What is BookTok doing to reading?

BookTok has become one of the book market’s most important new forces in only a few years. The 2026 trends highlighted by Könyves Magazin are dominated by romantasy, romance and fantasy, with books by Rebecca Yarros, Emily Henry, Carley Fortune, SenLinYu and Hanya Yanagihara among the featured titles.

The pattern is also visible on Hungarian BookTok. Social media can create fresh interest in books that received less attention when they were first published, giving older titles another route to readers.

BookTok’s influence now extends beyond social media. TikTok launched its own BookTok bestseller list in Germany in 2023, later adding Austria and Switzerland. In 2026, the list expanded to the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain. Participating bookstores can mark listed titles with a special BookTok sticker.

The British list shows that the trend is not limited to new releases. Donna Tartt’s more than 30-year-old novel “The Secret History” appeared among the 20 titles, alongside contemporary romantasy books. Hungary does not have a comparable official list, but Könyves Magazin follows the trends and publishers increasingly encounter books that attract substantial attention through social media.