The problem is people make something their entire personality so when you say it's not for you they take it as a personal offense/affront.

Theyre correct

I'm British and I fucking hate them. That said, this book was actually fascinating and entertaining. Had more fun reading that than half of the actual novels I've read. Harry is definitely my favourite royal now, and the amount of stupid criticism, from everyone from South Park to the rest of the royal family just proves how essential of a read it is.

I know right!? That book absolutely blew my mind. I think, to this day, it is the one that haunted me the most deeply, and for the longest time. I never saw it coming, or in hindsight, I was hoping...

I think it is uncalled for to suggest that the only people who care about seeing diversity and representation are "shored up in politics" to the point of being a "lost cause", and that the only possible answer to a desire for diversity and representation is tokenistic lip service (which is how I am charitably interpreting what you mean when you say "agenda driven media").

Unthinking tokenism for diversity points and substituting the presence of representation for an actual compelling plot or characterization IS a problem that crops up a lot in subpar modern media. It's become part of the wider trend of publishers and producers and such going for formulaic trash that meets algorithms to be most likely to rake in viewers and money, rather than promoting art that is actually trying to say or convey something (even just something so simple as "an interesting story that doesn't read like a barely fleshed out Standard Narrative Arc from a how-to book on writing").

But that isn't the same as representation and diversity - and wanting to see that representation and diversity - being inherently tokenistic or money-grabbing. I, and I'm sure many other people who appreciate diversity in stories am as tired as anyone else of seeing books and media promoted on their supposed diversity points alone, without any attention paid to the actual plot or characterization. People who belong to minority groups shouldn't be reduced to stereotypical Representations of That Group, we are all whole people who deserve to be acknowledged and presented as such.

I also really fucking hate the way booktwitter, which is full of the most idiotic brownie-points chasing assholes with only the most surface level understanding of social justice or activism, has impacted the publishing industry and the way people approach stories. As if everything is down to problematic vs wholesome, and any exploration of nuance or complexity or anything is "problematic" and deserves to be canceled. I loathe that shit.

Whoa

Thank you, this answer is lovely

I’m actually a fan of diversity if it’s included to add value to the story/narrative. Like in “The Expanse” where “racial diversity” isn’t about skin color, rather about whether you were born on Earth, Mars, or the belt, and physical differences are the affect of the gravity level you were raised in. This adds a uniqueness to the story and is also contextually fitting.

Problem is most modern stories just include diversity for the sake of diversity itself while not adding anything of value to the story. “Look, I have a black man in my book. Sure it doesn’t make any contextual sense and I won’t explain why there is this one black man among whites, but he’s there so you know I’m not racist.”

It's not exclusive to booktok enthusiasts, fans like this are everywhere. Football fans in my country literally destroy buses when their team loses and beat up anyone who wears the other team's merch.

Yes. How else would I learn?

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Depends. I try to figure things out from context, and if I can't I'll only look it up if they seem important to understanding the text correctly. If I'm reading a book about East Germany I need to know what the Staatssicherheitrat is, but not if I'm reading a book about American hippies where a character says "you're such a nark, you belong in the CIA or the KGB or the Stasi "

GEB isn't literary fiction. I'd call it a "popular science" book, in which big scientific ideas are introduced in a creative and accessible manner. I had already taken a course in theoretical computer science class before I read it, so I was very familiar with the ideas in the book. I enjoyed the presentation. It was very creative

I’ll say if you’re a physics “hobbyist” of any kind it flows. I watch surface level videos on quantum and astrophysics and nothing in the book was a slog. Actually extremely enjoyable, he has some very fresh takes on science. There’s an insane part on computer engineering I’ll probably remember forever

And to add to your list of what it does well, there’s a lot of good psychology, on human, community and societal level. The way he fleshes out available options in situations and how decisions are contemplated is crisp and deep. For example the two ships with the resource problem, the humans as a whole facing a problem, and the one man and woman with the immense responsibility come to mind

Margaret Atwood did an AMA here you might want to take a look :) Here's a link to all of our upcoming AMAs

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> I get annoyed when authors don't provide a reason for diversity

A wizard did it.

There, now you're all set for literally any book that doesn't feature 100% white people and also doesn't feel a need to provide an explanation for why.

I think that fantasy and sci-fi as genres both often face the tension of "what is explicitly possible due to the established laws of the author's world" vs "what we're just going to let pass because it's fantasy."
In a book or series that puts particular effort and focus into world-building, the evolution and establishment of different types of creatures, cultural groups, and races is often a part of the story, and it serves to better explain the fictional universe. This is absolutely not any type of justification for a book in which every character is euro-centric. But it does help explain the grievances that consumers have when a world with specific limitations on travel and cultural fusion (pre-industrialized, we'll say) features isolated villages with a set of characters that look like a college brochure.
That being said, I would be interested in more examples of this type of reaction for an actual book series rather than an Amazon or Netflix adaptation, because I imagine you're mostly referencing the latter.

I do sometimes. I love that I can look it up from my Kindle very easily. I read a lot of books by authors from other countries and I often look words up as I’m reading. Often I can guess at the meaning, so I usually wait for a breaking point in my reading and go back to look it up.

Libraries do not exist for benefits. Digital or physical copies are treated the same way by librarians

It builds up a lot of contexts. Like the beginning is dedicated to learning math stuff for example. It can often feel like a textbook, but it’s good if you like to learn

Brilliant!! My sentiments exactly.

And to add another point. High value college resume English and History AP classes are the worst. They reaffirm a speed trip through centuries and literature with a focus on themes, not the full experience.

Other than my daughter, I don't really know any people personally that love books like I do. I did lend a book to my sibling, because they wanted to get into reading. They haven't read it nor returned it. It's been over a year. 😒😂

All the time…

I read a lot of old books, like the original Sherlock Holmes and so forth, I consider myself decently well read, but on many occasions I had to go look up some old terms that I had zero clue what they ment.

I could often infer what they meant from the book, but not always.

the Kindle features made it rather easy.

I now know that a "Handsom" is a type of horse drawn carriage, and "Sticking plaster" is some sort of bandage.