The Reader Lounge, a PRH Research Community, is PRH’s proprietary in-house research panel composed of engaged, avid readers who have opted into the community to share their unique perspectives on their preferences, reading behaviors, trends, and other custom topics relevant to book publishing. The Consumer Insights team uses The Reader Lounge to conduct surveys in order to learn more about consumer needs and preferences. In June, the team surveyed avid readers about what book clubs they participate in, how their book clubs select books, how they engaged with their book clubs, and what might elevate their book club meetings even more.
Please note: These insights were gathered from The Reader Lounge, A PRH Research Community, PRH’s in-house proprietary research panel. This panel is not nationally representative and consists of avid readers who opt in to join the community and participate in surveys and research activities.
About the survey
With book clubs being a growing topic in the marketplace, the Consumer Insights team at PRH wanted to learn more about avid readers and the book clubs they participate in. Specifically, we were interested in understanding:
- what their book clubs look like
- how their book selection process works
- what their experiences are
- how they’d like to elevate their book club experiences.
More than 3,000 readers from The PRH Reader Lounge were surveyed; respondents were required to have participated in a book club in the past year. We found that 86 percent of avid readers indicated they are currently part of one or two book clubs, while 14 percent are currently part of three or more book clubs.
Key takeaways
1.)Most book clubs that avid readers described are with friends/family and many are not associated with specific themes.
- 61 percent of avid readers said they participate in book clubs with their closest friends and family. The second most popular types of book clubs were “social media” book clubs (17 percent) and “online” book clubs (17 percent)—both more likely among avid readers 18 to 44 years old.
- About half of avid readers say their book clubs do not have a theme; however, avid readers who are 18 to 44 years old tend to participate in book clubs with a genre focus and/or with a focus on diverse representation/perspectives.
- Other types include:
- Library-led book clubs (12 percent)
- Bookstore-led book clubs (9 percent)
- Neighborhood, religious, senior living, college/alumni, and company-sponsored or unofficial book clubs at work
2.)Literary fiction and memoir are the most popular genres in book clubs that avid readers participate in.
- Older avid readers, 45+ years old, tend to prefer book clubs that read historical fiction, mysteries, classics, or nonfiction.
- Younger avid readers, 18 to 44 years old, tend to lean more toward book clubs that read in the genres of romance, fantasy, thriller, romantasy, YA, and science fiction.
3.)Nearly half of book club members are indifferent to book format or tend to choose paperbacks.
- The youngest avid readers, 18 to 24 years old, are more likely to prefer paperbacks while the oldest avid readers, 65+ years old, are more likely to prefer hardcovers.
- Format was frequently mentioned by avid readers when asked to give more detail about their book clubs’ selection process. Some avid readers said that they often wait to integrate new releases into their book club picks due to hardcovers being too pricey.
4.)Most book clubs tend to consider book selection using a “group approach,” meaning every member has a say in what book gets selected (usually through voting).
- Other popular approaches among book clubs are the “host” approach, in which one person in the book club selects the reads, and the “book report” approach, where everyone gets to select their own title to read and report back their thoughts at club meetings.
5.)51 percent of avid readers said that availability/accessibility was the top consideration factor for book clubs selecting what to read, closely followed by genre (48 percent) and topic/themes (48 percent) of a book.
- Most avid readers said that a title being affordable or available at the library was important to them and fellow book club members.
- About half of avid readers also said that genre preference and the title’s topic/theme were of importance when selecting books, with some readers saying their book clubs switch up themes/criteria each month.
- Other key considerations mentioned by avid readers were if a book produces thought-provoking discussions and the mood of the book club/members.
6.)Word-of-mouth recommendations (76 percent), book-related websites like Storygraph or Goodreads (53 percent), and social media (46 percent) are the top venues of book discovery for book clubs.
- Of those who discover on social media, Instagram (90 percent) was the top platform for discovering books to read among book clubs, followed by TikTok (66 percent).
- Other places for book discovery include book reviews and blogs (41 percent), local libraries and/or bookstores (40 percent), and bestseller lists (38 percent).
7.)Avid readers describe their ideal book club experience as relaxing and flexible in atmosphere, but they expect to have a robust and fun conversation.
- To elevate their experiences, most respondents would be interested in receiving supplemental materials related to the book (85 percent), hosting an online or in-person discussion with the author (84 percent), and including discussion guides (81 percent).
At Penguin Random House, we use this survey data in a variety of ways, from testing concepts to learning more about consumer needs. We hope you, as a PRH author, have found this behind-the-scenes look into the world of book clubs to be fascinating and insightful. If you’d like to learn more about how authors can visit book clubs, check out this popular marketing tip from a previous mailing.
Sarah Martinez is Senior Analyst, Consumer Insights at Penguin Random House.
Olivia Oudinot is Senior Manager, Community Research at Penguin Random House.