#BookTok community celebrates World Book Day across MENA region

TikTok’s #BookTok community is the ideal destination to mark World Book Day this year with an ever-growing array of content including fun activities, reading challenges, quick reviews and recommendations, and book swap ideas. The increasingly popular #BookTook celebrates the joy of books and inspires users to develop a love of reading that will last a lifetime.

With more than 80 billion views to date globally, #BookTok is one of TikTok’s most active communities, connecting creators and book lovers who share a passion for reading across diverse genres ranging from sci-fi, mystery, and romance to self-help, spirituality, cooking and much more. Whether a casual reader or an avid bookworm, every type of reader can find their unique community to engage with on #BookTok, and that is evident from the hashtag’s latest performance statistics in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

In the past six months, #BookTok crossed more than 1.9 billion views in MENA, with Saudi Arabia leading the community and accounting for nearly 456M views. Egypt 304M views and the UAE 209M views also contributed to a rapidly growing community of creators and book lovers who engaged regularly to share their thoughts on the platform.

Driven by outstanding creators such as @salehlkzeik, @drjanaboureslan and @areej2357, and unique collaborations such as with Al-Sharqiya Book Fair in Saudi Arabia, #BookTok has led a resurgence of the culture of reading across the region, providing the community with a new avenue to share their favorite books and leading to significant gains for the publishing industry.

“Discovery and community have always been at the heart of everything that we develop at TikTok. That’s why on World Book Day, we are thrilled to showcase #BookTok as the flourishing community that brings everyone together for a delightful celebration of reading in all its forms, and encourages people to discover and read new books and authors, and share their thoughts with the global TikTok community” Sasha El Jurdi, Head of Content Programming at TikTok MENA said. “The growing community of regional creators is a testament to the authentic influence and inspiration that #BookTok provides in reigniting a love for reading, as well as in promoting literacy, knowledge and access to books around the region.”

The #BookTok community in MENA revels in bringing a stimulating line-up of books to life in a whole new way. Top creators such as @read_with_israa and @drjanaboureslan  not only put the spotlight on a wealth of titles new and old, but also guide users to reading effectively in an engaging way. In a recent video, for example, Jana Bou Reslan reminded users about March being the Month of Reading and guided them to #SharqiahBookFair to discover exciting titles.

@salehlkzeik meanwhile is an immensely popular creator who regularly advises users on how to craft their personal brand and shape the narrative of their lives and recommends books to read on the subject. Abdurahman Afia (@abdurahmanafia) is another passionate creator who showcases interesting titles – his recent video urged users to take full responsibility for changing their lives with the incredible book by @The SUMO Guy. Creators such as @dr.dinahussein,  @areej2357, @omeet.kamil and @solyman_95 have similarly found huge audiences on #BookTok thanks to their entertaining book recommendations, writing tips, and other reading-related content.

Some of the region’s top book recommendations include:

• لطيفة الدليمي عشاق وفونوغراف وأزمنة
• The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
• Insight by Tasha Eurich
• S.U.M.O by Paul McGee
• Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
• The Magic of Big Thinking by David Schwartz, PhD

Thanks to enthusiastic creators combined with the incredible reach and authenticity of TikTok, the #BookTok community has been successful in promoting a reading renaissance across the region and spark collective conversations around knowledge and culture – the very pillars and founding principles of World Book Day.