BookTok Brain: Are Reading Challenges Ruining Reading? (with Raissa Smarasista)

Описание: She read 84 books in a year. And then she realized she was doing it wrong.

In this episode of Trying Very Hard, we're joined by Raissa Smarasista (A.K.A. ⁠@readwithraissa⁠) — UX researcher, part-time librarian at Singapore's Casual Poet Library, and one of our dearest friends — to talk about books, and the harder thing underneath: what it means to protect something you love from productivity culture.

We explore hobby burnout, performative reading, Goodreads reading goals, and the BookTok effect. We talk about reading challenges, the ""52 books a year"" pressure, aesthetic bookshelf culture, and the quiet shame of reading ""unserious"" books. We get into how childhood reading shapes imagination — and how social media quietly takes that away.

We also cover: why Raissa soft-DNFs books without guilt now, whether ""smart"" books are actually better for you, what fiction teaches us that nonfiction simply can't, and the one romance novel that made her stay up all night and rethink an entire genre.

Plus a rapid fire round: favorite reads, most overrated BookTok books, tropes she'll defend forever, and the books that genuinely changed her.

If you've ever felt like you're doing your hobbies wrong — or wondered why the things you love start feeling like work — this one's for you. Come hang!

00:00 - Meet Raissa: The Pure Joy of Reading as a Hobby
01:59 - From Borders to School: Raissa's Childhood Reading Journey
07:00 - Kobo v. Social Media: Nurturing Imagination Through Books
10:11 - From Aspiring Author to Fantasy Struggles: Picturing New Worlds
14:19 - Daily Rituals & Mood Reading: How Books Shape Raissa's Week
18:45 - Beyond Goodreads Ratings: The Art of Soft DNF-ing Books
26:14 - Volume vs. Quality: Resisting Productivity Culture in Reading
35:11 - The Purpose of Hobbies: When Passion Meets Social Media Pressure
45:07 - Self Awareness & Conviction: Trusting Your Own Reading Taste
49:33 - Rapid Fire: Favorite Books, Overrated Tropes & Life Lessons