A Beginner’s Guide to BookTube
BookTube may sound like a root vegetable, but it’s actually an incredibly vibrant community of people who vlog (that’s video blog for those of you who are unfamiliar with the lingo) about books on YouTube. There’s something for everyone on BookTube, from hilarious reviews of 50 Shades of Grey…
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRH8fc3hyxk[/youtube]…to stop-motion videos of books getting their groove on…
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKVcQnyEIT8[/youtube]…and animated shorts, like this one about a girl who hates to read and has to tackle the biggest, baddest TBR stack ever.
There are tons of amazing BookTube channels out there. John Green and his brother, Hank, make up the VlogBrothers, the hit channel that spawned the mega-fandom/bastion of awesomeness that is Nerdfighteria. The show isn’t strictly about books, but the Green brothers are involved in other bookish YouTube projects as well. John teaches literature on CrashCourse and Hank is heavily involved with Pemberley Digital, the company that produced The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Welcome to Sanditon, and Emma Approved–all modern-day episodic adaptations of Jane Austen novels.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgDwaJ0WCVE[/youtube]The creativity in the booktubesphere (that is definitely a real word) never ceases to amaze me. Take, for example, CSLewisDoodle, a channel that features live action illustrations of C.S. Lewis essays.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3MWVMKKY3A[/youtube]Then there’s Thug Notes, a channel that summarizes and analyzes classic books in the language of the gangsters. For those that don’t speak gangsta, it gives a whole new perspective on literature. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights referred to as an emo landlord before. It’s the shizzle nizzle, yo. (You’re right, I have no idea what that means, but it sounds hardcore.)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oU0PtX85DY[/youtube]There are also a huge number of “traditional” BookTubers–people who do pretty much the exact same thing as the rest of us book bloggers, but in video format. Here are a few of my favorites:
The Readables covers everything from YA to classic literature. Thanks to good lighting, editing, and amazing graphic artistry, this channel is one of the most visually stunning on BookTube.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8xgBlafsqU[/youtube]Elizziebooks is a cornerstone of BookTube. She has her finger on the pulse of the book vlogging community and does a weekly BookTube News feature.
Little Book Owl is Australian, has pink hair, and loves to read. Nuff said.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab2BWdNZ3Sw&index=5[/youtube]booksandquills has an MA in English Literature and vlogs about everything from YA to sci-fi to the classics.
Other terrific BookTube channels you should definitely check out include: ArielBissett, Benjaminoftomes, Bookables, BookRatMisty, CassJayTuck, Chapter Chicks, GingerBookNerd, jessethereader, Katytastic, padfootandprongs07, PeruseProject, polandbananasBOOKS, priceiswong, rincey reads, and TheEighthPotter.
There are thousands of other amazing bookish YouTube channels out there. What are some of your favorites?
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Did you know that Book Riot has a YouTube channel? We do. It’s new and we are having fun with it. Check it out here.
