Book Clubs, Book Bars, and BookTok: Examining Why Everyone Suddenly Wants to Be Perceived As Well-Read

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Photo: Sean Davidson

Growing up, I could usually be found with my head buried in a book. My favorite places to go were not amusement parks or playgrounds, but libraries and bookstores where my imagination could run wild. Reader, if it wasn’t already obvious, I’m an only child. For the record, reading has not always been a solitary pursuit though; I’ve been involved in a number of book clubs over the years and continue to enjoy finding community through a shared love of literature. Now, as an adult, nothing has changed in the slightest—I recently got back from a weekend in Toronto and the highlights of the trip were visiting the Toronto Reference Library and picking up a copy of Sally Rooney’s highly anticipated new novel, Intermezzo. I proudly identify as a bibliophile; books are in fact my love language.

Evidently, I’m not alone. Despite ongoing attempts to underfund the public library system and ban books in schools across the country, reading remains a beloved pastime for so many Americans during these unprecedented times. Could books be the cure for brain rot? At the top of the year, bookshelf wealth emerged as the definitive trend of 2024, igniting online discourse about the optics of seeming well-read based on the intentionality of your curation. No coffee table or shelf is safe, everyone is judging your books by the cover! (I would be remiss to not mention the spectacle that was Nicholas Sparks’s home tour for The New York Times.) What you’re reading has become a bit of a performative spectacle, but we could be subscribed to worse status symbols. Mandy Harris William recently posted a graphic on Instagram that reads as follows: “seeing someone reading all about love [by bell hooks] used to mean that you could consider having a relationship with them… now it might mean you’re about to get gaslit. lol”

While the rise of #BookTok has been a one-way ticket to massive success for some best-selling authors, with 41.7 million tagged posts and counting, this new strategic route for book recommendations has completely derailed the publishing world—getting good ratings on Goodreads is no longer sufficient enough. If you’re not an active member of a book club are you even relevant? Play your connections right and you can even make a professional career out of book curation for residential, hospitality, and retail spaces. Book bars have made their way into the cultural zeitgeist as well, offering metropolitan bookworms a taste of nightlife more in line with their sensibilities. What could be better than getting buzzed on books and booze? Now that’s what I call paradise.

Hollywood’s hottest accessory

If AD cover star Emma Roberts wasn’t already publicly recognized as an actor, she would probably be mistaken as a book influencer with all the work she’s put into Belletrist. While the business of celebrity book clubs is certainly nothing new (everyone from Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon to Dakota Johnson, Natalie Portman, and Dua Lipa is doing it), what famous people are casually reading has become something of a paparazzi phenomenon. Kendall Jenner has been a notable subject of interest ever since she was spotted poolside with author Darcie Wilder’s memoir, Literally Show Me a Healthy Person, in 2019. (After the photos were first circulated online, the book immediately sold out on Amazon.)

In a world where celebrities are put on a pedestal to be both praised and critiqued, books have seemingly become their weapon of choice for winning intellectual points. “It’s odd to think that celebrities might read the same books as us or even our books,” Wilder wrote in an article for The Outline. “And even if they do not actually read, it’s uncanny and delightful to see Britney Spears holding her Danielle Steels, Ben Affleck furrowing his brow at Harry Potter, and Bella and Gigi Hadid reading Stephen King and Camus, respectively.”

In March, Kaia Gerber and Alyssa Reeder launched Library Science, an online book club established in 2020. Pegged by the press as a star-studded literary empire, the platform focuses on promoting a diverse pool of contemporary fiction. So far, Library Science has been tapped to curate a selection of books for Palm Heights Grand Cayman and McNally Jackson. When I RSVP’d for one of the brand’s invite-only live readings at Hotel Chelsea, I was certainly not expecting to be in the mixed company of Cindy Crawford, Fred Hechinger, and Dylan O’Brien, but there we all were—some of us sitting on the floor—for an evening of sophisticated socializing. This week, Library Science partnered with DÔEN on a limited edition nightgown; 20% of profits will be donated to the nonprofit organization Room to Read. In case you didn’t get the memo (or sold-out merchandise), reading is sexy. Pass the “nepo highlighter,” please!

Meet me at the library

Earlier this year, Anna Sui’s AW24 show took place inside the Strand’s Rare Book Room; the collection was heavily inspired by the character Miss Marple from Agatha Christie’s crime stories along with early editions of Virginia Woolf. I completely forgot about this collection until the seasons transitioned from summer to autumn and my wardrobe was seemingly in flux. Like so many other millennial women, I wanted to dress a little more business and a little less casual without going full on “corporate fetish”—I craved outfits that brought an element of day-to-night sophistication, but demanded to be taken seriously. Before I knew it, I seemed to have followed suit with the “sexy librarian” trend, an aesthethic dreamed up for the female gaze that projects a quiet confidence.

