Rethinking What It Means to Be a Reader in 2025

Before I started writing Welcome to Seagull Street a few years ago, I admit that I wasn’t very involved in online book communities. I’d been in various book clubs, but they never really stuck. I was always reading books, except for the period when my kids were young and required all of my attention. Early on, I had a written list of books I read in a journal, then a spreadsheet, but I didn’t ever count them up or have reading goals. I also didn’t pay particular notice to new releases, unless they were from my favorite authors.

Then I became an aspiring author and found myself diving into Goodreads, BookTok, Bookstagram, and beyond. It’s been exciting, enlightening, and sometimes overwhelming.

I’ve learned a lot and I’ve connected with so many readers and writers. I’ve also noticed a few patterns that have made me stop and reflect.

The Pressure to Perform

One thing I didn’t expect is how much pressure there seems to be, on both sides of the book equation. Readers are setting huge TBR (To Be Read) goals, tracking every page and rating, feeling behind if they’re not plowing through dozens of titles a year. Goodreads makes it easy to see your stats in real time, which can be fun, but the gamification of reading has become a little too intense for me!

And authors? We feel the pressure, too. Not just to write good books, but to constantly show up online, explain ourselves, market creatively, and absorb all the feedback that comes our way. I’ve seen more than a few writers talk publicly about burnout or needing to step back, for their mental health, for their creative well-being, or simply to breathe.

If reading and writing start to feel like performance metrics instead of joy, maybe it’s time for a reset of expectations?

Taste Is Subjective, and That’s the Beauty of It

People feel very strongly about the books they read! That’s great because stories are meant to evoke emotion and spark conversation, but sometimes the feedback veers into drama. It’s not just honest critique, it’s performance. Posts are crafted for maximum reaction, with snarky takes or melodramatic takedowns designed to get likes, comments, or shares… positive or negative. The louder the opinion, the more attention it seems to attract.

Not every book is for every reader. That’s just the nature of art. Some of us love abstract paintings, others prefer portraits. Some people wear all black, others lean into color. The same is true with books, the genre, style, pacing, and tone… it’s all deeply subjective.

Honest reactions? Helpful. Thoughtful reviews? Always welcome. It’s okay to say, “This one wasn’t for me.” But the cringey hot takes crafted for clicks, the performative outrage, the content farming disguised as critique. It’s exhausting. Not every opinion needs to go viral. Let’s bring the conversation back to what actually matters: the love of books!

Because in the end, books are art. They’re deeply personal to those who create them, and beautifully varied for those who experience them. The fact that we don’t all agree? That’s part of what makes the book world so rich.

Scams, Schemes, and Shady Offers

Not everything is as genuine as it seems. While most people are in book communities for the love of stories, connection, and creativity, there’s a growing shadow side: scams, fake accounts, and low-effort content designed to make a quick buck.

Personally, I get dozens of DMs and emails every week from people offering to write me thoughtful reviews, create book trailers, or promote my book to thousands of readers. Some even ask if my book is on Amazon or Goodreads… questions that would’ve taken less time to look up than to message me about. That’s how I know they’re baiting me. These aren’t real readers or collaborators; they’re casting a wide net, hoping I’ll bite.

It’s not just the messages, either. There’s been a noticeable rise in low-content or AI-generated books flooding the marketplace. Everything from coloring books with stolen art, journals with random prompts, or fiction cobbled together by bots with minimal human input. These titles often mimic the look of legitimate work but don’t deliver the same substance or heart. When they’re padded with fake reviews or hyped through misleading endorsements, it makes the landscape even harder to navigate.

For readers, this can mean wasting time and money on something that wasn’t what it claimed to be. For writers, especially indie authors pouring their soul into their work, it creates frustrating competition against content that was never meant to resonate, just to sell.

The lesson? Be curious, but cautious. Check the source. Read the sample. If something feels off, it probably is. There’s still so much good out there, but it doesn’t hurt to look twice before clicking Buy Now.

What Counts as Reading?

In some corners of the book world, there’s still this idea that “real” reading means holding a physical book or scrolling an e-reader. But what about audiobooks? I’ve seen people post their reading goals online with a disclaimer that “X were audiobooks,” as if they don’t fully count. 

When you listen to a story, you’re still immersed in the world, still following the plot, absorbing the characters, feeling the tension. You’re still thinking about what happens next. Isn’t that the point?

Maybe the term just hasn’t caught up with the experience yet. Maybe we need a new word for the many ways people take in stories now: reading, listening, watching, interacting. It’s all evolving. But until then, I’m firmly in the “listening is reading” camp… even if it’s not the textbook definition.

Book Clubs, Bluffing, and Being Honest

Earlier this week, I came across a NYT Magazine post on Instagram about a woman who went to her book club and faked her way through the discussion using reviews and summaries. 

The commentary was all over the place. I wondered why she would lie about it. Then, I got to thinking about peer pressure and the desire to contribute. Maybe we need to normalize simply saying, “I didn’t finish it,” or “It didn’t engage me,” is acceptable and still showing up for the conversation.

Book clubs don’t have to be reading tests. They can be places for sharing, laughing, reflecting, and sometimes skipping the book and enjoying the wine. Let’s keep in mind that the majority of books bought are never finished, and many times never even started!

Rethinking and Reconnecting

The more time I spend in the book world of 2025, the more I realize how much it’s evolved and how much I’ve changed with it. What started as a weekly visit to the library and a simple love of stories in my childhood has become something bigger, more communal, and sometimes more complicated.

At the heart of it all, I believe books will always connect us… to ourselves, to each other, and to ideas we may have never considered. I’d love to keep the conversation going.

You’ll find me @alissaarfordauthor on all of the major channels:

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