“Book-tok” and Asian American Literature

Through the rise of K-POP, Anime, K-Dramas, and Asian fashion in the last decade, Asian culture is more popular than ever in the Western mainstream media. On every social media site you can think of, there are groups of K-pop stans who hero-worship their favorite idols from the farthest corners of the world.

Tumblr pages and Facebook groups of Irish weebs and Greek K-pop stans. Social media has the power of connecting people across the world and influencing people oceans away. The rise of Asian Pop Culture in the West has influenced non-K-pop stans as well, particularly through literature.

As the world was shut down in Quarantine, people retreated into different forms of escapism. Book-tube and “Book-tok” seemed to take the world by