When we were compiling the data for our most recent research report, Canadian Leisure & Reading Study 2023, we noticed that book club attendance is up quite a bit from 2020 for both online and in-person book club meetings.
A third of Canadian readers who answered our survey attended an in-person book club or reading group at least once in 2023 (33%) and a third of readers also participated in an online book club or reading group at least once as well (33%).
Percentage of readers who attended a book club or reading group meeting, 2020–2023
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participated in an online book club or reading group meeting | 33% | 27% | 22% | 23% |
| Participated in a book club or reading group meeting in person | 33% | 27% | 20% | 22% |
The table above shows the steady increase for online and in-person participation in book clubs or reading groups from 2020 to 2023. This upward trend held true for both online and in-person meetings for readers who attended book club or reading group meetings at least once a month as well — up almost 10% from 2020 to 2023.
Percentage of readers who attended a book club or reading group meeting at least once a month, 2020–2023
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participated in an online book club or reading group meeting | 22% | 18% | 13% | 14% |
| Participated in a book club or reading group meeting in person | 22% | 18% | 11% | 13% |
Diving in deeper to these book club attendees, perhaps, like me, you might assume that an older demographic of readers were attending the book clubs in person and a younger demographic were attending online. However, when we broke out these responses by age, it turns out the 18 to 29-year-olds were the ones going to book clubs the most both in person or online, followed pretty closely by readers 30 to 44. In fact, readers 55 or older were the least likely to attend any sort of book club at 5% for in person meetings and 6% for online meetings.
Monthly attendance of book clubs and reading group meetings by age, 2023
| 18-29 | 30-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participated in a book club or reading group meeting in person | 43% | 38% | 15% | 4% | 1% |
| Participated in an online book club or reading group meeting | 41% | 39% | 14% | 6% | 0% |
The in-person book clubs are likely to be groups of friends or community reading groups, and while it’s true that online book clubs could mean groups of far flung friends, they could also be more niche online-first experiences – book clubs that pop up around shared interests. And taking a look at the book club stats shared above brought to mind our old blog posts examining the impact of celebrity book clubs from Oprah Winfrey, to Reese Witherspoon, to Jenna Bush Hager.
Esquire published an article this week titled, “How Celebrity Book Clubs Actually Work”, asserting that these influential book readers and curators were still making hits out of their picks: “Forty-eight of Hager’s sixty-eight picks have appeared on the best-seller list, as have sixty-eight of Witherspoon’s ninety-seven. All twenty-seven titles selected by Winfrey that were published on the same day they were announced as book-club picks went on to become best-sellers.”
But what about some of the younger celebrities with book clubs? Especially in light of the above data about the younger demographics attending. Are they appealing to the younger demographics who attend book club meetings in person and online?
Looking at Kaia Gerber, one of the younger celebrities with a book club mentioned in the Esquire piece above, her Library Science picks are mostly literary novels from smaller presses, so largely books that might not have the budget and resources that would be put towards a Reese or Oprah pick. Her videos, interviews with the authors or discussions about her picks, while thoughtful and engaging, do not have anywhere near the reach of the older celebrity platforms.
Dua Lipa’s video content for the Service95 book club reaches more people and her picks are more well-known books, some of which have already been bestsellers or are by more established authors. It would be interesting to see whether her endorsement of these titles results in a noticeable increase in sales or library activity for the titles. If you think so, too, let us know and we’ll add it as a new entry to our celebrity book club blog series.
Maybe these younger book club celebrities are not as influential with the younger demographic as the more established ones are with their contemporaries, or maybe they just need a bit of time to build up the base that Oprah and Reese have. It’s also possible that the milieu of the celebrity has changed and has become more niche — influencers on TikTok (see our older posts The real impact of #BookTok on book sales and The real impact of #BookTok on library circulation), YouTube, or wherever the kids are hanging out these days. In which case, their influence is much harder to track than someone with the mass appeal of Oprah in her heyday.
A closer look at Canadians reading print books in 2023 from Turning Pages: Print Book Use in Canada 2023.