#BookTok star Oliver James reaches major reading goal
One year after embarking on a mission to read, a California man has reached a major milestone on his literacy journey.
"In the beginning of the year, I set out to read 100 books -- and finally, thanks to all of you, we accomplished our goal," TikTok user Oliver James announced in a Dec. 31 video before holding up a paperback copy of "Holes" by Louis Sachar.
"I finished my 100th book. Happy New Year," he added, holding up a celebratory drink and clinking it with the camera screen before taking a sip.
James told "Good Morning America" last January that he began learning how to read after his wife gave him a book of quotations, "365 Quotes to Live Your Life By" by I. C. Robledo. The father of one and aspiring motivational speaker began documenting his progress on TikTok, where he has since picked up nearly 300,000 followers and fans.
"I just went out and read one word. One word turned into two, two words turned into three. That turned into a page," the #BookTok star recounted at the time.
James, who often records his TikTok videos from his van, has gone from one word and one book to countless words and a variety of books, from children's books such as "A Kids Book About Imagination" by LeVar Burton of "Reading Rainbow" fame to middle-grade books like "Knockout" by K. A. Holt and classics like Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "The Little Prince."
James is also now able to read the comments fellow TikTok users leave for him and regularly shares replies to some of the feedback. He said he hopes to continue reading every day in 2024 as well.
"So, I've been thinking of saying something that I do on a day-to-day basis now, [which] I didn't do before when I couldn't read -- and I'mma tell y'all, one of the most amazing things I can do now is read comments," James said in a recent video.
He continued, laughing, "Some of these comments... how do y'all come up with the stuff that y'all saying?!"
In the caption of the post, James added that he is "so grateful for my community" for their support.
"Thank you for how you treat me," he wrote.
