‘Even the Most Avid Reader Will Have a TBR Pile of Shame’: The Aesthetics of Being a Reader

Sat on the scratchy seats of the London tube, trying to mind your own business as the clatters and screeches of the Victoria Line tear through the silence, craning your head to subtly read the cover of the book in the hands of the person opposite you. Straightening back up before opening Goodreads to ‘add to TBR’ and be met with no signal. Forced to open your notes app, adding yet another book title to a random lone note.

There is not a single person on earth that hasn’t judged a book by its cover at least once, probably. The whole premise of books having a cover is to encapsulate the vibe of the book into one single page of prettiness to entice the reader to read it. It’s an invitation to judge it, it’s often what makes you pick it up when there’s an overwhelming number of covers piled up on tables and shelves in the shops.

When we look at each other daily, we form an opinion on the other person – we judge them by their covers. When someone’s carrying a book, we judge them by those covers too. Local bookseller, Lucy said, “it’s fascinating what you can tell about a person just by looking at what they’re reading.” On the tube, commuters are potentially less likely to be promoting an aesthetic than just reading to fill the time or to fit in the time to pick up a book amongst their busy schedules. Lucy says, “this doesn’t mean you don’t feel like you’re witnessing a main character moment when you see a millennial reading the new Sally Rooney – we’ve all been there.”

In 2022, New York Times Style wrote of a rumour that book stylists are employed by celebs to pair the perfect book with their outfits. For years, stars have been snapped clinging a book – cover facing out – whether intentionally (definitely) or not, their preferences are dissected, written, and talked about. From Kendall Jenner gripping poetry collections to Dua Lipa holding on to modern classics like Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns the celebs are capitalising on the book boom. Whether they’re being given the books before they walk out the door or they were pushed to leave midchapter, we may never know, but their influence is strong through their own book clubs or pap photos.

Aside from the celebrity influence, the increase in exposure for books and generally making reading cool again is largely down to the success of TikTok’s subculture, BookTok which took off during the pandemic in 2020. “Ultimately I would say BookTok is a positive thing,” said Merlin, another local bookseller. A poll by Publishers Association found that almost two thirds of young people have found a love of reading from BookTok and over half get their recommendations there. It’s often the same books that come up on the platform and leaves other great books potentially slipping through the cracks. Merlin added, “I think also it sometimes takes away from books and authors that maybe deserve a bit more.”

Reading has become an aesthetic beyond picking up a book to simply read it. Book Collecting has become an entirely different hobby to reading them, Lucy thinks it can often overshadow the point of buying books in the first place – to read them rather than displaying them. She adds, “equally, as someone working in book retail, I could never begrudge anyone buying a physical book.

“Even the most avid reader will have a TBR pile of shame that they’ll readily add to when they spot something new in a bookshop.” She also admits that it’s entirely possible that once someone does eventually get around to reading the books in their elaborate collections, they could well become a new favourite for them.

This overconsumption has become an issue within the publishing industry and even a competition online. The average Goodreads Challenge reading goal this year is over forty books. That’s less than a book a week but still potentially quite unattainable for most people. Local BookToker, Iona said “I think sometimes it’s weird how far people are willing to go.” The content some creators make can feel inaccessible for the average reader when they’re constantly pushing twenty-four-hour readathon content and ‘here’s the twenty books I read this week’. It can feel like an elitist culture, “I’d like to go back to a time where people aren’t like ‘I’ve read all of these books, check me out’, it feels like the industry is turning into fast fashion.”

Back in the screeching tunnels of the London Underground, Lucy says, “the bookseller in me always feels relieved at seeing people reading in public, it’s so encouraging that our generation of young adults are reading,” irrelevant of the content and the reason for picking it up, she adds, “if someone has picked up a book, then it’s a win.”