Opinion

AI and Books: The Dangerous Future

 in Books / Opinion by
This post contains some information as well as my opinion on the matter.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is something that isn’t going to be going away. The pandora’s box is open and no one is closing it. AI will be with us forever and we unfortunately have to accept that – as much as we may not want to.

While AI does bring a lot of wonderful things to certain sectors, in the literature field it is beginning to raise a lot of concerns and create a lot of issues.

Before we dive in a little bit, as a reminder of what AI actually is.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human intelligence and problem-solving capabilities.

–IBM

From Canva.com

I want to specifically call out that human intelligence part.

Artificial intelligence, through things like language learning models (LLMs) have the ability to create conversations and simulate what a human would say or write. Based off of a massive data set, and the data that people put into it and feedback you can give on responses, AI’s are constantly learning and developing to get better and better.

I’ve personally seen AI’s online that you can roleplay with that respond in an incredibly realistic way. It’s almost like two people are live roleplaying – except one of them is actually a computer.

Now you may be asking – okay what are you getting at?

The future of stories and literature writing.

When I read a book, and when most people read a book, they want to read what was written by the author. Not what was written by an AI or by an author that prompted an AI and spliced it together.

I am not here to read a book published by a computer.

There are programs out there, for now, that can pick up on when an AI was used to create something. But publishers have to actively vet for that. And in a world where self-publishing is becoming easier and easier, there’s not always a way to know who wrote the book. Some indicators could be a more robotic writing style or it just not flowing organically. However, with AI’s getting better and better, it may become increasingly challenging.

But to be honest, in my opinion, with the amount of self-published crap out there (yeah, I said it), is it AI or is it just a bad writer who didn’t have the rigor of a good editing process? Sometimes it really is hard to know.

AI allows anyone with no talent whatsoever to go to an AI, paste in an idea, and turn it into a story. If you have a little more creative talent, utilizing a roleplay AI allows the story to progress even faster as the AI pushes and generates part of the story idea.

From Canva.com

Now I have no clue the answer to fix this because the future is AI and the future is machine learning.

Although, I would highly recommend that those who want to go into the writing field, don’t take the easy way out. Writing is such a beautifully creative skill where you, with your brain and your hands or fingers craft people and worlds! Technology shouldn’t replace humans in this creative journey.

So while you may want to write a book fast and try to earn money by making the next best book, take a moment to stop and ask yourself if you use an AI to write it will you be proud of your work if you didn’t really write it? Would you want someone else to do that and to read a book like that?

As a reader, I read to read something created by someone, not something. I read for the human creation and I know so many others do out there.

If you want to write with AI, which honestly can have some cool aspects, being clear that this is an AI assisted created or something along those lines is better than publishing an AI creation under your own name.

Because really, it’s not your work then.

What Does ‘Age Appropriate Books’ Mean?

 in Books / Interesting / Opinion by

Reading books, and letting your kids read books, is a very personal choice. Children develop at different speeds and have different experiences which influence them.

A lot of books for younger readers are classified for certain ages and then up to certain books being ‘adult’ books.

But what does it mean to read an age appropriate book?

First off, you have the writing style and word choices. There is certain vocabulary that certain ages just do not know. That’s part of schooling and development. I don’t think you’re going to see many 7 years olds reading Jane Austen – but you may!

Next, you have the topics and themes that are in the books. I’ve touched on this with other posts in the past, but certain themes shouldn’t be in certain books. Children’s books shouldn’t be over violent, over graphic with their topics or over sexualized. The kind of violence you see in kids books may be bullying versus an adult book which could be murder! Romance in kids books is holding hands, maybe kissing for younger adults and then adult books having the horizontal tango.

But you, or others, may say “well, I don’t mind my child reading adult books with adult themes.”

I want to be clear, you are welcome to that opinion as as a parent you have every right to parent your child. However, one thing to consider is what is considered safely understanding something as well.

Children are developing. They are learning right from wrong. They are learning what being a ‘good’ person is.

I heard from a fellow Bookstagrammer that younger boys were reading Haunting Adeline, you know the book about stalking and some very dark things, and there was a concern that it would color them. Color them as in make them think that these things were okay because the book was so popular.

You sometimes see adults on the Biker side of Instagram reading some of our darker books and being like “You guys like this?” Liking something in a book and wanting that actually in real life is different. Knowing what is okay and what is not is the important line.

