this post was submitted on 14 Jan 2026
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Book popularity (hexbear.net)
submitted 3 months ago by hellinkilla@hexbear.net to c/chat@hexbear.net
21 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Lately I've been seeing many more people reading books in public.

Yesterday, 5 books on one bus.

Newspapers and magazines stay losing. Zero zero.

EBook readers occasional.

Is it some performative fad?

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[–] Aradino@hexbear.net 21 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Nah.

A lot of people are realising that all they do is look at their phones and have started to actively seek out other things to do. It's a good step and I strongly recommend it. Even if you're not replacing phone use with something productive, just disconnecting is clearly helping people. Buy a DVD player and hit up thrift stores for some movies or TV box sets, read a childhood favourite book, play a video game that isnt connected to the internet. Its great.

I read The Vegetarian recently. And some Mao.

[–] Damarcusart@hexbear.net 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Do you think nonstop barrages of ads and AI slop have something to do with this? People doomscroll on their phones because it is easy and convenient, but when it is just a frustrating nightmare of meaningless slop it probably makes people want to do literally anything else.

[–] Aradino@hexbear.net 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I think its a mix of several things. Mostly that you spend an hour on the internet and feel worse afterwards. The internet used to be something you looked forward to using

[–] Damarcusart@hexbear.net 10 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, there's a reason Hexbear is basically 90% of my internet usage these days, this is the only place I know that feels like the "old internet"

[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I don't think it's like the old internet. It's just a good part of the new internet. There was never anyplace like this before.

[–] Damarcusart@hexbear.net 3 points 3 months ago

That's true. There's parts of it that remind me a lot of old forums I used to be a part of, but there's a lot of new stuff that didn't exist back then as well.

[–] Dort_Owl@hexbear.net 14 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I hope it's not a fad because books are nice. I like the smell and the fact that they don't blast blue light in my little ol' eyeballs.

I've been reading The Scar by China Miéville lately. Good stuff.

[–] Edamamebean@hexbear.net 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

How is it compared to Perdido Street Station (if you've read that)? I really enjoyed it, and I've heard The Scar is set in the same universe, but don't know much else.

[–] Dort_Owl@hexbear.net 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

So far it's not quite as immediately grabbing me like Perdido Street Station, but the writing style is so good that it's pretty damn close to being just as good. I highly recommend it.

[–] Evilsandwichman@hexbear.net 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I used to love reading when I was younger; can't mentally focus any more and I get distracted very easily; have to read the same sentence multiple times to grasp it. I miss reading; so many good novels. The written form will always be the superior way to convey a story.

[–] SwagliacciTheBadClown@hexbear.net 8 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I’ve started highlighting/annotating as I read - it takes longer but I’ve found it to be an enjoyable way to interact and actively focus

[–] Edamamebean@hexbear.net 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Annotating has made such a huge difference in helping me read deeply and thoughtfully and has given me a whole new appreciation for books. Sometimes I fear that it looks a bit ridiculous or pretentious that most books I read have dozens of little sticky notes poking out the side, but good books really do have that much going on and really do deserve that much focus and attention. The curtains are so much more than just blue.

[–] SwagliacciTheBadClown@hexbear.net 5 points 3 months ago

I got sticky flags that have cats on them so hopefully instead of pretentious it makes me just look goofy

[–] Inui@hexbear.net 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I'm on the opposite end. I've only been able to start reading more after I stopped taking notes or doing anything extra. If I don't understand something, I'll back up a bit and re-read. But annotating or anything made me anxious to where reading wasn't something I could get myself to do because I was preoccupied with whatever I was getting out of it, making notes, etc like I was back in college.

Now even for nonfiction, I just go for it and if I only understand and retain 30% of it, that's 30% more than before.

[–] SwagliacciTheBadClown@hexbear.net 4 points 3 months ago

Love the way brains work differently! I struggle with not just glossing over things unless I actively mark up in some way; totally get what you’re saying though. I’m fortunate enough to not have to have annotated too much in school so I’m not totally sick of it yet lol.

[–] SwagliacciTheBadClown@hexbear.net 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Is it some performative fad?

I actually have been reading more physical books related to socialism openly on the bus. It’s enjoyable foremost, but I like to imagine it’s normalizing the topic in some tiny way too if others see it. But mostly I’m sure no one notices XD

[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Maybe you're on one of my busses.

[–] arbitrary@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 3 months ago

Maybe new year resolutions?

[–] Moidialectica@hexbear.net 2 points 3 months ago

you can't really do anything else on a bus.

[–] DisabledAceSocialist@hexbear.net 2 points 3 months ago

There are loads of books I want to read but my local library is awful. They have barely anything, what little they do have is mostly slop like celebrities' autobiographies. If you want something specific and it's at another library you have to pay an inter-library loan charge of £7! For that price you could almost just buy a new book, if I had any money. My amazon wishlist is getting to an insane length.