Great BookTube Channels to Watch

If you are a book lover who is always on the lookout for great book recommendations, and if you delight in listening to other book lovers discuss interesting books; you may enjoy delving into BookTube (if you have not already). BookTube is a wonderful source of entertaining and helpful bookish content. And whether you are new to BookTube or already immersed in it, I have some terrific BookTube channel recommendations for you.

What is BookTube?

BookTube is the community of bookish content creators on YouTube who post videos with book recommendations and bookish commentary. Similarly, the bookish community on TikTok is known as BookTok and on Instagram is known as Bookstagram. Although I have not seen the term used much yet, I assume that the lovely bookish community developing here on Substack will similarly increasingly become known as BookStack.

Of course, there is a lot of crossover between the various online bookish communities and many BookTubers post their videos on other social media platforms as well. You often can follow the same bookish content creators in a variety of ways.

You can usually tell which BookTubers are most focused on being part of the BookTube community because they tend to refer to themselves as BookTubers, mention other BookTubers in their videos, and sometimes make tagged topic videos. BookTubers share topic tags with other BookTubers, who then all make videos with similar titles that answer similar questions.

Some community norms have clearly developed on BookTube as well. For example, it seems like the vast majority of experienced BookTubers (in their videos) say “without further ado” after their introductory chitchat, right before they start recommending books. The more BookTube videos that you watch, the more noticeable the group norms become.

In this post, I use a broad definition of BookTube that includes all bookish content creators on YouTube, regardless of whether they participate in BookTube community interactions.

If you do not want to follow the BookTube channels I recommend on YouTube, you can look for their content creators on your other favorite social media apps instead. And/or, if you like what you hear from the recommended BookTubers in their sample videos below, you often can follow their written book reviews and ratings on Goodreads or StoryGraph.

And besides the comment sections under their videos on YouTube and under their posts on other social media sites, you can also directly chat about books with some BookTubers on their Discord channels and/or in their Patreon communities. Many BookTubers have mentioned in their videos that they started posting bookish videos on BookTube because they were looking for a way to become part of a bookish community themselves, and it often shows by how engaged they are with their viewers.

Why watch BookTube videos?

If you are looking for great book recommendations, there are some standout book recommenders posting content on YouTube.

And no matter what your reading preferences are, there is a good chance that there is someone or another on BookTube talking about books that you might enjoy or find interesting and doing so in a way that might work well for you. The range of types of books discussed and types of analysis provided is extremely broad, which makes BookTube a very inclusive haven and support system for all kinds of readers.

I have made repeated attempts to find BookTube channels that I enjoy. I started looking casually for them a handful of years ago. My search became more active about a year ago. And then after I had the idea for this post, I fully dove in. As a result, I have sampled many channels. And yet, I feel like I have barely scratched the surface of what is available on BookTube. According to reporting in People Magazine: “As of early 2024, videos with ‘BookTube’ in their title have been viewed more than 350 million times.”

As reading (which often forces us to practice looking at the world from perspectives other than our own) tends to promote empathy, I feel heartened by the multitude of diverse voices on BookTube from many parts of the world that are encouraging more people to read more books.

In addition, and more practically, BookTube is an especially helpful place to find certain types of visual bookish information.

My first introduction to BookTube occurred when I was looking for manga (Japanese graphic novel) recommendations. And I have come to value BookTube as a great source of illustrated book recommendations in general. I often like to watch someone whose opinion I value flip through a book’s illustrations on camera while recommending that book to me, before I decide if I want to try it myself.

And if, unlike me, you are a collector of first editions or beautiful hardcover editions of books, you may also enjoy finding BookTubers who show off their incredible, physical book collections. Or, if you are interested in finding ideas for how better to organize your existing book collection or make it look more beautiful, you can find a lot of ideas on BookTube as well. “Bookshelf tours” and “bookshelf reorganization” videos are common topics for episodes on BookTube.

The more BookTube channels that I sample, the more fascinated I become by the varied ways that BookTubers present their book collections to their audiences. As you might imagine, BookTubers often make the very logical decision to film themselves in front of their own bookshelves. And I sometimes find myself getting a bit mesmerized 😵‍💫 by bookshelves full of barely touched, pristine, hardcover editions; or full of beautiful books organized by the colors of their covers.

I watched a video in which one BookTuber lamented the financial pressure that some BookTubers feel to buy lots of beautiful books to show off in their videos. As a frequent BookTube watcher myself, I want to assure any current or potential BookTubers who read this post, that as long as you have good lighting, decent sound quality, and a tidy setting (all of which, unfortunately, a surprising number of BookTubers do not provide), as well as interesting or entertaining, well-presented content; you do not need to spend money on a rainbow of expensive, pristine books to make viewers happy. Although I do appreciate beautiful-looking books and cozy-looking bookish settings, I am perfectly content to listen to BookTubers who have extremely interesting things to say, while they are speaking in front of unadorned walls, with good natural lighting.

Some BookTubers also film themselves shopping for books in beautiful locations, so if you like to visit bookshops when you travel or if you like to fantasize about taking bookish trips, you can start exploring charming bookstores all over the world by watching BookTube videos.

