A single hashtag has noticeably changed the European book market in recent years. #BookTok, the book community on TikTok, was behind the sale of more than 50 million recommended books in Europe in 2025. That amounts to over 800 million euros in revenue, as a joint analysis by NielsenIQ BookData and Media Control shows.

What began as the spontaneous sharing of favorite books has become a cultural movement in its own right. More than a third of 16- to 39-year-olds now discover new books via TikTok. More than half say that the platform is the reason they started reading more again in the first place.

For publishers and bookstores, this development is welcome news. For readers, however, the BookTok trend brings a challenge all of its own. In this article, you will find out how to stay on top of the growing flood of book recommendations and why a book journal can play an important role in doing so.

A stack of books.

BookTok is the name for the book community on TikTok that gathers under the hashtag #BookTok. There, BookTokers share their latest book purchases, talk about the books they have read and take part in reading challenges to let their followers be part of their everyday reading life. Unlike classic literary criticism, the focus is less on objective assessment than on emotion. Tears while reading, spontaneous enthusiasm or a book you simply could not put down – all of this can be conveyed authentically in a short video and reaches an audience of millions.

Certain genres perform particularly well in BookTok trends. Romance, fantasy and young adult dominate the recommendations and make individual titles go viral within a matter of days. Some books experience a genuine sales surge as a result and briefly make it onto the bestseller lists. A few of them only reach bestseller status years after their first publication, because they are suddenly rediscovered on BookTok.

The effects have long been visible in bookselling as well. Many bookstores now have their own BookTok tables displaying the community’s most popular and most widely discussed books. For publishers and booksellers, BookTok has thus developed into a sales market in its own right, one that has long since taken a firm place alongside classic literary criticism and bestseller lists.

A BookTok influencer records a video with her phone.

Anyone who regularly scrolls through the For You page knows the feeling. A video about a slow-burn romance, the next one about a fantasy trilogy, and three more recommendations from the comments in between. Screenshots pile up in the photo gallery, book titles are hastily typed into the notes app, and at some point you lose track.

Which book was already on the list? Which one have you read? And what exactly did you think of that one fantasy novel someone recommended to you three months ago? The sheer volume of inspiration quickly becomes the real obstacle. Instead of reading more, you spend more time organizing your book list – or eventually give up on it entirely. But there is a solution for exactly that, one that grows with you and adapts to your own reading habits.

A book journal helps you collect reading impressions, quotes and ratings in one place. You can record right away which scenes you particularly enjoyed, which quotes you want to keep and how you rate the book. Bit by bit, a personal archive of your reading experiences takes shape.

What mainly sets a book journal apart from a classic reading diary is its structure. While a reading journal is often kept in a freer, more narrative style, a book journal works with clearly defined categories such as genre, reading status, rating or source of the recommendation. This means that individual entries can not only be recorded but also compared, filtered and analyzed.

In analog form, this principle has been around for a long time. Many readers keep track of their books in bullet journals or with self-designed reading trackers, often with colored-in book symbols or hand-drawn tables for the annual statistics. That looks lovely and is fun, but it quickly reaches its limits as soon as the reading list grows or you want to quickly check while you are out whether you have already read a particular title.

A woman stands in front of a bookshelf and reads a book.

As charming as a handwritten book journal is, in everyday use it quickly reveals a few drawbacks. If you want to find a particular quote again, you often have to search your book journal page by page. There is no full-text search, and there are no filter or sort functions that would let you display all the fantasy titles you have read at a glance.

An analog book journal can also become impractical when you are out and about. If your notebook is at home, you cannot simply check in the bookstore whether you have already read a title. A digital reading journal, by contrast, can be used on several devices and accessed at any time. And if you want to share your reading impressions with the community, extra work quickly piles up.

A digital book journal solves exactly these problems. Instead of notes scattered across different notebooks, you get a central database that you can access at any time. Individual tables can also be linked to one another, so that book titles, quotes, reviews and reading goals are connected as linked records rather than sitting side by side in isolation.

A book and an empty book journal lying side by side.

The difference also shows in the analysis. How many books have you read this year? Which genre dominates your reading list? How quickly do you get through a book on average? A modern book journal answers questions like these automatically, entirely without manual counting. And if you want to keep it together with others, for example in a reading group or with friends, you can also use handy team features.

