“I do not know how to describe this story except a story about stories. It is a book about stories and how stories affect us and what they mean to us. And how they can shape people and years and dreams and nightmares. And that’s the only way I know how to tell you what this book is about. You just have to read it.”
This is an excerpt from Hannah Azerang’s review of her favorite book read in 2021, The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. It is a book review like this - simple, captivating, and full of heart - that inspires me to pick up a novel. (I promptly placed a digital hold at the Chicago Public Library for The Starless Sea after reading this review). A recurring theme in Azerang’s book review is this desire to maintain the mystery and whimsy of books by not giving too much away - instead, she focuses on her emotions towards the book and the themes that arose for her. This creative choice emphasizes her belief that there is only so much one can say to describe a work of art; at a certain point, words are not enough and one needs to experience them.
Azerang’s review of The Starless Sea was posted on her YouTube channel, “A Clockwork Reader,” which has almost 400,000 followers. There are many book reviews on her channel, and other book-related content, making Azerang a part of the “BookTube” community of YouTube, a collective of individuals curating content surrounding books, reading, and recommendations. While Azerang has posted many different videos focused on books - from reading challenges to themed curated reading lists - Azerang’s content extends far beyond book synopsis. Through her digital presence online, Azerang has been open about her life experiences through updates and videos, particularly her journey with mental health over the years. This includes a 2020 video called “what to do when you don’t want to do anything,” which documents her journey throughout a day where she tries self-care routines and finds what works for her, with the hope of helping others who might be having similar experiences.
Extending beyond digital content creation and video production, recently, Azerang embarked on a new creative pursuit, in publishing her book A Clockwork Reader Reading Journal, which was released in December of 2021. The process of creating this journal has been documented throughout Azerang’s YouTube Page, where viewers can watch her creative process, from brainstorming ideas to implementing artistic components, through videos like “i created a reading journal for you.” This book, which contains spreads of notebook pages handwritten by Azerang herself, provides an opportunity for readers to reflect on their own reading journey. People around the world can purchase this journal and chronicle their own experiences in the journal - finding the books that they love, reflecting on the characters that resonated with them, and looking towards their future of reading. Even though the pages and spreads are designed by Azerang, there are no strict rules in the journal - instead opportunities for growth and adding one’s own designs and thoughts to a journal that while centered around the reading experience, can also extend beyond. Each individual is creating their own creative work through the reading journal - making it a collaborative, collective process. In this way, the product that is created - the reading journal - is distinctly linked and formed through the author and journalist.
While there are many inspiring aspects of Azerang’s creativity - from her artistry and graphic design to video production and editing - to me, I find her reviews to be the most striking creative work. In her reflections, she tries to put words into the emotions that a work of art evokes, and often cannot find the perfect words, honestly admitting that. Her reviews assert that sometimes, “you just have to read it” to discover your own feelings towards a book, which she hopes readers everywhere will do through her reading journal.
Sources:
https://www.instagram.com/clockwork_reads/?hl=en
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7-oVOXXYtg&ab_channel=AClockworkReader
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVRLU5M43pg&t=1099s&ab_channel=AClockworkReader
I love this! I would never think that reviewing books would be super creative, but it absolutely can be. She not only has to be creative for her videos, in terms of editing and the content, but she takes it a step further by creating a journal to help fuel others' creativity and love for reading. I thought this was so interesting!
ReplyDelete