One of the things that I most appreciate about BookTube, is how easy it makes finding interesting bookish commentary from content creators who live in other parts of the world. Although all of the channels that I recommend below are narrated in English, their creators come from a variety of countries, including a few non-English speaking ones.

I do not know why I have not been able to find an equally international mix of great book review podcasts. Does the Apple podcast app (which is the podcast app that I use) simply not show me as many non-American bookish content creators when I am searching within the app from the US? Or do oral bookish content creators outside of the US often simply prefer to upload their content as videos to YouTube rather than as podcasts to podcast apps? And why does it seem like there is a disproportionate number of great, British, bookish content creators on BookTube compared to the size of the UK’s population? Does it have something to do with the UK’s rich literary history and culture? Or does the literary community in the UK just happen to be more YouTube-oriented than average? I am not complaining about the great British BookTube content at all. I love it! I do wish, however, that I could have found even more English language BookTube channels that worked well for me from some other parts of the world.

There are lots of non-English language BookTube channels too, of course. And they are fairly easy to find. And YouTube’s “auto-translate” feature can make them accessible to most watchers regardless of the language in which they are narrated. I did not end up recommending any such channels in this post, however, because 1) the books that non-English speaking BookTubers recommend are not always available in translation and are not always easy to acquire in English-speaking countries, and alternatively 2) when non-English speaking BookTubers simply recommend the same international bestsellers that English speaking BookTubers are also recommending, it can feel like an unnecessary hassle to have to read (imperfect) auto-generated subtitles to get the same types of recommendations.

I think that if you understand languages other than English well or want to practice your foreign language skills, non-English language BookTube channels can be enjoyable to seek out.

Finally, another reason to watch BookTube videos is if you happen to be interested in topics for which there are particularly vibrant literary communities on BookTube. So far, I have not yet encountered an online bookish content creator community elsewhere that is as vibrant when it comes to the fantasy genre. And if you are a literary fiction lover who is interested in Booker Prize longlisted books, as well as books recognized by other literary prizes, you are likely to particularly enjoy the vibrant community that you can find on BookTube.

What is not so great about BookTube?

The most annoying thing about BookTube for me as a viewer is the advertising that is hard to escape on YouTube generally. Unless you are hovering nearby, ready to press the “skip” ad button every time an ad pops up, you can get stuck listening to a lot of annoying ads. I find the advertising in bookish podcasts tends to feel much less intrusive. I like leaving oral bookish content running in the background while my hands are busy with other things, so BookTube ads are a frequent source of frustration for me.

Although I do greatly appreciate it when BookTubers put images of the books they are discussing on screen, or hold up copies of books while they talk about them (most BookTubers do one or the other, or a combination of both); as it makes fast forwarding to books of interest and registering book names easier; I wish more BookTubers would also write the names of all of the books they discuss in the description boxes for their videos. Most bookish podcasters that I listen to do, and many BookTubers that I watch do not. It is frustrating to have to watch the screen constantly or have to return later and go through videos again, just to get precise title information about interesting-sounding books.

Another frustrating aspect of being a BookTube watcher is the remarkably high rate of churn in channels. As soon as you find a channel that you love and enjoy watching regularly, do not be surprised if its creator suddenly quits, even if it is a popular channel with tens of thousands of subscribers.

Creating BookTube videos can be very time consuming, as can doing the reading for them. And many BookTubers try to post videos one or more times a week. Some BookTubers are frustrated that they are not gaining the number of subscribers or amount of income they had wanted. Plus, many are spending money on books and equipment. And others just have too many demands on their time and too many other interests to keep up. And BookTubers are often on the receiving end of nasty comments. It does not take long for lots of BookTubers to burn out. And before the burn out is complete, some poorly planned, filler-type content made by stressed out, unhappy BookTubers may end up in your YouTube subscription stream.

There are a lot of (easy to find) videos on YouTube about why BookTubers are quitting or why BookTubers are unhappy with YouTube. You may find it interesting to do a little searching on YouTube and watch some of those videos yourself. On the other hand, you can also find videos in which BookTubers explain why they love BookTube—how it has helped them find the bookish community that they were seeking, read more consciously and diversely, and develop more self-confidence. One BookTuber that I watched argued that most BookTubers’ angst is self-induced, as it is possible to make videos fairly quickly, get books for free from the library, post less frequently, and treat BookTube like an enjoyable hobby.

From the perspective of a BookTube watcher, I hope that more BookTubers will find a pace of reading and content creation that is healthy, pleasurable, and sustainable for them; so that they are more likely to stick around longer and have fun in the process.

Podcasts as an alternative

In case, after reading all of the above, you decide that you are more interested in listening to book review podcasts than watching BookTube videos, you may enjoy checking out out my first Substack post in which I recommended some of my favorite book review podcasts. I am continuing to enjoy all of the podcasts that I recommended in that post that are still active. Only one, the Reading Through Life podcast, is no longer uploading new episodes. However fortunately, you can still find its creators

Mia Sutton

and

Sarah Hartley

here on Substack where they now write the

Reading Through Life

newsletter.

