Book Clubs Have Never Been Cooler, Let’s Talk About It
book club boom
By Natalie McGowan | 10th July 2025It’s another Wednesday night in Brisbane, and at Albion’s New Tricks bar, 80 young women have gathered to talk about Dolly Alderton’s best-selling memoir Everything I Know About Love. Glasses clink, new friendships are made, and there’s an undeniable energy in the room as discussions about friendship, identity, and growing up flow easily.
Welcome to BNE Chapters – one of the local clubs leading the charge in Brisbane’s reading renaissance. This isn’t like the book club your mum was in when you were a kid (the kind where you never heard a single book being discussed) – it’s a space filled with passionate women bonding over their shared love of escapism and a desire for real connection.
“I think it’s about connecting with new people, but having that commonality that you’ve both read the book of the month,” says Miller Kerta, one of the co-founders of BNE Chapters. “We of course talk about the book and make discussion cards, which touch on different points in the book. But a lot of girls talk about their life, their work, and what they love. The books are a conversation starter that leads into deeper conversations.”
Book clubs and a love of reading are, of course, nothing new – but lately, they feel renewed. The act of reading has become more social than ever before, and, for many, it’s not just about the book in your hands, it’s about the conversations that come after. Across Brisbane and online, book clubs are blossoming, checking Goodreads has become as habitual to some as checking Instagram, and if you’re not on BookTok… well, what are you even doing?
As with many cultural revivals of late, the book club boom has been significantly influenced by celebrity endorsements. Global It girls like Dua Lipa and Kaia Gerber have launched their own literary platforms – Service95 and Library Science, respectively – while homegrown favourites like The Shameless Book Club have also tapped into this zeitgeist, offering a space for (predominantly) women to talk about literature they love in a safe and welcoming environment.
Whether it’s an addictive romantasy novel, a delightfully trashy celebrity memoir, or a thought-provoking social commentary, these clubs offer a judgment-free zone – one where you are allowed (and encouraged) to celebrate your distinct tastes and engage in meaningful discussions about them.
And while many of these communities started online, what followed was a surge in real-life meet-ups like BNE Chapters. It feels like a solution to the many stressors Gen Zs and millennials are facing: lack of connection, too much screen time, the pressure of finding a third space. These book clubs offer more than just literary discussion; they provide an opportunity to meet like-minded individuals who value depth over distraction.
Miller’s advice? “If you’ve been wanting to attend a book club but are afraid of going alone, just do it! I’d say one-third of girls who come to BNE Chapters come alone, and they leave with new friends.”
So, whether you’re a lifelong reader or a lapsed one looking to reconnect, Brisbane’s new wave of book clubs might just be the plot twist you didn’t know you needed.
Header: @xeniadonts / @service95bookclub / @theshamelessbookclub
