Riot Headline The Best Books of 2024
Newsletter 1

BookTube: More Than YA

Rincey Abraham

Contributor

Rincey is a writer and editor who always has a reaction gif ready to go. Rincey spends her free time reading (obviously), and wandering the streets of Chicago in search of good food and possibly not as good music. (She does have an affinity for pop music. Don't hold that against her.) She is also often busy taking notes on how to be more like Leslie Knope. YouTube: Rincey Reads Twitter: @rinceya

One of the main comments (and sometimes criticisms) I hear about the BookTube community is that it is basically just teenagers talking about YA books. And yes, there are a lot of teenagers on BookTube. And yes, a lot of people do talk about YA books. However, the BookTube community is very, very large and filled with more than that. So if YA books just aren’t your thing, here are a list of BookTubers who discuss other genres.

Didi from Frenchidee
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC2eWKLfdS8[/youtube]

Didi is basically the kind of reader I want to be when I grow up. She reads all across the board and does not discriminate very much when it comes to genres. She also has really great, strong opinions and she also has come to even know my own tastes, so I take her recommendations quite seriously.

Jean from Bookishthoughts
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RqGtijDVQI[/youtube]

If classical Greek and Roman literature is your preference, Jean is the BookTuber for you. She is currently studying the classics and provides a really great introduction to these books if you don’t know much about them. Plus she reminds a lot of people of Karen Gillan.

Veronica from Ron Lit
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKESjJNvxVQ[/youtube]

Not only is Veronica crazy insightful about classic books, but she is probably the funniest BookTuber I follow. She is also studying literature and absolutely loves Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, and lots of other great classics. She also loves comics. She is just fabulous.

Elizabeth from booksandpieces
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRkaUHTivZ0[/youtube]

Elizabeth might just hold the record for the fastest talking Booktuber I’ve come across, but she has also been a really great resource for finding out more about SFF books since that is something I do not know a lot about personally.

Nicole from Nicole’s Adventures in Science Fiction
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GI04oQjdCI[/youtube]

Nicole reads a lot of science fiction (clearly) but she also reads a lot of fantasy and a good amount of comics/graphic novels. She is just starting to dive into more literary and contemporary fiction, which has been really interesting to watch and provides good variety to her videos.

Jessie Quinn from Cupofbooks
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKuaWBmSoiA[/youtube]

Speaking of comics/graphic novels, Jessie Quinn is my go-to BookTuber when I want to find out about the latest comics, specifically of the superhero kind. She also has made it a point to read more books with POC/LGBTQ authors and characters.

Chris from The Reading Rhodes
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21vnXsHxITg[/youtube]

Male BookTubers can be a bit hard to find, but Chris is one of my favorites to watch. He loves his fantasy books, but also reads classics, literary fiction, and graphic novels. He also loves movies and puts up the occasional movie review on his channel, which I thoroughly enjoy.

Aaron from Cedar Sun
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm-ajv-nWQI[/youtube]

Another great male BookTuber, but he leans more towards the classics and literary fiction than anything else. He also plays guitar and sings and made a fantastic BookTube Valentine’s Day song because how can you not love a song with a kazoo?

Estelle from Audham EnTha
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5ux7KWG_qE[/youtube]

Estelle reads widely, as most of these recommendations do, but she always seems to be reading books that I wouldn’t necessarily pick up myself but always sound super interesting. She reads fantasy, science fiction, thrillers, and horror books. I’m a bit of a baby, but she actually makes me want to read some horror books.

Candace from librarianfanmail
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnL1IuJebzw[/youtube]

Last, but certainly not least, is one of my all-time favorite BookTubers. She always has really insightful and thoughtful things to say about the things that she is reading and about the book world in general. If I see that she has posted a new video, I drop everything I am doing because I have to watch it immediately.

Believe me when I say that this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to non-YA BookTubers. I couldn’t have made this list five times as long, but this is a perfect starting off point. Let me know if there are any non-YA BookTubers that you love to watch. Also, if you are looking for someone who covers a specific genre, leave that comment down below and I will try my best to point you in the right direction.