With 26bn views – and the ability to influence global sales – the
Social Media app’s reading corner #BookTok is not as niche as it seems
![‘It is surreal’: the five-second book reviews going viral on TikTok](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b549081d67fe11aad23f4ddecfa45df38f910aa7/0_0_2500_1500/master/2500.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=f5ae235960782e38842f7b74f2d4a4ad)
Fifteen seconds is all you need. Point your phone camera to a shelf and hold up your favourite book, or three. Add a trending soundtrack, a caption, a couple of hashtags – #BookTok #FYP. Throw a pandemic into the mix and you have the formula: you can make a book review go viral.
Stuck inside during Sydney’s Covid lockdown, I fell down the endless TikTok abyss, where I found BookTok: the app’s reading corner that has amassed more than 26bn views.