CHENNAI: I recently heard this question: “If you were to be stranded on an island, what is the book that you would like to be stranded with?” It kept me thinking for a while and I ended up with my answer after careful consideration — self-help books. The reason is simple. These books will help me stay motivated to find a way out, guide me to overcome challenges there and provide insights on dealing with the situation.
While this was my answer, Ananthi Iyappan, booktuber, podcaster, and speaker, chose the classics. She was in conversation with writer-historian Sriram V, at an event, ‘A YouTube
Channel for Books’. The programme was held in the city on Tuesday by Madras Musings, a newspaper, and the Madras Book Club, to celebrate the 385th anniversary of the city, the then Madras.
A full circle
From being a radio jockey to becoming the founder of ‘The Book Show’, a YouTube channel, Ananthi took the 70-odd seated audience through her journey. “Beginning my career as an RJ, I was talking and talking for a long time. Then, I did not know what to talk about anymore. It was a completely different experience for me because at that time I was also interviewing people who spoke of cancer or memory cards,” she pointed out. w
She was intrigued by these chats and wanted to have as much information as possible to share with people. Ananthi shared, “That is when my curiosity in reading peaked and I fell into novels, reading, and readers. A few of my first books were ‘Secret’, ‘The Power of Your Subconscious Mind’ and ‘Sapiens’.”
In 2019, Ananthi started her channel, to take fellow book lovers on a book reading ride. “I am able to bring an audience and guide them in picking up their next book. Before that, you can probably watch the video because I am giving you a gist of it,” she added.
After a hiatus during the Covid lockdown, she has been consistently posting 12 videos a month since 2021. “The journey began there and today, people who watch my show have read a lot, or have lived a life worth a read,”she said. In a chat with CE, later at the event, Ananthi suggested tips and recommendations for beginners embarking on their reading journey.
Building a reading habit
Ananthi, in her videos, talks about the books she has read that week, the number of pages it runs for, and the hours taken to complete them. When asked why a book is calculated in hours, Ananthi said, “It helps you to figure out the book’s content, and the readability to choose a book accordingly.” Now that the book is selected, the next step is to focus on reading.
As a beginner, concentrating on the text can be a task. For which, Ananthi suggested, “The tip here is to trick your mind. Start with a shorter duration, say 10 minutes a day, and gradually extend.” Once the habit is developed, it is “quite natural” that you stick to a particular genre as you would want to explore more in that subject.
In this process, “you could be influenced and let the book affect you. To break that, you have to be conscious and be idle for a while to understand where the thoughts are coming from and work on them. As long as books are for knowledge gaining, the path should be fun,” she elucidated.
Discussing all these and more in her show, Ananthi said that book reading has given her the fuel to dream. What started as a hobby has turned into a dream for her. From a small room designated for the library to opening it to the public, this journey has already taken Ananthi five years and will take more as she continues to dream. “Now I am dreaming.
I am dreaming of having a place where I could have reading sessions, discussions, and invite authors. I want it to be a space where beginners could come and watch Amitav Ghosh — and other authors — talk and indulge in conversations,” concluded Ananthi.