Complete Guide to Bookstagram Acronyms & Phrases: What is the Online Book Community Talking About?

Are you a bookstagram newbie? Or do you follow a couple of bookstagrams and you are confused by the strange collections of letters creators use on their Instagram? Well, look no further because I am coming to you today with an almost complete guide to bookstagram acronyms!

I was scrolling through Instagram the other day, checking out my fellow bookish content creators, when I realized, we talk in a completely different language sometimes. We will be writing sentences like…

“I just DNFed the most anticipated book on my TBR, ACOTAR, because the POV of the MC was written horribly.”

That sentence makes complete sense to me, but looking at that from an outside perspective would be so confusing. Therefore, I can’t imagine how intimidating it must feel to join the bookstagram community and have to learn a completely new set of lingo and acronyms. I know I was confused when I started, constantly googling what everything meant.

So, in an attempt to open up the bookstagram community a little, I am writing this list or glossary of bookstagram acronyms and phrases that bookstagrammers and book bloggers commonly use. I am also going to include a list of book title acronyms I see often as I scroll through my bookish social media feeds.

Social media is amazing at connecting people with others who share similar passions and interests. This is why I love the book community. It is a massive group of people and it is constantly growing and expanding, which brings in new voices and ideas. Because of this, everyone is welcome as long as you are kind and accepting of others. While this is an amazing and exciting thing, if you don’t understand what people are talking about, getting discouraged and losing interest is easy. So understanding the bookish acronyms and phrases is essential.

Although this won’t be a complete and comprehensive list, I am going to try to include all of the commonly used bookstagram acronyms and phrases. There are way too many book title acronyms to put into one blog post, so this won’t contain them all. But I am going to include all the common ones I can think of, and any I see pop up while scrolling through Bookstagram and book Twitter.

What are the different Bookish Internet Communities?

There are so many places that book lovers get together on the Internet. One of my favorite aspects of being a reader is the sense of community. From the book clubs to random conversations with like-minded people, it has made me feel far less lonely than I did before I found it.

This list of online book communities is going to start with the most common/popular and move on from there.

1. Bookstagram: A place to share photos of your favorite books and celebrate the aesthetic and beauty of reading.
2. Book Twitter: Here, you can share short thoughts about books and reading. Twitter is also a fantastic place to form connections with other book worms.
3. Booktube: Youtube for book worms, booktube is a way creators can make content all about books. It is like taking a book blog and throwing a camera in front of it.
4. Book Tok: The online book community on tick tok seems to be on the rise. It is basically a shorter version of book tube. Book tok is to booktube as book twitter is to book blogs.
5. Facebook Groups: There are facebook groups for everything, but especially for readers. You can join a book club, where everyone reads the same book each month and discusses, or a general book lover group, talking about anything and everything bookish.
6. Goodreads: This is an app where many readers turn to for book reviews and recpmmendations. You can create shelves based on your favorite books, your anticipated reads, and even books you hated.
7. Storygram: A newer app in the bookish world, Storygram is another way readers can post their reviews of books while also gaining insight into their reading statistics.
8. Book Blogs: If you are reading this post, you already know about book blogs because… I am a book blog. You are currently reading a book blog. Book blogs are used for long discussion posts, lists of recommendations, and book reviews. Although discussion can happen in the comments section, it isn’t as easy or as common, so it is mainly one sided.
9. Book Tumblr: Similar to Twitter, people write short, or sometimes long, posts about book related topics. Tumblr is a great place for people to share fanfiction and fan art as well.