Since I wrote that earlier post, I have been greatly enjoying a number of additional bookish podcasts as well, including The Book Case (which is well hosted by former news anchor Charlie Gibson and his daughter Kate) and From the Front Porch (which is charmingly hosted by an independent bookseller from Georgia). And including a few podcasts whose podcasters’ writings you can also follow here on Substack:

Strong Sense of Place

(which enjoyably recommends travel-inspiring books that convey a strong sense of place),

The Novel Tea Newsletter

(which provides thoughtful analysis of thoughtful books), and

Shelf Love: romance novel discourse

(which shares interesting, intellectual discussions about the romance genre).

How to find BookTube channels

If you decide that you do want to become a BookTube watcher, you may want to learn how to keep finding new channels yourself as BookTube channels often come and go at a rapid pace.

Here are some of the ways:

• Read BookTube channel recommendation posts like this one.

• Search for BookTube channel recommendation videos on YouTube.

• Search for BookTube channel recommendations on Reddit.

• On YouTube, search for some of your favorite books, authors, tropes, or genres and see who is talking about them. Adding words into your search like “books, “review,” “recommendations,” or “BookTube” can help.

• Keep an eye out for which channels the BookTubers that you like watch themselves (BookTubers often mention other BookTubers in their videos).

• Look for your favorite publishers, bookish organizations, or book prizes on YouTube if you want to watch their promotional videos.

• Search on YouTube for popular BookTube tags. For example, many BookTubers post a video halfway through the year that includes the words “Mid Year Book Freakout Tag” in the title. In these videos, BookTubers answer a short list of bookish questions about their first half of the year’s reading. The videos are a wonderful way briefly to sample and compare BookTube channels. After you are subscribed to a handful of BookTube channels, you will start running across more BookTube tags, and when you find tags that you enjoy, you can search for other videos that have similar tag words in their titles.

• You can also search for videos in YouTube with hashtags like #BookTube.

• And you can search on YouTube for “book haul,” “book mail,” or “book unboxing” to find videos of BookTubers showing off their latest physical book acquisitions.

How to subscribe to BookTube channels on YouTube

If you do want to subscribe to BookTube channels on YouTube, it is easy to do if you have a gmail account. Once you are signed into a YouTube app or the YouTube website with a gmail account and have found a bookish channel that you want to follow, just click the “subscribe” button for that channel. After that, you can find the latest videos from all of the channels that you are subscribed to by clicking the “subscriptions” button at the bottom of the screen.

I check my YouTube subscription feed regularly and when I see a video that looks interesting to me, I click the three little dots on the right side of the video description and then click on the “Save to Watch later” button. After I have skimmed through the videos in my feed and picked out which ones I want to save for later, I click the “You” button at the bottom of the screen to find my “Watch later” playlist. And after I have watched a video, I delete it from that playlist.

What I look for in BookTube Channels

Besides looking for BookTubers who at least have tidy backgrounds, good lighting, and are easy to hear; I care most about what they say and how they say it.

The BookTubers that I most enjoy watching are often the ones who exude the most love for, and joy about, reading. I also enjoy watching BookTubers who discuss the books they recommend thoughtfully and/or entertainingly, and clearly explain why they enjoyed or did not enjoy the books that they discuss (so that I am more likely to be able to figure out if those books might work well for me). Although ideally it would be great only to get book recommendations that would work perfectly for me, I often find that is helpful to receive information that will help me decide which books I do not want to read.

I have found that I get more pleasure from watching someone joyfully and thoughtfully discuss books that I have no interest in reading, than watching someone who looks stressed out and does not have much insightful or entertaining to say, recommend books that I am likely to love.

The BookTube channels that I tend to watch most frequently, however, are the ones that recommend books that are most closely aligned with my reading tastes and present the recommendations in a manner that I enjoy.

I also like finding book recommenders who have extensive knowledge about their favorite genres (including genres that I do not read very often), and then learning from them which books in their preferred genres they think are best. For example, I would rather learn about the favorite fantasy books of hard-core fantasy aficionados, than find out what fantasy book won the Goodreads Readers Choice Award (which is decided on, in part, by a lot of readers who rarely read fantasy). So, some of the BookTubers that I recommend below are specialists in genres that I rarely read, but I appreciate their expertise in recommending the best of the best from within their own genres.

Although I do not watch all of the videos posted by any of the BookTubers recommended in this post, I am at least curious about the very favorite books of all of them. So, I at least occasionally watch videos posted by each of them. As everyone’s reading tastes differ, it is possible that some of the channels I recommend that I only watch occasionally, are channels that you may enjoy watching frequently.

Sampling videos

Even if you do not want to subscribe to BookTube channels or follow BookTubers elsewhere on social media, you can still enjoy the interesting sample videos from BookTubers that I include or link to below. I picked sample videos that will help you get a sense of the reading tastes and commentary styles found on the channels, as well as immediately provide you with lots of helpful book recommendations. So, be prepared to significantly enlarge your To Be Read (TBR) list just from going through this post.

If you have not already read my earlier post that contains tips for how to use the Libby app to manage your TBR list, this may be a good time to do so.

