The Human Side of Bookstagram ft. Ria
In a digital landscape often dominated by metropolitan voices, Rajlaxmi Chowdhury, fondly known as Ria, has quietly carved out a space that feels both intimate and far-reaching. From Odisha, a state rarely spotlighted in India’s Bookstagram conversations, Ria built ‘sentencesiloved’ not as a brand strategy, but as a personal archive of words, books, and moments that stayed with her. What began during the stillness of the COVID-19 lockdown soon grew into a recognisable presence in the online reading community, drawing in readers from across countries and cultures.
Today, Ria balances her life as a social media manager in Bengaluru with reading, content creation, and nurturing a deeply engaged community that values honesty over hype. Her journey reflects the evolving nature of Bookstagram itself; rooted in community, shaped by algorithms, challenged by AI, and sustained by genuine connection. From hosting local book meets in Bhubaneswar to collaborating with major publishers, and from literary fiction to comforting reads, her story is as much about growth as it is about staying grounded.
In this conversation with My City Links, Ria reflects on representation, creative burnout, community-building beyond metro cities, and what it means to let content evolve alongside the person behind it.
You’re one of the first Bookstagram creators from Odisha. How did your journey begin, and what drew you to this niche?
During Covid, I was spending entire days on the internet, hopping between creators like Jack Edwards, Noelle Gallagher, and ‘Willow Talks Books’, to name a few. After months of watching their worlds, you start noticing the lack of relatability and representation in these niches. There weren’t many voices from India in that space, and virtually none from my hometown, Bhubaneswar, neither from Odisha that I could notice.
Not a lot of thought went into creating my page. I just wanted a space to keep a track of what I am reading and the quotes that resonated with me. That’s how ‘'sentencesiloved'’ (my instagram handle) got its name.
The moment it shifted from a personal log to something larger is still clear in my head. The algorithm favoured, and one of my early videos travelled far beyond my then 1800 followers. People from different countries were showing up in the comments. That was the first time I realised I had accidentally stepped into Bookstagram.
What do you do professionally, and how do you balance your work life with reading and content creation?
I work as a social media manager, with clients in the education and F&B industry, and the pace has definitely picked up since I moved to Bengaluru. With that shift, reading naturally slipped into the background for a while. I didn’t realise how much it grounded my creativity until I went nearly two months without touching a book. The difference was immediate; my ideas felt rushed and thinner. So I’ve rebuilt the habit of reading at least fifty pages a day, no matter how busy the week looks.
Balancing work and my own content is still a work in progress. Managing multiple clients means my head is constantly tracking trends, strategies, and engagements. By the end of the day, switching that same brain into “create for yourself” mode is tough. That’s something I want to correct in the coming year, making space for my page instead of treating it like an afterthought.
Despite the inconsistency, the community around ‘sentencesiloved’ has stayed with me. The page has quietly grown into a defining part of my portfolio. It reminds me that even slow, imperfect creation still adds up to something meaningful.
Being from a place where Bookstagram wasn’t initially popular, did you face any early challenges?
Bookstagram thrives on community, and in the beginning, that was the toughest part,there just weren’t many readers around me who were engaging online. Most major events still happened in cities like Delhi or Mumbai, and with my work schedule, travelling often wasn’t realistic. It created this odd feeling of being part of the digital space but far from the physical ecosystem.
The turning point for me was discovering the reading community at Three Chariots Coffee in Bhubaneswar. I’ve been part of their circle for almost two years now, and watching them build a creative space for readers, artists, and young people here has made me genuinely proud. They’re proving that Odisha can nurture its own cultural pockets without waiting for the metros to lead the way.
One of my favourite moments was hosting a book meet there in collaboration with Pan Macmillan India. It felt like a small preview of what the future could look like,local spaces enabling national-level conversations. Seeing how Three Chariots Coffee continues to grow makes me hopeful that we’re just at the beginning of something exciting in Odisha’s reading culture.
How has the growth of your Instagram account impacted you creatively, or personally?
The growth of my Instagram has shaped me in more ways than I expected. Creatively, it trained my eye before anything else,I learned editing through trial and error, and over time I could sense trends long before they became mainstream. Those small skills added up and strengthened my career as a social media manager. Understanding what lands, what doesn’t, and why something works on the internet has been a huge advantage professionally.
