Look, y’all, Bookstagram has a weird layer beneath the beautiful, artful posts with perfect lighting. It mostly involves very old books, or donated books, or, most often, very old donated books. A bonus: These weird Bookstagram accounts often double as stores.
Also, please imagine with me: Wouldn’t it be great if you could smell this post? All those old books. Mmm.
So here are 25 weird Bookstagram accounts to follow to add some odd, vintage books into your feed. Because not everyone can have a perfectly curated book collection.
Awful Library Books
This one is honestly one of my favorite weird Bookstagram accounts to follow.
View this post on InstagramGrandma Goes Online 2001 #technology #Internet #seniors #collectiondevelopment #awfullibrarybooks
Bargain Bin Book Covers
When I grow up, I want to go to estate sales and photograph the weirdest books I find. WAIT, I COULD DO THAT NOW. Or just follow this account and live vicariously through it.
View this post on InstagramHuh. . . . #thecreationofhumanability #lronhubbard #scientologyhandbook #bearsuit #drumstick #turkeyleg #marlenedietrich #bootlegtwinpeaks #greenchair #blueeyes #cultfavorite
Black Pulp Fiction
From the bio: “Rethinking race, gender, and sexuality during the golden age of paperbacks.” I’m into it.
View this post on InstagramAmos Brooke, THE LAST TOKE (Holloway House, 1977). Cover illustration by Tony Gleeson. Cover design by Bill Bergmann. #joenazel #josephnazel #pulpfiction #hollowayhouse #donaldgoines #1977 #1970s #coverart #coverilluatration #target #assassin
bookcvlt
Sometimes they post really cool old covers, and sometimes they post really weird old covers. Just the way I like my internet.
View this post on InstagramOf Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (1955). A Bantam Book. Originally Published in 1937. Cover Artist Unknown.
Collectible Sci-Fi
The best part of this weird Bookstagram is you can buy the weird, rare books. All sci-fi, all the time.
View this post on Instagram$6 steals next or $20 all! #cliffordsimak #ursulakleguin #collectiblesciencefiction #csfbooks
Cool Book Art
This is mostly weird sci-fi art, and it is WEIRD.
View this post on InstagramInterplanetary Hunter from 1972 with a cool J.H.Breslow cover. Enjoy! #scifi #scifibooks #scifiart #sciencefictionart #spaceart #sciencefiction #fantasy #alien #pulpart #pulp #pulpfiction #coolbookart #books #space #coverdesign #bibliophile #imagination #sciencefictionbooks #bookcollector #coverart #bookcover #paperbacks #retro #retroart #astronaut #1970s #hunter #ace #jhbreslow
Cover Aesthetic
From the bio: “Handpicked books, aged to perfection.” Beautiful.
View this post on InstagramFaith of Tarot by Piers Anthony, 1980. This is a 1982 reprint with cover art by Melvyn Grant. Continuing the theme of finding out what jobs authors had before going full time. Piers Anthony was in the US army and later a schoolteacher. Anthonys website maintains an extensive list of publishers and his dealings with them, or the dealings of people who have passed them onto him. This seems to have arisen from a series of legal disputes he’s had over the years. In the course of writing this post, I also discovered that Piers has the distinction of having the shortest known published “Pangramatic window”. That is to say a “a stretch of naturally occurring text that contains all the letters in the alphabet”. Read 2004s ‘Cube Route” to see if you can find it! . . . . #art #author #aesthetic #artistsoninstagram #book #books #authorsofinstagram #piersanthony #xanth #bookblogger #bookstagram #bookworm #booknerd #bookphotography #booklover #library #paperback #fantasy #tarot #hell #demon #secondhand #thriftstore #vintage #vintagebooks #oldbooks #scifi #sciencefiction #satanic #typography
Cover Critiques
Reading and critiquing the covers of such classic series as The Baby-Sitters Club, Sweet Valley High, and more. What more could you want?