Unfortunately, I was not able to embed a sample video for each recommended BookTube channel below. The Substack platform started malfunctioning a bit when I tried. But I did at least include a link to one or more interesting sample videos on YouTube for almost all of the recommended channels.

I attempted to organize the recommended channels by their main or most notable genres to make the post easier for you to skim through. However, it was not easy to do so, as many book lovers read books from multiple genres. So, do not be surprised to find a link to a nonfiction book recommendation video in the fantasy section, a link to an Australian literary fiction recommendation video in the children’s book section, and a link to a literary fiction channel in the romance section.

When you see links below on book titles, those links will take you to Goodreads pages for those books, where you can see book cover images and find book summaries and reviews. However, in the webtoon section, the links on webtoon titles take you to promotional videos for those webtoons that are on YouTube. And links on BookTube channel names take you to those channels on YouTube.

Enjoy your sampling!

Cozy book BookTube channels

Ahya’s Cottage

On her channel Ahya’s Cottage, Ahya (a British children’s book illustrator), posts delightful, cozy book recommendation videos that are charming visual experiences. Ahya also sometimes films herself shopping in lovely, independent, little, British bookshops. You can find Ahya on Instagram too.

amomentofwonder

Nessa presents the cozy books that she recommends in a cottagecore-like, cozy setting on her amomentofwonder channel. She bakes treats, pours tea, and generally provides a warm, inviting experience. On YouTube, you can sample videos from her channel like: “9 cozy fantasy books,” “9 historical Romance books,” “9 enchanting Witchy Books,” and “9 Marvelous Fairytale Retellings.” Not all of the videos that she posts are book related, but they do all seem to be fairly cozy. Although Nessa does not list her home country on her YouTube profile, I think that she may be based in Germany. You can also find Nessa on Instagram.

Multi-genre BookTube channels

lexi aka supernova

Lexi describes her lexi aka supernova BookTube channel as being about “silly goofy books for silly goofy people.” And she describes her reading style as “chaotic.” Her’s is a BookTube channel that I greatly enjoy watching primarily because she provides intelligent, humorous, bookish entertainment for her viewers. You can get a sense of the type of enjoyably clever commentary that she provides and the very wide range of types of books that she recommends from the sample video below. In some of her other videos, she humorously and insightfully reviews and dissects popular books like Fourth Wing. You can sample her Fourth Wing review video here. You can also find Lexi on Goodreads, TikTok, and Instagram.

Olivia’s Catastrophe

British BookTuber Olivia provides thoughtful, interesting recommendations on her Olivia’s Catastrophe channel in the genres of literary fiction, poetry, nonfiction, fantasy, romance, YA, horror, and picture books. She also sometimes specifically recommends books by black authors. Her video “Discussing Disabled Representation in Books ft The Wheelchair Queen” is lovely. You can find Olivia on Goodreads, Instagram, and TikTok too.

Gloria Z Thompson

Gloria Z Thompson recommends books from a variety of genres (including historical fiction, alternate history, historical thrillers/mysteries, contemporary fiction, classics, picture books, graphic novels, and nonfiction). I find her reporting about books that she dislikes to be particularly helpful because I share some of her literary dislikes and I would rather not waste my time trying books that are unlikely to work well for me. You can also find Gloria on Goodreads, Storygraph and Instagram.

Jean’s Thoughts

On her BookTube channel Jean’s Thoughts; Edinburgh-based, ancient historian and author Jean Menzies recommends a very wide variety of types of books (including dragon fantasies, autobiographies, ancient history, thrillers, historical fiction, YA, and romance). To learn about her bookish tastes, a good video to start with is “My Top 10 Favourite Novels of All Time.” She makes a lot of “top ten” videos, an organized format that I find helpful and appreciate. You can also find Jean on Goodreads, Instagram, and TikTok.

Book Break by Pan Macmillan

On the UK publisher’s Book Break by Pan Macmillan BookTube channel, you can find lots of helpful microgenre recommendation videos, each focused on a different topic. A fun one to start with is “Funny Books That Will Literally Make You LOL | #BookBreak.” You can also follow Book Break on Instagram.

A BookTube channel about classics

Spinster’s Library

On the channel Spinster’s Library, German BookTuber Claudia provides thoughtful recommendations of, and entertaining commentary about, classic works of literature. As I am a Pride and Prejudice lover who is also interested in visual art, her video “What in the Name of Colin Firth… | Rating Trashy Pride and Prejudice Book Covers” is like catnip for me. You can also follow Claudia on Goodreads and Instagram.

Literary fiction BookTube channels

Ben Reads Good

I LOVE that British BookTuber Ben does his homework before posting videos on his Ben Reads Good channel. For example, he reads all of the books on the Booker Prize longlist before telling you his predictions for the Booker Prize shortlist. You can watch for yourself in his video “I ranked the Booker Prize longlist from worst to best (and predicted the shortlist).” He cleverly organizes his thoughtful content before he makes it. In his end of the year summary videos, he reviews every book he read over the course of the previous year with the same number of words as the number of stars he gave the books. 😘👌 It is extremely hard to be both insightful and concise at the same time. The videos on his channel are clever, intellectual, entertaining treats about interesting, layered, literary works. And the anglophile in me finds the colloquial, very British way Ben ends each video to be charming. His BookTube video sign offs are my favorites. If I were a professor who graded BookTube channels, I would give his an A+. You can also find Ben on Instagram.

