interesting book related thing

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.

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?

 

The Rainbow Book Bus: Book Freedom & Inclusion

 in Banned Book / Books by

You know what you are missing from your life? A bus that brings books that allows everyone to read whatever they want while supporting everyone! If that’s what you need, then you need the Rainbow Book Bus!

I recently came across the Rainbow Book Bus and my goodness am I glad that I did. I love this idea!

According to their website:

“Through our flagship bookmobile program, The Rainbow Book Bus distributes diverse books to communities with reduced access to them. We aim to support and amplify organizations that oppose censorship, promote literacy or empower historically underrepresented storytellers. We work towards educational freedom by fighting existing censorship and reacting to future attacks aimed to reduce access to inclusive stories for young people.”

Their reasoning is to help combat all the book censoring that has been going on recently across the United States.

The bus was designed by queer artists India Torrez and Paco May and the bus is absolutely beautiful!

From their website rainbookbus.org

To learn a little more about this bus, definitely check out this video below!

Their tour has begun and as of 14 March they are in Louisiana and working their way around some southern states. You can check out their tour to see if they’re going to be stopping somewhere nearby! This book bus tour is connected with the opening of Allstora which was created by the absolutely wonderful RuPaul! Their goal with the bus is to give away 10,000 books by the end of the year – specifically books that have been criticized and banned.

I think this is such a fun and engaging way to get awareness out there, help to bring banned/restricted books to others and have some fun while doing it!

Book covers are leaning on the Rainbow Book Bus, a converted school bus whose stop sign has been changed to say “Slay.”

From NY Times post.

Books are for everyone and no one has the right to restrict your access or ban them!

Follow The Rainbook Book Bus and it’s journey on Instagram – I know I will be!

 

 

Are Honest Book Reviews a Thing of the Past?

 in Books by

The internet has brought many amazing things but it has also brought many bad things. One of these is the online Bookstagram/Booktok community. Before you run off and be like “how dare she”, hear me out! This is my super, on fire, hot take.

 

Answer this question to yourself: How many books have you seen all over it, hyped up so much, and when you read it felt it was pretty bad of a book?

 

I honestly feel like I’ve read a few of these. Fourth Wing was one, Mexican Gothic was another. I felt like as a book they were okay but as hyped as they were they really didn’t meet the mark.

 

Now, I will recognize that these are my opinions! However, I will also note I’ve seen similar comments made on these books and others that I had these feelings about too. So I’m not alone in this.

So what is going on??

We all know on social media, there is a heard mentality. I mean that happens in life too. You see someone doing something, and then another, and suddenly you get FOMO and you have to read it. If everyone has loved something, you need to as well right? Society creates a bit of a fear from swimming against the current and saying “you know…this wasn’t that good.” Unfortunately this just then adds more to the hype and it keeps snowballing!

 

Before you know it a book has taken over social media and EVERYONE absolutely loved it.

 

There’s also a fear of leaving a bad review. Social media, modern day and everything else has told us we are all perfect. We can do no wrong. But sometimes…a book is just really bad. The writing may be atrocious, the story may go nowhere, it may have just been a waste of your time. I am all for supporting authors and indie authors, but if a book is bad be honest. There’s a way to provide negative feedback in a positive way without saying “you’re a terrible author, don’t write again”. But giving a book 5 stars when it really only deserved 3, or less, is a disservice to the author and to other readers.

 

There’s an oversaturation of books on the market with the ability to public ebooks and self publish now. And I’ll say it loudly – there are a lot of terrible books out there. Just because you can publish and have the ability to string a sentence together does not always mean you should.

 

There’s a difference between writing for yourself to be creative and writing to publish and make serious money. 

 

 

Heck, I love writing stories and have so many being written. Would I ever publish them to make money? Not in a million years because I am not a writer and I know it wouldn’t do well.

 

Additionally, there is a bit of a fear about giving a bad review when you’re asked to review a book.  Support those authors, read their ARCs, give them the support they need. But be honest. I know it can be awkward because the author asked you read their review (in ARC cases) but honesty is the best policy. This is why I’d never take money to review a book because then you have this weird want to not speak negatively.

