Books on BookTok: books, 'it girl' and aspirational aesthetics
This week, creators considered the extent to which books are becoming part of an aspirational lifestyle aesthetic on BookTok.
“On the one hand, BookTok has encouraged more people to read and engage with books. On the other hand, it has also turned reading into something that can be aestheticised, commodified and tied to social status in ways that sometimes contributes to elitism and a performative reading culture,” said Megan (@megschapters; 2,271 followers)
The ‘it girl’ aaesthetic is a social media trend described by Vogue as “more than a person”. An “It girl… is an aesthetic, a cultural moment, a business distilled into human form. She embodies the zeitgeist of her era, serving as a lens through which her generation perceives and defines itself while always standing apart from it”. The term can be used interchangeably with ‘cool girl’.
For Hannah (@hannah.s.books; 12,100 followers), “there are two main types of ‘it girl’ authors – the older generation and a contemporary one”. She explained: “First of all, there are authors like Joan Didion, Eve Babitz, Patti Smith and Jane Birkin who capture a classically cool vibe and embody a certain place or time which never seems to go out of fashion… More contemporary cool girl authors include Ottessa Moshfegh, Mona Awad and Eliza Clark, authors who aren’t afraid to experiment with a darker, edgier vibe. Celebrity memoirs which confront the darker side of fame, such as those by Julia Fox and Lena Dunham, are popular too. Cool girl books are often closely linked with #weirdgirlbooks and #sadgirlbooks.”
Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life (Picador) and Jacqueline Harpman’s I Who Have Never Known Men (Vintage), translated by Ros Schwartz, “seem to get folded into this image of the ‘intellectual cool girl’, or ‘cool girl’”, noted Suraka (@surakajanebooks: 18,100 followers), who agreed that “specific books often become tied to particular ‘looks’ or lifestyles. [For example], dark academia is strongly associated with books like If We Were Villains and A Little Life”.
For Heather (@_reading_is_my_cardio; 2,985 followers), the aesthetic is also tied to exclusivity: “‘It girls’ can have completely different online ‘looks’, but the books that give them this status symbol are the ones that come with a lifestyle or experience attached. Think exclusive events, afternoon teas, private dinners. Whether [the influencer] reviews the book becomes secondary because people are aspiring to mix in the publisher and author circles.” This extends to limited edition and exclusive proofs. “Influencers who are selected for them make people curious. Audiences start to chase the secret formula – is it their follower count? Number of views? Quality of their content?”
Some “lean into these aesthetics” to generate engagement, noted Megan. “Tailoring content around a particular genre or reading identity can generate views, followers and engagement because audiences are drawn to the visual and emotional appeal of the aesthetic. People enjoy the ‘look’ and atmosphere associated with certain genres.”
"Reading certain books, particularly literary fiction or dense non-fiction, can be perceived online as a marker of intelligence or taste,” said Suraka. “But the conversation surrounding this has become quite cynical and at times toxic… What I find incredibly interesting is the conversation around what is literature and what counts as reading. Women who read and talk about romantasy or romance are belittled and told that they’re not ‘actual readers’ but women who are drawn to literary fiction and choose to talk about that online are called out for being fake or snobby.”
Megan concurred: “There can sometimes be an attitude of intellectual superiority attached to certain genres or authors where people imply that reading literary fiction, classics or ‘serious’ books makes them more intelligent than other readers.”
