What Is BookTok? A Beginner's Guide to Finding Your Next Read

By Kiruthika, founder of SnapTBR

BookTok is the corner of TikTok where people talk about books. Readers post short videos about the ones they love, the ones that wrecked them, and the ones they think everybody needs to read. If you've ever watched a stranger sob over a final chapter, or seen someone hold a paperback up to the camera and say "you need this," congratulations, you've seen BookTok. This guide covers how it works and how to get good recommendations out of it.

What you'll see

BookTok isn't one kind of video. These are the most common:

• Recommendations. A creator shares one book, or a list, with a quick pitch.
• Reactions. Readers film themselves losing it over a plot twist or an ending.
• Reviews. Short opinions on a book, good or bad.
• Shelf tours and hauls. A creator shows off their shelf, or whatever they just bought.
• Themed lists. Books grouped by mood or type, like cozy reads or books for a long flight.

The videos are short, so a book might be on screen for three seconds. That's part of the fun and also the main source of frustration.

Why people love it

It feels personal. A recommendation from someone who obviously adores a book lands differently than a list of titles, and the comments turn it into a conversation. It's also a good way to find books that never make it to a store window, from older favorites to newer authors.

How to find your way around

1. Follow a few creators and see how their taste compares to yours. After a handful of videos you'll notice whose picks you tend to enjoy. Give those people more of your attention.
2. Search for what you want to read. Type the kind of book you like plus the word BookTok, or search a mood or a type of story.
3. Read the comments. People ask what the book is, suggest similar ones, and warn each other about content. Often it's the best part of the video.
4. Save the videos you want to come back to. TikTok lets you save and organize videos in your account.

How to judge a recommendation

A popular book isn't automatically your book. Before you buy:

• Read the description and a few reviews from other places, not just the video.
• Look for content notes if there are subjects you'd rather avoid. Readers often list them in the comments or in reviews.
• Try a sample, or borrow the book from the library first if you can.
• Think about what the creator likes. If your tastes line up, great. If they don't, treat it as one person's opinion.

The problem everybody hits

BookTok is easy to enjoy and hard to keep track of. The video that made you want the book is gone in seconds, and the title might never be said out loud. You end up with a vague memory of a cover and nothing to search for.

There are a few ways to deal with that. You can check the caption, comments and creator profile, or you can screenshot the moment the book appears. I built SnapTBR for exactly this. You upload the screenshot, it finds the title and author, and it gives you a link to look the book up. I also wrote a separate guide on how to find a book from a TikTok video or screenshot.

Start small

You don't have to join a trend or follow a hundred creators. Pick two or three people whose reading you like, write down the books you actually want, and read one. If it's a hit, you'll know who to listen to next.

Saw a book in a video and want to know what it was? Try SnapTBR with a screenshot. Free accounts get 5 scans per day.

SnapTBR is an independent app. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by TikTok or Amazon.