 

This leads to the next point – paid reviews can result in questionable reviews. I never trust a paid review for anything. A reviewer can say it is their personal opinion, however there was money involved which will of course have subconsciously altered their thoughts. They may not even know it. You also may have a fear about being honest in reviews since there was a financial transaction. I don’t count reviewing a book for free as financial benefits. I’m talking where they send the book and pay to have the book reviewed. That’s a big no no to me.

 

Finally, I no longer trust a book blindly that states that it was on the NY Times Best Seller List. With all the information above, the payment of promotions for books to get people to buy them and lots of other factors, a book on that list doesn’t necessarily mean it is an amazing book. It just means that it sold a lot of copies – which is not an indicator of how good a book is!

 

Ultimately, I have started a policy of no longer jumping on the bandwagon and reading a book when I see it all over Bookstagram, Book Twitter or any other place. Reviews will always influence our decision to read a book and that is not going to change. What can change is peoples honesty in reviewing the books to not waste time. I have wasted so much time on bad books because of questionable reviews. If I read a bad book by my choice that’s my decision. If I read it because it had a 4.8 average because of “false” reviews, that’s when I become a little annoyed.

via GIPHY

I absolutely recognize that this is not easy to change but I do feel that something needs to change. I’m personally a little bored of reading books that weren’t worth it because they took over for some strange reason. Will it change? Who knows but we can hope.

 

This is certainly one of my pet peeves and hot take opinions.

 

What are your thoughts on this? I’d love to hear some other view points in the comments!

Right-Wing Book Extremism: Idaho Librarian Resigns

 in Banned Book / Books / Current Events by

Who would have thought that we would be in the 21st century and librarians are resigning due to fear for their physical safety.

Well, this is exactly what happened in Boundary County, Idaho where a librarian resigned due to threats from right-wing extremists due to pressure to ban LGBTQ+ books.

I’m sorry, but what exactly is the concern with these books? The themes? Last I checked, reading a book doesn’t make you a certain way. If that was the case, then I’d be a princess with a dragon as my best friend.

Reading violent books will not make you violent. Reading books with sex will not make you a whore. Reading books with gay characters will not make you gay. Reading a book with straight characters will not make you straight.

Kimber Glidden, the librarian, wrote in her resignation, “Nothing in my background could have prepared me for the political atmosphere of extremism, militant Christian fundamentalism, intimidation tactics and threatening behavior currently being employed in the community…”

Too many professions now are facing things that they should not have to face.

  • Teachers shouldn’t need a gun to protect their students.
  • Restaurant workers shouldn’t need to fight shoppers who are combative.
  • Librarians shouldn’t be scared for the life because of the printed word.

Librarians across the country have been facing difficult times due to books that are perceived to be dangerous. Even when the numbers of people actually opposing these books are small. Minority groups who are loud are making the choices. Which seems to be a theme in America. A democracy – which is what this place is supposed to be – is not decided by who is the loudest. It is decided by the majority. Yet we live in a time when the loudest and most violent make the decision. I mean what the hell?

The group involved in this – the Boundary County Library Board Recall, whose want to to “protect children from explicit materials and grooming” – are crossing so many lines here.

Books in schools are age appropriate. They will not be reading Mills and Boone books with raunchy sex when they’re in second grade. Any books that have gay characters will not be depicting explicit sex. But allowing children to explore who they are, learn that being in a box is not expected and not the norm, and expose them to life.

Life is not square. Life is not black and white.

The damage that removing books from children will do will be endless.

  • They will have no desire to read.
  • They will not question.
  • They will be narrow minded – learn what they are taught and accept that for what it is.
  • They will have no imagination.
  • They are are not “status quo” as their parents seem to expect, they will be loss.

Progress over generations is being undone by small groups of scared people. And that is what they are – scared. They don’t want their children to be exposed to other ideas and perspectives. They don’t want their children to question anything. They want their children to be like their parents, have the same view, and not be open to other perspectives. Which is such a dangerous path.

And when you start imposing your will on others, you get into even more dangerous territory. This goes beyond politics and political opinions (although that is certainly part of it). This has to do with the future, our future, the future of children and the world.

Happy Reading!

 

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