BookTalk: Content creator Dayana Yakob sets reading goals on apps and paints book edges as a hobby

Who: Dayana Yakob, 25, is the founder of The Meet Cuties book club for romance readers. The inaugural session was held at independent bookstore Book Bar in August and upcoming sessions will be announced via the group’s social media accounts. With more than 1,000 followers on TikTok (

@readsbydayana

), she posts videos covering topics ranging from recommendations to unboxings to painting book edges.

“I’m rereading Charlie, Love And Cliches (2023) by my favourite author, Ella Maise. The book follows Charlie as she tries not to fall in love with her new colleague who once stood her up. I’m indulging in a touch of delulu (being delusional) by living out a workplace romance through books – a great reprieve from the chaos of reality.

Maise’s books are a comfort read for me. I first fell in love with her book, Marriage For One (2019), in which the male character, Jack Hawthorne, is the definition of the cold guy who is warm on the inside.

I often get book recommendations through BookTok and Bookstagram. I then search for them on Goodreads to see the average rating. I would consider a book rated four stars or above as a fan favourite, which I would definitely pick up.

I make it a habit to commit at least 15 minutes every night to reading, and I set that as a daily goal on my Apple Books app. Reading helps me unwind for a while after a long day at work.

My favourite go-to bookstore was the Times Bookstore at Waterway Point, which is why I was sad that it

closed down in 2024.

I often get my books from Amazon, but I visit Popular when shopping locally.

I usually read e-books as I find it faster to read through a screen. I often also read in bed right before sleeping, which makes holding my e-reader more comfortable than a bulky physical book.

Physical books serve as trophies on my shelf, marking the joy of reading them, and I sometimes annotate them as well.

As a book collector, I have a particular love for special editions, especially the FairyLoot and Illumicrate editions. When my budget doesn’t allow for a special edition, I turn to painting my own book edges, which is a therapeutic activity for me. I enjoy taking the time to match the paint perfectly with the book cover.

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston is a book I return to often. It was my book club’s first read-along. We thought it would be a light, fluffy romance, but it explored themes such as death, grief and loss, with romance as more of a subplot. It was an emotionally heavy read, but very relatable.

I lost my dad a year ago, so it touched me deeply and I even cried a few times while reading it. Any book that moves me like that is a five-star read.”