How Reading Became Another Capitalist Tool
the ways marketing has taken over all reading aspects and ways to rediscover the joy of it yourself.
Note: I didn’t write this to make anyone feel bad. I myself have this platform and an account on Instagram. I’m trying to remember why I created them in the first place and to not fall into the consumption spiral. Maybe these points can help you, too.
The moment I started sharing my books and reading online, there was a shift in how I went about reading and books themselves. Suddenly, I needed more physical copies for photos after reading ebooks for the last few years. Suddenly, I felt pressure to read the trendy books to keep up and provide content. And suddenly, reading began having deadlines.
In a world like ours, particularly where I live in the United States, a culture obsessed with productivity and growth flourishes. It wants more, more, more. And this hustle culture applies to everything, even your hobbies and your books.
I am thrilled that reading has become more “trendy” again. Seeing the bookstores filled with people bring a smile to my face. Watching a wider range of genres and books receive recognition and award is incredibly satisfying. Making the friends I have — across the entire world — is unbelievable to me. But where trends go, capitalism follows.
Overconsumption & Special Editions
I spoke about this a bit in my article on book covers, but special editions and new book art has catapulted.
“Make sure you get this special edition before it sells out!”
“The exclusive epilogue, only available here!”
“It’s the tenth anniversary — here are new covers you have to have to celebrate!”
I do not intend to shame special editions or people who collect them, because it is a collection. I myself have some special editions that truly mean the world to me. Collecting for joy and collecting for consumption are different.
Buying books truly brings me joy. When I’m in a bookstore, I am thrilled and quickly get excited over everything. However, there is a fine line to overconsumption. It is so, so easy in our world and on social media for overconsumption to become a Thing, from cleaning and organizing aesthetic videos to bookshelf tours. We’re bombarded with things we need to have. I need that book. I need that special edition. I need that little nook. I need that sticker.
You don’t. You’re just told you do.
Speed Reading & Reading Goals
I’m a naturally quick reader most of the time, but I feel oddly guilty when I enjoy slow reading. Reading Recaps become about how many books you finished. Monthly TBRs become a massive list that is impossible to finish. I’ve found myself shoving books into my list to say I’ve read them, not for the act of reading them. For those who read slowly, I cannot emphasize enough how okay that is.
On that same note, yearly reading goals are popular. Challenging yourself and goal setting is great, especially when it comes to reading. The issue I have is the way you feel if it does not come to fruition, and it no longer serves you.
Let’s not forget that the most popular goal system is through Goodreads. Who owns Goodreads? Amazon. So, when you’re encouraged to share your progress, the pressure increases on you and everyone you share it with to read more — and readers are driven back to Amazon to purchase more books.
The way we read has been commodified.
Burnout
It’s Saturday. Your to do list includes going a walk, groceries, cleaning, and finally finishing your book. You run your errands, but the traffic is horrible. You go for a walk, but run into a friend. You clean, but it’s dirtier than you expected. Your mom calls. Suddenly, it’s dinnertime and you haven’t finished your book. You needed to finish your book today because you have plans tomorrow and you wanted to start that next book by Monday if you are going to get through your TBR by the time that new book releases next week.
Reading, at it’s best, is unplanned. It is joyful. It is the releasing of breath after a day at work. It is comfort. It is curling up on the couch with tea.
Kindle Unlimited & Amazon
Amazon has been accused of having a monopoly on the book market, particularly for ebooks. Based on this article, Amazon controls about 50% of the physical book market and a whopping over 80% of the ebook market. This has massive consequences.
For self-published authors, Amazon is simply the best way to distribute and advertise their self-published work — it can be the only realistic option. For readers, Kindle ebooks can be a pretty good deal, especially if you are part of Kindle Unlimited. For $11.99 a month, you can read any book for free that is part of KU. Besides that, the more ebooks you purchase, the more points you build for discounts. Anyone else who wants to compete has to price and market their books competitively, which is often not enough to cover their costs.
The primary e-reader you think of is Kindle. You buy it, and there are e-books available for only a couple bucks. You try Kindle Unlimited, and you are able to read all these books for free! The free trial quickly turns into a paid subscription. On Goodreads, you track your reading challenge — but you are falling behind. Stressed, you speed read through ebooks on Kindle, not really thinking about the overall price because it’s only a few dollars. Multiply this by the boom of BookTok, then multiply that by the thousands of readers. Amazon has unconscious consumption down pat.