Ink and Paper Blog

On his BookTube Channel Ink and Paper Blog, Russell enthusiastically and thoughtfully recommends interesting literary fiction. He also posts some videos focused on LGBTQ literary fiction and other literary fiction microgenres. It is thanks to Russell that I learned about the phenomenal, brilliantly plotted, short, epistolary book Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor (which I recommended in my post about epistolary books). You can also find Russell on Instagram.

Gem of Books

On the British Gem of Books BookTube channel, you can find literary prize reaction videos as well as book critiques that may help you decide which works of literary fiction not to try. I tend to find her negative critiques of books to be the most amusing parts of her videos. To get a sense of what I mean, check out her video “The Absolute Worst Books I Read in 2023.” Although I do not always share her opinions, I do tend to find her negative reviews to be enjoyable. Thoughtful works of speculative fiction, graphic novels, YA, and children’s books are also recommended on this channel. I appreciate how Gem of Books reacts to picture book awards in a similarly thoughtful manner to how she reacts to literary fiction book awards. You can also find Gem of Books on Instagram and StoryGraph. And she is part of a book club Discord server with some other BookTubers, including one of the other BookTubers mentioned further below.

More literary fiction BookTube channels

There is a particularly vibrant literary-fiction-loving community on BookTube. It was hard for me to narrow my recommendations down to the above, as I am now (thanks in large part to the sampling I did for this post), subscribed to many more literary fiction channels than I thought reasonable to review here at length. I do, however, at least want to mention that if you are interested in literary-prize-longlisted-type literary fiction, you may also want to check out the BookTube channels Supposedly Fun, RoRo Reads, and Brett’s Book Stack. The last of these three was recently recommended to me by Renee, from the Substack

ItsBookTalk & More

, and it is thanks to a great recommendation from its host Brett that I recently had fun reading Get the Picture by Bianca Bosker (an amusing and thought-provoking nonfiction book about the contemporary art world in NYC). And if you want to find even more literary fiction BookTube channels, try searching on YouTube for “Booker Prize,” “National Book Award,” or any other literary prize that interests you.

Science fiction and fantasy BookTube channels

Hardy’s Books

Laura and Ross are a pleasure to watch on their Hardy’s Books BookTube channel. Their banter is entertaining, their science fiction and fantasy recommendations are interesting, their analysis is helpful, their passionate bookish rants are amusing, their book-filled setting is cozy, and their lovely British accents in concert with their noisy cat add an extra touch of je ne sais quoi that works for me. Although I usually skip “bookshelf tour” videos on BookTube, I watched theirs and was amazed by the large number of signed, hardcover, first editions of outstanding works of science fiction and fantasy that they own. You can also find them on Instagram and TikTok.

TheShadesofOrange - BookTube

Canadian BookTuber Rachel (on her TheShadesofOrange - BookTube channel); recommends science fiction, fantasy, thrillers, true crime, and horror. I really appreciate how she usually keeps non-bookish chitchat to a minimum and gets right to substantive topics. I also appreciate how she clearly thinks through and organizes her topics before she starts filming. She often makes microgenre and top ten lists, making it easy for you to skip videos that are unlikely to interest you (I skip her horror and true crime videos since those are genres that tend not to work well for me). She also reads a lot of books, making her videos quite informative. And she helpfully explains what she likes and does not like about the books that she reads, making it easier for you to decide which of the books that she discusses might be a good fit for you. Plus, she helpfully lists the titles of the books that she discusses in the description sections for her videos. You can also find Rachel on Goodreads and Instagram.

Library of a Viking

Jóhan, the UK-based, Faroese host of Library of a Viking mostly recommends epic fantasy. Although I have not been reading a lot of epic fantasy series recently, I do sometimes love reading them. And I appreciate Jóhan‘s love for Robin Hobb’s absolutely wonderful fantasy writing. Library of a Viking videos are well edited and entertaining. And I think the channel’s video “Famous Authors Convince Me To Read Their Favourite Books” demonstrates an excellent use of BookTube for providing dynamic, bookish reporting. You can also follow Jóhan on Goodreads and Instagram.

Petrik Leo

Petrik Leo also mostly recommends epic fantasy on his Indonesia-based BookTube channel. As you can tell from watching the below video, he has read extensively in the genre. He recommends science fiction, historical fiction, and other types of fantasy too. I appreciate that The Will of the Many was Petrik’s favorite fantasy book of 2023. I did not read it until 2024 myself, but it definitely would have been on my list of best books of 2023 if I had started following Petrik earlier than I did. You can also find Petrik on Goodreads and Instagram.

Books with Benghis Kahn

I really enjoy Ben’s joyful enthusiasm for the books that he recommends on his Books with Benghis Kahn channel. I happen to have already read (and similarly love) many of the science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction books that I have heard him speak about passionately in his recent videos. For example, recently he has been reading and loving the Vorkosigan Saga, which anyone who has read my post about the series knows that I love too. Ben also recommends self-published fantasy authors. And he recommends audiobook narrators. You can find Ben on Goodreads as well.