Last but not least, you can easily prepare or export content from your digital book journal for social media . Your reading statistics or the top recommendations of the month can be put together in just a few clicks and shared directly on Bookstagram or BookTok.

A digital book journal is suitable for anyone who wants to record the books they have read, their ratings and their notes clearly in one place. It is particularly handy for:

  • Bookworms and avid readers: Keep an eye on your to-be-read pile (TBR), manage your reading list and track your reading statistics as well as your personal reading goals.
  • BookTokers and Bookstagrammers: Collect quotes, thoughts and content ideas centrally and draw directly on your notes for your next book recommendation.
  • Book critics: Build a structured review archive and rate books according to consistent criteria. That keeps your ratings comprehensible and comparable in the long run.
  • Book clubs and reading communities: Organize shared reading lists, recommendations and books you have read in one central overview that all members can access.

A man and a woman sit on a sofa and discuss books.

If you want to write a book review, it pays to record important impressions while you are still reading. Plot, characters or particular passages are quickly forgotten once some time has passed. In a book journal, you collect these notes centrally and can refer back to them at any time.

Note down, for example, which scenes you particularly liked, how you felt about the writing style or which characters won you over. Quotes and first thoughts can also be assigned directly to the book in question. When you then write your review, you do not have to rely on your memory alone but have all the important information gathered in one place.

In addition, you can use the same evaluation criteria for every book, such as plot, characters, writing style or suspense. This makes it easier to compare different titles with one another and to keep your ratings comprehensible over a longer period of time. Bit by bit, your book journal becomes a personal review archive that not only helps you write new book critiques but also shows how your own taste in reading is developing.

Hands lean a stack of books against a window.

The easiest way to get started is with the free book journal template from SeaTable. It already contains a structured table for your books, so you can get going with your digital reading diary right away. For every title, you can record important information such as author, genre, reading status, start date, end date and rating. You can also add a star rating and personal notes. The template can be adapted to your own reading habits at any time and extended with additional columns.

With different views, you can display your book journal in whatever way suits you best at the moment. In a Kanban view , for example, you organize your books by reading status and see immediately which titles are unread, which you are currently reading and which you have already finished. A gallery view with book covers, on the other hand, is particularly well suited if you want to browse your collection visually. Filtered table views also let you display books of a specific genre or year.

You can create reading statistics directly in SeaTable as well. This lets you see, for example, how many books you have read this year or which genre is most strongly represented in your collection . With a dashboard and various charts, you can also visualize your reading habits clearly and follow your personal reading journey.

Because SeaTable runs in the cloud , you access the same up-to-date information from your laptop, tablet or smartphone. That means you can quickly check while you are out which books are already in your book journal, or add to your notes later. If you want to keep your book journal together with others, you can invite additional people and define who is allowed to view or edit which tables. This makes the template suitable for a book club or a shared collection within the Bookstagram community as well.

What makes the BookTok phenomenon so important for the book market?

BookTok has developed into a sales channel in its own right, generating more than 50 million books sold and over 800 million euros in revenue in Europe in 2025. Viral recommendations from the community create sales spikes and sometimes turn books into bestsellers years after their publication. Publishers and booksellers have long been responding with their own BookTok tables. The BookTok trend therefore increasingly shapes which titles become visible in the first place.

What is the advantage of a digital book journal over an analog notebook?

A digital book journal offers full-text search as well as filter and sort functions that a paper journal simply lacks. It can be used in sync across several devices, so you have access to your reading list even when you are out and about. Reading statistics such as the number of books read or your preferred genres are evaluated automatically instead of counted by hand. Content can also be exported directly for Bookstagram or BookTok – entirely without extra effort.

How does a reading journal help you write a well-founded book review?

A reading journal captures impressions, quotes and initial ratings right after reading, while the details are still fresh. Clearly defined categories such as genre or rating criteria keep reviews comparable across different books. Collected quotes can be worked into the review deliberately instead of being quoted from memory. Over time, this creates a consistent, well-documented review archive.

Who is a digital book journal particularly suited to?

Bookworms and avid readers use it to keep an eye on their to-be-read pile, their reading statistics and their reading goals. BookTokers and Bookstagrammers collect ideas and quotes in it to prepare their content. Book critics keep structured review archives with consistent rating standards. Book clubs and communities maintain shared reading lists based on shared views.

TAGS: Everyday Life & Leisure