We all know that the main hype these days involves filming TikTok challenges or binge-watching Stranger Things on Netflix but here’s the thing, books are finally making a comeback in the MENA region.
With everything from Egypt’s annual Cairo Book fair amassing thousands of visitors and special guests such as Serag Monir signing books left, right and center to Dubai’s Library initiative, giving readers access to Dubai’s public library of thousands of books through their new, free digital platform, people’s thirst for knowledge has obviously been re-ignited!
Books are also taking other platforms by storm. Today, more and more booktubers, youtubers who create content about books, are joining the platform and sharing all they know and love about their favorite literary gems. They create super fun content like 24 hour readathons which involves them reading continuously for 24 hours.
Now with the ongoing Digital Egypt Book Fair, here is a curated list of some Arab booktubers that you need to check out right now to learn all the latest and greatest in the world of books!
Nedal Reads (Egypt)
Living most of her life in Saudi Arabia and moving to Cairo to become a dentist, throughout that time, books have always been an integral part of her life. She entered the YouTube scene 4 years ago. Since then, she has amassed more than a quarter million subscribers of devoted fans and lovers of books.
Other than a book enthusiast, she’s also a feminist and leverages her platform to voice her ongoing concerns towards the female diaspora in the Arab World with videos like “Why Women Work”. Outside of YouTube, she continues the feminist discourse through her participation in several events. Recently, she was a guest speaker at AUC’s iRead Her Summit 2022 on 8th of June, participating in a debate about the role of men in women’s lives.
As a content creator, she not only talks about books but also many other topics ranging from bullet journals, time management to detoxing from social media.
Tarek Ezz (Egypt)
An avid lover of all things fantasy including the Arab king of the genre himself, Ahmed Khalid Tawfik, Tarek has been a lover of books since he was 5.
After completing his studies in the Art of Storytelling, he took everything he learnt and decided to take a more analytical approach when it comes to his BookTube content. He’d dive deep into each book and analyze its quality based on what he learnt in his degree. So, with him, you’ll be sure to get an honest, detailed review of each book prior to buying it.
He’s also the guy to watch before you head to any of Cairo’s book fairs and events. Prior to last year’s International book fair, he posted daily videos for ways on how to prepare for the event in terms of what to wear, if snacks are required and other important pieces of information to help make the visit more fun and organized.
Sami Al Batati (Saudi Arabia)
Sami is a mix of many things. He’s a writer, a devoted bookworm but also an electrical engineer. He’s the Winner of the 2019 IReadAwards. Since 2013, his channel has been devoted to reviewing the latest Arabic book releases. He also likes to tackle and discuss a wide range of topics within the realm of books including how to be intellectual in 5 mins and some of the weirdest book reading habits out there.
With more than a quarter million subscribers and a huge following on Instagram, he’s in the big leagues with content creators like Nedal and his channel is going strong!
Rana Najjar (Jordan)
One of the rare few who film their videos in English, with 2 years of book-tubing under her belt, Rana has made a name for herself as one of the more risk-taking booktubers out there. During Halloween, she decided to read Stephen King books for a month just for the fun of it. She also had to keep a good stock of tissue boxes nearby while reading books known to make people cry.
She has a devoted fan base of 1000 subscribers who rave about her on YouTube each week. She is equally devoted to them and in some videos, she would go out of her way to give a shoutout to some of her biggest fans like in her “2 Years on BookTube” video she released in early May. If you also want to be part of her loving fan base then give her channel a visit.
WE SAID THIS: Don’t miss Book Worms Get Ready! Egypt’s Long-Awaited International Book Fair Is Finally Taking Place