Younger readers may not have those skills yet. To be honest, there’s plenty of adults who don’t either. But when you are young, you are impressionable and so being a bit more careful is useful.

Books for younger people address topics in different ways and use different language. It’s not always because they can’t know about things, but because it’s presented in a way that they can understand.

So absolutely, if your child reads above their level that is fine! But certainly have them read books with themes that are appropriate for their ages. Or at least consider the impact of what they are reading. Some children’s life experience have them exposed to certain things before others. That’s okay! But doing it in a healthy way, with healthy conversations, is important.

Make sure that if your children do read those kind of books, especially if they have access to Amazon Kindle Unlimited (where a lot of these books can be easily access), that they know that they can come to you with questions to understand what they are reading.

Kids are naturally curious. I know that I was and we have to do our best to protect them. Books are one unrestricted way that they can access information – I know I used to sneak adult books in the library because no one would know! So creating a safe space and letting them know that they can ask questions about anything they read creates a healthy reading environment in a world full of potentially ‘unhealthy’ books.

What do you think about all of this?

Book Covers: Are They Misleading? 1

 in Books / Interesting / Opinion / Young Adult by

This post is my thoughts & opinions on what I am seeing.

Book covers are a very important part of a book. They look gorgeous on your bookshelf, can be used as marketing tools and (for some of us) are the reason that we buy a book.

But one thing I’ve noticed recently is book covers of books that have quite adult themes are sometimes a little misleading and, through this, encouraging/enticing the wrong audience to read the book potentially.

The one book that immediately comes to mind is Icebreaker by Hannah Grace. Now before you freak out at me, I am not critiquing her book/cover/story (I haven’t even read it) but this is a conversation I have seen related to this books cover and others in that style. This is just the title I’m using as an example.

When you look at this cover (knowing nothing about the book), what do you think? What do you think the book is about? What age group do you think it’s for?

For me, I think high school/college romance. Something cutesy. Maybe something for younger adult readers or early adults (like the under 18 age range specifically, maybe even 16 and below).

If that’s what you thought, then you’d be pretty wrong. It’s a spicy, explicit book for 18+ readers. Not child friendly.

I want to be clear, I have no issue with the cover itself. I think it’s cute and definitely would have me read the synopsis. But nowhere on the book, or summary, would you get the indication that it is going to be a book for adults and not for younger readers.

If I was a parent and saw my child reading this book, I wouldn’t think anything of it.

Now, let’s compare it to these two books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you see those two books, you are most likely to at least question what the books are about. One of them clearly says “A Dark College Romance” which gives some kind of indication that this is not going to be cute and fluffy. And most certainly isn’t for kids.

I do feel that some of these more explicit books that have a softer cover need to have some kind of sticker on the front, side, back or inside to clearly indicate that this is not a book for young readers. Just something to indicate this book has spice, and adult spice at that. Similarly to movies having ratings on them to indicate the age rage.

Now, I am not here to dictate what age a young adult should be reading about adult themes. That is up to each parents decision. However, that decision should be informed and not easily snuck. Just like adult videos online are clearly labeled and can be restricted, such things in books should be as well. Especially when there are clearly explicit themes or the topics may be a little more unsavory. I did a whole other post about this related to dark romance specifically.

Put yourself in parents shoes!

Most parents will be upset when their child accesses adult content. In fact, most of those websites are only for 18+ and there’s even pushes to verify your age to keep safe! Books can be just as graphic – although with words. But words or visuals can still have the same impact, especially with people who got a good imagination. I know I can read a book or watch a movie and get the same feelings and experiences from it.

So why are books with such adult content allowed to be packaged and sold in a way that can be misleading? Why are libraries or stores potentially placing them in the wrong sections (I saw a post recently on Threads that ACOTAR was in the YA section in a store????). I’m not blaming stores either because with the volume of books out there they have to get through a lot of books and organize it. They can’t micro-analyze everything.

And by adult content, I am not even entirely meaning spice. Adult content can be from sex to violence to just general themes that a younger reader is probably not old enough to read about or understand safely (post coming on this soon).

But, books maybe should have a better system to be more clear in who the audience is.

Maybe use the library system on the spine?

When I go to a library, I see books organized by sections and based on the system of the library, it will say something like “YA” or “ADULT” on the spine to indicate the section it should be in. It’s something small but very quickly indicates the age rage.

Maybe color code?

