Happy Friday! I hope you all have wonderful weekends ahead!
This one is a little late from me today but I’ve been working some overtime and didn’t get a chance to pre-schedule!

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly bookish discussion meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and co-hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits and Dini @DiniPandaReads. Each Friday, bloggers will write posts about a particular topic and share on their blog.

This week, we’re talking about opinions.

Have your bookish opinions changed over the years, and if so, in what ways have they changed? Have your bookish opinions changed in ways you didn’t expect?

I’m not a particularly opinionated person when it comes to books. In other areas of my life, sure, but not really for books. I think the thing that has changed the most is my opinions on where and how you buy and consume books, but I have spoken about that extensively and it’s not really the point of these questions…

As for my opinions about books… let’s see what I can dig up.
I never used to care about tropes. I actually still don’t for the most part, but what I have grown to dislike recently is the micro-trope marketing trend. I just find it really annoying because it’s all over my social media, and they are so specific that they don’t really tell me anything useful about the book.

I no longer care about special editions. I used to want to collect them all. Now? Pass. This goes back to my previous posts about consumerism so I won’t go into any more detail here! What I will say is, I do still have some SE’s, so I’m not hating on them! I just don’t feel the fomo anymore.

I’m not bothered by aesthetics. I used to want the perfectly curated hardback shelves with untouched spines and all that. Not anymore! I organise by genre and then all else is chaos. My shelves are a little messy, and most of my paperbacks have cracked spines. I have mismatched editions and random books from series. It’s all good.

I can’t be doing with bonus chapters. If you wanted it to be read, put in the dang book! Why should I have to pay extra money just to read the same thing from someone else’s pov? I don’t think this is a changed opinion, but more of a new one.

Are these actually bookish opinions? I don’t even know. I am not surprised by my thoughts about books these days, and I don’t think anyone reading will be either if you know me. I think past me would be very surprised that I no longer collect SE’s and organise my shelves in specific ways, but me now would never go back!

Do you think your bookish opinions have changed because of being part of the bookish community (including on social media), reading more books, or book blogging?

I think all of the above has ultimately changed my opinions. Instagram was the catalyst for my special edition obsession and my curated shelves. Stepping back a little from that part of the community by unfollowing people who do endless hauls and shelfies has helped me pull back on that in my own life.

Social media, of course, is the reason tropes are a thing these days, so I guess that’s influenced that opinion too!

Overall, though, I don’t think I am very impressionable when it comes to adopting the opinions of others these days. Even a couple of years ago, I was more so, but nearing your mid-30s is a wonderful thing for making you go, ‘you know what?, I don’t care what others think.’ Of course, I do think it’s good to be aware of others’ opinions because there are always viewpoints that will be different and new to you, but I no longer let things influence me for the most part.

You Tell Me – Has social media ever made you change an opinion?