Oprah Winfrey has one, Reece Witherspoon has one, and Kiwi broadcaster Toni Street also has one. They’re all the rage. Comedian and Seven Sharp reporter Ben Hurley reads between the lines of the celebrity book club phenomenon.
Have you ever gone to a restaurant and found too many things on the menu? There’s a high cost of choice at a place like that.
For every dish you didn’t choose that had the opportunity to be the best thing you’d ever eaten, you’re eating the other thing you chose instead. The more items on the menu — the higher the cost of choice.
Well, that’s the world of entertainment now. The menu is infinite.
Movies, TV, podcasts, music and books. When you choose something to watch, listen to or read, you’re missing out on so many other things you didn’t choose because, while the menu may be infinite, your time is not.
Books are arguably the worst for this because you have to invest so much more time in them than a two-hour movie or a 40-minute album.
No wonder people look for guidance.
Back in the days of the video store, they often had “staff picks” — a VHS of a staff member’s favourite movie stacked on a shelf next to a label of a Christian name. It was essentially an anonymous tip, but sometimes you just wanted to know that the film you were taking a punt on was liked by at least one other person.
Literary influencer
The celebrity book club was pioneered by Winfrey in the 90s, making her, arguably, the first literary influencer.
Over the last 20-odd years, the concept has flourished and exploded. Reece Witherspoon, Ru Paul, Emma Watson, and Dakota Johnson all use their social media channels to promote books they advocate for.
New Zealand’s own Toni Street has a book club with a healthy online community and well-attended live events. To her admission, “after a few wines, it’s not really about the book anymore”.
Street was inspired by Witherspoon’s book club and liked that she’d pop up with a new recommendation every now and then. Was she the world’s biggest Witherspoon fan? Possibly not. They just had a similar taste in books.
And that’s all it takes sometimes; we aren’t all looking for a spiritual guide, a publishing guru or a literary Yoda.
Sometimes, you need someone to point at the menu and say, “Get that, I’ve had it before; it’s good.”
Watch Ben Hurley delve deeper into the digital literary scene in the video above.