General Bookish Acronyms and Phrases

1. Book Hangover
   • Do you know that feeling when you finish a really good book, movie, or show and it is all you can think about? You don’t even want to start a new show or read a new book, so all you do is sit and stare at a blank wall. That is a book hangover.
2. Book Haul
   • There is nothing like acquiring books. There is so much excitement with knowing you get to dive into an exciting story
   • When a creator does a book haul, they are showing off the new, used, or library books that have recently added to their collection.
3. Book Tag
   • This one is more common on booktube and book blogs, but they are definitely on bookstagram as well.
   • Book tags are a set of questions that creators make, usually surrounding a theme. Other creators answer these questions and then tag others to do the same.
   • You can check out an example here, my original Halloweentown Book Tag.
4. Canon
   • Coming from an old religious term, canon is something that is written directly in the text, or in the movie/series. Canon information comes directly from the author or creators words.
5. Content Warning/Trigger Warning
   • Many bookish content creators include content warnings when talking about books. This is a list of potetially uncomfortable or upsetting content that a book my contain.
   • There is also a website you can visit for trigger warnings for a huge list of books, which you can visit here.
6. DNF: Did not finish
   • When you DNF a book, you have started reading it, decided you did not want to proceed any longer, so you stopped. Pretty simple.
   • There are so many reasons to DNF a book, whether it’s boring, you hate the characters, or problematic content, each and every reason to DNF a book is valid.
7. Fan art
   • Fan art happens when a creator takes the characters or setting from a book and creates art from it.
   • For people with aphantasia, fan art is a blessing. I only know what characters look like because of fan art.
8. Fanfiction
   • Fanfiction is when a fan or reader takes the characters, plot, or setting from a book and uses it to write their own story.
   • It can happen to the same characters, years later, or it can take the original story and compltely flip it. There is no limit to fanficiton.
9. MC: Main Character
   • The MC is the character you spend most of the story with and the action of the plot is happening to them.
   • You can have multiple main characters as well. For example, One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus follows four MCs.
10. POV: Point of view
    • The POV of a book is the lens in which the reader is consuming the story. It is the character that the author follows while telling the story.
    • It is also how close the reader is to the main character. Are we in their head, or are we watching from above.
    • There are three main types of POVs, first person, thrid person, and third person omnisient.
11. QOTD: Question of the Day
    • If you have scrolled through bookstagram, you have probably seen the acronym, QOTD. This is a question that a lot of content creators include in each of their posts to engage with other book lovers.
    • The questions can be random or book related. The creator asks the QOTD, then others comment with answers to the question.
    • It is a way to get engagement up on posts, which helps in the Instagram algorithm.
12. Ship
    • Deriving from the word “relationship,” ship is a word that describes two characters you think go well together, or who you think should be in a relationship.
    • These can be canon (see above), or something you wish the author would make canon.
13. TBR: To be Read
    • Your TBR is the list of books that have peaked your interest enough for you to say, “I want to read that.”
    • Most of our TBR’s are endless. If you have a Goodreads account, your “to read” shelf is your TBR, mine currently has over 400 books on it, 437 to be exact.
    • Your physical TBR is the books you have in your posession, such as physical books, library books, and ebooks, that you plan on reading sooner or later.
14. Trope
    • Tropes are talked about a lot in the book community. They are repeated plot devices, chracter arcs, or settings that are used in literature to convey a message.
    • Enimies to lovers, found family, and instalove are all examples of tropes.
    • Many people talk about tropes on bookstagram because they help identify books that someone might enjoy realding. For example, I love enemies to lovers so when people talk about that trope, I know I should pay attention. Who knows, I might find a new favorite book.
    • If you want more on tropes, check out this post I wrote, talking about my favorite tropes in horror.
15. YA: Young Adult
    • This term describes any book written for a young audience, usually between the ages of 13-18
    • Although YA books have a young intended audience, anyone can read them.

Book Title Acronyms

The bookish internet community is fast-moving. There is always someone posting new content and talking about new books. So, in order to quicken up our conversations, bookstagram acronyms are often used for those long-winded titles authors and publishers have been loving recently.

So, if you have ever found yourself in a pickle, trying to figure out what book everyone is talking about, I have a list of some of the common book title acronyms I have seen around bookstagram, book twitter, and the bookish community.

1. ACSDAL: A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
2. ACOTAR: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Mass
3. AEITA: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
4. ASOWAR: A Song of Wraithes and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown
5. CK: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
6. GoPaF: Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
7. HJTR: Hunting Jack the Ripper by Kerrie Maniscalco
8. HoSaS: House of Sal and Sarrows by Erin A. Craig
9. KoD: The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
10. KotW: Kingdome of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco
11. NH: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
12. OOUIL: One of Us is Laying by Karen M. McManus
13. RQ: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
14. SoC: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
15. TCP: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
16. THG: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
17. TILOAL: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by Victoria Schwab
18. TPW: The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang
19. WDD: Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles
20. WHTF: We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

I am hoping this list of bookstagram acronyms can help clear the fog and confusion that often surrounds internet communities. Everyone is welcome in the bookish internet community, so there is no reason some confusing acronyms need to get in the way.

If you are interested in learning more about the bookstagram community, feel free to contact me or check out my Instagram. The online book community has been a blessing for me. I have met so many amazing people, and I have learned about some incredible books. I wouldn’t change my time on bookstagram and my blog for anything, so I hope I can help someone else start that journey as well.

Check out my bookstagram by visiting this link!

You can also check out my book twitter here!

Comment down below if there are any other bookstagram acronyms or phrases that aren’t on this list! I would be happy to expand this little glossary of bookish terms, and I know I missed some!