Kalanadi

Unfortunately, Rachel’s Kalanadi channel is on an indefinite hiatus (like many other BookTubers, Rachel got burnt out), but it is well worth your time to explore the old videos on the channel. Rachel provides interesting, thoughtfully presented, SFF recommendations (which tend to lean towards the science fiction side of the speculative spectrum). As an example, I enjoyed her old video “Linguistics in SFF Recommendations.” Rachel frequently discusses feminist and queer SFF. The Kalanadi BookTube channel was a Hugo Awards finalist for Best Fancast in 2021. Regardless of whether Rachel becomes more active again on BookTube, you can still enjoy her old videos and follow her on Goodreads and Instagram.

bookswithzara

On her British BookTube channel bookswithzara, Zara usually recommends fairly serious, and at least somewhat dark, fantasy and science fiction books. She does sometimes delve into other genres too. Interesting fantasy videos of her’s to sample include: “Political fantasy recommendations,” “Middle eastern fantasy book recommendations,” and “Fantasy books and series with adult characters.” You can glean an even deeper understanding of the impressive, serious intellect that Zara brings to her fantasy book recommendations by also watching her video “Non-fiction books everyone should read.” That video provides interesting science and social science nonfiction book recommendations. If you are sensitive about hearing your favorite, beloved books criticized; you should be aware that Zara sometimes takes strong, critical stances on books that she does not like. On the other hand, if you either share her opinions or enjoy hearing tough critiques of books, you may enjoy buckling up and trying her videos like “First rant of 2023: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is the worst book I have ever read.” You can also find Zara on Goodreads and Instagram.

More SFF BookTube channels

I greatly appreciate that BookTube is particularly rich in fantasy channels. Like with the literary fiction category, I am now subscribed to many more fantasy BookTube channels than seemed reasonable to review at length here. If you too enjoy the fantasy genre, you may enjoy taking a deeper dive into the fantasy BookTube community on your own. A good place to start is on Petrik Leo’s channel. He has a number of old videos recommending other speculative BookTube channels.

An audiobook BookTube channel

AudioFile Magazine on YouTube

If you love audiobooks and want to see what some of your favorite audiobook narrators (like Simon Vance and John Lee) look like, you can subscribe to AudioFile Magazine on YouTube. I adore the audiobook narration for Martha Wells’s fantastic science fiction Murderbot Diaries series, and it is fun (in the below sample video) to watch the narrator for the series describe the challenge of narrating from the perspective of a genderless robot. You can also follow AudioFile Magazine on Instagram.

A romantasy BookTube channel

ravenhairedreader

If you read romantasy or would like to try reading romantasy, you may enjoy Rachel’s ravenhairedreader channel. You can get a sense of Rachel’s taste in books from her video “fantasy romance book recommendations 📚my all time favorite fantasy romances.” Although my attempts to read recent, popular, romantasy books have generally not gone well for me (I am in the minority that does not like Fourth Wing), I am curious about the genre. So, I appreciate Rachel’s depth of knowledge about romantasy as well as her joyful enthusiasm for it. You can find her on Goodreads and Instagram too.

Contemporary romance/rom com BookTube channels

Bookables

Contemporary romances/rom coms are often featured on Heather’s channel Bookables. Abby Jimenez’s Just for the Summer and Emily Henry’s Funny Story are my two favorite rom coms that were published this year that I have read so far, and I appreciate that they are among Heather’s favorites so far from this year as well. Thrillers/horror stories are also often featured in Heather’s videos, and YA and fantasy recommendations are sometimes included too. I like that Heather’s content is well organized. Many of her videos focus on microgenre/trope recommendations or are top five or top ten lists (which are all kinds of BookTube video formats that I tend to find helpful). Heather has been on BookTube for a number of years and her experience shows. Her videos are both substantive and entertaining to watch. You can also find her on Goodreads, Instagram, TikTok, and Tumblr.

Georgia MaREADS

One of the things that I discovered about myself while sampling BookTube channels is that I enjoy watching humorously clever, insightfully critical reviews of books. And I find British, lesbian BookTuber Georgia Marie’s critical, feminist reviews of popular, straight, contemporary romance novels on her Georgia MaREADS BookTube channel to be both intellectually interesting and very entertaining. You can watch some of her critical commentary in the sample video below, and/or try her video “a lesbian reads straight romance and is now traumatised.” She also recommends contemporary sapphic romances, queer fiction in general, mysteries, and thrillers on her channel. To get a sense of the types of queer books that she discusses on her channel, you can watch her video “ranking every queer book I have ever read.” And to get a sense of the kinds of contemporary sapphic romances that she recommends, you can watch her video “tier ranking every sapphic book I read in 2023.” I appreciate that The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid and Not My Problem by Ciera Smyth are among her favorite works of sapphic fiction, as they are also among mine. And like her, I love the male male YA literary story Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sàenz. You can find Georgia Marie on Goodreads, StoryGraph, Instagram, and TikTok too.

