Your Book Besties Talk Cancel Culture, AI, and the Bookish World

In this week’s episode, your book besties step slightly outside the pages and into the wider bookish discourse, unpacking two timely and complicated conversations happening right now. We start with a recent controversy in the Bookstagram world, where a well-known niche account misstepped with a post about “immigrants in romance” that quickly spiraled into backlash, deleted comments, deleted posts, and multiple apologies. Kat and Amanda talk about intent versus impact, what accountability should actually look like online, and where the line sits between peaceful discussion and piling on. We explore the idea of performative apologies, performative outrage, and the uncomfortable gray area in between- plus why deleting posts makes things worse, not better. From there, the conversation shifts to a bigger industry-wide issue: AI in books and libraries. We break down Libby’s recent statement on AI usage, the overwhelmingly negative response from readers and librarians, and the growing concern around transparency, filtering options, and the added burden being placed on librarians. We also talk about how AI-generated audiobooks and content could disproportionately hurt smaller authors, blur trust with readers, and quietly reshape publishing in ways we’re not fully prepared for yet. As always, things spiral (just a little) into broader questions about education, critical thinking, screen time, and whether relying too heavily on AI tools is eroding foundational skills- especially for younger generations. It’s a thoughtful, candid conversation about accountability, technology, and what it means to exist online as readers, creators, and humans trying to do the right thing in an increasingly loud space. 💙📚 Want to join our book club? Sign up for our newsletter to stay in the loop. You can signup here Can I Bring My Book Social Links: Instagram: @canibringmybook_club TikTok: @canibringmybook_club Facebook: www.facebook.com/canibringmybook