For many Titans, reading is a favorite hobby or pastime. But how do they decide which books to stash and which to trash?
Chloe Yokitis
Staff Writer
At ACHS, reading is a big part of life for many Titans. With multiple book clubs and reading spaces, like the sprawling library, some consider being a reader part of their identity.
“I think it’s really neat how authors can capture entire worlds and cultures, and even create some from their own minds,” said junior Grace Grenn, who loves to read fantasy.
There are many different ways that Titans get their book recommendations. Finding a reading community, according to some, is a big part of it.
“Usually, I first find out about books from friends. They’ll be like, ‘Oh, I’m reading this book; it’s really good,’” Grenn said.
“My friends and I share all the books we like,” sophomore Eve Scott said.
The ACHS Book Feast was another way that some Titans have shared their book recommendations. In November, the ACHS Library displayed books that teachers had recommended, along with their pictures. They also invited teachers to bring their classes into the library to pick out a good book and learn more about their teachers at the same time.
“I thought, ‘Man, so many people in this building read really interesting stuff. Wouldn’t it be fun for students to be able to see a little bit of teacher personalities in what they’re reading, but also get some good recommendations?’” said Ms. Laurel Taylor, one of the King Street Campus librarians.
“I got to look at a lot of different books that I wouldn’t have picked off the shelf myself,” said Grenn, who visited the Book Feast with her Latin class. “It was a good way to sort of expose myself to different genres.”
But for some Titans, a community of readers can be hard to find, which makes it difficult to rely on peers for book recommendations.
“Friends will recommend you TV shows all the time, but a lot of my friends don’t read, so you can’t get recommendations of books from them,” sophomore Brooke Turner said.
She relies primarily on social media, like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok to learn more about books.
“There’s this whole thing called BookTok, which is the part of TikTok where people talk about books,” Ms. Taylor said.
“For BookTok specifically, you can get book recommendations, people who go through certain genres that they like, or they’ll give you reactions to books they’re reading,” Turner said. “It does all of it.”
Turner and Scott noted that it is more of a challenge to find books to read versus other forms of media. Reading, which is more of a niche, especially among teenagers, requires you to actively search for books to recommend, Turner says.
“It’s much easier to find out what new movie you might like […] than it is to find books, because less places review books,” Scott said. “So, if you want to find a book, you have to do a bit more digging.”