How I’m Reclaiming the Joy of Reading
Books and reading are a cornerstone of humanity. It records our stories and history. It’s such a shame to watch it become another marketing tool.
Libby & Bookshop.org
Libby is an app where you can rent your library’s ebooks and audiobooks virtually, and therefore for free. Bookshop.org is an online hub to purchase physical and now ebooks from indie bookstores all over. These are great alternatives to using Amazon for purchases!
Your Local Bookshop
Barnes & Noble is the only thing standing in the way of Amazon’s monopoly. But if you have a local bookstore in your town, definitely go there first! These independent bookstores are run by readers like us, and they could use our support. Go by yourself, bring a friend … the opportunities are endless.
Alternative E-Readers
I have a Kindle, but when it dies, I will be switching. I haven’t done much research into the Nook, which is what Barnes & Noble owns, but I am rather interested in the Kobo. It is less expensive, includes a color screen, allows annotation, and has a blue light filter. There are other options out there!
Support Small Creators
Bookmarks, stickers, and journals are lovely and fun and adorable. There are many wonderful independent sellers on Etsy and Redbubble you can support!
DIY
I’ve DIY’ed my own bookmarks before, and they are my favorite ones to use. It is so fun to paint them yourself, a wonderful creative hobby to practice rather than doom scroll, and you can do this alone or with friends.
Reading has always been about joy and spreading knowledge. You connect with strangers over a shared love, can find used books with notes on the margins from an old life. Your imagination runs wild, and it reminds you of the magic and the good in this world. And it is up to us readers to keep that joy for us.
All links to books are affiliate links through bookshop.org to help support indie bookstores.
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (Romance): April 22, 2025
note: huge anticipated release for me!
Into The Gray Zone by Brad Taylor (Mystery/Thriller): April 22, 2025
The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad (Self-Help): April 22, 2025
note: literally all about journaling. what more could we want?
When The Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy (Horror): April 22, 2025
Shadow of the Solstice by Anne Hillerman (Mystery/Thriller): April 22, 2025
Notes to John by Joan Didion (Literary Fiction/Memoir): April 22, 2025
The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff (Literary Fiction): April 22, 2025
Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin (Fantasy/Horror): April 22, 2025
The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum (Mystery/Thriller/Romance): April 22, 2025
Books I’ve compiled from a variety of bestseller lists. I add the books I haven’t before, since I’ve caught up to the new additions. If you’re curious, last week’s post can be found here.
Enchantra by Kaylie Smith (Fantasy)
Blood of Hercules by Jasmine Mas (Fantasy)
Firebird by Juliette Cross (Fantasy)
The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner (Fiction)
Fahrenheit-182 by Mark Hoppus with Dan Ozzi (Memoir)
The Butcher’s Masquerade by Matt Dinniman (Sci Fi)
How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin (Mystery/Thriller)
Audition by Katie Kitamura (Fiction)
If you have a book recommendation to share, send me a DM or email me at thesundayreads@gmail.com!
Literally emphasis on slow reading. I’m 100 pages into Heartless Hunter but paused for my trip home and in anticipation of Emily Henry’s new book. I brought Happy Place home to reread, but I haven’t started it yet. I guess read Emily Henry’s books? They’re great!
That’s all for today. Much love
Izzy
Ohhh Izzy I feel this!! Especially speed reading and how much you read, I'm a slow reader and I always have been, and sometimes I feel like I'm stupid because I don't read as much as others, which is obscene because reading is for fun!! I've let go of that now, thank goodness, and back to reading without pressure. Taking it too seriously sucked the fun out of it for me. Such a well written piece, I hope you're proud of this one!
This resonates in so many ways, thank you for putting these words all in one place!
This year, to reclaim my joy of reading, I've decided to focus more on paperback books and backlist titles to avoid getting caught up in the never-ending wave of new releases. I, too, have felt the pressure to keep up with the latest so while there are some buzzy books I do plan to read, I'm mostly focusing my energy on backlist books I can easily get from the library, Pango, or already have on my shelves and caring less about reading and therefore reviewing newer titles. This is sparking joy for me!