On a personal level, the experience has been both grounding and unpredictable. There have been frustrating moments,like seeing my content copied word-for-word and everyone pretending not to notice,but even those incidents reminded me of the people who quietly had my back. Some of those “strangers on the internet” have turned into genuine friends, far beyond just Bookstagram mutuals.
Do brands or publishers now approach you for collaborations? What kinds of partnerships do you usually engage in?
Collaborations began fairly early for me, around the time I had just 2,000 followers. Pan Macmillan India was one of the first to take a chance on 'sentencesiloved', and their team, Divyanshi and Anahita, played a big role in helping the page grow.
When it comes to book partnerships, keeping my reading experience honest matters a lot to me, and paid reviews sometimes create a subtle pressure to highlight only the positives. Bookmail gives me the freedom to read and respond naturally. One thing I’m quietly proud of is that even during my phase of minimal reading and posting, I was added to the creator circles for Bloomsbury and Hachette. It felt like a little nudge from the universe, proof that consistency matters, even if you’re not showing up perfectly. It definitely motivated me to return to the page with more intention.
Recently, because I also work in the F&B industry, I’ve started getting invites and collaboration offers from that space too. It’s a completely different kind of partnership, more experiential, more visual, and I’m genuinely excited to explore where that crossover between books, lifestyle, and food might lead.
What inspired you to expand to YouTube, and how different is vlogging from your Bookstagram workflow? What type of content do you enjoy filming the most for your YouTube channel?
‘Is This a Vlog’, my youtube channel actually came before 'sentencesiloved'. I’ve always been the “video friend” in my group. The channel was born from that instinct to document us growing up rather than from any content strategy.
Vlogging feels far more casual to me. A Bookstagram post needs planning, editing, and a certain aesthetic. YouTube, on the other hand, lets me show up as I am. I don’t overthink the angles or the lighting the way I do on Instagram; it feels like a different kind of breathing space.
My channel isn’t tied to a niche yet, but I love the idea of leaning into travel content in the future. That’s the format I enjoy filming the most, capturing movement, places, and people without scripting it too much. Consider this my early announcement: I fully intend to become your upcoming travel influencer. You heard it here first.
Can you walk us through your process of creating a Bookstagram post from idea to final edit?
A Bookstagram post usually starts with one of two things: what I’m reading or what everyone else around me is talking about. With my schedule now, most of my posts lean toward the former,books I’ve actually finished or am in the middle of.
One of my favourite formats, and the one that unexpectedly blew up with 12 million views, is the “Beginner’s Guide to XYZ Author” series. I split the author’s works into two groups: what I’ve read and what I haven’t explored yet. It keeps the post honest and helps people see the full picture rather than just a curated list.
The structure is simple but effective. I start with who the author is, then move into their writing style, and finally explain why I think someone should read their work. It gives viewers a sense of the author’s world, not just a recommendation list. For each book I mention, I add either a very short summary or a handful of keywords,almost like a blind-book-date hint. And sometimes, just to keep things light, I slip in a meme or two.
Once the content is ready, I polish the edits and then… send it to my friends for review because I’m chronically convinced something needs fixing. Their feedback is my unofficial final step before posting.
What’s the most challenging aspect of being a Bookstagram creator today?
Right now, the biggest challenge is the rise of AI in creative spaces. It began with people using AI to make their posts look more aesthetic, which felt harmless at first. But very quickly it slipped into the writing itself. AI-generated reviews are everywhere, and most readers can’t easily tell the difference between a real, lived-in response to a book and something written by a model. It makes it harder for genuine voices to stand out.
Attention span plays its own role, too. We’re working with a three-second window on the internet, and that affects everything,from how long someone will look at a post to how patiently they’ll read an actual review. That same shrinking attention is spilling into our reading lives as well, which is worrying in its own way.
For me personally, one of the toughest moments was when someone in the same circle copied my content. It made me question whether originality still mattered. But I’ve realised this is something every creative field deals with. The only real way forward is to focus on why you started, reading books and writing about them, and not let numbers or engagement metrics shake your footing. I’m still learning that part, but it feels like an important lesson for anyone creating online today.
As a reader, which genres or themes do you find yourself drawn to the most, and why?
I’ve been reading since I was ten, so my taste has moved through many phases,Young Adult, romance, fantasy, all of it. These days I find myself drawn most to literary fiction, especially stories that explore mother–daughter relationships. Something is fascinating about how writers capture the small tensions, tenderness, and unspoken expectations that shape that bond.
