In the midst of makeup tutorials; gaming videos, Mr Beast challenges and more, there is a growing community on YouTube called ‘BookTube’, where hundreds of thousands of bookworms share their love for all things related to reading. It has spread to other websites such as Instagram (#Bookstagram) and the popular video-sharing app Tiktok (Booktok). The accounts within these factions flourished particularly during the Covid-19 lockdowns, when those self-isolating and furloughed from work turned to relaxing hobbies such as reading. Seen by many as a way to escape reality and take a break from screen-time, reading is an attractive pastime. However, for some devoted individuals, reading is a larger part of their lives — they seek to make a career out of reviewing books and series on social media, sharing their thoughts, feelings and recommendations.
The book side of social media was already huge before any lockdown came around; the dedication to reading as a serious hobby or job is a movement that goes back years. Readathons are an especially promoted trend, when groups of people are urged to collectively join in to read for sometimes 24 hours straight. Even the lingo within these communities is extensive — acronyms such as DNF (‘did not finish’), TBR (‘to be read’) and OTP (‘one true pairing’) are common (Doggett, 2019). Entire playlists and accounts are dedicated to the young adult fantasy genre, with many readers enthusiastically recycling the same material over and over and urging their viewers to partake so they can discuss their favourite characters and tropes.
It is common particularly on YouTube to see reading accounts sharing their ‘books of the week’ or ‘wrap-ups’ for each month. The thumbnails on each video typically show a proud, smiling reader holding a tall stack of books they’ve finished in a short amount of time. They give spoiler-free summaries for the plot of each story and how many stars they have rated it on Goodreads. It can be a daunting prospect, to look at the people who influence your digital life and think, ‘should I be this productive in my spare time?’ It is easy to forget that these book influencers are paid for the videos and photos they post, and that oftentimes they are sent books for free in exchange for advertisements.
For the average person, it can be hard to keep up. Not only with the sheer amount of material these accounts consume, but with the financial side too. The average paperback book from Waterstones in the UK costs just under £10, and the fancier hardbacks are typically almost twice that price. A ‘Booktok’ account could power through ten books per month — that quickly totals up to a dent in anyone’s bank account. Although there are sometimes cheaper options in charity shops and secondhand websites, when a book has only just been released, it can be hard to find. Furthermore, it is only natural to desire beautiful, unmarked editions to create aesthetically pleasing bookshelves and colour-coded Instagram posts.
But are these massive physical book collections really necessary to have? With so many today concerned about the environmental impact of buying-and-binning, is it worth investing in a series just to hate it on the first page and throw all that paper away? The Kindle could arguably be a better alternative. The rise of ebooks is something to take notice of, with benefits including: being able to find and download books in just a few minutes, huge price reductions, saving space in your home and being completely portable (Gokey, 2020). Libraries are usually an additional option, with the ability to borrow books often for an extended period of time without any charge, and some public spaces within these libraries or, for example, shopping centres, offer book swaps within communities where one used book can be exchanged for another unread one.
However, that is certainly not to say that the bookish community doesn’t have its upsides. Encouraging their audiences — especially when it involves younger, impressionable minds — to find simple pleasure in reading is a wholesome prospect. Taking time away from the pressures of social media, even when that ironically involves pressure to own an extensive book collection, is no bad thing. With so many genres, authors and formats out there, it’s fantastic to see the passion of books being showcased online, and reading as a whole is definitely something to be celebrated and shared.
Edited by Charlotte Lewis (Editor-in-Chief)
Figure 1: Image depicting beautifully organised bookshelves, Pinterest.
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References:
Doggett, J. A. (2019). ‘What Is Booktube And Why Should You Be Watching (And Reading)?', Huffpost [online]. Available at: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-is-booktube_l_5cc06c21e4b01b6b3efb45ec/amp (Accessed 09/11/21).
Gokey, M. (2020). ‘7 reasons why ebooks are better than printed books, and where to download new titles to read right now’, Business Insider [online]. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/ebooks-vs-books?amp (Accessed 09/11/21).
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