24 Must-Follow Twitter Accounts For Book Lovers

Twitter has quickly proven itself to be the best social media platform for book lovers. It’s kind of the ultimate online book club (except for Emma Watson’s, that is,) easily connecting you to the fellow book-obsessed, offering to-the-minute updates on when that book you’ve been waiting for all year will finally hit shelves, and giving you an opportunity to tweet your favorite authors — who might even make all your bookish dreams come true by responding.

Ever since Rory Gilmore taught me the importance of always carrying a book in my purse (yes, even to the Junior Prom,) I am never without reading material at my side — and I’m sure all you other die-hard book lovers can relate. But I get it: sometimes you just aren’t in the mood to pull all 1088 pages of Infinite Jest out of your purse while balancing in your Jimmy Choos on the subway. And that’s where these must-follow Twitter accounts for book lovers come in. A couple swipes on your smartphone, and you’ve got a world of book recommendations, reviews, top-10 listicles, excerpts, quotes, and endless offers to win free books at your fingertips — all in just 140 characters or less.

So just in case your TBR pile isn’t tall enough already, here are 24 Twitter accounts for readers who think about books all day, every day.

1. Bethanne Patrick, via @TheBookMaven

I've been following writer, author, and book critic Bethanne Patrick since I joined Twitter, and believe me: her account is a one-stop-shop for all your book loving needs. And at 216K followers, I'm definitely not the only one feeling the love.

2. Bookforum Magazine, via @bookforum

As the Twitter feed of Bookforum Magazine, you're definitely going to get your clicks worth with these folks. The magazine prints intelligent and artful book reviews, and their Twitter feed definitely reflects that. Plus, with their slightly subversive vibe, they're a great place to hear about all the books that might not hit your radar otherwise.

3. BookPage, via @bookpage

As the Twitter feed of this monthly book review publication, @bookpage will have your TBR pile tumbling over in no time. With interests wide-ranging and expansive — covering everything from literary fiction, history, and biography to romance, and mystery — there's something for everybody.

4. Book Riot, via @BookRiot

Their tagline is: "Always books. Never boring." And they live up to it. Book Riot's content is diverse, inclusive, and super witty. You do not want to miss their Our Reading Lives series either.

5. Books Report, via @Booksreport

Sharing book content from all over the web, Books Report is going to be your go-to source for book-related retweets. They're timely, interesting, and at 25.4K tweets and counting, they don't miss a thing.

6. Electric Literature, via @ElectricLit

@ElectricLIt's Twitter feed is the reason I spent all of this year's AWP conference trying to hunt down a "Yoga For Writers" poster. (You know you want one too, check their site!) As the official Twitter account of literary nonprofit Electric Literature, this feed is entirely dedicated to building a great digital community of readers and writers. Don't miss their recommended reading!

7. GalleyCat, via @GalleyCat

As your Twitter go-to for recent happenings in the book biz, @galleycat covers everything from book releases and publishing events, to book-to-movie adaptations and the latest and greatest must-have products for all your book loving needs. Plus lots more.

8. Goodreads, via @goodreads

If you're not following Goodreads on Twitter by now, then I really don't know what you've been doing all this time. Nobody loves reading more than these folks, and you can thank them for Emma Watson's feminist book club, too.

9. Guardian Books, via @GuardianBooks

Covering book news, reviews, author interviews, and more, @GuardianBooks is the Twitter feed of the Pulitzer Prize-winning publication The Guardian. They know their stuff.

10. HuffPost Books, via @HuffPostBooks

Another online news source with a killer books section, you can get lost in HuffPost Books for days. They're particularly great at covering books by women, for women, and about women. And they offer tons of other amazing book content too.

11. L.A. Times Books, via @latimesbooks

Filled with literary news and reviews from the West Coast's publishing hub, @latimesbooks is a great feed to scroll through when you're wondering what you should read next. But be warned: once a year you're going to experience major L.A. Times Festival of Books envy. If you live near the City of Angels, that is.

12. LitChat, via @LitChat

Hosting a moderated chat each Monday, and every first and third Wednesday of the month, from 4-5 p.m. (EST), LitChat offers readers and writers an opportunity to tweet questions and comments to a guest host, as well as discuss a featured book, using the hashtag #litchat. Pretty cool.

13. Literary Hub, via @thelithub

Here's what I love about Literary Hub: in addition to publishing some awesome articles of their own, they slog through the endless literary content that's published on the internet every single day, and highlight the best of the best of it for you. Perfect for those book lovers on-the-go.

14. The Millions, via @The_Millions

As the official Twitter feed of online magazine The Millions, @The_Millions covers books, art, and culture (but let's be honest, their books and reviews section is totally going to be your favorite.) Plus, their lineup of guest writers — from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to Margaret Atwood to Roxane Gay — isn't to be missed.

15. NetGalley, via @NetGalley

If you're a professional book blogger or reviewer in need of galleys (because who couldn't always read more books?) NetGalley can connect you with the books you need. Plus, their feed is filled with great retweets, helping you connect with other accounts you'll love.

16. New York Times Books, via @nytimesbooks

Straight from the source, aka: publishing central NYC, New York Times Books offers their followers things like author profiles and interviews, book news and reviews. All the good stuff.

17. NPR Books, via @nprbooks

Perfect for when your eyes need a break from all that reading they've been doing, @nprbooks will tweet you tons of great book content that you can listen to, from critic chats to author interviews — drastically improving your morning commute. Plus they've got lots of great written content as well.

18. Poetry Foundation, via @PoetryFound

There are tons of places to find poetry on Twitter — the perfect genre for that pesky 140-character limit — but @PoetryFound is definitely the hub. They also publish Poetry Magazine (@poetrymagazine) offering you two poetry-filled feeds for the price of one (aka: free).

19. Powell's Books, via @Powells

Powell's Books, as their Twitter tagline states, is the legendary independent bookstore, located in Portland, Oregon. Their tweets are pretty legendary too — the next best thing to actually visiting Powell's in person.

20. Public Books, via @publicbooks

Nobody sums up Public Books better than they do, writing that they're: "dedicated to bringing cutting-edge scholarly ideas to a curious public." Their writing is unique, edgy, timely, risky, and filled with some really great book-loving energy. How can you say no to that?

21. Publishers Weekly, via @PublishersWkly

Known as “the bible of the book business,” (need I continue?) Publishers Weekly is the New York-based weekly news magazine that focuses on whats going in in writing all over the world. If you're in need of a bestsellers list to take with you on your next trip to the bookstore, @PublishersWkly has got you covered.

22. The Rumpus, via @The_Rumpus

Their Twitter tagline describes The Rumpus as: "a place to read, on the Internet." Which is perfect, because that's basically what you came to this list for in the first place. Offering readers essays, reviews, interviews, poetry, comics, and advice (you have heard of Dear Sugar, yes?) The Rumpus will become one of your absolute faves.

23. Strand Book Store, via @strandbookstore

Another legendary bookstore's Twitter feed (this time on the opposite coast) @strandbookstore is known for filling Twitter with some serious book love. And off the web, they boast a whopping 18 miles of new, used and rare books too.

24. Twitter Books, via @TwitterBooks

And finally: if you're looking for book content on Twitter, this should probably be your first stop. Just sayin'.

Image: Olu Eletu/Unsplash