View this post on InstagramThis book legit scared me when I was a little kid (Sarah falls down the stairs and ALMOST DIES as a result of being LEFT BEHIND) but as an adult, the only thing I can focus on is the Jim Halpert-style fourth wall break her stuffed lion is rocking. If this cover was a documentary-style single camera sitcom it’d cut to a talking head where the lion confesses he’s always felt Sarah was a bit of a pansy. 🦁 . #covercritiques #svtcovercritiques #sweetvalleytwins #sweetvalley #90snostalgia #90skids #kidlit #childhoodbooks #retroreads #retroseries #bookstagram #bookaccount #bookaddict #bookblogger #bookcover
Donated Books
Y’all, this is simultaneously my favorite and least favorite account to follow on Instagram. The books are hilarious and scary and amazing all at once.
View this post on InstagramSex advice books are common in the non-fiction pile, but almost never with good covers. Here’s one. Great title, too. #book #bookish #bookstagram #bookshelf #bookaholic #bookaddict #booklover #riotgrams #booklove #booklovers #read #reading #booknerd #reader
Forgotten Bookmarks
Forgotten Bookmarks is a more delightful slice of old books. The owner runs a used bookstore and collects the items he finds inside donated books. He even put together a book, Forgotten Bookmarks, showcasing the highlights of his collection.
View this post on InstagramPhotograph, no date or writing on reverse. Found in “The Stories of John Cheever” published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1978. #forgottenbookmarks #foundphotography #cheever
Horror Finds
Spooky, weird horror books!
View this post on Instagram#FireFromHeaven: A Study Of #SpontaneousCombustion in Human Beings was one I NEVER thought I’d have #onsale. Grab it quick! . . . #spontaneoushumancombustion #nonfiction #curiosity #oddity #hardcover #bookstagram #70s #1970s #forsale #onsale #michaelharrison #horrorfinds
Joyland Books
I am here for all the bright, colorful backdrops this account uses to showcase weird, vintage books.
View this post on InstagramNight of The Iguana by Tennessee Williams, 1961 Signet printing, $7. 🦎💜💕🦎 #nightoftheiguana #tennesseewilliams #classicfilm #oldhollywood #vintageclassics #classicreads #beachreads #summerreads #bookgeeks #booknerd #bibliophiles #booksforsale #vintagebooksforsale #bookstoresofinstagram #readersofig #bookcovers #bookstagramit #bookish #southernwriters
Odd Archive Vintage Paperbacks
More weird sci-fi, ahoy!
View this post on InstagramAges in Chaos, Velikovsky’s follow up to the incredible Worlds in Collision. 1973
Paperback Goldmine
This weird Bookstagram really is a goldmine.
View this post on InstagramGoodis wrote like a fevered madman 😮 #davidgoodis Great deals when you buy 3 or more titles! Follow the link in the bio for more info. #book #books #bookobsessed #booksbooksbooks #bookstagram #booklover #igbooks #booknerd #booksofinstagram #instabook #novel #paperback #fiction #bookish #bookworm #bibliophile #bookcollection #read #reading #currentread #vintagebooks #booksforsale #usedbooks #bookstore #mystery #detective
Paperback Paradise
This account is a used bookstore that shares the weirdest of the weird that they find.
View this post on Instagram$1 #book
Paperbacks from Hell
They’re creepy and they’re spooky, they’re…Paperbacks from Hell.
View this post on InstagramCome and hear the tinkling of DEATH! This Wednesday, 3/20 @ 8pm, it’s Paperbacks from Hell LIVE in Charlottesville, VA! https://www.vabook.org/program/pb-from-hell-live/
The Preserving Machine
“Highly strange books.” You got that right.
