Indian Readers discussion

Are new readers from india influenced by fake reviews in amazon and flipkart and the high discount in indian author books that let them stick to buying them than exploring other books and genres? Why is every new reader from india has a copy of Robin Sharma, Chetan Bhagat and sometimes Sudha murty? Who introduces them these books? Is it fellow readers or shopping websites?

I think its PR especially news. till a few months back I truly believed that the only contemporary Indian writer was Chetan Bhagat and Amish . my eyes have now opened to many more Indian authors wbo are far better

yeah I do think so

Hi Kannan, Interesting discussion. I am moving this thread under bookish discussions for others to contribute.

thank you Girish. Yeah, it's an interesting topic ✌️

I don't think it has anything to do with PR as a person who is new to reading books would rather read a book with fake reviews than make a shitty start by picking up a genre he/she might be uncomfortable with

_I think the buying pattern has more to do with being conservative and cost effective

PS. My first book outside school curriculum was The Alchemist

Many are over the discount sales. I think the buying pattern is governed largely by the discount sales among new readers.

Let say its just discount then
why books that are absolutely free are not the first ones read?

Sorry. I don't clearly understand your question.

Possibly because discount => good deal on a good book while free => the book is so bad the author has to give it away. The mind works in mysterious ways.

A lot of the people I know also really ball at the idea of reading anything for pleasure. It's all self-help and career-related books for them. I also think they pick the most popular books if they do feel the need to read something because popular => good.

Every conversation I've had with my older cousin for the past decade involves a variation of;
Him: have you started reading real books yet or do you still read Harry Potter
Me: ...

The self help books especially Robin Sharma and jay shetty all are just selling books that's worthless. the 5am club by Robin sharma just says to wake at 5am mixed up with some cooked up story that we can't even fit in a children's magazine like twinkle. The jay shetty book is also doing the same. Indian readers are obsessed with the self help books from fake gurus . I think it's high time to change from that. Self help books can be toxic of you're blindly going for books by fake gurus which act as a mere broucher for their online so called 'self development' courses. And for your opinion reading for pleasure is a good thing but when you spend money on books that are just pushed up by the websites we are really being fooled. Anyway the books are not free and we are spending some money. Wise decision is needed to save the money , time and effort when choosing books, even pleasure reading takes time ✌️

Ugh. I am a zombie if I wake up early in the morning so I view every book that says that with mistrust.

I also think that the whole "read for a purpose" thing manifests in a greater affinity to popular books you see advertised everywhere, because it ties into the mindset. If you're not looking for something specific (especially if you're really reading books for the first time as a teenager or adult where you expect to get more thing from books than pleasure) you're going to gravitate towards the most popular books, because that's what you've heard about and what everyone is talking about. You're not going to spend time in the hidden corners of the internet searching for tropes and themes you don't even know about yet.

Yeah that must be a reason ✌️

Sha wrote: "Possibly because discount => good deal on a good book while free => the book is so bad the author has to give it away. The mind works in mysterious ways.

A lot of the people I know also really ba..."

I know those conversations.. (eye-roll!)

Besides, i feel the opposite is actually true. Self help books just tell you one person's ideas whereas fiction gives us insight into the way so many minds work.
Reading is like any artistic activity, in my opinion, an individual relationship between the writer, the book and the reader..

self help books are fine but don't be overwhelmed by mouth publicity of the books of some fake gurus like Robin sharma.

I agree with Sree, reading is an extension of one's personality. A reader or a to be reader will be more judicious in picking up what one likes more, crime/romance etc.
Having said that ,.I.also believe readers can be classified into
1. arrogant ones - who claim they read the best and most "useful" books
2. show offs - the one's that carry the flavour of the season everywhere they go and possibly read only that .
3. seriously arrogant one - me who will purposely avoid reading the most popular authors/book just because they are so.
and so, we come back to influence again :)). it plays a massive role as in every aspect.

@Abish, discounts on books make a fantastic incentive. I love picking up free books on Kindle and Google Play. But , when you picked up Alcemist, besides the cost what made you pick.it up? its such a gamble till you find your favoured genre, how.many misses till you hit gold?

Well, I lucked out because when I was a kid there was a lending library near where I lived. They let you borrow books at 10% of the buying cost for 2 weeks. So a 300 rs. book could be read for 30 Rs.

Which is you know- not a very good deal especially for a Library (which is theoretically supposed to be free) but this being a private library meant there were way more options than the books you'd find in a traditional Library. Which is mostly classics and useful books.

