Books by Youtubers

Recently, I’ve become fascinated with books written by Youtubers I enjoy. It all started when I heard that Hannah Hart had written a book version of her show, “My Drunk Kitchen.” Since then, I’ve done some searching as to what other Youtubers have books out and have started to read more. Here is my list, with a few comments on the ones I’ve finished, of books by Youtubers that I have recently read, am reading now, and plan to read soon.

Read:

My Drunk Kitchen: A Guide to Eating, Drinking, and Going with Your Gut by Hannah Hart: Really funny book. Some of the recipes are actually extremely clever, and I would actually be willing to try them even though they are meant to be silly. Good life lessons along with each dish; very creative and cute.

Grace’s Guide: The Art of Pretending to be a Grown-up by Grace Helbig: Also very funny and a timely read for my current life situation. Half jokes, half wisdom, though I feel like I already forgot most of it…

All I Know Now: Wonderings and Reflections on Growing Up Gracefully by Carrie Hope Fletcher: Definitely an advice book for teenagers, but being a teacher of teenagers (and not that far removed from the teen years myself), I found it interesting and engaging nonetheless. It’s also just a gorgeous physical object of a book. Purple ink accents! (read my full review)

Currently reading:

The Underground Storyteller by Alex Day: Separating the art from the artist here, I just plain adore Alex Day’s humor humour. Extremely interesting and engaging book (read my full review).

Want to read:

The Amazing Book is Not on Fire by Dan Howell and Phil Lester

You’re Never Weird on the Internet – Almost by Felicia Day

Mamrie Hart also has a book out called You Deserve a Drink, and even MirandaSings has a self-help book (which is probably absolutely hilarious).

So many Youtubers coming out with books! I was thinking about this trend as I continued to find more books and realized (after reading Grace Helbig’s and Hannah Hart’s books especially) that I am totally a victim of a brilliant scheme. I mean, if you love watching a Youtuber, you will obviously go out and buy their book because you are a fan. But with books like Hannah’s and Grace’s (and probably Miranda’s as well), I know am almost certainly never going to pick them up off my shelf again. They are almost like those gift books that you buy for someone because they are cute and remind you of a particular person. You know of what I speak: “100 Things You Didn’t Know About Disney World!” or “Gumpy Cat: A Grumpy Book” (yes, it exists). You read them quickly, and then…that’s it. They have no depth or lasting quality because it was just a fun read and you were tricked into buying it because of the novelty. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. I obviously want to support these YouTubers in their endeavors, because I’m going to take a wild guess and say that being a professional YouTube star doesn’t make a ton of money. Being a fan and a reader, I am happy to buy any books they come out with. I just find it an interesting new phenomenon that these audio/visual artists are applying their talents and reaching their audiences now via print as well. And I think ultimately, some will prove better at it than others; some will be fun novelties, while others will be genuinely good, memorable books.

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