There’s something transcendent about how the interiors of libraries can inspire a sense of timelessness. Evidently, the looks that have become associated with academia aesthetics mirror the vibe: warm mahogany woods, rich colored leatherbound books, and cozy corners to hide in beckon us to throw on our best button down cardigans, oversized sweaters with argyle prints, penny loafers, and a pair of tiny, thin-rimmed glasses. (We witnessed the same pattern of behavior when the “old money” aesthetic went viral on TikTok, inviting the return to preppy styles from the past.) As we continue to romanticize our lives in the present, trying on these types of identities sort of feels like another form of embodying “main character energy”—I view the “sexy librarian” as a distant cousin of Parker Posey’s fun yet dysfunctional character in the 1995 cult classic Party Girl.

Of course, the reality of library life is not as glamorous as these glossy campaigns might make you believe. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, librarians and library media specialist occupations are projected to grow by only 3% between 2020 and 2030. Despite playing an essential role in public education by providing free resources and services, the profession has seen a steady decline over the past two decades.

Obviously, fashion has a long history with the literary world. Once upon a time, Bookmarc, a bookstore created by Marc Jacobs in 2010, was the premiere destination for New York City’s most fashionable crowd to spend a pretty penny on collectible coffee table books, stationary, and other trinkets. Few brands have followed this same exact route, but some have clearly been reading the room. For example, Miu Miu’s literary club has been a worldwide sensation with free events for the public like a “Summer Reads” pop-up news stand which had scores of people flocking to Casa Magazines in the West Village to snag free books by Jane Austen, Sibilla Aleramo, and Alba de Céspedes, all wrapped in pretty packaging with their signature branding.

When Isabella Burley decided to pursue Climax Books as a new venture in 2020, she mostly considered it as a creative outlet from her full-time job at Acne Studios where she’s the chief marketing officer. “The business side of it was never a thought during the conception and early phase of it. Climax was born out of my living room in my old, old, old apartment,” she recalls. “Friends who were photographers or art directors would come over and be working on or researching a project… It was such a weird time where people wanted to be inspired, challenged, and see something physical because suddenly everything had moved to digital [during lockdown]. It was this really tactile and quite tender thing of friends and creative collaborators coming as a source of reference and inspiration.”

Since then, Burley has opened storefronts in London and NYC, carving out a portal of discovery for curious people to explore “the pleasures of print, publishing, and objects.” But the most fun part for her has been when friends come by to play “shop girl” for the day; Mia Khalifa, Alva Claire, Ali Michael, and Ava Nirui have all voluntarily clocked in to work a shift. These types of interactions don’t translate online, you simply have to experience them in real life.

Read the room

During the pandemic, Simay Demirel began curating a page of interior inspiration for her now 217,000 followers to imagine setting the scene for curling up with a book through @whereiwouldliketoread on Instagram. (Last year, the Paris-based creative established a sister brand dedicated to book rentals and book sourcing.) “With the rise of e-shops that are bringing more and more vintage items back on the map, I’m not surprised that people are increasingly influenced to direct their purchases into books, to become or seem more cultivated,” Demirel previously told AD.

For Rosa Duffy, founder of For Keeps, book collecting is more than a hobby—it’s an act of service putting her on the frontlines of Black preservation. In addition to running the Atlanta bookstore and reading room, Duffy has been working closely with Solange Knowles on programming for the Saint Heron Library, a communal resource for free access to a special selection of rare books by Black creators. (Knowles is currently working on a book about the groundbreaking African American architect Amaza Lee Meredith.)

As of late, more consumers are seeking out quieter third spaces to escape the digital landscape. In 2019, Jazzi McGilbert opened Reparations Club in Los Angeles as a concept bookshop for the BIPOC community to connect, and most importantly, take up space in the real world. “I wanted somewhere that prioritized Black people and, by extension, other people of color, but wasn’t like everything else that felt pandering to the Black community, that didn’t feel like it was actually for us,” she wrote in an article for the Los Angeles Times. “I wanted to make a space where we can hang out, where we feel centered, at home—like kick your shoes off. Where we have the same points of reference.”

365 book party girl

Now that book parties are back in vogue, and people seemingly have a growing appetite for intellectual stimulation again, businesses are keen to serve the literati on a silver platter. The opening of Godmothers, a new Martyn Lawrence Bullard–designed bookstore located in Summerland, California, was attended by A-listers like Oprah, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi. Last month, J.Crew hosted an extravagant dinner party at the New York Public Library inspired by the legendary restaurant La Côte Basque. (The guestlist included Riley Keough, Laura Harrier, Sarah Paulson, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Saarsagard.)

On the heels of NYFW coming to an end, the coolest event to be spotted at was the Available Works book fair at WSA in FiDi. Never in my life had I attended an event where books were priced above $200 and people were actually buying them. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself in a herd of like-minded women when I showed up at DAE in Brooklyn on one of the last warm weekends in October for Seen Library’s mini pop-up event. The idea for the project started as an exercise of going on a blind date with a book written by a BIPOC, woman, or queer author, but what founder Jordan Santos has quietly built is a safe and inclusive space for a diverse community of readers to connect in real life. “It’s not about whether [a book] is trending or on some best seller or new release list—it’s about what one needs or is interested in at the moment,” she writes in an email.

