With the COVID-19 restrictions, the bookstore became one of my favourite spots during the 2021 summer. I mean, when everything is closed down, I might as well be surrounded by the smell of fresh, new books with cool air conditioning, right? Not to mention that I am also from a suburb where there aren’t any interesting places for a university student to roam around.

Just like that, my 2021 summer was all about going on a solo drive to a bookstore and roaming through tiny alleyways made up of bookshelves. After pressing play on a summer indie playlist that I curated, I let my AirPods block all the external noises and focus on my own world inside of a tiny bookstore. While the vintage-sounding guitar chirps on my ears, I roam through each shelf and grab a book that catches my attention. And then, I become the judge of my very own book show to critique the book’s cover design, title, and writing style. Until I find the perfect book that satisfies my picky standards, the hunt continues on to the next shelf.

The feeling I get when I find the perfect book is inexplicable. The thrill of discovering a book that has a captivating introduction and a pretty cover is unmatched by any other emotion. It is the very moment when the several hours of book-hunting become worth it.

After a series of bookstore visits, I came to the conclusion that the enjoyment of selecting a book—the process of roaming around the store to discover a perfect book—is a fulfilling and rewarding experience. Although the book’s content itself can provide many insights and emotions, there is more about the process of finding a book that you want to read. Spending several hours scavenging allows you to find a set of books that satisfies your own unique taste and standards; the books become yours before you even start reading them.

Perhaps this appreciation for the book-hunting process is why I had a major culture shock when I visited a bookstore with my best friend. As soon as we entered the store, I found her browsing through the TikTok app to find a list of famous BookTokers: “This book by Colleen Hoover… Madeline Miller… will captivate your mind if you are a rom-com, dark academia enthusiast.” From one overly exaggerated voice to another, I would repeatedly hear influencers obnoxiously offering book suggestions.

After several scrolls on her For You page and several minutes of her standing still at a corner of the bookstore, I finally found her grabbing a book suggested by her favourite BookToker. Without a single peep into a book, she zoomed through bookshelves to make her way to the checkout.

The only rationale behind her book choice was that the book was suggested by her favourite BookToker and the post had more than 100k likes. Knowing that she purchased the book without her own judgement, it was pretty obvious that she quickly got disappointed by the plot and soon lost her will to finish reading.

It is undoubtedly true that BookTok has a positive impact on encouraging individuals to read books. Just as Flood writes in The Guardian, this trend made the reading book look cool again, and I too believe this trend helps to revive the book culture that has died down after the introduction of digital media.

But I want to question whether this trend is effective in a way to encourage individuals to have a holistic reading experience. With the aim to create buzz and interaction, most BookTokers suggest books that could increase their viewership. Thereby we see numerous BookTokers recommending the same old rom-com and fiction books that are familiar to a wide range of TikTok audiences.

However, there are many genres out there that BookTokers are missing out on. Classical to biographies, these genres may not be seen as cool as the viral TikTok books, but these can be one of the favourite genres that people just haven’t realized. So I suggest, if you want to take the time to appreciate all the books that are waiting out there for you, and if you want to have a reading experience where you can build your own taste in books, visit the nearest bookstore and simply explore. Not only will you be able to enjoy the smell of the books, but you will also be able to find perfect books that are personal to you. There are simply too many interesting books out there that you can discover rather than solely consuming books that others curate for you.