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3 Book SCANDALS This Week 😳🍵 | Mary Beard, ElevenReader & Rebecca Yarros Drama

whatmichaelareads

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The bookish tea is PIPING HOT this week! 🫖 A Booker Prize judge has opinions about the phrase "I really love reading", an AI audiobook app is being pushed by creators, and Fourth Wing fans have made themselves supermarket security guards. 😳

Why does the book community keep telling people the right way to love reading, the right way to listen and the right way to behave when they're not invited? I have thoughts. Some of them might annoy you!

Tell me where you land in the comments. Which story got you the most? 👇

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 The bookish tea is piping hot
1:32 The Booker judge who hates "I really love reading"
9:30 ElevenReader and the AI audiobook problem
17:03 The sleepover joke that went nuclear
21:30 Fourth Wing on supermarket shelves early
27:00 Who actually gets hurt

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🔎 SOURCES
Booker Prize clip: Mary Beard on why she hates the phrase ‘I ...
National Literacy Trust 2026 findings: https://literacytrust.org.uk/news/our...
ElevenReader terms: https://elevenlabs.io/elevenreader-terms
LarryReads: IG https://www.instagram.com/larissacamb...

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20 Comments

@whatmichaelareads Creator 4 days ago Pinned

I HOPE YOU ARE SAT 🫖 which one shocked you the most 👀

@RykerJones28 4 days ago

"I get pleasure and have a real passion for reading" - So you.. Love reading then yeah?

@TheNessman67 4 days ago

If I didn't love books, I wouldn't read

@AndyyWithAY 4 days ago

My take on the first story is why do we always have to be doing? Why do we always have to be improving ourselves? Why can't we just exist? Why can't we just rest? Why can't we just relax. Sure academic books are great. We can learn plenty of things about plenty of things. But, we can also just ENJOY reading. Maybe even LOVE it. Just immerse ourselves into another world. Not for any lofty educational purpose, but just because we like it and it's fun

@clairesaunders3919 4 days ago

Larryreads was definitely a joke! She literally said she didn't get a ticket for Hogwarts, no one could because it's not real (sorry to anyone 😂). Baffling! So many keyboard warriors x

@shannadoesstuff84 3 days ago

On Mary Beard's statement: I think what she said has value - our reading does need to challenge us and expand our worldview; but this is not the only reason we should be reading. There needs to be enjoyment in reading, and as with anything, we need balance. We can't always read for the sake of challenging ourselves. I love reading, not just because I can expand how I see things/view the world, but also because there is a sense of escapism with how trying the world is right now.

@jordanmessy9749 2 days ago

I love reading not just bc I get pleasure but bc I love learning, and growing my world view. Not because “I feel happy after a book”.

@vitornm1 4 days ago (edited)

The fact there's people spending their time talking about how and why they find annoying when other people say they like reading is absolutely ludicrous to me. I find some of the reading community to be exhausting.

Growing up I had some classics and 'tough reads' pushed down my throat, and that only ended up distancing me from books. It was only years later that I found my love for it again.

I-really-love-reading! 😂

@debbiestewart3876 4 days ago

I really love reading

@Katsdontcare 4 days ago

Trying to “book shame” me for loving to read? I hate pretentious individuals that try to tell me how to enjoy my life.

@KristaHarrisSB 3 days ago

Thank you for not taking sponsorship deals with companies like ElevenReader! I couldn’t agree with you more about how problematic what they are doing sounds.

@sweet_t_reads 4 days ago

The Larry reads thing, I took it as satire. Also if people don't like it, just click away! I've never understood the mentality to post mean comments to someone.

@late_bloomer_1973 4 days ago

Larry reads is actually very funny. Of course there are going to not understand her brand of humor. I feel like there is a whole generation of people who have lost the ability to understand humor and sarcasm.

@dora_amalia 3 days ago

Larry's video is so obviously just dramatised and humouristic in tone. I feel like readers especially should be able to understand tone and subtext. Also, I very much do really love reading.

@kerim7799 3 days ago

I really love reading and I think Larry Reads does too. Her “crash out” seemed like mostly a joke, with maybe a dash of genuine disappointment she was trying to process.

@TheGoodMidlifeCrisis 4 days ago

You know what? I really love reading. And it DOES help my mental health so I will not take it out of my mental health journey.

@aliciaw82 4 days ago

Mary Beard hates hearing people say they love reading. Meanwhile, if I find out someone is a reader, I can have a whole conversation with them even if they don’t read the same things as I do. I will continue letting it be known that I REALLY, really love to read.

@pedrabrulez5075 4 days ago (edited)

She says that she has a passion for reading….definition of passion: A powerful feeling such as LOVE, anger, hate,….. Is she contradicting herself a bit now?
I love reading ❤

@Av_2222 4 days ago

Booker prize … ‘high brow’… ‘pretentious’…. A book doesn’t have to be profound or meaningful…. Reading can be about pleasure and enjoyment

@elkeklein 3 days ago

"reading is not something you have to good at before you can enjoy it". Probably one of the most true and eloquent statements I've heard about this activity. Thanks for putting it out there!