The way I saw it, bookish tattoos were a way to declare your undying love for a certain book, book series or fictional character. Most general book tattoos suggested nothing more than a love for the written word. That’s why I decided to get my tattoo.
My tattoo:
Ever since I had heard about The Semicolon Project, I knew that I wanted to get the symbol tattooed on my skin. Like many others, I have had my own battle with my mental health. I also knew I needed to get some sort of bookish tattoo because well… I’m quite involved in the book community. I never thought about putting the semicolon and the book together in a tattoo until I saw a picture on Pinterest that inspired me to design my own tattoo. It makes sense, after all, books have helped me tremendously. I have read so many stories that focused on mental health awareness, and they showed me that I was not alone in what I was feeling. My tattoo not only serves as a reminder of my self-destructive past, but it’s also the best conversation starter. Funny story, I actually had a girl stop me on the streets of NYC to show me her own semicolon tattoo. There was no need for words because our tattoos alone bridged a gap between two incredible stories.
Before I could make the leap, however, I had to have a plan of what I wanted to get inked. My fear of commitment coupled with my fear of how much the tattoo would hurt made me one anxious booklover. I took to Instagram to get inspired for the idea behind my bookish tattoo. Here are just a handful of my favorite bookish tattoos on Instagram. Remember if you have a cool bookish tattoo you’d like to share with us that wasn’t mentioned here, don’t forget to tag us @onfrolic on Twitter and Instagram!
@bookstorefinds
Andrea’s Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo tattoo represents a popular trademark of the duology. Every member of The Dregs, a gang in the fictional world, has this crow-and-cup tattoo on their forearm. The ‘NMNF’ stands for ‘No Mourners No Funerals,’ which for short ran as good luck among the gang. Easily the most recognizable insignia on Bookstagram, this has to be one of my favorite bookish tattoos. It is also one I hope to get on my forearm one day.
@emmmabooks
Emma’s tattoo is the epitome of creative and ingenious. The idea behind it is just so cool! Essentially all the letters and numerals can be found in this monogram (I’m not kidding. Take the time to find each one. It’s fun!) Like it says in her caption, she has every letter of every word of every book she’s ever read tattooed on her body. Need I say more?
@lookingforabura
When I first saw Abeer’s tattoo, the first words that came to mind weren’t “bookish tattoo”. I had to scour the comments and make sure it was a book that I was seeing! I think this tattoo is a very abstract way of showing the twirling pages of a book. It is simple and dainty, yet really elegant. I also think the placement of the tattoo was perfect.
@simply_kenna
Of course, I had to include a Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling-inspired tattoo in this post. When I was scouring the internet to find the best bookish tattoos to include, I ran into a ton of Harry Potter tattoos. It was hard to chose just one, but I settled on this one from McKenna and her best friend. It just seems poetic to me how they split up the famous phrase to make the perfect best friend tattoo.
@thesebooklions
Hailee’s tattoo says “do not let that light go out” and it is a quote from Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas. Not only did Hailee get a tattoo of a quote from one of her favorite series, but it was also written out in the author’s handwriting. I love the concept of getting a tattoo inscribed by your favorite author. I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to ask my favorite author to write out a quote for me.
@ursula_uriarte
How many bookish references can you spot in Ursula’s tattoos from this photo? I spot some Alice in Wonderland, Shadowhunter runes and the Grisha trilogy going up her right arm. I have followed Ursula ever since I first started my Bookstagram account, and it is amazing to see her bookish tattoo collection grow as she reads and falls in love with more books. Check out her account to see some of her most recent tattoos!