I’m also deeply interested in books that look closely at human relationships in general,the quiet politics of family, friendship, love, and identity. I tend to gravitate toward protagonists who push back against the roles society assigns them and carve out room for themselves, even if the process is messy.
And yes, I had my era of reading Durjoy Datta and Colleen Hoover with full enthusiasm. I don’t feel embarrassed about it at all; reading is a journey. What matters is becoming aware of your choices and slowly finding books that challenge you, expand your perspective, and stay with you long after you’re done.
Has being a Bookstagrammer influenced your reading choices or pushed you to explore new genres?
Absolutely, being on Bookstagram has definitely influenced what I read. I naturally lean toward contemporary literature, but being active in this space exposes me to new releases, lesser-known authors, and conversations I wouldn’t have discovered on my own. It’s like having a constantly updating bookshelf in front of me, which makes choosing my next read a lot more intuitive.
Bookstagram, and honestly, the internet in general, can be wonderfully chaotic in the best way. I’ve had authors follow me back, which always sends me into a small existential spiral. It’s surreal to think someone whose work I admire knows I exist. The highlight recently was Meiko Kawakami commenting on one of my posts. I was on cloud nine for days.
In that sense, yes, this space nudges me to pick up books I may not have found otherwise, and it keeps my reading life far more dynamic than it used to be.
Which book recommendations are you most proud of, the ones that followers still message you about?
There isn’t one specific book that stands out, but I’m especially proud of the feel-good recommendations I’ve shared over time. A lot of people still message me asking for comforting reads, especially during low or overwhelming phases, and that’s always meant a lot to me.
Lately, I’ve been recommending T. J. Klune quite a bit. His books feel like emotional safe spaces, gentle, hopeful, and deeply reassuring. I often pair those suggestions with works by Becky Chambers, whose writing has a similar warmth and sense of quiet optimism. Both authors create worlds that feel like a pause button, and knowing that my recommendations have helped someone find that kind of comfort is incredibly rewarding.
What does it mean to you to represent Odisha in the online reading and content-creation community?
Representing Odisha online feels less like a label and more like being part of a slow, exciting shift. Over the past few months, I’ve noticed more creators from the state finding their voice, not just on Bookstagram, but also in lifestyle and travel. Watching that growth makes me genuinely curious about where Odisha’s content-creation scene is headed.
What excites me most is not just individual growth, but the way community-focused spaces are starting to take shape. When people choose creative fields and local platforms support them, it changes what’s possible. I’m hopeful that Odisha will move beyond one-off, calendar-marked literary festivals and into a culture of regular, accessible events where readers and creators can actually meet and exchange ideas. Spaces like Three Chariots Coffee embody that shift for me. Being part of their reading community has shown me how powerful it is to build something locally while thinking nationally. Their plans to expand into a larger space for events and collaborations feel like a natural next step, and I’m excited to see how that growth opens doors, not just for me, but for many others in the community.
How do you cope with reading slumps or burnout when they hit?
I don’t think there’s a fixed formula for getting out of a reading slump. What works once doesn’t always work the next time, and I’ve learned to stop forcing it. When I do feel stuck, I usually read the first few chapters of multiple books from my TBR and then commit to the one that naturally holds my attention. It takes the pressure out of choosing “the right” book.
Sometimes I go even smaller,picking up books under a hundred pages just to rebuild the habit of reading without exhaustion. The goal, at least for me, is momentum rather than depth.
A few books that have helped pull me out of slumps recently include The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante, works by Han Kang, and, when nothing else works, a comforting romance like Ashley Poston’s.
Looking ahead, where do you see your content journey going, any new formats or dreams you want to pursue?
Looking ahead, I see my content becoming a little more lived-in and less boxed into one category. Because of the work I do now, I find myself spending more time in physical spaces,literary events, café launches, food-related gatherings,and I’m increasingly interested in documenting those experiences.
I’ve been thinking about letting 'sentencesiloved' grow beyond just books and slowly evolve into a lifestyle space, one where reading still sits at the centre but shares room with my other interests. It’s exciting, but also a little intimidating. The community I have today showed up for books, and I don’t take that lightly. I’m still figuring out how they’ll respond to seeing more of my life beyond pages and reviews.
That uncertainty is part of the process, though. I want to allow the page to grow the way I have,curious, a bit experimental, and grounded in things that genuinely interest me. Wherever it goes next, I hope it stays honest and human.
