YouTubers & Podcasts To Check Out

Hello, my fellow Spirals!

When the pandemic started in 2020, we were all stuck at our homes looking for ways to entertain ourselves or just stay occupied. I was never the one to watch too many shows or movies so my attention shifted to YouTube and podcasts. Majority of the reason I fell back in love with reading is watching BookTubers talking so passionately about books. Added to that, podcasts have made a massive difference in my life and have given me company at nights which I would have otherwise spent overthinking frivolous things.

I am hoping that you discover new gems through this post. I will be adding links to each of their channels so if you want to check them out then just click on the heading! All the podcasts mentioned are linked to Spotify so that all users are able to access it.

Now let’s get into it!

Youtubers

1. Noelle Gallagher

She is one of my favorite booktubers. I think I found her during the first lockdown when she had only around 10k subscribers and now her channel has blown up. But the reason I really enjoyed her content was because her reading tastes were lot similar to mine. I love that she reads a wide range of genres just like me, like thrillers and horrors by Stephen King to fluffy romances. But she mostly reads Literary Fiction and Classics. Majority of the book choices I make are shaped by what I see on her channel. She has a very chill vibe and cracks so many puns + jokes that always amuse me. She is currently doing her Master’s in Literature if I’m not wrong, so check her out if that’s something you might be interested in!

2. Paperbackdreams

Another amazing booktuber that you must check out. The channel is run by Katherine while often starring her sister, Lauren, and her father, Larry. The only problem with her is that she posts very rarely which is understandable. But when she does post, boy is it chaotic. She usually does her recommendation videos with her sister, Lauren, with whom she has an amazing bond that I genuinely envy. But besides all that, I love this channel because I hear about soo many books that I wouldn’t have otherwise. Their reading taste is so unique and honestly the books they recommend are so unheard of yet so thought provoking or intriguing. For example, I read this book called The Farm by Joanne Ramos which is all about a center for women that get paid and get taken care of to act as surrogate mothers to rich people. I mean c’mon, that’s such a unique concept which raises so many questions in your head.

3. * emmie *

If you have been around BookTube for a long time and you haven’t heard of her then seriously, what are you doing? When I watched her videos in the start I wasn’t too fond because she primarily seemed to read classics, something that I didn’t read at all back then. But later when I came back to her videos I found out that it’s so much more than that. She still reads quite a bit of classics as part of her degree, book club, etc. but apart from that, she reads such a vast variety of obscure reads. I have heard of books from so many different parts of the world or from my own country that I didn’t even know about. Added to that, she reads so many Manga and middle grade books which is always so nice to see. Her reading vlogs or pretty much any video are so dreamy. In her videos you can literally see how in love with nature she is. Emma is the reason that I learned to fall in love with life and romanticize the simple things in life.

4. Holly Gabrielle

Let’s take a detour from booktubers now. If you are looking for a Youtuber who puts out fun yet motivating productivity videos by a student then this is the one. I started following her at the start of the pandemic and, boy, did she motivate me like mad. I will never understand how she has so much time to work out for hours, work tirelessly, make vlogs and edit them AND spend time with her family. She genuinely gives me existential crisis at times but towards the end, she always makes me want to do more with my life. Her content usually revolves around her master’s degree (which she has completed now), her own tutoring business, working out, making vegan food items and lot more. She also tries a lot of new things regularly that she shows and talks about on her videos. Partway through pandemic she tried giving reading a shot and actually ended up enjoying it so you can occasionally find book content on her channel as well. So do check her out!

5. Caitlin’s Corner

If you are in your early adult years, I feel like this is the perfect channel to check out. Very similar to Holly Gabrielle’s channel yet very different. I feel like Caitlin is a little more older than Holly Gabrielle and her content revolves more around living like an adult with responsibilities like cooking, cleaning your own apartment, decorating and all that jazz. If I was ever living alone in an apartment then she is the person I would watch to get inspiration from. Actually I watch her for inspiration even though I don’t live alone. She is super systematic, organized and diligent. But what I love is that she is so honest and raw about her mental and physical health.

To those who are also interested in bullet journaling, she puts out videos related to it at the start of every month. She also talks a lot about books (being a former booktuber) on her channel that are sprinkled in between her videos so watch out for those as well!

Podcasts

1. Books Unbound

Ahh my comfort listen. A small insight into my life: I can’t sleep properly at night. I get anxious about things I need to get done and end up overthinking a lot which leads to me staying up until odd hours. But lately I am able to fall asleep early because of this podcast. I am not saying that this podcast bores me to sleep but instead it is genuinely so comforting to listen to. It’s like hearing my two best friends discussing books which is always such a pleasure. This podcast is run by Raeleen Lemay and Ariel Bissett (another booktuber to check out!) who are best friends in real life. Every week they discuss what books they are currently reading, what they last finished, some book news and responding to recommendation requests. Their friendship really shines through the audio as they laugh or rant about books and shows. This is usually the first podcast that gets recommended to anyone who wants to listen to something about books.

2. Growing With The Flow

This podcast is run by Nayna Florence who also has a YouTube channel. Her YouTube channel has the same aesthetic vibes as emmie and Holly Gabrielle combined. Her voice is so calming and dreamy which instantly made me addicted to her podcast. Now in this podcast, she picks a specific topic like say, Christmas celebration, veganism or studying abroad, or pretty much anything every week and talks about it. The podcast is super chill that you can play in the background while doing some other work. I used to listen to this while cycling which served me as a perfect distraction.

3. Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby!

This podcast is run by Liv Albert. I recently found this podcast and fell in love with it instantly. First of all, she talks about Greek and Roman myths. What’s not to love about that? But the main reason I love her channel is the way she speaks and tells stories. Her jokes are spot on, her exasperated comments are exactly the same as I would make. I literally end up chuckling and straight up laughing out loud while listening to her. Added to that, the way she explains everything is crystal clear and builds up the scene really well for me.

4. We’re Spinning Plates

This podcast is run by Ciara Forester and Em, both of whom post bookish content on YouTube. If you like chilled out vlogs that’s just like conversation between two best friends then this is the one for you. They are avid book readers and massive Taylor Swift fans so you can find episodes dedicated to just talking about Taylor Swift’s new albums. Every week they have casual conversations about a specific topic which is highly engaging.

Comment down your favorite YouTubers or Podcasts for me to check out!

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