Booksology I want to discuss and observe, but there really isn’t anything new to add. For a while, it seemed hoped for a long time towards the progress of American books and reading culture, which seemed (and heard) the US itself was happening. When it comes to awards, things look very different than they used to be. The same goes for the lineup of the public. But when it comes to books that are attracting the most readers’ attention, it doesn’t seem to have changed anything if the Goodreads list is the best proxy we have. Obama and Kahlo are listed in 1995’s most popular book on Goodreads. And now Zero’s book by People of Color. We identify 40% of the US as non-white, but here it is zero percent.
This is the main reason why I’m going to have zero time, saying, “But what about the guys reading it?” Yes, at least in fiction, the share of books written by men has dipped from the absurd levels of the last century. Over time, as I link this week, this is more cyclical than people understand.
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But even if book diversity is a problem with signal (signal?) within the industry itself over the past decade, we find ourselves still here.
I have to believe that the broader political environment is partially responsible. When universities are sued at DEI initiatives and libraries, it should not be surprising that libraries that have been reimbursed to collect for a wider tent have narrowed reading choices, at least in terms of race.
Another element in the work is the algorithm. Also, while Booktok gets headlines, “algorithms” exist across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SEO, and the Internet. And it is an impossible structural plate of a flock. Grazing people towards existing interests, ideas, prejudices, preferences and attention. There are variations, but please don’t mistake them for multiple. This means there are almost every kind of romance you can hope for, and almost every commercial romance or thriller comes with searchable and tagable demand. And the winner will win a huge, unprecedented reading share (the idea that one author could turn this year’s bestseller book 5-7 would have been unthinkable before Booktok.
This algorithm mercilessly resolves for careful maintenance as all sorts of friction disappears. Something that appears to be too different. Something that is difficult to recognize as this right away, or something to be watched by.
And you get a list like this. A list where a single title is really undesirable in itself. I’ve read a handful of these and like them. But they show us something offensive. And I really don’t know how it will improve. But I’m not finished thinking about it.
