“Most people who complain about BookTok have never seen a BookTok.” Alyssa Morris drops that insight about two-thirds of the way through the episode, and it’s such a good point that I almost want to make it the title of the episode. Most people have an idea of what BookTok is (people talking about books on TikTok) but no real understanding of the immensity of BookTok. It’s talking about what you’ve read, sure, but it’s also about recommendations, and performance, and the aesthetics of reading culture — and the criticisms of it have a lot more to do with weird ideas about what reading (or talking about reading!) “should” look like.
If you’re interested in reading culture, you’ll be interested in this episode — full stop. Let it surprise you! And make sure to check out Alyssa’s BookTok newsletter, which has quickly become one of my favorite reads of the week.
Show Notes:
We’re currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:
THE STATE OF KIDS TOYS — what’s weird? What’s interesting? What doesn’t make sense?
Why does it feel like thrifting sucks now
The new Gladiator + Paul Mescal JUST GENERALLY
Anything you need advice or want musings on for the AAA segment
You can submit them (and ideas for future eps) here (this is the subscriber-only form!)
For today’s discussion: What’s your relationship to BookTok? What are your thoughts on book recs as a popularity contest? Why do you think some people get so cranky about other people reading a lot?
