Apparently, People Are Just Reading The Dialogue Parts Of Books Now, And Furious Book Lovers Everywhere Have Some *Very* Choice Words

“That makes me want to slam my face inside of a heavy door.”

Jennifer McPhee
by Jennifer McPheeBuzzFeedBuzzFeed Staff

As a full-time writer at BuzzFeed, I cover books, sex, relationships, sitcoms, and all things pop culture.

A post is going viral and sending bookworms into an absolute internet meltdown. In it, X user @wtflanksteak says they just discovered that some people on BookTok claim to read 30+ books a year — but are apparently only reading the dialogue and skipping literally everything else. We're talking prologues, descriptions, and all other text besides the cute convos between quotation marks.

And what could've turned into a debate about whether reading 30+ books a year is realistic or not (which, IMO, is totally achievable) quickly became something much bigger. Because the real issue wasn't people finishing a book every 10–14 days...it was the revelation that some "readers" were proudly claiming they'd finished books they had actually only read the dialogue from. Check out the post:

Tweet discussing setting realistic reading goals of 30+ books a year and suggesting that skipping everything but dialogue isn't applicable
@eedaff, @wtflanksteak on x.com / Via x.com

And X user @aadaaf chimed in, trying to normalize only reading dialogue, calling the post X user's opinion "literary gatekeeping" before the comments got ugly.

Twitter conversation about writing; one user prefers character development, another values prose. They discuss reading as writing practice
@eedaff, @wtflanksteak on x.com / Via x.com

Read the entire discourse here.

Take a look at what the internet is saying:

Tweet by Mark Brooks: "If you skip the dialog AND the descriptors you can read even faster."
@MarkBrooksArt on x.com / Via x.com
Tweet by Sally Alcot: "Anne Rice books would become pamphlets."
@Sallyalcotnew on x.com / Via x.com
Tweet by danielle reads: "We've lost the plot."
@daniitaketwo on x.com / Via x.com
Tweet by user @superfinedoom: Critiques reviews for missing a key point in a story, suggesting reviewers didn't read it fully
@superfinedoom on x.com / Via x.com
Text reads: "54% of American adults read at or less than a sixth grade level. I feel like this is a valid statistic to share right now."
@kauinoa04 on x.com / Via x.com
Tweet about someone who reads over 50 books a year by focusing only on the dialogue
@alysha_lorraine on x.com / Via x.com
Chat-style text with dramatic and mysterious phrases, ending with five question marks
@NottaGlitch on x.com / Via x.com
Tweet questioning the point of books, discussing character development and plot without description, and contrasting with stage plays and comics
@nyxclass on x.com / Via x.com
Tweet discussing the difference in reading speeds, with the author feeling uncertain about others reading novels quickly like comic books
@JonasHamill on x.com / Via x.com
Tweet questions how skipping dialogue affects understanding a plot with a billionaire werewolf and a BDSM dungeon
@PanopticonBot on x.com / Via x.com
Animated characters: A man confusedly reads a book, while a woman looks on with amusement. Text says, "How do you even read this thing? It doesn't have any dialogue."
@windom_alex on x.com / Via x.com
Tweet discussing skepticism about someone claiming to read a book in 45 minutes, even using an audiobook at triple speed
@wtpineapple31 on x.com / Via x.com
A tweet by MafuyuMizer expressing frustration about an app conversation
@MafuyuMizer on x.com / Via x.com
Tweet questioning literary gatekeeping, arguing reading's accessibility and suggesting illiteracy, not gatekeeping, is the barrier
@ACABuwu on x.com / Via x.com
Tweet about reading habits, humorously expressing frustration with skipping all text except dialogue in books
@metroadlib on x.com / Via x.com
Tweet criticizing a call for shorter prose, emphasizing its importance in books for identity, plot, and mood
@Ox9hgr on x.com / Via x.com
A person is confused, asking about books where only character dialogue is read, expressing surprise with crying and thinking emojis
@NolwAi_Tusini on x.com / Via x.com
Kermit the Frog puppet gazes thoughtfully out a rainy window. Tweet text above reads, "This is the worst thing I’ve seen today."
@tooosouthern on x.com / Via x.com

Now I need to know what you think! Do you think you actually read a book if you only read the dialogue? Tell me your brutally honest thoughts in the comments.

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