I was one of those people who refused to join Instagram. What was the point? Did I honestly need another soul sucking, time wasting, social media platform? But, curiosity always wins in my book and I found myself treading carefully into the world of little squares filled with photos.
After scrolling through hundreds of selfies I was just about ready to make an exit when suddenly a flat lay of books caught my eye. As much as I love spending hours paging through a book, I have this (maybe unhealthy) obsession of knowing what is on other people’s bookshelves. #Bookstagram got me.
Ultimate for book crushing
There’s a thriving book loving community on the photo sharing platform, and of course Muslims are contributing to it. Whether you’re after your next reading recommendation, some bookish inspiration for your next Instagram pic, or simply a place to relax and talk all things literary, no other place fulfills it like Instagram.
Customized in styles that vary from crafty to modern chic, the visual allure of this social media network is not only a way to advertise the book you’re reading, but to celebrate the love of reading in an aesthetically pleasing way. It’s eye candy for book lovers and it’s the one place where you are allowed to judge a book by its cover. Here are my top recommendations of Muslim #Bookstagram accounts.
The Bookish Nerd – Number of followers: 1,422
Zakiyya is completing her final year of high school in South Africa, and her reading varies from chic lit to feminist manifestos. The bookishnerd’s style is pleasing on the eye, sophisticated with a brush of intense color. Zakiya is vocal about what she wants to see happening in the publishing world, “I think by being a part of a community that has a strong and united voice that speaks up when things don’t add up and who fights for representation and recognition and equality, I am influencing the publishing world. I think by using my voice and through exercising my freedom of opinion, I am influencing the publishing world because I can say what I truly think, I can fight for what I believe in, I can demand that I am heard, and I can represent my people and where I come from. I think that the publishing world is influenced by what we say and what we do as, for lack of a better word, ‘influencers’”.
The Guy With A Book – Followers: 38.4k
Winner of the Bookstagrammer of the year award at the London Book Fair, Farouk, who is based in Saudi Arabia, doubles up his book account with his travels. London Book Fair judges had this say about his account, “This Instagram reflects everything that a bookstagram account should encompass. It’s a wonderful blend of aesthetically pleasing images with obvious sophistication. Farouk’s personality comes through very clearly. His insta stories also reflect the quality that he displays. This really is a wonderful example of the full potential of the format, and contradiction to many Instagram stereotypes.” Farouk is a must follow and definitely gives you food – or rather books – for thought.
Africaanah – Followers: 10k
Based in Abu Dhabi, Nada’s motivation for starting her account was to inspire people to love reading and to proudly post about it. @Africanah has a natural feel to it as she uses many organic textures in her feed. Her favorite shots are in coffee shops. She does mention that there are drawbacks to #Bookstagram, “I’m sad to say you will meet all different kind of people on BG. Some would hate on you and would try to dictate what kind of posts one should have and some that discourage you. The key is to ignore, and keep doing what you love.” Africanah is being recognized for her talents and was approached by a local newspaper in Abu Dhabi for an interview.
i.Reads – Followers: 11.7k
Warda started her account to share her obsession of books. She is also a fan of the iconic book-on-the-bed photo. Her go to style for #Bookstagram is cosy, yet vibrant. Warda usually thinks through ideas on what she wants to do in a photo including props she wants to use. “A lot of planning goes into it at times.” Warda’s book choices are an eclectic mix of all genres. You will find everything from Ta-Nahesi Coates to Tahera Mafi’s “Shatter Me” series. While Warda muses over whether #Bookstagram accounts affect what publishers publish, she wants to see books getting published whereby the term ‘diversity’ becomes the norm and not a way to sell a book or create a hype.
Read_and_seek – Followers: 5k
Read and seek is run by South African blogger Nihaad. Her bookstagram style is clean and sleek with a hint of color. Nihaad is a tea lover and her account focuses on promoting diversity, especially books featuring Muslim characters or books written by Muslim authors.
The Club of Books – Followers: 9,271
Amena from the UK runs this handle and makes any book new or old look beautiful. Her style is unique with many of her book photos set in the English countryside. Amena gives wonderful short reviews and her “Books of The Month” photo is usually one of my favorites.
That Other Nigerian Girl – Followers: 2,465
Aeesha Yusuf is the queen of the flat lays. I love that she styles her flat lays either to colour of the book or a theme in the book. Her style is fresh and sleek and her recent reads are all captioned with a short review of the book. I find myself saving all her recommendations to my already ridiculously long TBR pile – (“to be read” in book lovers’ speak)
The Bookish Word – Followers: 14.7k
In the bio on her blog, Noha from Egypt says that she was “born with a book in one hand and a coffee cup in the other.” Her account is scattered with shots of warm coffee and starry fairy lights. Obviously a die hard lover of fantasy fiction and a Potterhead, Noha will give you all the hygge feels and you will want to do nothing else but curl up with a book and blanket after scrolling through her feed.
Sumaiyya Books – Followers: 39.5 k
With close to 40,000 followers, Sumaiyya of Saudi Arabia interlaces her feed with dramatic landscape photos of the desert region beautifully captioned like this one: “’The breeze across the desert as the light died was so sweet she could almost drink it.’ ― Mike Bond
My first sunset in Riyadh was at Wadi Hanifa, a valley once home to a bustling dam, the dry remnants of which remain for people to explore.”
Sumaiyya made me look at her region in a new light. A feline lover, her cat Gatsby makes a regular appearance as well, leaving a personal trademark on many of her photographs. You’ll find many cameos of Farouk on Sumaiyya’s #Bookstagram and vice versa as they are book-loving siblings.
If #Bookstagram does not have you scrambling for your next great read or make you relook at your own books as works of art, then I doubt nothing else will. Enjoy!