I started watching BookTube pretty recently and I have found that it is a great way to keep in touch with the literary community while we are all stuck inside. For those of us who are new to BookTube, it is the segment of YouTube that focuses on all things book-related. The content ranges from book reviews to book crafts, from funny to focused, and from YA books to classics. It is also an excellent way to find new books to read, or, to explore different genres. I picked these channels because they represent a wide range of BookTube styles. Whatever you are looking for, there is bound to be a BookTuber for you!
readwithcindy—First of all, Cindy is absolutely hilarious! Her self-deprecating humor adds a lot of flavor to her videos. She makes wrap-ups, which are summaries of all the books that she read during any given month and they are normally spoiler-free, as well as read-with-me vlogs. She also makes some artsier content, such as redesigning book websites or book covers, which are a lot of fun to watch.
What sets Cindy apart from other BookTubers is that she is staunchly against consumerism on BookTube. She only owns four books and gets all of her books from the library. She also promotes diversity in literature and hosts the Asian Read-athon. She is a bigger BookTuber who got her start pretty rapidly, but for every subscriber-count milestone that she reaches, she promotes smaller BookTubers. Cindy’s content is clever and engaging, so I definitely recommend watching her videos!
Here is a great introduction to Cindy’s channel: “i read my airplane seatmate’s trash romance book and it was a mistake.”
Merphy Napier—The biggest strength of Merphy’s channel is how focused it is. It centers strictly around “book” content and not “bookish” content, which means that she does not make videos about things that are only loosely related to books. She makes very typical BookTube content, such as reviews, wrap-ups, and rankings of characters and books.
Merphy is an author herself, so she also gives writing advice and has “Dear Author” videos in which she gives her opinions on tropes and book features. These videos can be pretty helpful for aspiring writers. I recommend her channel for people who enjoy more focused, book-related content.
Here is a great introduction to Merphy’s channel: “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Doesn’t Make Sense?”
James Tullos—James’s channel mostly consists of very analytical videos. I love these because I get to learn so much more about the books that he reads than I would from most other BookTubers.
He mostly reads science fiction and high fantasy, such as Tolkien and Sanderson. Because the universes have such extensive lore, he makes a lot of in-depth videos about worldbuilding. James has a dry sense of humor that lends itself very well to his analytical content. He also does book reviews and top ten lists, all of which are very well made and entertaining.
Here is a great introduction to James’s channel: “Fantasy is very pro-monarchy (and that’s weird).”
Caleb Joseph—Caleb is one of my personal favorite BookTubers. His sense of humor is amazing and makes his rather lengthy videos worth the watch. His content is better classified as “bookish” because he will make videos about bad crafts involving books or about hosting a wedding for two of his books, in addition to traditional book reviews.
He will also make videos for book releases and do read-with-me vlogs, which are some of his best videos. Caleb reads a lot of “Bad Boy” romances, cringey Wattpad stories, and books that he knows he will dislike (which sounds strange, but all of this makes for absolutely incredible rant reviews). He mainly reads YA, so if that is your cup of tea, you will definitely enjoy Caleb’s content!
Here is a great introduction to Caleb’s channel: “Reading ‘The Worst Book of All Time.’”
paperbackdreams—Kat’s channel is absolutely adorable! She is the epitome of a classic BookTuber: she makes wrap-ups, book reviews, read-with-me vlogs, book hauls, and lots of collaboration videos with other BookTubers.
She has an awkward and adorable, yet calm sense of humor that makes her videos very watchable and enjoyable. Kat mainly reads YA books, like many other BookTubers, and the process of how she reads books is very relatable to many of us readers. For an introduction as to what a typical BookTuber is like, Kat’s channel is perfect.
Here is a great introduction to Kat’s channel: “let’s talk about ninth house…i guess.”
The Artisan Geek—I love Seji’s channel! First of all, she has the most lovely and relaxing voice to listen to which makes her videos super fun to watch! She also reads a lot of classics, which is interesting because many BookTubers focus on YA.
Seji makes a lot of videos about book hauls, her to-be-read list, wrap-ups, and she even reads stories out loud occasionally! She reads a lot of books from diverse authors, which is wonderful because BookTube can often lack diversity. I also love Seji because she knits and occasionally posts videos about her life. Her channel is really fun to watch and it is a great introduction to BookTube!
Here is a great introduction to Seji’s channel: “Diverse Classics Book Haul.”
The Spellbinding Shelf 