You’ve just been inducted into the BookTok community. Your tote bag and directions to the nearest cute coffee shop come free with your membership!
We can all agree that BookTok has created a wonderful community for book lovers by providing friends, recommendations, reviews, etc. Today we’re going to give you the BookTok Reader Starter Pack to help you discover if you’re a true BookTok reader!
the big three of Self-Realization books
BookTok has a funny way of reminding us that there have rarely been any original thoughts…ever. The way that BookTok reminds us that we’re not special is by delivering recommendations of books with main characters that are so similar to us that it might as well be identity theft.
A true BookTok reader has read at least one of the holy trinity of these books: My Year of Rest and Relaxation, The Idiot and The Bell Jar.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a story about a young and unnamed girl who just graduated from Columbia University. Both of her parents passed away while she was in school, yet her melancholy has been accumulating long before then. She decides to snooze off her sadness for an entire year by using a crazy concoction of sleep medications, but whether this period of relaxation will do just that is something you’ll have to find out by reading!
The Idiot is a story set in 1995 that follows Selin, the daughter of a Turkish immigrant who has just started her freshman at Harvard. Over email, Selin begins to talk an older student named Ivan who is the love interest in the story. The story is a stream of consciousness that discusses the amusing growing pains of self-construction during a truly formative period of life through language and communication or lack thereof.
The Bell Jar is an American classic by Sylvia Path. The story is set in 1953 and follows Esther Greenwood, a young girl who is interning at a prominent New York magazine, though she deeply desires to become a poet. Esther’s future has no clear direction after her internship concludes, and as a result, she is forced onto a haunting path with no sign of relief.
These books and many others like them remind us that though we are each unique and special, we are not that special (according to BookTok, of course).
The never ending TBR list
The long To Be Read list is an inevitable part of getting tons of book recommendations every time you open the app. BookTok has a way of making every recommended book feel like a must-have. The TBR list will never end because for every book that we finish reading, we’ve already added 5 new recommendations.
Believing the Hype
No matter how many times the hype has failed you, a true BookTok reader will always believe in the hype. BookTok definitely tends to hype up a cycle or 4 or 5 books. It’s always one of the three:
“This book will make you ball your eyes out!”
“The plot twist was the most shocking thing that I have ever read!”
“I’d sell my soul to read this book again for the first time!”
For a short period of time, the book is always on your For You Page and then you finally make the inevitable trip to Barnes and Noble. Once you read it, the book either lives up to the hype, or is somewhat lackluster. In other words, the BookTok hype can either make or break your love for a recommended book.
Those incredibly niche Book Accessories
BookTok is the place to find all of the book accessories that you didn’t know you needed. Spending all of your money on books just isn’t enough! Sometimes those minor inconveniences that you face when reading can be easily solved by an accessory recommended by a trusted BookToker.
Who knew that I needed this book page holder so that I don’t have to hold down the pages myself when reading! And the little flower sprout book marks are too cute to resist!
THE “i HAVEN’T SLEPT IN 2 WEEKS” LOOK
TikTok and books are a dangerous combination. Some of us have definitely had some late nights because we couldn’t tear our eyes away from a good book or because our For You Page was on fire. When you love both books and TikTok, it is twice the trouble!
FEATURED IMAGE VIA CANVA