I found a lot of the authors and (more importantly) writing styles I love today by meticulously going through the kids section and the fantasy sections of the lending library. And spending comparitively less money meant I could take my time and explore my personal preferences.

And then I got older and moved away and discovered ebooks.🤷

Leena wrote: "I agree with Sree, reading is an extension of one's personality. A reader or a to be reader will be more judicious in picking up what one likes more, crime/romance etc.
Having said that ,.I.also b..."

Haahaa! Love your 'seriously arrogant' description!
But i am also always wary about reading an over-hyped book
Although, there are many hyped books that i have enjoyed.. aah! it's a literary minefield

Agree with Abish and Sha. I think there are two elements at play here -
i) the PR of the "popular" authors and publishing houses - that a reader is bombarded by information about these books.
ii) the word of mouth of peer group

Eg of i) is Chetan Bhagat, Amish and the likes
of ii) are books like Ghachar Gochar and Em that most of people in any friends group seem to have read or in TBR.

A good book will still find it's way to the reader - though can't say the same about the author making money.

Sha wrote: "Well, I lucked out because when I was a kid there was a lending library near where I lived. They let you borrow books at 10% of the buying cost for 2 weeks. So a 300 rs. book could be read for 30 R..."

I had a similar situation in Mumbai where I would buy the books from footpath sellers - not talking about the pirated booksellers, this was early 90s and there were a lot of second hand books around - and then sell it back to them for a lower price. I have also spent many happy hours browsing footpath booksellers in Kolkata too although i have never visited the legendary College Street

yeah books will surely find their right owners ✌️

Sha, actually we had a library down our lane too and come.summer my mom.would.promptly enroll.us there. I read at Rs.5 per book though. so, to choose the book, we would read a few at the library itself (across a couple of days) all in the name of choosing , ha ! . speed reading , we mastered it.

those were some days

On self help books - I am a bit more linient. If someone can be inspired to a better living (or can be helped) by reading a book - I am all for it.

(also I am told it is the one where the authors actually make more money by also opening up workshops, corporate events etc. So it's a very professional thing)

I don't think hype is unwarranted. It's not always proportional to the quality of the book because word of mouth matters so much, but usually there's something about a book that attracts people if it is hyped.

Of course one person's good book is another's "why did I bother to pick it up." I read When Fox is a Thousand the other day and DNFd it in frustration but a lot of the people I buddy-read it with loved it because the prose was so poetic.

SECONDHAND BOOKSTORES. Omg I love those. They don't always have the books I want but they are fun to go into anyway.

I actually do read a lot of self help books but again the books I pick.up are more personal to.me - so again its ones likes and dislikes. crafting book are also a personal choice.

Leena wrote: "Sha, actually we had a library down our lane too and come.summer my mom.would.promptly enroll.us there. I read at Rs.5 per book though. so, to choose the book, we would read a few at the library it..."

Lmao yes I used to do this with comic books in the library. Speed-read it while my parents waited for me to choose books.

I used to hide the books I started but were not worthy of rs 5 cover so others would miss it .

I do read self-help, but I find that not everything works equally for everyone. The wake up at five thing for example. What I dislike is how people for whom it does work immediately claim the self-help book in question is the ONLY way to be successful in life and treat all other options like a waste of time.

Plus, a lot of self-help is sandwiched between personal narratives- which I dislike from a reading point of view. If I wanted a memoir, I would pick one up thank you very much.

Leena wrote: "I used to hide the books I started but were not worthy of rs 5 cover so others would miss it ."

YES. We could only borrow one book a week in the school library so I had to find shelves where nobody looked and hide books I wanted to read in there so I could get to them the next week.

T_T I was very ruthless and not community minded in my quest for books and I suppose that trait has hounded me into adulthood.

Sha wrote:
YES. We could only borrow one book a week in the school library so I had to find shelv..."

Usual Mags and Books I tried to borrow from library were not allowed to be issued So I threw few books outside the windows (usual stuff beg borrow steal) Seriously I'm Kidding 🙅🏻

wow! that's extreme

😂 our childhoods with all of the book larceny

absolutely! ::))

Leena wrote: "I think its PR especially news. till a few months back I truly believed that the only contemporary Indian writer was Chetan Bhagat and Amish . my eyes have now opened to many more Indian authors wb..."

What does "PR" stand for?

Public Relations. Mostly manifesting as positive word of mouth in this case, I think.

Sha wrote: "Public Relations. Mostly manifesting as positive word of mouth in this case, I think."

Thank you!