Long before the era of algorithms and curated bookshelves, physical libraries and leather-bound classics served as the markers of cultural education and class privilege. To own books, let alone display them in grand studies, was in itself a signal of education, leisure, and refined taste. Displaying a book of philosophy or poetry back then meant the owner was of high intellectual stamina and economic freedom, able to contemplate the deeper meaning of life. Literature was a fundamental pillar of social hierarchy, where what you read directly pointed to your position among the intellectual elite.
Meanwhile, if we look onto the modern world, walking into any coffee shop, scrolling through TikTok, you can spot a perfectly curated stack of paperbacks, colour-coded tabs, and a copy of Sally Rooney’s latest novel strategically placed next to an iced matcha latte. What was once a quiet and private pastime has undergone a radical makeover, completely changing what reading means in the era of digital curation. Books are slowly losing their meaning, being read more for a personal brand and to be displayed on your desk, rather than for the story, art and mental stimulation.
The rise of online book communities like BookTok and Bookstagram have completely transformed literature into a visual medium. Margins are no longer for personal notes; they are meticulously annotated with pastel highlighters, ready to be unloaded on Pinterest with a fluffy blanket and a candle in the corner. Bookshelves no longer serve as simple storage for the weight of the knowledge once consumed under the lights of a dark drawing room. Everything we now read – and show ourselves reading — has become a shorthand way of showing who we claim to be. Whether it’s the broody intellectual aesthetic of The Secret History by Donna Tart or the detached and melancholy backdrop of Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation, intellectualism has become an aesthetic rather than a way of life.
This shift reflects a broader societal trend — the commercialisation of identity. In a world where personal social media feeds function as portfolio pages, everyone’s habits are optimised, tracked, and packaged for an audience. Literature has begun to lose its cultural significance and instead morphed into the lifestyle category, complete with its own micro- trends, and aesthetics. A great book is meant to challenge the reader, confuse them and take them out of themselves, not just simply mirror back a polished version of an identity we wish to project.
Illustration credits: Amelia Patterson @patt_paints
