By Kira Schukar ’22
The English department is full of multi-talented students, from writers and artists to podcasters and now, bookstagrammers! Bookstagrammers are influencers who post beautiful photos of the books they read on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and other social media platforms. This month, The Words reached out to three of Macalester’s very own bookstagrammers, Alex Ang ‘22, Chloë Moore ‘24, and Charley Eatchel ‘24.
Alex started her account more than five years ago and shares her reading with almost 17k followers; Chloë recently joined the bookstagramming community in January and is quickly amassing a loyal fanbase at Macalester; and Charley started posting their Bookstagram content from her main Instagram account a little over a year ago.
Why did you decide to start a boostagram?
Alex:
I started Bookstagram, since I had a book review blog and it just seemed to be the next thing to do in 2017 when Instagram and Youtube were becoming much larger platforms.
Chloë:
I started my bookstagram in January of this year. I had originally considered making content on TikTok too, but I decided to delete the app so I would actually do homework. I started it mostly to keep track of what I was reading, and also because I do really enjoy low-key content creation and talking to other people about books. It’s been a good way to source book recommendations, and the aesthetics tickle my little English major brain.
Charley:
Well, it kind of emerged as a pandemic hobby. I’d begun to follow more bookstagrammers and use Instagram more in general, and being stuck in the house meant I was extra bored. So I just decided it would be fun to give it a try. It ended up turning out well, so I continued 🙂
What kinds/genres of books do you like to read and post?
Alex:
I mostly post about Young Adult books, but haven’t recently been posting a lot about literary fiction. I also prioritize books from BIPOC and LGBTQ+ authors!
Chloë:
I post everything I read, including class books, because I think they count! I read a lot of literary fiction and women’s fiction, and I’m getting into sci-fi as well. Also, because everything I do requires some level of pretentiousness, I also love some good theory and poetry.
Charley:
I post my monthly reads which means it’s like 85% fantasy (and mostly young adult). There’s some adult, sci-fi, contemporary, and classic stuff mixed in there, but I’m a big fantasy fan.
What’s your favorite book that you’ve posted about so far?
Alex:
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon, and Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi
Chloë:
I think my favorite book of the year so far has been either We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker or Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon– I actually just picked up another book by each author and I’m super excited about them. Both books I read are really good sci-fi focused on marginalized characters with really interesting themes. Sorrowland was also the first book I’ve read that had a land acknowledgement in it, which I thought was really cool.
Charley:
That’s pretty tough but probably The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid or The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Both were really well-written, engaging, queer reads that made it to the tops of my favorite’s list.
What does your typical day or week look like? (i.e. what does it mean to run a bookstagram? What are the nuts and bolts?)
Alex:
I am a very idea-oriented person so each photo begins as a seed of an idea, a way to storytell through just one photo. I have since been fortunate enough to work with brands and publishing houses, so I spend each week going over campaign briefs, sending caption drafts back and forth and then working on the final finished product. My typical week also involves scrolling on my feed, interacting and engaging with other creators since that’s the biggest perk of this community. I’ll be on Instagram for at least 2 hours a day, chatting with the friends I’ve made there or drafting posts. It has become sort of a job for me now, so I treat it like I would any job. I have certain hours where I show up and then certain hours where I am off from ‘work’.
Chloë:
I try not to let social media take over my life, so I mostly read to read, and then post when I happen to finish a book, rather than reading just to post. I also like to collect photos of pretty little moments throughout the day, which are fun to share when I’m in a reading slump. I also try to interact with other bookstagrammers, sharing recommendations, opinions about books, and generally just making social media a positive place to exist.
Charley:
I think my bookstagram is a little unconventional at least in comparison to the mainstream ones I see? I only post once a month, and I post pictures of the books that I read that month. So what I’ll often do is look at my TBR (to-be-read) and the books on it that I own, then I’ll take a day to do a photo shoot with as many of those books as I can. I go to different spaces and backgrounds to find the vibe I’m looking for, then I take literally so many pictures. I’ll go through my many many options, choose the best ones and then I’ll do some minor photo editing (lighting and clarity and color touch-ups). I stockpile most of my TBR books, so then I have them ready to post when I finish reading them. My only other step is keeping track of what books I read during the month and how I rated them for my caption (and I mostly use goodreads to do that). That’s my process which I think is probably a lot less intensive than people who post daily or weekly.
Who are your biggest influences? Are there any accounts (on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, etc.) that you would recommend to bibliophiles?
Alex:
My biggest influences are the lifelong friends I’ve made on the platform and who I’ve met in person because of Bookstagram. They include @twirlingpages, @bowtiesandbooks, @bookstagramrepresent, @readandyread, @peruseproject, @arielbissett, [and] Noelle Gallagher on Youtube.
Chloë:
My biggest influence is Macalester English Department’s very own Alyxandria Ang, who actually encouraged me to start my account. She’s the real deal in terms of content, but also just a lovely human being and fun to online with.
Charley:
My favorite bookstagram accounts which have inspired me are @starlightbooktales, @ramblesandreads, and @literaryxqueen. All very talented bookstagramers. I also love emmmabooks and withcindy as BookTubers. They’re both definitely reasons I’m into there social media, book world as I’ve been following them for a very, very long time.
Do you have any advice for people who want to join the bookstagram community?
Alex:
My best piece of advice would be to be consistent. It can be hard, especially if you’re a full-time college student, to post every week or once a day, but let me tell you it helps! Also, I would say to envision a theme or niche for yourself. Bookstagram is oversaturated right now and the best way to grow is to stand out from the crowd. I hope anyone who wants to, decides to join Bookstagram because it really has changed my life in so many ways.
Chloë:
In terms of advice, I would just say not to let the internet consume you! To be fair, I would say that to anyone online. But seriously, only doing things to document them, and any kind of online performance, has the danger of becoming super detrimental to your mental health and perception of yourself. But as long as you’re having fun and are capable of disconnecting when you need to and existing *irl*, do whatever you want!
Charley:
Just go for it? Post when you want, what you want, however much you want. I may not have the best advice for like commercial success? But I do it because I think it’s fun, and if you out there think it could be fun to try and take pictures of books you like and want to share, go for it! There’s no harm in trying. You can stop whenever you want to. You don’t have to be a professional photographer or book reviewer or anything. It can be as intense or as chill as you want 🙂
The Words thanks Alex and Chloë for their thoughtful answers! Follow Alex on Instagram at @alyxandriaang or on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/thebooksbuzz. Follow Chloë and Charley on Instagram at @cem.reads and @charleye_ respectively.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.