View this post on InstagramDegrassi Talks Sexuality “The worst thing was going up to my mom and asking her for my first bra. It was so embarrassing.” “To be sexual, I think, is to celebrate life.” Kids talk to kids … about the joys and struggles of puberty … about wet dreams, first periods … about feeling attracted to the opposite sex, to the same sex. #degrassitalks #degrassitalkssexuality #degrassihigh #degrassijuniorhigh #thezits #sexeducation #puberty #90s #canadiana #spike #pride #teens #cbc #retroontario #drake #degrassithenextgeneration #canadiantelevision #aids #wetdreams #periods #trainingbra #usedbookstore #usedbooks #etsyseller #etsyshop #bookstagram #thepreservingmachine
Retro Reads
According to the account bio, they’re digitally archiving and restoring retro young adult and middle grade fiction. Because we really need to preserve these gems.
View this post on Instagram‘There’s a Bat in Bunk Five’ Marcy Lewis #2) by Paula Danziger (1980) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Marcy is thrilled when Ms. Finney asks her to be a junior counselor at a creative arts camp. This is her big chance to have a summer away from her family where no one knows how insecure she used to be. This could be the perfect summer, but will nosy, noisy, and difficult campers ruin it all?
Spooky Kids Books
Boo!
View this post on InstagramThis is just such a cute and wholesome book! Love it!! Thank you @_atariatlas for sending this in! 👻 #spookykidsbooks #submission #friendlyghost
Vintage Book Love
This account is run by an English teacher and it’s just the best.
View this post on InstagramAlways a thrill to see my students so thoroughly engage our literature.
Vintage Book Nerd
SO many classic kids books here, and I love them all.
View this post on InstagramI spent a perfectly lovely day at the beach today, but no waterskiing. #nancydrewfiles #nancydrew #vintagebooks
The Vintage Book Vault
Mostly horror and other spooky, old finds.
View this post on InstagramA classic up for sale in the #etsyshop (link in bio). I saw the movie version of this many years ago. Strange stuff. I think I still have the VHS. It was a Cronenberg film, right? . . . . . #williamsburroughs #nakedlunch #drugaddiction #heroin #drugs #bookshelf #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #bibliophile #bookcollection #bookish #bookbuy #etsy #etsyseller #booksale #booksforsale #bookworm #booklove #vintagebook #vintage #read #reading #bookvault #booknerd
Vintage Covers
Old book covers with reimagined titles. Brilliant.
View this post on Instagram“Did You Fart?” — Nasty Linda at the doctor’s again . Original title: “Linda Lust” by John Dexter (1964) . #fart #doctor #naked #lady #lindalust #lust #breasts #nude #book #books #bookcover #cover #coverart #coverdesign #vintage #novel #bookobsessed #vintage_covers #retro #spoof #parody #literature #nowreading #instabook #bookstagram
Weird Literature
I mean, it’s right there in the name.
View this post on InstagramContinuing with the #nsfw theme, but this time more high-brow because it’s #Taschen. #weirdliterature #weirdbooks #eroticart
Yearling Reads
Yearling Reads is a beautiful weird Bookstagram account with cute, old paperbacks.
View this post on InstagramNo Kiss for Mother by Tomi Ungerer * * * I recently found out that Tomi Ungerer passed away earlier this month. His work spanned generations and he is well known for his contributions to children’s literature, both as an illustrator and author. While perhaps he is best known for his illustrations of Flat Stanley, I will always remember him for this book. No Kiss for Mother is striking in both it’s simplicity and it’s message. It’s a short story of young boy who is trying so hard to grow up that he pushes his mother a little too far. Written in the early 70s, this book may feel a little dated in places, but I still love it- especially the beautiful illustrations. I recommend looking up Mr. Ungerer’s work if you haven’t had a chance to do so. His stories will make you laugh and smile, but might also make you think, which I believe is exactly what he wanted to do ❤️ . #tomiungerer #bookstagram #kidsbookstagram #kidsbooks #childrensbooks #childrensliterature #kidlit #dellyearling #dellyearlingbooks #bookaholic #bibliophile #bookcollector #bookcollection #booklove #bookworm #booknerd #igbooks #igreads #reading #currentlyreading #illustration #illustrator #bookcover #bookphotography #coverart
Please, please @ us with more weird book accounts on Instagram. They’re our favorites.
Source : Weird Bookstagram: 25 Accounts that Admire Odd Vintage Books
