As reading gets popular, there are a lot of opinions flying around.
BookTok, a subculture of TikTok, boomed in 2020, right around the time of the pandemic. With an astounding 52 million hashtags, it’s safe to say that most people know what BookTok is.
I was one of the millions of TikTok users in 2020 scrolling through the many book recommendations, monthly unboxings and bookshelf organizing videos. I would consider myself a casual reader in the 2000s and 2010s in the days of “Percy Jackson” and “Divergent.” It was the era of young adult dystopian novels, a genre recognizable to the Millennial generation, especially.
I got back into reading in 2020 with “Six of Crows” by Leigh Bardugo and “Legend” by Marie Lu being the hottest books on the app at the time. These titles weren’t even new, with “Six of Crows” being published in 2015 and “Legend” in 2011.
Now, it’s all being rediscovered on BookTok.
Emily Teigland, a second-year University of Minnesota student and president of the book club through the University Libraries, said she likes how easy it is to digest and access a vast collection of books on TikTok.
“I think BookTok is really, really cool, personally,” Teigland said. “It’s so fascinating to watch how it has allowed people over the last six years to find books and build community around books.”
Along with promoting older books, BookTok also pushes lesser-known books into the light, giving self-published authors, especially, a chance to land on the bestseller list.
“Stone Maidens” by Lloyd Devereux Richards was published in 2013 but was not very popular. Ten years later, his daughter posted a TikTok of him promoting the book and “Stone Maidens” rose to the No. 1 bestseller on Amazon.
Many self-publishing authors have found luck promoting their book through an eight-second video using words like “enemies to lovers” or “dark romantasy,” two genres that I’ve seen surpass all other book genres in recent years.
BookTok has also brought light to heavier genres, especially explicit romance. Such books have received backlash for branding their book with the new, cartoonish style found on books by Ali Hazelwood, Emily Henry and Hannah Grace.
These romance authors, who grew into fame through BookTok, are being called out for their explicit content marketed by a cover attracting both adults and young teens.
Lacie McMillin, an undergraduate services specialist at the University’s libraries, said that, although controversial books are being promoted to the young audience of BookTok, at least there’s a space to have those conversations.
“Hopefully, if someone learns that that’s not the book for them, and they should not read that, maybe they learn that from BookTok,” McMillin said. “I think it can be good at sparking angles in important conversations.”
Kate Peterson, an undergraduate services librarian, said her and McMillin’s perspectives may be different from those of a public or elementary school librarian, whose target audience is younger.
“I’m not as worried, per se, about young readers getting their hands on a book that’s not a good fit for them because you don’t know what you don’t know,” Peterson said. “We get to be in that place where the expectation is that all of our students are making their own choices about what they read.”
Peterson recommends speaking to parents, teachers and local librarians when it comes to picking out a book, controversial or not. She said she also believes that if a book isn’t sitting right with the reader, they are free to put it down and find something else.
At the end of the day, people still have preferences and are not obligated to like a book just because it’s famous on TikTok.
Speaking of fame, the formula for book fame has changed drastically thanks to BookTok. I’ve noticed many new romance and “romantasy” novels feel like skewed versions of older books I’ve read.
All the readers I talked to agreed that new books are appealing more to the industry and less to the readers, especially in the genres mentioned.
Mira Ratrout, a second-year student at the University, said she sees books for the importance they’ve held throughout history rather than the dissemination of the stereotypical romance reader.
“Since early times, books and literature are a form of protest where authors would write about something through fiction to combat something happening in real life,” Ratrout said. “BookTok has taken a capitalistic view of the art of reading, where there’s a guideline to write a trendy book instead of focusing on the art of writing and the beauty of books.”
Amidst her opinion, Ratrout said she found it ridiculous that people judge others for the books they read. At the end of the day, she believes people read to get what they want out of it, whether it be books on history, self-help and so on.
I frankly don’t care what you’re reading.
In an age where children are handed iPads before “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” people are worrying about teens and young adults reading trending books on TikTok? It’s a little absurd.
It’s odd how people will immediately judge someone by one single book they have read. By the way, the Webster’s Dictionary definition of a reader is, “One that reads,” not “One that reads Charles Dickens” or “One that reads Game of Thrones.”
One. That. Reads.
With technology only getting better, books will soon collect dust in the background. So don’t be ashamed to pick up a book you find online.
If BookTok motivates you to read, don’t let anyone stop you. BookTok may just be our greatest effort to keep books alive.
