BookTokers reveal 6 tips to get into the reading habit

As both a novelist and lover of books, I know how beneficial the act of reading is for a person. Not only can it make you smarter, more confident, and more empathetic, it helps prevent stress, dementia, and depression. Reading can also help you make gains in your professional life by enhancing your reasoning skills and your understanding of others. 

Yet despite all its benefits—and despite book sales seeing a pandemic boost in 2021—U.S. readership is at its lowest level in two decades according to a 2022 report from the Author’s Guild. The main culprit? Increased competition for a person’s free time from the likes of streaming services and other digital content. Think Netflix, Fortnite, TikTok.

But ironically, it’s the latter, of all things, that’s helping spur a resurgent interest in reading. The BookTok community on TikTok is a rare beacon amid a roiling sea of concerns surrounding the platform. It’s a community of TikTok creators who use the 21st-century digital medium to spread their love about one of the oldest content delivery systems in the world: books. These are creators—often Gen Z—who espouse the joys of reading and talk passionately about the latest novel they’ve fallen in love with. Their videos have legions of followers. Most of those followers are young, and many caught the reading bug directly from them.

For anyone who wants to get into the reading habit but finds it daunting, who doesn’t know what books to start with or how to get into the reading “zone,” here are six bits of advice from popular BookTokers.

1. Don’t pick a book just because it’s trending

Cait Jacobs was one of the first BookTokers and the one most often credited as having been the spark that ignited the BookTok community as it exists today (Jacobs, in turn, credits bookseller and TikTok creator Kathy Ellen Davis as the first person she saw use the #BookTok hashtag, in January 2020). Jacobs currently has over 308,000 followers and her BookTok videos have garnered over 17 million likes—making her highly influential in the BookTok sphere.

Given how influential she has been in helping books go viral, I was surprised by one of the pieces of advice she gave me. “Make sure that you’re not picking up a book because it’s what’s trending and you just wanna feel included,” Jacobs says. You never want to put yourself in a position where you’re reading something “because you feel like you have to.”

Instead, Jacobs says to simply pick a book with a premise that hooks you, no matter if it’s fantasy, crime, or a feel-good rom-com. “BookTok has made reading more social, where we can interact and share our thoughts, but in the end, it is still very personal. So don’t compare yourself to how much other people are reading or what other people are reading. The goal is making yourself happy and having a good time.”

2. Read along with an audiobook

In the books community, there’s a never-ending debate as to whether listening to an audiobook counts as “reading” (most BookTokers I spoke with say it does). But no matter how you view it, BookToker Kevin Norman, who has over 218,000 TikTok followers and whose videos have garnered nearly 12 million likes, says that audiobooks can have an important role to play in getting someone into the reading habit. He offered one of the most interesting pieces of advice on this topic that I’ve ever heard: listen along to an audiobook while simultaneously reading the same book.

“When I was in elementary school, I used to have the Harry Potter books, and I also had the [audiobook] cassette tapes, and I would just listen as I read,” Norman says. It’s a practice he has carried with him into adulthood, because “it helps me pay attention and cut out distractions.”

But isn’t that expensive? Having to procure both a printed and an audiobook copy of the novels you read? No, says Norman: “You can get audiobooks for free from the library. I’m not having to buy two copies of anything.”

3. Mine your hobbies to choose a book

When looking for something to read, where do you even start? There are always the New York Times bestseller lists and, of course, recommendations from the BookTok community. But BookToker Tate Rogers says that people just getting started might try a more self-directed approach.

“Combing day-to-day hobbies or interests is the perfect way to start a love for reading,” she explains. “I was a huge animal lover when I was younger, so any books that involved animals I loved.”

There are hundreds of thousands of new books published every year in America alone, and existing books stretch into the millions. No matter how obscure your interest or hobby, there’s likely to be numerous fiction and nonfiction titles related to it. Or, as BookToker Scarlett Acres puts it, “I truly believe there is a book for everyone.”

4. Start short and small

As opposed to film, TV, and most social media, reading requires active participation. If you’re not a big reader, the physical act of reading can, quite literally, feel exhausting at first. That’s why BookTokers Emily Russell and Brittany Guy advise beginning with something short.

“Longer books can seem daunting,” says Russell. She also advises setting actionable goals. “Read at least a chapter a night, or for 30 mins a day. It will build the habit and help you finish the books.” It’s sound advice. Decades before I became a novelist, I had trouble reading even short books. In my late teens, I set a goal of reading one chapter a night, and my love of books only grew from there.

But Guy brings up a good point. “[Reading] should never feel like a chore,” she says. “Never force yourself; that’s how falling out of love with books can happen.” And if you do pick a very long book as your first read, she notes, don’t fret. “If you read just 10 pages every day for a year, that’s 3,650 pages, or the equivalent of around 10 300-page books.”

5. Read the first few chapters aloud

Aaliyah got into the reading habit at the age of 11, though she says she didn’t fully embrace the pastime until she turned 18. Now 20, she has a TikTok following of 218,000. She advises that when starting a new book (or beginning reading entirely), reading the words aloud can help.

“I usually start a book by reading the first few chapters aloud, so that I can get my head into the world,” she says. “Stuff like that can help keep you engaged.”

The benefits of Aaliyah’s advice are backed by science. As BBC Future notes, reading aloud can improve memory and help us better understand complex texts.

6. Consider fan fiction

Two of my favorite books are Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace and Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha. Both, admittedly, deal with weighty ideas, complicated historical plots, and dense prose. Of course, that hasn’t stopped either from being commercial and critical hits.

But just because they are critically acclaimed classics it doesn’t mean you “should” read them. When it comes to getting started with reading, don’t feel like you have to start with any celebrated work—or any regular book at all says BookToker Holly McLoughlin. Instead, try fan fiction.

“Starting a new book and having to learn a whole new world and its characters can sometimes be overwhelming,” McLoughlin says. “But with fan fiction, you’re stepping into a world you already know, with characters you already love, and dynamics you already understand. I’ve read fan fiction that’s just as good (if not sometimes better) than published work, and the fact that people are doing it for free, and just out of pure love for the existing media? I think it definitely deserves more recognition.”

Given the popularity of fan fiction sites, it seems many readers agree.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how you start, just that you start somewhere. And once you begin reading regularly, it probably won’t be long until you catch the reading bug—and begin to reap its many benefits.