Book girl summer: What is BookTok and why is Gen Z obsessed with book clubs now?

Don’t stop the presses – a trend we thought had gone the way of 50 Shades of Grey has found a new way to take a new generation by storm.

When you think of a book club, more often than not you’d picture a group of middle aged women gushing over 50 Shades of Grey-esque fiction over a cheeky wine or two.

But this, like many stereotypes, is far from reality with Gen Z now putting down their phones in favour of a good ol’ paperback.

Book clubs have had a revival in recent years thanks to BookTok – a viral TikTok community where users review and recommend books.

It’s what helped reignite Ella Ashenden’s passion for reading during the pandemic.

“I loved reading when I was a kid. I didn’t read for awhile in high school and then at the end of year 12 I started reading again,” the 22-year-old said.

“The first (viral) one I read that got me back into reading was The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood.

“I read that in September that year and then by the end of the year I had read like 30 books.”

Ella and her friends are currently reading Wild Love by Elsie Silver. Picture: Ben Clark

After bonding with friends over their shared passion for books, they decided to form their own club.

“It was like oh my gosh I’ve found people that I can talk to ‘cause I don’t really have many people (to) talk to about books,” she said.

“When you don’t have anyone to talk about it with, it gets kind of lonely because you’re like oh my god it’s such a good book but no one else understands because they haven’t read it.

“We also read the same kind of books so its nice to have a dedicated book that we’re all reading and catch up for a girls night and talk about it for as long as we want.”

Brittany Schulz is the owner of Fiction & Friction in South Australia

Most bookstores now have dedicated displays to books that have gone viral on BookTok. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

SA bookstores are also getting behind the trend, including Fiction & Friction owner Brittany Schulz who hosts a free, monthly book club for romance readers at her Murray Bridge store.

Like Ella’s club, its less about reading and more about forming connections, she said.

“It’s essentially a social thing because I have a lot of people who come into my store and they say that they don’t have any friends who read romance.

“It’s really hard when you’re an adult to make friends and not just make friends, but make friends who like the same things as you and have the same interests.”

Ms Schulz also offers a discount for members who want to buy their monthly pick in-store while also making sure that its available for free through Libraries SA.

“Everyone’s so lovely, when they’re leaving they’re thanking their new friends and exchanging numbers and social media and making sure they’re following each other,” she said.

“People want to be around community (...) so I don’t think (book clubs) are going anywhere anytime soon.”