There's a lot to this: reading rate being down; attention spans dwindling; and short form content boiling everything down to it's most basic, un-nuanced take. The results is some pretty bad books. #booktok #brainrot #booktube 00:00 Intro (from an author) 01:52 People don't read anymore 03:35 Students don't read anymore 06:06 How kids learn to read 10:27 Standardized testing 11:42 The neuroscience part 13:04 Smartphones and brains 15:56 #booktok 27:13 Go read The Vintage Space: My books Fighting for Space: Breaking the Chains of Gravity: My Amazon booklists, but please use your library or independent book stores! *** Sources Daily reading for pleasure declined by more than 40 percent: ; The National Endowment for the Arts 2022: Nation's Report Card 2023: Nation's Report Card 2024: Jonathan Malesic for NYT: Atlantic piece by Rose Horowitch: The trouble with Cued Reading: Cued reading banned in eight states: Will Cued Reading ever go away? English teachers assigning fewer books: 2015 Harvard/McGill Study: Phones impacting attention spans: 2019 phone addiction and fMRI: 2025 study on phone addiction: 2022 study on phubbing: The Orangutan Librarian on TikTok books: Nadine DeCero for DePaulia: Katerina Jerine writing for the University of Vermont’s newspaper: 2025 report card shows decline in reading and math: Bookriot TikTok has ruined reading: #author #booktok #booktube