BookTok and Bookstagram: Reading as a Hobby with Equipment
A trend on BookTok and Bookstagram sees readers annotating books with color-coded tabs, highlighters, and sticky notes, turning reading into a hobby requiring specialized supplies. Enthusiasts like Jessica Riches and Anam Iqbal share elaborate systems for tracking themes and plot strands. The practice has historical precedents, such as Jane Austen's marginalia in a copy of Isaac D'Israeli's Curiosities of Literature, which sold at Sotheby's for about €188,000 in 2023. Pierre de Fermat's famous margin note in Diophantus's Arithmetica and Marlene Dietrich's furious commentary in a biography are also cited. The article notes that reading has become a hobby over the past 30-40 years, leading to this equipment-driven approach. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, in Robin Buss's 1996 translation, is a popular target for annotation, with users showing off their tabbed copies. The trend reflects a broader hobbyfication of reading, where the act itself is now seen as a pastime requiring gear.
Key facts
- BookTok and Bookstagram readers annotate books with color-coded tabs, highlighters, and sticky notes.
- Jessica Riches demonstrates an annotation system for The Count of Monte Cristo using highlighters and tabs.
- Anam Iqbal advises on equipment to avoid ink bleeding.
- A copy of Isaac D'Israeli's Curiosities of Literature annotated by Jane Austen sold at Sotheby's for about €188,000 in 2023.
- Pierre de Fermat's Last Theorem first appeared as a margin note in Diophantus's Arithmetica.
- Marlene Dietrich wrote furious commentary in a biography of herself.
- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, in Robin Buss's 1996 translation, is a popular annotated book.
- Reading has become a hobby over the past 30-40 years, leading to equipment-driven practices.
Entities
Artists
- Jane Austen
- Marlene Dietrich
- Pierre de Fermat
- Alexandre Dumas
- Robin Buss
- Jessica Riches
- Anam Iqbal
Institutions
- Sotheby's
- TikTok
- BookTok
- Bookstagram