Take a page out of our well-researched book list and join the virtual book club that is BookTok. Photo / Getty Images
Take a page out of our well-researched book list and join the virtual book club that is BookTok. Photo / Getty Images
OPINION:
A generation known for their obsession with smartphones and penchant for square eyes, it might surprise you that Gen Zs are throwing in the towel when it comes to screens and leaning into something a little bit more literary: books.
The once-deemed “old-school” activity, only presumed to be undertaken by Jane Austen characters and 2000s movie outcasts, is firmly being referred to as rizz-worthy - for readers who don’t understand the new generational language - see here.
The video-streaming app, TikTok - which has received its fair amount of backlash for its arguably unhealthy popularity among the younger generation - is now using its power for good, with various TikTokers turning to the platform to share their favourite books and pick out their weekend reads.
What has come to light on our screens is a safe little reading nook in the harrowing social media sphere for all to find refuge in. We call it BookTok.
This online book club not only has a global reach, encouraging people to connect over their shared love of literature no matter where they are in the world, but is seeing a technologically-centred generation put down their phones and pick up a good book instead. Some would say that pigs might just fly.
What is perhaps more ironic is that TikTok, renowned for its addictive swipe feature and an endless supply of video content, has people decreasing their screen time for reading time, proving the social media platform might just be its own kryptonite.
TikTok has garnered over a billion monthly users. The question is, how many of those followers will fall down the BookTok rabbit hole? And how long will it take for the world to go cold turkey on the video-sharing app and start smelling the roses - or pages if you happen to be a true book fanatic.
While TikTok execs may be shaking in their boots (or at least scheming a way to get young kids swiping and not page-turning), authors near and far are praising the social media platform, more specifically, its BookTok counterpart. When noting her writing success, best-selling author Colleen Hoover told Glamour Magazine, ”That credit all goes to the lovely people of BookTok.”
Asked about her secret to TikTok success, she replied: “I have none. Any success of mine that came from TikTok did not come from me, it came from the readers who have made videos about my books and shared them on the app.”
Hoover’s TikTok fame is clear as day. Books have flown off of shelves and the numbers prove it. In 2021, Hoover’s print sales were 693 per cent higher than in 2020 thanks to BookTok. It Ends With Us, which was published in 2016, sold 768,700 copies in 2022, 18 times more than what it sold the year before, according to NPD BookScan.
Credit where credit’s due, TikTok catapulted Hoover and her library of heart-wrenching novels onto every Gen Z must-read list, filling a few millennial bookshelves in between.
So now that we understand what BookTok is and why it’s trending, take a page out of our well-researched book list and join the virtual book club.
Here is TikTok’s guide to reading like a Gen Z.
It Ends With Us - Colleen Hoover
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. Photo / Instagram
A BookTok classic, It Ends With Us is considered initiation when joining the club. Soon to be a movie starring Blake Lively as Lily Bloom, reading this heartstring-puller before it hits television screens is crucial.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
Old Hollywood glamour, larger-than-life characters and more husbands than you can count on one hand, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo transports you to another world - one far away from the couch you’ll be stuck on for days bingeing this novel.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Photo / Instagram
Mythology buffs, get comfy. Your weekend has been delegated to reading this gripping love story. Following the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles in the Greek Heroic Age, this book popped off on BookTok and was even better on the page.
Daisy Jones and the Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Step into the chaotic and crazy, hippie hedonistic world of 1970s rock ‘n roll. This book tells the tale of a band that rises from obscurity to fame, when it all comes crashing down. A BookTok favourite and hit TV series, give it a read and decide if you, too, think it was inspired by the legendary band Fleetwood Mac. Rumour has it, it’s not all fiction.
We Were Liars - E. Lockhart
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. Photo / Instagram
A psychological mind-bender, We Were Liars certainly provided one of the craziest plot twists to hit the page since The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. An island, a group of friends and one fatal night: the seeds of a good nail-biter and a cosy weekend on the couch.
My Body sees Emily Ratajkowski contemplate the discourse of women’s bodies, particularly her own, and how its interpreted by the male gaze, the social media scape, the modelling world and her own judgmental eye.
Everything I Know About Love - Dolly Alderton
If ever there were a book to read in your 20s, this is the coming-of-age holy grail. Navigating the psychological growing pains of years passing too quickly (and sometimes not fast enough) and deep diving into love, friendship, sex, work, humiliation and bad decisions - everything you need to know about growing up and growing into yourself is in the chapters of this memoir.
Normal People - Sally Rooney
Normal People by Sally Rooney.
Sigh, let’s just pretend this book didn’t have BookTokers putting on a fake Irish accent for a week and looking up semester fees at Trinity College. The book follows Marianne and Connell who, over the years, fall in and out of different relationships with each other as they navigate growing up. It is also a television series but take it from us, the book is and always will be better.
A murder mystery turned love story turned ode to nature, Where the Crawdads Sing follows the adventures of Kya as she grows up isolated in the marshes of North Carolina and grows into a woman. Recently adapted into a movie with Daisy Edgar-Jones, this evocative novel is a staple in any well-stocked library.
Book Lovers - Emily Henry
Small-town love story? Check. Boy you love to hate (or hate to love)? Check. Blush-worthy book-grippers? Check. This light-hearted romance is exactly what it needs to be: fun, easy and steamy enough to keep you page-turning, which is why it’s a big name in the BookTok sphere.