I’ve seen some authors who write books color their books based on the theme/level of spice/content. Maybe having some kind of color on a spine (not the whole spine, but a dot or a square) to indicate the level of adult content in the book.

Rate books like movies?

Just like movies have ratings, maybe books need to utilize a similar system.

The book ratings, just like movie ratings, wouldn’t be limiting but more for awareness. Maybe books, book stores and libraries need to implement a system like movies do. If someone is not old enough, a parent just needs to say “Yup, I’m good with my kind taking this out.”

This is of course my opinion, but why in the world when we restrict access to adult content to 18+ can books be so widely accessible and be allowed to be “misleading” with their covers and synopsis. I use the word misleading loosely because covers are subjective and based on what the author wants the book to be represented by. And every author/publishing house has the right to give any kind of book any kind of cover! But to cover their bases, topic depending, maybe some kind of rating or piece of information needs to be given.

Books aren’t special. They are another form of media and the consumption of them can impact someone. Dark Romance books usually include trigger warnings because they can trigger people. Movies have warnings and trailer that indicate what the level of violence is or what the topic may be.

And this idea about rating books isn’t limited to romance. There are plenty of travel books I read that based on the synopsis and cover I thought would be light, only to be hit by some terribly dark themes that made the books difficult to read.

I don’t have the clear answer on how to fix this issue – or what I see as an issue. But this should be a conversation to protect younger readers, and also just anyone else reading books.

Books are made for certain ages for a reason. Not to limit someones access to the book, but to protect the readers. Similar to how you talk about topics in different ways based on ages and level of understanding.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

Dark Romance Tropes: Toxic & Dangerous or Okay Fantasy? 1

 in Books / Opinion / Romance by

Romance is all over Bookstagram and beyond in the past few months. Spicy books have kind of surged back with stores like The Ripped Bodice and others catering to romance readers.

But when you think of romance, a lot of the uninitiated think of bodice ripper books, they may think of the Mills and Boone kind where there’s the rugged man, the damsel in distress and some nooky nooky. That of course still exists, but now there’s a much darker side too.

Dark romance are romance books with a much darker side to them. They can be as gentle as there’s a loving relationship but the MMC is a bike gang member but nothing super dark happens in the book. But they can be as extreme as people being unalived in books while characters get it on. Dark romance tropes include things like:

  • Stalker
  • Cheating/Infidelity
  • Serial Killer
  • Non Consent
  • Knife Play
  • Pregnancy
  • Kidnapping
  • Somnophilia

Now for the uninitiated, you probably look at this and go “why in all that is good would someone want to read this?” Well, I am no psychologist so I cannot tell you why. But, people do and they eat it up. I’m not here to discuss the reasoning people do – you can’t say it’s Daddy issues, or an abusive family at all. There are plenty of people who grew up in very healthy lives who enjoy or consume these books (I’m one of them). People just like what they like.

What I am here to talk about is what concerns can be. Back in the day when adult videos became readily accessible there were concerns that this may make people more violent and have unrealistic standards. While I don’t have the data to back it up (although there are some articles out there), we have seen adult videos give people unrealistic standards on what a sideways tango should look like, and result in people who watch too much having….physical performance issues.

Dark romance has me asking similar questions. If someone lives on a steady stream of a dark romance diet with really dark themes and going darker and darker, can this blur what is deemed to be healthy?

I would argue that for the average reader where you read other things and sprinkle in some dark romance, it shouldn’t have too big of an impact. But if you have a very constant and steady stream of this, or you are a younger and impressionable reader, then that can really impact you.

Reading a book, even a hard core smut book, isn’t as taboo as maybe watching adult films. I can read the dirtiest book in public and 99.9999% of people would not bat an eye. You can’t do that with adult videos. So the point is, you can read as much of this you want, where ever you want. Too much of a good thing can become a bad thing. Effects of adult videos (not suitable for work link) are known through various studies, but the same studies haven’t been done with books. Who is to say reading too much of this hard core stuff impacts you?

Now, once again, I am not talking about the actual sideways tango in the books. I’m talking about the mix of that and the violence, stalking or otherwise illegal activities that, mixed with the tangoing, can blur the lines. I know I’ve read books with some of the most f-ed up stuff and been like “well you know…I’m okay with it in this context” and have to check myself like woah what? Now imagine all you do is read this all day, or that’s your entry into romance books, or you’ve never had a relationship (healthy or otherwise). You may begin to fantasize about these extreme bad boys so that when someone good comes your way that’s not what you want.

