have a fancy camera.
and make this a more "legitimate" thing
but I just choose not to.
for me, I just want to keep it simple
and also, ain't nobody got time for that
I've also seen videos lately where some BookTubers have felt like they don't fit in with the community.
and whether that's due to economic reasons or social reasons, I just think that it's a shame that people feel that way
because, it really should not be the case at all
all you need to do it literally just look at a camera and talk about books
like, that's ALL there is to it.
it ain't that deep, okay!
so just do whatever you want.
some people want 400 books. I'm happy with just four.
and that's okay!
that is my Ted Talk
Now, if you excuse me.
I am gonna take these books, and just fling myself to the sun.
good-bye!