TikTok is more than just dancing videos. TikTok is a social media app, where users create and/or watch 15-60 second videos about a range of topics. The book side of TikTok, also called “BookTok” is where users talk about books. BookTok got me out of my reading slump and got me reading again (which I am so thankful for). I have a (very) long list of books that I want to read because I heard about them on BookTok. It is easy for me to find recommendations for any kind of book I want to read.
BookTok is full of book reviews, to be read lists, recommendations, people talking about their favorite books, books being compared to music, memes, reading and bookstore vlogs, hauls, wrap ups, book theories, discussions of problematic authors, trends, and more. Some critiques that I have seen about BookTok are that they recommend the same few books, which is partially true. These books get consistently recommended because they are popular on the app and more people are reading them; also, there are very diverse recommendations. Another critique that I have seen is that there are a lot of book spoilers, but most videos that I have seen have a spoiler alert warning visible before the video starts.
Some popular TikTok books that I have seen a lot of videos about are Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (which I read, loved, and reviewed). The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, Circe by Madeline Miller, The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune, It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, and Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers. I have only read one of these books but am interested in reading more.
A part of BookTok that I love is the LGBTQ2+ side, where LGBTQ2+ people recommend books by LGBTQ2+ authors or LGBTQ2+ books. This is where I first found the book Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. I enjoy reading LGBTQ2+ books because I can relate to the characters and what they are going through. A trend that I have noticed is how some people are recommending queer books that do not explicitly look like they are queer. For example, the book The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo just has a cover of a woman wearing a green dress on the front, so it looks (and sounds) like a straight book. I appreciate this trend because it allows closeted readers or readers who may be living with homophobic people a chance to read the books too.
TikTok is a great format for book videos, as it forces the videos to be short and to the point. BookTok is something that I can get lost in and binge without knowing for hours. I am so glad that I am reading again and am looking forward to a summer full of reading.
By: Mallory Johnson