I have no direct data to back any of this up and I’m just expression hypothesis’ and opinions, but we see people falling in love with murderers and serial killers. Women specifically are, usually, a bit more drawn to the bad boy. Now when the bad boy in your books does a lot of crazy stuff, you read it, and it desensitizes you a little bit, that’s when it becomes a concern.

Takeaways/TL;DR

Read your books! Live your fantasies! That is completely healthy. Love your dark romances of a crazy nature, because I know I do. But make sure you take breaks, reset and make sure what you read isn’t bleeding into your real life.

For younger readers, or parents of younger readers, make sure you are checking what your kids are reading. Some of the dirtiest and darkest books have the most unassuming covers! No, don’t be censoring books but books are made for different ages for a reason and a 15 year old should not be reading books like Malevolent King or The Predator. I’ll be delving a little more into covers in another post, but sometimes dark romances have covers and titles that don’t always give it away.

 

What are your thoughts on this?

Big Book Stores: The Secret to Keeping Indie Stores Alive?

 in Books / Interesting / Opinion by

Recently a fantastic essay came out on BookRiot on “How Should We Feel About Barnes & Nobel Now?” and it has been doing it’s round. If you haven’t given it a read, I highly recommend that you do.

The TL;DR is essentially that Barnes & Nobel is coming back and while it seems that they are trying to make their stores more “indie” focused – allowing stores to be a bit more unique and have smaller book selections – they really are just a big store with a bottom line. They aren’t there to truly care about the customer in the same way tat an indie store would. The author of the essay went so far to compare B&N to some of the Amazon Bookstores.

But, I would argue that there is some benefit to having B&N back on the scene and rebranding in a way. It gives some strong competition to Amazon in my opinion. Amazon has dominated the market is literally every single category. You need food? Amazon. Beauty items? Amazon. Phones? Amazon. Adult items? Amazon.

From larasbookclub.wordpress.com

Don’t get me wrong, I am guilty of using Amazon and as a blogger they do have a ‘decent’ and easy program to be an associate and earn a small commission, but at the end of the day they push everyone else to the side! Keep places that challenge a store like Amazon – whether that be Target, Walmart or B&N – means that there is some kind of diversity and it stops prices being too too crazy.

So where does Barnes & Nobel fit in?

Well, they challenge Amazon Books, you know those brick and mortar stores that they set up? I checked one out a long time ago and I personally hated it.

B&N allows people go in and browse, and also bring back a lot of our childhoods who grew up going to their events or looking for a book! It’s kind of that gateway that can help to maintain prices, have more money to keep more books in store and maybe introduce you to other books that you didn’t know of.

So how could this help indie stores?

Well this is where the buyer/reader comes in. Places like B&N, as I said, are good to browse and see what is out there. I hate shopping for books online so I may go into B&N and peruse the shelves, see what their people recommend, take some pictures of books I’m curious in, and then leave. I don’t purchase from them usually unless I go in for a purpose for something. From there I may go to an indie book store and find the book (sometimes reaching out before hand to have them get it in) and give them my business.

I used what B&N provided for me in their physical location but give my money elsewhere for certain purchases.

In my opinion, indie stores also usually hire people who are truly passionate about books and want to talk about books. B&N, as a large company, is just going to hire staff, or be more likely to. Not everyone who works there is a book lover and may just need a job. If you’ve ever been in an indie store you know what I mean! The staff love to chat, answer questions and always give great suggestions!

From my Instagram

So while B&N is still a big company and wants to take your money, when you are looking at prices, the price difference is honestly (in many cases) decently negligible. And yes, I know Amazon looks so attractive with their cheap prices, but they want you to only buy from them. They play the long game – buy from them, push other places out of business and then hike up the prices and you’ll have nowhere else to go.

There is no one clear answer – sometimes you can’t afford to really support an indie place and really have to turn to Amazon, I totally get that. Buttt, barring those pesky school books that you have to buy, I have a great solution there! Your library! I’m a big supporter of libraries for those who don’t maybe have tons of money to spent – I mean big duh with the name and all. But maybe instead of buying your whole TBR, borrow some and buy what you love and put that money towards indie stores. Just one option of many and there is no one size fit all.

But I know that I will continue to love my Barnes & Nobel to just go, grab a coffee and wander around a big store and look at books. I mean what is better than that?!