Over-flowing shelves and
empty wallets
The social media trend Booktok is encouraging young people to read. So why are some people against it?
“Reading books and buying books are two separate hobbies.” It’s a phrase commonly heard on BookTok, the bookish community on TikTok that exploded in popularity after the pandemic.
With a staggering 57.3 million views for #BookTok, the platform has become influential in shaping what people read and how they approach reading as a hobby. Videos of picture-perfect shelves, stacks of the latest releases and the same recycled recommendations dominate the algorithm.
While encouraging reading is welcomed by many, not everyone is a fan of BookTok’s influence.
Some critics such as Bloomberg’s Jessica Karl have likened BookTok’s buying habits to fast fashion. Others such as YouTuber According to Alina have discussed whether BookTok has an overconsumption problem with its haul videos of popular books on the platform.
Alina said: “Since this type of reading is so easy to get through, people on BookTok are constantly looking for the next thing they can consume and they end up with shelves upon shelves of average quality literature that they will not re-read and wouldn’t even gift to somebody that they care about.
“So they just end up throwing them out and buying more of the same.”
So, is there merit to the overconsumption label?
I asked X whether they thought that social media promotes an unsustainable level of book overconsumption - over three in four agreed.
First emerging in late 2019, BookTok follows in the footsteps of BookTube, Bookstagram and Tumblr. By late 2022, BookTok had become a powerful force shaping publishing and what books readers are reaching for.
BookTok has been credited with sparking a love of reading - particularly in Gen Z. A 2022 poll for Publishers Association found that almost two-thirds (59%) of 16-25 year olds say that book influencers or BookTok have helped them discover a passion for reading.
BookTok’s cultural power is evident in bookshops around the country - “BookTok made me buy it” stickers adorn popular books and Waterstones often have dedicated BookTok table displays.
A popular video format on the platform are book hauls, often featuring popular BookTok books. The book haul hashtag on TikTok has a total of 1.1 million posts and some of these posts hit a similar number of views.
@booksandbowsgb my biggest book haul ever! comment your fave book recommendations & I’ll book fairy some of you at random 🧚🏼♀️ #fyp #bookhaul #bookfairy #booktok #booktoker #bookshopping #bookrecommendations #bookrecs ♬ sonido original - SONIDOS LARGOS
One example of book haul videos is the one above by @booksandbowsgb which shows off a mega book haul of 131 books. The haul includes many popular books and series such as Babel, Icebreaker, the complete Throne of Glass series and the Caraval trilogy. For the latter, the creator bought paperbacks and special editions of the trilogy.
For many viewers, this type of content is aspirational with comments under the video such as “This is my dream” and “Oh so you RICH RICH (I’m so jealous)”.
Massive book hauls go hand-in-hand with To-Be-Read (TBR) videos as the gap between books purchased and books read widens.
@bibliophel (APP: Spin The Wheel - Random Picker) The WHEEL OF SHAME has been created!! I call it that as most of these books have been in my collection UNREAD for over two years and that’s just way to long!! #tbrchallenge #bookwormstruggles #readerproblems #tbr #physicaltbr #bookishhumor ♬ original sound - Eloise Blaise | Booktok
Some BookTokkers have taken to creating TBR jars or challenges to tackle the stacks of unread books. One BookTokker @bibliophel created a ‘Wheel of Shame’ to motivate herself whereas others have imposed a book buying ban.
However, there is a growing movement to use local libraries and purchase second-hand books.
TikTok user @plantybooklover said: “I’m just a library girl and 80% of my videos are me holding up a library book. No one seems to care that I’m not buying them!”
Taylor Dawson commented: “While I’ve always been a massive reader, I have never been a huge fan on buying books BEFORE reading them just in case I don’t like the book. I’ve always used the library (now mostly via ebooks/audiobooks) and am planning to buy physical copies of the books I’ve loved this year.”
She added: “For me, I couldn’t handle hundreds of books on a physical TBR list. That would stress me out because I wouldn’t be able to donate them until I’ve read them but the thought of starting somewhere within all those books also stresses me out.”
Journalist Sumaiya Motara buys her books second-hand through bookshops and online retailer World of Books. But she argues that even though it is more environmentally sustainable, she is still buying lots of books.
“Even though it is supposedly better buying second-hand, I still end up buying more, or consuming more, because it is so cheap,” she said.
“My Goodreads has over a hundred books - over 160 books that are still waiting to be read. I’m still trying to get through the ones I’ve just ordered on World of Books.”
Sumaiya praised book recommendation videos on social media and YouTube for getting people reading amid poor literacy rates.
She continued: “I think it is important for people to be prompted towards reading and prompted towards buying books and consuming books. I do think that is a good thing.
"But when it comes to promoting books on social media with no specific purpose, that’s when it starts to become a bit dangerous because you are just contributing to the overconsumption of books.”
So are books the next fast fashion?
Fast fashion refers to how popular fashion brands such as H&M and Primark produce clothing at high speed with low cost and often low quality. It responds to and mimics trends and is a major polluting industry - producing 10% of global carbon emissions.
For a case study, take Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean series which took BookTok by storm in 2023. Fourth Wing, the first novel in the series, was published in April. By November, the sequel Iron Flame was published but audiences soon began complaining of typos, misprinted copies and overall poor editing.
Book influencer Jack Edwards gave Iron Flame just two stars on Goodreads, the most popular book review website, and said: “So this is what they meant when they said "fast fashion books.”.
Edwards, who was a judge for the TikTok Book Awards in 2025 and boasts 747.7k followers on the platform, added: “Rushed, lazy, just carbon-copies the blueprint of book 1 in the series... but doesn't work.”
BookTok is driven by speed - whether it is scrolling through videos quickly or hitting self-imposed reading goals, BookTok seems to turn reading into a competition. It may be fostering a love of reading but some criticise how it treats reading as a performance and books as a task on a to-do list.
Similar to fast fashion, books are purchased quickly, consumed superficially (or left to gather dust on a shelf) and disposed of.
BookTok and the power of social media communities have altered the publishing industry, perhaps forever - but is it for better or worse?
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