What is BookTube?
Put simply, BookTube is a community of readers on YouTube. On BookTube you will find content creators, known as BookTubers, who produce content for other readers and book lovers.
But it is so much more than that. BookTube is also a community, in that it is a space to make friends, share interests, and escape.
On BookTube you will find more than just videos of people talking about books. You will find creative and experimental videos, liveshows, reading recommendations and wrap-ups. There are also channels dedicated to any genre or reading age group you can think of, so whether you are a fantasy fanatic, a romance reader or a mystery maniac, there is certainly a BookTube community for you!
If you are yet to venture into the exciting world of BookTube, or if you want to explore it a bit more, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed and unsure of where to begin. This is where this guide comes in.
This guide aims to give you a brief introduction to YouTube, by summarising some of the content you might find on the platform and by providing examples of BookTubers who produce said content. It is in no way a definitive list, but hopefully, it gives you a good starting point to explore BookTube yourself.
What can you find on BookTube?
BookTubers are busy people and are constantly uploading fresh and exciting content. On BookTube you can find:
Vlogs
Vlogs are videos that follow the daily or weekly life of a BookTuber. In vlogs, you will get plenty of reading recommendations as you follow the BookTuber’s reactions to the books they’re reading.
Some BookTubers also like to set themselves vlog challenges, by filming 24-hour reading vlogs and seeing how many books they can read in 24 hours! You can also find themed vlogs, where BookTubers set themselves challenges to read books in a certain category or that fit a specific reading challenge.
If you want to see examples of unique reading challenges and vlogs, check out BooksandLala’s channel.
Book Box Unboxings
Book box unboxings are exactly that: they are videos of BookTubers unboxing book boxes and revealing the books and merchandise inside them. These are great if you are trying to decide if you yourself are interested in signing up for a book box subscription service, or if you, like me, simply like to see others’ reactions to what is included in the boxes!
If you would like to watch a video of a big book box unboxing, check out this one from MelReads.
Reading Sprints and Read With Me
Reading sprints are usually uploaded after they have gone live so you can rewatch them to your heart’s content! Reading sprints are fantastic if you are in a reading slump or struggling for motivation. It also makes reading a more sociable activity (check out the article I wrote on ‘reading as a social hobby’ for our February magazine where I go into more detail about reading sprints here).
However, if you don’t have the time to sit and read for five hours (let’s be real, we all want to but sometimes life gets in the way) some BookTubers also upload ‘Read With Me’ videos. By watching these videos, you can read with your favourite BookTuber for 30, 45, or one-hour sprints.
If you are interested in watching reading sprints, Pris Peruses has a lot of recorded and live ones available on her channel.
If you would like to watch a Read With Me video, Jack in the Box has a 30-minute video available on his channel.
TBR Challenges
BookTubers like to add an extra challenge to their monthly TBRs.
Many BookTubers have their own TBR games based on real games. This ranges from Bookopology (Book Monopology) (Becca and The Books), TBR Pursuit (Trivial Pursuit) (Jadeyraereads) and even a TBR game based on Darts! (book browsing blog)
Wrap-Ups
Do you like to see what people read each month? Then you are in the right place! In monthly wrap-ups, you will find reviews, star ratings, and learn about the books that BookTubers read that month or year.
It is an excellent place to find book recommendations!
Check out gabbyreads’ February 2022 wrap-up here!
Bookshelf Tours
I don’t know about you, but I am a sucker for a pretty bookshelf. I love seeing how others organise and display their books. They inspire me to sort my bookshelves and make them look as nice as possible!
If you are a fellow bookshelf nerd, you will love bookshelf tours.
If you are looking for an example of a pretty bookshelf tour video, check out A Clockwork Reader’s 2021 bookshelf tour!
Book Clubs
Some BookTubers have book clubs that host live shows once a month. As anyone can attend these liveshows, you are free to read the book club picks if and when you please!
For example, The BackList BookClub is hosted by Covers with Cassidy and mostly focuses on backlist books by fantasy authors.
Middle Grade Monthly, is hosted by How To Train Your Gavin, Jaderaereads and Pris Peruses and focuses middle grade books.
The Literally Dead Book Club is hosted by BooksandLala and focuses on thriller, mystery and horror books.
Author Interviews
Some BookTubers also conduct interviews with authors. The interviews are usually hosted live for anyone to watch and then uploaded to YouTube following the interview.
How to Train Your Gavin has a series called ‘In Conversation With’ in which he interviews various authors.
There you have it, a brief guide to BookTube! I hope I have shown you that BookTube is a friendly, exciting and welcoming community with content suitable to all readers. I hope you have fun exploring a community of fellow readers!
Mairead @maireadreads
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