Over the past three years, Seen Library has evolved from a book-themed mood board on Instagram to a fully fledged brand that hosts quarterly book exchanges, dinner parties, reading rooms, meetups, and book drives. “Every single gathering is so special and unique but I think the most valuable takeaway is that at each one, complete strangers are so eager (even if shy at first!) to come into a new space, with such openness and curiosity and vulnerability, and be able to share something about themselves with people they don’t know,” Santos explains. “Another takeaway is how much easier we are able to find commonality amongst one another when we have something like a book to help us find it.” She views this collective craving for reading as a desire to “slow down and savor the present,” noting how it also serves as “an intentional practice that requires sitting in one place and focusing on one thing.”

Don’t overlook the shelves

Even if you’re not a big reader, it’s sort of implied that you maintain the illusion of a person who opens a book every once in a while. During Ashley Tisdale’s episode of Open Door, the actor turned designer admitted to tasking her husband with buying extra books to fill the shelves in their living room at the last minute. “Let’s clear this up. There are some of my books from over the years in there but yea 36 shelves that hold 22 books I did not have and any interior designer would have done the same. They do it all the time, I was just honest about it,” she tweeted in response to the backlash.

Over the decades, certain coffee table books have become their own status symbols (including Architectural Digest at 100: A Century of Style), serving as signifiers of taste. During the aughts, Alexa Chung’s It book was practically the bible for millennials trying to channel their inner style icon. But in terms of styling her own coffee table, Chung recently told AD that nowadays she doesn’t pay it any mind. Inside the fashion designer’s London home, you can find an assortment of books that her boyfriend, Tom Sturridge, has read on the shelves (which she describes as “insane”). Much to her dismay, he refuses to arrange the books by height and she’s “not allowed to touch them.”

Since coffee tables often take up a majority of the real estate in a room, every surface where a book might be placed should be carefully considered. Maison Plage originally started as a passion project for founder Kelly Croteau to get away from the tech industry and most importantly, off her phone. Not long after getting hired to create custom book stacks for luxury fashion brands, she began extending the brand’s services to home library curation for notable clients like Diplo. Now, Croteau works closely with a roster of interior designers to help their clients achieve a dream personalized library.

While waiting in the lobby at Spencer’s in SoHo for a treatment, I found myself reaching for the books spread out in front of me on the vintage Italian coffee table (which was originally purchased from the showroom of Christian Siriano). It doesn’t take long to notice that the entire space is highly curated, but founder Ryan McCarthy specifically worked with his friend Samantha Hillman on building a collection of vintage books for the spa that would go against the algorithm like Egg Cups, The Journey of Things, World Seashells of Rarity and Beauty, and The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga. Their hope was to make guests feel an unadulterated sense of amusement while immersed in a warm and welcoming space. After all, reading is a leisure, so what could be a better place to indulge oneself than a spa?

“This is our version of that, it’s the ‘sit there and holiday with us for a second,’” McCarthy says. “The world can be a very serious place, I like picking up things and going, ‘Oh my God, look at where we’ve come from… Look at how people were engaging creatively in this content that you think is obscure, but they spent months, maybe years curating these egg cups or whatever the book is.’ I think it’s a lost art.”

Some people might dismiss such an extravagance, but it’s really no different from hiring a designer, consultant, or stylist. Hillman compares book curation to being “a librarian with an eye” and engaging in a process of creating a long-term source of inspiration. “When you’re working with an art dealer, you know it’s going to be expensive,” Croteau explains. “You’re paying the person for their taste level and the fact that they took the time [to source] for you… [Book curating] is just a new concept. I think it will get to the point where people are like, ‘Oh, it’s the same thing as if somebody was picking out my furniture.’”

All criticism aside, I think we can all agree that naked shelves are the real bad look, as proven by the bookshelf wealth trend. And even worse than that, fake books that are literally empty inside. Croteau personally draws the line at color-coding shelves, a cringey trend that she is deeply “disgusted” by. “Extreme color coding slightly gives me the ick,” Burley adds. But Santos quickly reminds me that there could always be worse trends going viral on the Internet. “It makes me happy to think that people can be influenced to buy more books instead of more things they don’t need,” she says. “Reading is timeless—books will never be an accessory that goes out of style.”

McCarthy couldn’t agree more with this sentiment. “If a perception of being well-read is what it takes to get good books back into the hands of the people, then so be it,” he argues. “Engaging in good literature is engaging in good literature… I think the net-net is all positive.” Burley believes that the big book boom is intertwined with a general obsession with things that are physical and tangible, adding that “there’s such nostalgia for people of being a kid in your bed and reading a book and being totally absorbed into a world.”

Unfortunately, I’ve been in a self-imposed purgatory because I still can’t seem to find a bookshelf that satisfies all of my needs, so my book collection remains dispersed in stacks on the floor. For me and my fellow renters that weren’t blessed with built-in bookshelves, and are limited on square footage to build out a home library, a reading nook will simply have to do. The book storage saga continues…

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest