Scouring TikTok for your next book obsession? Our favorite #BookTokker, @saraplanzreadz, has a few suggestions.

We all know that #BookTok is creating buzz around so many different titles right now! It is exciting to see authors and books featured on the platform. But what about some hidden gems? Here are a few books that I think deserve a little more love on TikTok!

For Thrill Seekers

My most recent “couldn’t put it down” read was Jason Rekulak’s latest book, Hidden Pictures. It’s hard to call this one a hidden gem when Stephen King is tweeting about how much he loved it! This is a ghost story and a thriller all rolled into one!!!

Mallory was a track star on her way to an athletic scholarship when tragedy struck. She is a recovering addict after she became hooked on Oxycontin from a sports injury and a car accident that took her sister's life. She is 18 months sober and looking to get her life back on track. She lands a job through her sponsor as a nanny for the Maxwell family. They live in the suburbs of Philadelphia and seem to have an idyllic life. The parents, Caroline and Ted, and their son, Teddy, invite Mallory into their home with open arms. But then things get strange. Teddy loves to draw, but his pictures start to become more and more disturbing. His stick figures take on a dark tone and morph into something that Teddy couldn’t possibly be creating on his own. When a ghostly presence makes itself known, Mallory is desperate to figure out what exactly is going on.

‍Hidden Pictures is a fresh take on what a ghost story can be. And the inclusion of Teddy’s drawings will definitely have you reading this book with all the lights on.

For Romantic Readers

Of course, romance novels are continuing to dominate #BookTok, and the new release By the Book by bestselling author Jasmine Guillory will be getting lots of views and likes. Her reimagining of Beauty and the Beast features a woman named Isabelle.

When Izzy begins her career in publishing, she’s 25, still living at home and one of the few Black employees at the publisher. She’s working hard for little money, feels caught between speaking up and staying quiet, and starts to wonder if there is more to the world of publishing. Izzy sees an opportunity to carve her own path when she hears about a “beastly” famous author who has yet to turn in a long-awaited manuscript. All she has to do is go and meet the author at his Santa Barbara mansion to get him back on track. Seems simple, except dealing with Beau Towers is not easy at all. He is grumpy and challenging to say the least. But despite it all, Izzy and Beau start to find out what they have in common. Their romance, and his book, begins to bloom.

Grumpy vs. sunshine and enemies to lovers all wrapped up in a tale as old as time!

For Fiction Fans

In fiction, Emily Straub is back with her newest novel, This Time Tomorrow, which I think is about to blow up all over #BookTok. Straub explores the idea of going back in time as your younger self.

Alice is about to turn 40, and her life is just OK. She has a job, a nice apartment, and good friends. However, her father is ill and on his deathbed, and Alice is feeling like something might be missing in her life. She wakes up the next morning and finds herself back on the day of her 16th birthday, equipped with all she knows about her future. She now has the time she wants to spend with her father.

This book is about a relationship between a father and a daughter that will stay with you long after you finish the story. The pop culture references throughout and Straub’s use of magical realism create a wonderful journey for readers!

For Rom-Com Lovers

This May End Badly by Samantha Markum is a fun YA rom-com that blends together the enemies-to-lovers and fake-dating tropes into a long-running prank war between two rival boarding schools: Weston, which is all girls, and Winfield, which is all boys.

Doe is the master of pranks at Weston, and she is determined to win with her classmates. In a surprise twist, it is announced that the two schools will be merging next year, and the prank war goes into overdrive. Doe puts together a plan to prove that the schools simply don’t belong together. And she wants to start by going after her arch-nemesis at Winfield, a boy named Three. To win, she partners with Three’s cousin, Wells. All she has to do is fake-date Wells to get under Three’s skin. In return, she’ll help him get back his family heirloom from Three. Their feelings start to get real, and the pranks hit the next level. But when a teacher who has a reputation for inappropriate behavior messes with a younger Weston girl, Doe has to decide what is more important: winning a prank war, or joining the boys to protect one of their own.