By Mira S

Copyright thehindu

It was all about just grabbing a book and reading it together over steaming cups of coffee or piping hot tea. But now, book clubs everywhere across countries have levelled up. Readers don’t just show up for the stories but try their hand at blind book swaps, write open letters to fictional characters and even make friendship bracelets, all at the book club.

Now, there are more book clubs and reading circles in Chennai and its curators say they have been seeing many participate in these than ever before. Solomon Manoj, a full-time HR manager and curator of a free reading book club, Broke Bibliophiles Chennai, said that there’s aboom for book clubs and how these clubs are now being viewed as ‘cool’. This is because of the people’s urge to regroup and socialise post the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. “I have found travel buddies through book clubs where we visit local bookshops together in different cities. We also have authors’ reading sessions and other fun activities like a friendship book swap,” he said.

Kruthiga, who recently started Chennai’s newest book club, The Inkpot Circle, and also runs the Bessy Reads, meets 20 members from the book club at Odyssey Bookstore every month. Each month comes with a theme including Valentine’s, Women’s day, South Asian heritage and Pride month which decides what they would read.

“A decade ago, reading was tagged as nerdy and other things were seen as cool. But when bookstagrammers were blowing up on social media, it pushed many to read,” adds Ms. Kruthiga. “But beyond the trend, what makes it special is how it pulls people together from nonfiction to fantasy buffs, and to form a community.”

Likewise, Krishna Kumar of Tower Reads, a UPSC student himself, says a lot of students visit the Tower Park in Anna Nagar on Saturday mornings, where they read fiction and memoirs in both Tamil and English. Sometimes, the group even gets surprise visits from well known poets and authors, who visit for a casual Q&A session. Meanwhile, reading by the lake also happens across the city. “We sit by the amphitheatre and you will spot readers of different ages. Fathers bringing their kids, school children, people in their 20s and 30s, and the elderly too. It feels more like a close knit circle, since many of us went to the same school and our Tamil teacher too comes by,” says the curator of Lake Reads Chitlapakkam, Arvind.

However, book clubs can also feel a little performative, says Mr. Solomon. “Reading at its core is a private hobby but since it’s now seen as the fun thing to do, there is often pressure to read more and faster to keep up with the sudden influx of book clubs in the city,” he adds. In the end though, wherever you are reading, alone or together, inching along like a snail or inhaling books, it all boils down to this: “The intent should simply be about the joy of reading,” he says.