For some reason, I was a numpty and thought last week was the “freebie” end-of-the-month topic (I think I’m too excited for February to come, lol) and since my head wasn’t in the right space, I decided to skip it. Silly me! We’re back on track today though, haha!
Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits where we get to discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! Check out January’s and all the past topics if you want to join the bookish discussion fun.
Today’s topic is:
Bookish Trends of 2024
Prompts: Looking back on the past year, what bookish trends have you noticed? Are there certain tropes that have become more popular? New types of blogging and book-related content being posted? Do you have favourite trends? Least favourites? Do you notice trends shifting dramatically from previous years?
What bookish trends have you noticed? Are there certain tropes that have become more popular?
I have to admit that I’m not someone who pays much attention to things on social media or when I’m browsing the interwebs. I’m also not on TikTok and I’m a ghost on bookstagram where I feel like a lot of bookish community topics are frequently discussed, which makes this topic a bit “outside of my comfort zone”. But it made me think more about what I noticed outside of my general bubble of consuming books and I came up with one or two things. 🤭
Cosy fantasy: Similarly, it feels like cosy fantasies have proliferated the market in 2024 and I now see many fantasies labelled as “cosy” when before there was only a handful of titles marketed as such. I’ve read a few but there are so many that I’ve kind of lost track of them as the year went on.
Healing Fiction: I think the rise of healing fiction is probably the biggest bookish trend I’ve noticed in 2024. I didn’t even know this was the term for these translated works from Japanese and Korean authors until I saw the Popsugar Reading Challenge prompt and googled what type of books those were! 🤣 Other than “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” I have yet to pick up another “healing fiction” book but I do have a few on my TBR and I’m looking forward to seeing if they do live up to the hype.
AI in books: I’ve seen discussions about AI in books making non-stop rounds in 2024. From writing to covers to publishing houses solely focusing on AI works, it was a hot topic and I think it will continue to be one in the coming years.
Favourite and Least Favourite Trends
My least favourite trend is obviously about AI in books. I don’t want to support AI in books in any form. I don’t think it’s fair to the authors and artists who get their works stolen or copied as a result. I admit that it’s not always easy for me to tell when something is done by AI, especially book covers, but I have been getting suspicious a lot lately as I feel it’s becoming increasingly utilized (not just by indie or self-pub authors but also by big publishers)! 🫣
In terms of favourite trends? Well, I can’t say that I’m mad about the rise of cosy fantasy and healing fiction but maybe that’s because these are subgenres that I don’t often read despite how often popular titles get added to my TBR. 🤭 I think in the state of the world that we live in now if people can escape, gain comfort, and find solace/healing in the stories they read, then more power to them!
What trends did you notice in 2024? Have you noticed certain tropes becoming more popular? What were your favourite/least favourite trends?
dinipandareads 
Yeah…. I recently saw a controversy where a popular self-published author left a Chat GPT prompt in the text of the book itself. I see a lot of writers say stuff like, “Why would you do that? Writing the book is the fun part!” But of course people even before gen AI have recommended “self-publish a book as a means of making money”, and AI just facilitates that. If you see writing as a potential income source rather than a hobby or a craft or anything like that then of course the goal is to release as many books as possible and see what sells
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Oh, I saw that controversy too actually and with the number of books that author apparently publishes every year I don’t think it’s very surprising? But I get why readers would be disappointed learning about it!
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Oh wait I totally forgot about cozy fantasy and healing fiction!
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Cozy fantasy definitely had their moment in 2024, it’s everywhere! I know romantasy is not new, but I feel like all books are marketed as such last year and as someone who doesn’t really read romance, I had a hard time looking for books that interest me :’)
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I totally agree about fantasy romance! I actually had a paragraph about how the trend has really reached its peak in 2024 but I felt like it wasn’t really a new trend so I took it out, haha. But I don’t think that’s a trend that will die anytime soon and I’m not sure how I feel about it. It is a bit tiring to see everything being marketed as fantasy romance but it’s great that lots of indie authors have been discovered thanks to their books being on Kindle Unlimited!
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Maybe I haven’t seen AI in much because I read a lot of contemporaries, but I am loving all the healing fiction, and cozy fantasy has gotten me to read a bit of fantasy in the past year. Just finished The Crescent Moon Tearoom.
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Oh thats called healing fiction? i love these!! I read before the coffee gets cold, what youre looking for is in the library and im currently reading the full moon coffee shop. I can definately see why it’s called that- meanwhile I called them just japanese translations 🙈
Id say romantasy had also seen s boost?
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When I read the title, I thought I wouldn’t know any of these trends, but as you were listing them I kept agreeing.
AI in books, or in anything related to artistry, needs to stop. I have only seen it with images, I am not sure if I know any AI covers, but there were a lot of artists complaining about the use of AI for that. The problem is that I might have seen it but did not realize it, so hopefully it goes away soon so artists can continue doing their work.
I did not know about healing fiction; it made so much sense when I read about it and saw your definition but I didn’t know that’s what it was called. I haven’t read any cosy fantasies, I think, but they sound nice. I wonder if some of the books marketed as cosy fantasies are actually that or are just thrown into that category because it’s what’s popular.
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[…] Let’s Talk Bookish: Bookish Trends of 2024 […]
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I agree with all of this, Dini! I (obviously) hate AI and it’s rise and it’s driving me bananas, especially as an author and editor. I am excited about the rise of cozy fantasy! Honestly, as someone who loves intense, twisty and heartbreaking epic fantasy, it’s been a surprise how much I’ve enjoyed the (albeit few) cozy fantasies I’ve read! But I’m excited to read more in 2025!
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[…] Dini discusses bookish trends of 2024. […]
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I’ve never heard of ‘healing fiction’ before but have certainly noticed the proliferation of Japanese/Korean books that all follow a similar format and cosy fantasy definitely seems to be huge at the moment. As with everything else, the quality of these varies hugely. Some seem to be very derivative.
AI is so worrying in terms of what it will replace. I have read that some books have covers designed by AI already which puts cover designers out of a job. Sadly, AI can’t come and clean my house for me☹️
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Ahh I didn’t know the term ‘healing fiction’ either! That seems like a nice way to group those type of books.
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