More romance BookTube channels

A number of the BookTubers that I mention in other parts of this post sometimes recommend romances (of various sorts) too. And as you might expect, there are many more romance channels on BookTube that focus on a variety of other kinds of romance than the kinds that I have mentioned in this post so far. So, you may have fun exploring who on BookTube is talking about your favorite romance authors and books, whoever and whatever they may be. Since I was not able to find a male male contemporary romance BookTube channel that I felt inspired to recommend, despite having looked for one while preparing this post, I thought I would mention here that one of the literary fiction channels that I included above sometimes recommends contemporary male male romances too. Greg sometimes mixes in a recommendation for a charming male male contemporary romance that he has been reading recently into his literary fiction recommendation videos on his Supposedly Fun channel. And his husband, who reads even more male male contemporary romances than Greg does, sometimes joins Greg on that channel and reports on his recent reads.

Manga, webtoon/manhwa, and graphic novel BookTube channels

I started reading Japanese manga and Korean webtoons after I discovered Asian dramas on streaming services during the height of the pandemic, and then realized that many of the Korean and Japanese dramas that I most enjoyed were based on illustrated Asian works.

I have found that reading manga elevates my enjoyment of watching Japanese dramas, and that watching Japanese dramas elevates my enjoyment of reading manga in return. You often can almost envision the manga panels by the way actors express themselves and by the way that scenes are shot in many Japanese dramas. The manga BookTube channels listed below at least sometimes recommend the kinds of contemplative, relationship, and mystery manga that might be made into the kinds of Japanese dramas that I enjoy watching.

tsukki notes

On the tsukki notes BookTube channel, you can find recommendations for a fairly wide variety of types of manga, including sports manga, fantasy manga (isekai), romance manga, and LGBTQ manga. You can also find tsukki notes on Goodreads, Instagram, and MyAnimeList.

Laura Neuzeth

Laura Neuzeth recommends romance manga, including shoujo (written for young women), josei (written for women), BL (boy love/male male), and GL (girl love/female female). You can also find Laura on Instagram and TikTok.

mangatama

The mangatama channel provides lots of manga recommendations and manga collecting tips. Although the narration is in English, some of the manga discussed in the videos are Japanese editions that do not yet have easily accessible English language translations. I particularly enjoyed a video from the channel about a visit to a vintage manga bookstore in Japan. You can also follow mangatama on Instagram or join the mangatama Discord server.

More manga BookTube channels

If you want to find even more manga BookTube channels, search for “manga unboxing” or “manga haul” on YouTube to find videos of BookTubers showing off the most recent additions to their (often huge) physical manga collections. This may be especially helpful if you are looking for recommendations in manga genres that the channels that I recommend above do not cover at all or often.

Webtoon apps

The manhwa (Korean graphic novel) industry has been heavily influenced by the Japanese manga industry. However, these days Korean publishers are out-innovating Japanese ones by publishing their illustrated content in a scrollable, full-color format that easily can be read on webtoon apps by readers around the world. It is somewhat hard to go back to reading old-school, black-and-white, flip-through graphic novels and manga after getting used to the ease of reading webtoons on apps. Although Korean content is often featured on such apps, you can now find a lot of illustrated stories on them that are being made by very talented creators from many parts of the world. Both the Webtoon and Tapas apps allow graphic storytellers to upload their own works in community sections of the apps, making them kind of like the YouTubes of graphic novels and comics. Webtoon apps also publish light novels, one episode/chapter at a time. So, if you are looking for captivating, international, literary content (whether illustrated or not); webtoon apps are an easy (and sometimes no charge) way to find it. Unfortunately, I have not yet found an active BookTube channel that I love watching that is focused on independently recommending the kinds of webtoons that I most enjoy reading. However, if you are interested in webtoons, you can subscribe to webtoon apps’ channels on YouTube, like the ones for: Webtoon, Tapas Media, Tappytoon Comics, and Manta Comics. The promotional videos on these channels tend to be for popular fantasy romances (like the one for the gorgeously illustrated story The Remarried Empress), contemporary romances/rom coms, contemporary fantasy romances (like the animated one for the not animated—but captivating and much better than its drama adaptation—webtoon See You in My 19th Life that is shown below), BL (Boy Love/male male) romances, urban fantasy/action stories (like the one for the fun, cat-filled story Eleceed), LitRPG SFF stories, and epic fantasy stories (like the one for enjoyable story The Beginning After the End). You can also follow Webtoon on Instagram or TikTok, or join its Discord server. And you can follow Tappytoon on TikTok, Tapas on Instagram, and Manta on Instagram (or join Manta’s Discord server).

Graphic Policy

The Graphic Policy channel is my favorite source of general graphic novel reviews that I have found so far on BookTube. Most videos on this channel contain a brief review of a single graphic novel. The reviewed graphic novels include works written for children and ones written for adults, as well as works written in English first and works that have been translated into English. In the below sample video, a manhwa is reviewed. I have not read the story reviewed below yet myself, but I really appreciate how heart-felt the review is. You can also follow Graphic Policy on TikTok or Tumblr, among many other social media options.

