Is the internet making reading cool again?

Reading used to be a fairly quiet hobby. You picked a book, read it, maybe recommended it to a friend, and moved on. Now, books have entered the group chat, the algorithm and, somehow, our wardrobes. Celebrities are launching book clubs, BookTok is turning obscure titles into bestsellers, annotations have become an art form, and carrying a novel can double as a fashion statement. Even keeping track of what you’ve read has become its own digital hobby. So, what happened to reading? It got a lot more social, visual and very online. Here are the trends turning books into one of the internet’s favourite obsessions.

A-list reads

Your favourite celeb has a book rec. From singer Dua Lipa’s Service95 Book Club to actor Emma Roberts and producer-writer Karah Preiss’s Belletrist—an online book club and reading community—“what are you reading?” has become a conversation starter. 

BookTok and bookstagram

Books have found a whole new audience online. BookTok and Bookstagram have turned reading into a visual obsession, with readers sharing shelfies, reviews, covers, and Insta-validated reactions. One viral recommendation later, everyone’s adding the same book to their TBR. Between BookTok deep-dives and Bookstagram’s perfectly curated feeds, discovering your next read has become part of the scroll.

Books as fashion statements

Coach turned real titles into bag charms, while Dior embroidered covers of classics onto its iconic Book Totes. Suddenly, your reading list also became a style statement.

Annotation trend

Dog-eared pages are having a renaissance. Readers are no longer just underlining their favourite lines, they’re turning books into tiny works of art, adding colourful tabs, doodles, sticky notes, and even whimsical details like hand-drawn butterflies. The trend has made reading feel more creative, social, and seriously cute.

Tracking reading

Goodreads and The StoryGraph have made reading more social, letting readers track TBRs, set goals, rate books, share reviews, and turn finishing a book into a tiny digital win.

Images: Getty Images and Instagram

This article originally appeared in Cosmopolitan India's September-October 2026 print issue.

Also read: Need a book recommendation? Three authors share their favourite books to read next

Also read: Books you should be adding to cart, based on your zodiac sign