BookTok, the Literary Community on TikTok—Italian edition

BookTok—the subcommunity on TikTok devoted to books and literature—is as popular in Italy as it is in the United States. The American and Italian BookToks share the same features: creators make videos reviewing and discussing books, from all-time favorites to new releases. The preferred genres are young adult fiction, fantasy, and romance, and the impact these videos can have on the publishing industry and book sales is, at times, astonishing. Indeed, Italian booktokers (the word for users of BookTok) seem to be able to do the same trick as their American counterparts: bringing apparently forgotten books from years ago back into the spotlight.

What are the most popular titles among Italian booktokers and their followers? And who are the most influential Italian booktokers? Keep reading to find out more.

Most Beloved Books and Authors

If you hang out on BookTok, you’re surely familiar with It Ends with Us, from Colleen Hoover. The hype generated by the US community about this book was so passionate that an Italian edition was released in March 2022, and the title has been on the top of the sales charts since then. Its sequel—It Starts with Us—was published at the beginning of 2023, and it is finding the same favor among booktokers—and thus in the sale charts. Other picks from the Italian community are: Holly Jackson’s Una brava ragazza è una ragazza morta(As Good as Dead), Una vita come tante (A Little Life) from Hanya Yanagihara, and La canzone di Achille(The Song of Achilles) from Madeline Miller, considered the symbol of #BookTokPower. Originally released in 2011, Miller’s book has become a literary sensation thanks to the social media-generated hype. Finally, we have Italian author Erin Doom’s Fabbricante di lacrime. We don’t know much about Doom, except that she’s under 30, her first works were published on Wattpad, and she is a steady favorite among young adults. The hype about her started on BookTok a couple of years ago and it seems never-ending.

Most Popular Italian Booktokers

Like everywhere else in the world, there have been booktubers and bookstagrammers, and in Italy too, it’s now the time for booktokers. And therefore, it is time for us to get familiar with the most influential Italian ones. The list includes, but is not limited to, Megi Bulla (labibliotecadidaphne on TikTok), with more that 187,000 followers; Valentina Ghetti (book.addicted), with around 87,00 followers; Maggie (magsbook), with more than 240,00 followers; Martina Levato (levv97), with 180,000 bookloving followers; Cristina Chiperi (cristinachiperi), who also is an author and counts almost 64,000 followers; and Francesca (francescadececchi), with almost 29,000 followers, who focuses on queer books.

The reasons why TikTok is so popular among booklovers, and why it seems to be better suited than other social media to host the literary community, are the same all over the world. Books do not need perfectly crafted Instagram videos, nor aesthetic perfection; young booklovers, on the contrary, seem to appreciate live reading sessions and messy notes. Sometimes books trending on Instagram are different from the ones trending on TikTok.

Whatever the reason, books have been doing great in the last few years, and that’s good news! It all started with the pandemic, when people had more time to read and more time at home—watching book recommendations, of course—and now reading books looks to be a steadily positive trend. It also seems to be something that unites (young) people all over the world. Not only are the dynamics across platforms in different countries very similar; the titles are pretty much the same, too! Try following some Italian booktokers yourself. Not only will it be a great way to discover new titles; it will also be a good way to practice your Italian!

By Claudia Quesito

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