Mystery, thriller, and horror BookTube channels

ashley’s little library

Ashley (on her channel ashley’s little library) recommends thrillers, mysteries, and horror stories. She sometimes dips into other genres too. If you watch her video “Tier-ranking all 45 mystery/thriller books I read in 2023!” you can learn a lot about her taste in mysteries and thrillers. You can also find Ashley on Goodreads, Instagram, and TikTok.

bookslikewhoa

Mara, whose channel is bookslikewhoa, is a multi-genre BookTuber who reads a lot of mysteries and insightfully discusses them. You can learn about Mara’s overall taste in books (which includes literary fiction, fantasy, science fiction, romance, YA, middle grade, and nonfiction) in her video “The Best 100 Books I’ve Ever Read.” And you can learn a little about her taste in mysteries in her video “An Overview of Japanese Mystery Novels | Reading Experiment.” Mara has my favorite opening of any BookTuber that I have watched yet. At the beginning of most of her videos, she glances at the camera as if surprised to see it, and then says “Oh, hello.” She also helpfully lists the titles of the books that she discusses in her video descriptions. You can find Mara on Goodreads and Instagram too. And she has a Discord server.

TheShadesofOrange - BookTube

TheShadesofOrange - BookTube channel, which is mentioned above in the science fiction and fantasy section, recommends thrillers and horror too. You can get a sense of Rachel’s taste in thrillers in her video “My Top 15 Thrillers of All Time (or 2023).”

Bookables

The Bookables channel, which is mentioned above in the contemporary romances/rom coms section, frequently focuses on thrillers and horror stories too. To learn about Heather’s taste in thrillers/horror, you can try out the Bookables video “TOP 5 & WORST 5 THRILLERS OF 2023!”

Cozy mystery BookTube channels

Courtagonist

Courtny knows a lot about cozy mysteries, and she enthusiastically recommends them on her Courtagonist BookTube channel. In her video “From Tea to Murder Ranking 100 Cozy Mystery Novels,” you can watch her rank her favorites. You can also find Courtny on Goodreads and Instagram.

Intentionally Bookish

If you are interested in cozy mysteries, you may also enjoy finding out what Spencer has to say about them on her Intentionally Bookish BookTube channel. She makes a lot of cozy mystery microgenre recommendation videos. You may have fun trying her video about baking-competition-themed cozy mysteries or her video about cottagecore cozy mysteries. You can find Spencer on Goodreads and Instagram too. Plus, Spencer and Courtny (from the Courtagonist) make a cozy mystery podcast together, Curl Up & Clue In.

Nonfiction BookTube channels

abookolive

On the abookolive channel, Olive thoughtfully recommends layered nonfiction, often autobiographies and works about nature. She also recommends some literary fiction, contemporary fiction, and genre fiction. Helpful sample videos of her’s to try include “What even is my reading taste” and “2024 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction Longlist | Exploring & Reacting.” You can also find Olive on Goodreads, StoryGraph, Instagram, and TikTok.

My Reading Life

On the My Reading Life channel, you can find lots of thoughtful nonfiction book recommendations from Heidi, a BookTuber who lives in Maine. She is interested in science, nature, social issues, and biographies/autobiographies, among other things. She also recommends books in other genres. You can learn about her taste in nonfiction in her video “My Top 50 Non-Fiction.” However, as that video is a few years old, you may also want to try her video “Best NonFiction 2023.” You can find Heidi on Goodreads too.

Children’s books BookTube channels

Colby Sharp

Fifth grade teacher Colby Sharp enthusiastically reviews children’s books. He is sent lots of review copies (ranging from picture books to YA) by publishers and authors, so you can learn about new children’s book releases by watching his “book mail” unboxing episodes. In the below video, you can watch him recommend a fantastic picture book that I also discussed in my post recommending illustrated books about the experiences of individuals of Japanese descent during World War II. You can also follow him and watch his videos on Substack at sharpread | Colby Sharp. And you can find him on Goodreads and Instagram.

Spread Book Joy

On her BookTube channel Spread Book Joy, Jacqueline (aka Jack), a British primary school teacher, shares children’s book recommendations. In the below sample video, she recommends one of my favorite picture books that was published in 2023, The Skull by Jon Klassen. And if you want to get to know Jack as a BookTuber, you may enjoy watching her lovely video about how her BookTube videos have evolved, and how she feels that being a BookTuber has changed her for the better. You can also find Jack on Instagram and Pinterest. Jack has a book club Discord server, with which Gem of Books is involved.

Katey One More Time

For a very thoughtful, Australian bookseller’s take on middle grade fiction, I enjoy watching videos from the Katey One More Time channel. Katey discusses non-children’s genres at times too, including Australian literature and literature about neurodivergence. If you are not interested in reading children’s books but would appreciate some Australian literature recommendations, try her video “Top 10 Australian Fiction Book Recommendations!” You can also find Katey on Goodreads.

What are your recommendations?

Every time I search on YouTube for BookTube channels I find lots that I had never heard of before, so I know that there must be tons of great ones out there that I have not encountered yet. Do you know of any additional BookTube channels that you would recommend? If so, you are welcome to recommend them in the comment section below.

Enjoy your watching and reading!