The emergence of book vloggers has offered people a window to gain a quick understanding of books potential readers might be interested in and helped develop a passion for reading in an era dominated by short videos and fragmented information.

On social media platforms, a growing number of book vloggers are sharing their reading experiences and recommending books they have read to their audiences through short videos and images.

One book vlogger has a total subscriber base of over 40 million across all social media platforms, with the total blog views exceeding 5 billion, and driving the sale of over 2 million books.

Xiaoxuan, a Beijing-based book vlogger who has over 2.3 million fans on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, told the Global Times in a recent interview that he regards the role of book vloggers as being akin to that of a "gatekeeper."

"We stand at the threshold of a literary work, condensing many works into short or long videos and enticing viewers to linger while we stir their intrinsic interest in reading.

We strive to let people feel the lure of a book so that they can choose to delve deeper into it, which is like stepping through the gates of the work to experience the pleasures within," said Xiaoxuan.

To merge his literary passion with the power of short video-sharing platforms, Xiaoxuan launched his book-sharing account in 2021 and is known for his distinctive insights into mystery novels.

He said that being a book vlogger changed his mind-set and has helped other people develop an interest in mystery fiction.

"While reading more books, I focus more on how to tease out the essence of the works, thinking about the structure and logic from the perspective of the authors. This leads to the transformation from a reader's mind-set to that of a blogger. Additionally, I'm happy to get to know many authors, editors, and fellow bloggers, and among them are quite a few that I had previously admired," he noted.

"I feel honored that my job could exert a subtle influence on potential readers. Some people who previously didn't love reading or had prejudices against mystery and detective fiction have gradually changed their views after watching our vlogs. They began to feel the joy of reading and started to enjoy mystery fiction," he said.