About BATE
Hi, I’m Rana, the creator behind Books and Things Explained (also called BATE)
BATE’s story
I started BATE at the end of 2020, one of my life’s most pivotal moments. We were in our second lockdown here in Canada (or maybe the third, I honestly lost count), and I just graduated from the University of Windsor early that summer. Because of the lockdown, I was laid off from my job, meaning I had more free time.
Since I was a kid, I’ve always loved reading and learning. As I grew older, I traded my physical books for textbooks and started reading less—well, less of what I actually wanted to read, at least. But with the lockdown and the free time, I started avidly reading again.
But there was a problem: I couldn’t focus for the life of me, and my memory was lacking. Sure, I was reading a lot, but nothing was sticking.
So I decided to approach reading as if I were a student; reading became studying, and while reading, I would highlight, annotate, and tab key ideas and concepts. However, this approach only half-solved my problem. The more I read, the more I would forget old concepts, so I began writing 1-2 page summaries of all the books I read. This helped me tremendously.
One day, while I was meditating (so cliché, but I was on a self-help kick, and all the books I was reading kept telling me to meditate, so I did), the idea of BATE came to me.
I had all of these book notes and figured I’d use them to create informative Instagram posts via Canva. The best-case scenario was that I’d help one person, and worst case… well, there was no worst case because I had nothing to lose.
After six months of consistently posting nonfiction book reviews, insights, and recommendations, my video went viral on TikTok, amassing 5.6 million views and 750,000+ likes.
And that was the beginning of BATE’s expansion.
Mission, values, and pillars
I aim to share thought-provoking, informative, and beneficial bookish content, fostering intellectual curiosity and enriching lives through books. My goal is to inspire lifelong learning and encourage a deeper appreciation for reading, making the joy of books and reading accessible to all.
