If you’re an avid reader, you would surely benefit from book recommendations from other bookworms. You can get this through blogs and websites with book reviews, but in these recent years, an increasingly popular source is, believe it or not, YouTube!
YouTube hosts a huge community of BookTubers, where you can get endless recommendations, book reviews, and even discussions, all with the click of a button!
What is BookTube?
BookTube is a community of channels based on YouTube, dedicated purely to books and reading. The shard love of all things related to book gave birth to this community. If you’re looking not just to read books, but also to talk about books, or even to host events related to books, BookTube is a great way to connect with other like-minded individuals.
And BookTube is not just for readers. It’s also an excellent space for getting connected, perfect for authors and publishers, without being limited by physical location.
What do BookTubers do?
The creators of these channels fly under the term “BookTubers,” and you can browse their YouTube channels to see their latest TBR (to be read) piles, or recent books they’ve finished, book-reading challenges, and an infinite number of video types related to reading and books.
The general feel of these videos is that you’ve just come from a deep, engaging dialogue with a fellow bookworm! This is probably the reason why BookTubers have enjoyed a huge growth in their audiences, up to hundreds of thousands worldwide.
And just like each person has his own preferences for genres or book types, BookTubers also work in their specific interests and preferences. You can search for book discussions relating to a specific genre, for example, environmental dystopian novels, or general themes, such as bestsellers in nonfiction over the last couple of years.
How to Make Use of BookTube
If you’re interested in mining the gold from BookTube, here are our top tips so you don’t waste precious time you could instead spend reading:
Search according to your interests.
Because BookTube can be so broad, don’t get lost weeding through everything. Instead, do a quick search for your favorite genre, series, or book, so that you find BookTubers who are dedicated to what you’re already interested in. We feel that the best way to decide if it’s someone worth following is if you can imagine yourself being in a book club with that person and enjoying his or her input and company!
Explore who your favorite creators follow.
The power of social media is that you can grow your own interests by checking out what your favorite people are watching. It doesn’t automatically mean you will like them, but based on the mere fact that you already have some common interests, who knows? You can also take a look at the people they may have collaborated with on some of their videos and see if you enjoy those creators’ individual work as well.
Ask for referrals.
Don’t be shy about asking your other book-loving friends to share their favorite creators. You may not always have exactly the same taste, but see if there are channels on their radar that you’d like to follow yourself.
If you don’t have friends who love books as much as you do, check out book clubs online, such as those on social media groups, and check out their recommendations.
Top 5 BookTubers to Start Building Your List
Of course, if you’re just starting off in the world of BookTube, it can feel daunting to think of which creators to try first. Here are some of the most popular creators you can get started with, and let us know which ones you like best!
1. Ariel Bissett
Ariel Bissett is one of the first BookTubers, whose insightful book reviews and recommendations have established as an authority on just about everything book-related.
Perhaps her wide coverage of things ranging from poetry to graphic novels to short story collections and overall fiction is part of her strength. Admittedly, she not only talks about books, but also has content on how to overcome social media fatigue, and even about how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the publishing industry.
Since then, she has founded an international reading event called The Reading Rush, now in its seventh-year running.
2. The Artisan Geek
The Artisan Geek is the BookTube channel of Netherlands-based Seji, offering a fresh and creative look at a wide range of book genres as well. She covers books in poetry, young adults, all the way to the classics, with a special emphasis on under-represented minorities. This makes her a good choice for someone looking for a more diversified read.
If you’re looking for reviews and recommendations for books by authors of color or those with disabilities, be sure to check out this channel.
3. Jesse George
Jesse George is the creator of the Jesse the Reader channel, dedicated to young adult book reviews. But his channel is not all reviews; he also has lots of exciting and original reading challenges.
Once a month, he also hosts “Epic Adaptations,” focused on reviewing film adaptations of books. (And as book-lovers, don’t we all want to know just how true to the book the latest film adaptation is before we even think of taking a single step into the movie?)
4. Jen Campbell
This UK-based BookTuber is herself an author and poet, so you can be sure her channel will be full of literary treasures! Jen Campbell’s broad interests lets her give thoughtful reviews of poetry, children’s stories, fairy tales, short story collections, adult fiction, and even classic books! You also get to enjoy her videos analyzing fairy tale adaptations as well as literary tropes and weak misrepreseantation of disabilities in media.
5. Peruse Project
Fantasy lovers, don’t miss out on vlogs by Regan from Peruse Project! Her deep knowledge of the world of fantasy novels will make you wish you could be in a book club with her! Since then, she has expanded her coverage to include romance and thrillers, so you can also get to explore other books with her.
Things you can look forward to in this channel include a monthly wrap up and book recommendation vlogs, but also almost-weekly reading vlogs to get a glimpse into her weekly reading habits!
Learning From BookTubers
BookTube is a treasure trove of information relating to all things books, and is a great way for you to expand your horizons even beyond your usual favorites. And what better way to experiment with a new genre than by listening to the insights of fellow book nerds?
If you haven’t tried BookTube yet, we recommend you to get your feet wet as soon as possible. You’ll never know what you’ve missed out on unless you hear it from the experts!
Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!
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Yen Cabag is the Blog Writer of TCK Publishing. She is also a homeschooling mom, family coach, and speaker for the Charlotte Mason method, an educational philosophy that places great emphasis on classic literature and the masterpieces in art and music. She has also written several books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her passion is to see the next generation of children become lovers of reading and learning in the midst of short attention spans.
