Tiktok has helped loads find a voice, develop a hobby, and market their businesses and as such there are many communities and spaces to learn from within the app, like BookTok. BookTok has helped increase interest in reading and has brought many underrated and otherwise obscure authors to the light.
Top 7 Comforting BookTok Recommendations
We have compiled a list of 7 comforting, enticing, and quirky user-recommended books from the BookTok community.
The Space Between: Chaos. Questions. Magic. Welcome to your Twenties by Zara McDonald and Michelle Andrews
Written by the hosts of the award-winning Shameless Podcast, this book was recommended on BookTok as it is a collection of relatable reflections on a chaotic and confusing period everyone goes through called your twenties. It has a fresh feminist perspective of how messy and stressful being in your twenties can be, is filled with witty personal anecdotes, and contains the same honest nature as the podcast.
Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
@jessicatoutounji Not sure how i’m gonna do the structure of the book review videos yet, but did you enjoy this one? The next book i’ll read i’ll post about it so that we can all read it together (if you’d like) and every month i’ll do a review! #bookreview #beforethecoffeegetscold ♬ Clair de lune/Debussy – もつ
Kawaguchi brought a storm of tears with his time travel heart-to-heart novel. This novel was also recommended by Tiktok creator Jessica Toutounji. The book is part of a series that involves coffee, time travel, and stories of love and regret. This touching story involves four visitors to a café that allows time travel just until your coffee goes cold. It is sure to be a quick read.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Haig’s Midnight Library is an easy read that touches upon depression and a limbo between life and death with its protagonist Nora. It is a story with a wonderful and heart-wrenching concept of second chances, redemption, and regret. The novel has a relatable message when discussing Nora’s moments of maybe’s and what-ifs. With a beautiful life lesson waiting at the end of the book.
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
The Hating Game is a young adult novel that is a sweet and tangy play on the usual angst enemies to lovers trope. The book is about Lucy and Josh two rivals at a publishing company who can’t stand each other at first. Throughout the novel, the two battle their fiery and conflicting feelings of rivalry and romance. It’s an enticing read that will keep your eyes glued to the page. After reading the novel, you even watch the movie starring Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell.
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai
Dazai’s novel was originally published in 1948 but recently started showing up on Booktok recommendations for its cynical and relatable tale of alienation from society, pessimism, loneliness, and depression. BookTok recommends this novel for cynics and people with hearts of steel.
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Tuesdays with Morrie talks about rekindling an old connection with someone you respect. It is a quick read with themes of youth, regret, and positivity. Albom has written many warm stories with beautiful life lessons. With a message of forgiveness and imagery of nostalgia, ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’ is sure to touch hearts.
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
Kitchen is comprised of two tear-jerking short stories set in modern Japan about lost love, mourning, and admiration. It was originally published in 1988. BookTok recommends Kitchen for it’s themes of how fleeting life can be, finding comfort in love, and being free-spirited. Both stories in their own quirky ways feel personal and comforting.
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