“They give people permission to play”: inside the rise of book clubs and reading communities

Book clubs aren’t a new concept. Readers have been coming together to chat about their favourite books for centuries, but book clubs and reading communities have seen a recent boom in popularity. In fact, Google searches for ‘book club’ are at their highest in years, and Eventbrite has previously reported that the number of book club events on its platform has increased by 350% since 2020. There are now several high-profile book clubs fronted by celebrities, including Dua Lipa, Reese Witherspoon, Kaia Gerber, Emma Roberts and Dakota Johnson. There are also niche book clubs, such as silent book clubs or groups that focus exclusively on a genre, like romcoms.

Reading retreats are on the rise, too. According to Kayak, 89% of UK travellers describe their holiday time as a chance to reflect and invest in themselves, a shift that’s being mirrored by where they’re going and what they’re reading while they’re away. Kayak’s research found that nearly half (43%) of people confessed to having picked a holiday destination based on their intention to read and learn, rising to three in five for millennials (60%) and over half (57%) for Gen Z.

Yes, BookTok may have a lot to answer for when it comes to the rise in reading, book clubs and retreats. Over the past few years, book-related content creation has rocketed with recommendations, reviews and video essays. But since the pandemic, there’s also been an underlying but ever-present need for community and meaningful connection. We often hear about the loneliness epidemic in the UK, and spaces like book clubs and literary communities (as well as other hobby-led spaces) have attracted so many people into their fold. And now, with 2026 being the national year of reading, more and more people are expected to seek out communities to read and engage with books alongside others.

Earlier this month, I spent a morning at Ivy and the Wolf with three bookish founders – Sofia Akel, India Chambers and Kuuku ‘Que’ Quakyi – to chat about their thriving reading communities and their 2026 plans.

India Chambers, founder of Casual Readers Club

“I set up Casual Readers Club around six years ago, and it’s really grown into this joyful and loving space in which to read. We celebrate communal reading by hosting book club discussions, salon discussions on bigger themes, theatre trips, cinema previews, and now reading retreats. It all stemmed from my belief that reading is a communal practice, which is the belief that runs through Casual Readers events. But I also want to reframe how we approach reading.

“We all read lots of things: the information on our phones, articles, Substack posts. People are reading, just in different ways. And they’re all valid. For example, with our book club discussions, we tell people you don’t have to read the whole book, because what we actually end up doing is talking about the wider themes. Or something that’s come up in the current media landscape. People just want to have a space where they can come in and talk about the things that are on their minds. Sometimes, it can feel like a therapy session. And it gives people permission to play, too. Reading shouldn’t be seen as competitive but as an activity that brings pleasure and joy to people’s lives.

“In 2026, I want to host another reading retreat and also do another issue of our magazine, championing underrepresented authors and also people from the Casual Readers community who write and want to express themselves.”

Sofia Akel, founder of Free Books Campaign

“Free Books Campaign is a non-profit that gets books to people for free. We’re all about creating access to storytelling in different forms, with the goal of getting people to pick up a new book by the end of it. We have festivals and events and stuff like that. Our main goal is never to force people to pick up a book that they might not connect with or that you’re told you should read; we want to create something fun and joyful that may encourage a person to pick up a book related to an event they enjoyed. Reading should be pleasurable and communal.

“Next year will be a big year as we respond to our community’s needs over the years, like libraries closing down, and so it means we’re going to be doing a lot of research to look into how we show up for our community, how we keep our events going for free and looking at how we celebrate the fifth year of Free Books Festival. So far, we’ve donated over 14,000 books across our festivals, and we’re going to be looking at how we revamp it for our fifth birthday.

“We’re also going to be building a library in Senegal, which is the country of my grandparents on my mother’s side, and so it’s a full circle moment for me. We’ll be researching and looking at existing systems of libraries out there, schooling, and how best we can work with Senegalese people to create a library, and 2026 is the year we’re getting things started on that front.”

Kuuku ‘Que’ Quakyi, founder of Dope Readers Club

“We started Dope Readers about five years ago, and the whole aim of the platform is to shine a light and celebrate Black and diverse authors. We’ve got our book swap event, which is hosted around four times a year. We have a room full of Black and diverse books, and we encourage people to bring books by white authors and come along to swap for one of our books, so that everyone’s reading lists are a bit more colourful.

“Bookclubs and literary spaces are so vital in giving people the space to communicate, to talk. It’s a place where we can have open conversations about anything. One of my favourite book clubs we hosted was on bell hooks’ All About Love, and that was a very varied conversation between the men and women in the room. And it was just so interesting to hear all the different points of view, especially when so many of us live within our echo chambers. Reading can be this solitary activity, but I feel like once the book is finished, that’s where it starts again. You talk about the book, you learn different points of view, interact and make new friends. These spaces are so necessary.

“One thing I want to focus on in 2026 is encouraging people to pick up a book and read for 10 minutes a day. How do we get people reading? How do we get them to do at least four or five pages a day? How do we change your local commute? We’re hopefully going to look for ways to make sure people can read for at least 10 minutes a day. Once you start with 10 minutes, that’s when it becomes a repeat behaviour, and you might want to read more.”

Images: Studio Augusto