Books on BookTok: the festive bells are ringing

Halloween and Bonfire Night have passed and all eyes on BookTok are turning to festive reads.    

#christmasbooks has been used in over 58,000 videos and, according to Brittany (@whatbritreads; 58,300 followers), “the mega festive people will start getting cosy and giving [Christmas] book recommendations as soon as Halloween is over; there are also those who don’t even start thinking about it until December. I think I’m definitely the latter. You won’t see my book tree until December!” To create a Christmas book tree, books of descending size are stacked ontop of each other to create a tree-like shape. The structure can then be topped with a ribbon or other festive decoration (see below).

Busayo (@compulsivebookbuyers; 26,700 followers) noted: “I think generally TikTok gets festive from the middle of November and early December. Tiktok loves to get through dark academia season as much as possible and a lot of big titles [in that genre] release in October so it gives them enough time [to be enjoyed].” 

For Emily (@emilymiahreads; 91,800 followers), the festive period on BookTok is associated with Christmas romances that are like “Hallmark movies, but without the cringe”. As autumn transitions into winter, some creators will still be “vibing on dark academia for a while”, added Brittany. Christmas romances will begin “floating around and books set in winter or colder climates increase in popularity”. The BookTok Christmas aesthetic amounts to “fairy lights galore, calming relaxed content… and a lot of hot chocolates, cosy teas and festive themed candles”. Busayo agreed: “Cosy Christmas candles, tinsel on bookshelves, hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows and fairy lights.”

BK Borison’s festive, paranormal romance Good Spirits (HarperCollins) “will be one of the leading titles for Christmas” on BookTok, wrote Emily. Both Busayo and Emily believe Hannah Grace’s grumpy-sunshine romance Holiday Ever After (Little, Brown) “will soar” along with Holiday Romance (Bookouture) by Catherine Walsh. #Christmasromance has racked up mentions in 33,900 videos while the stateside tag #holidayromancebooks has been used in 15,300 videos. Brittany agreed that Borison’s latest, the story of a young woman who falls in love with the Ghost of Christmas Past, would prove popular with Laurie Gilmore’s “cosy seasonal reads”. Gilmore’s festive novel The Christmas Tree Farm (HarperCollins), the third in the Dream Harbour series, was published last year. “Novellas also tend to do well at Christmas – when people are looking for a Christmas hit or two but don’t necessarily want to commit to full length novels,” added Brittany.