Week Seven Prompt Response
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| Image from BookBub.com |
For this prompt response, I decided to expand more on Liao’s (2017) article, “Celebrity Book Clubs Create Virtual Reading Community” in comparison with Butler, Cowan, & Nilsson’s (2005) article about the impact of Oprah’s book club selections and subsequent bestselling success of her picks.
It was interesting to me to discover Butler, Cowan, & Nilsson discovered Oprah’s book club influence had a declining popularity trend within the span of 1996-2002 (p. 23), and that “the fading popularity of Oprah books could also be a result of declining quality of the books themselves” (p. 31). Oprah is such a huge, successful influencer that all her book club picks become bestsellers, but again, there was the decline of committed readers as the book club went on, that there was a decline of people purchasing her books and other book club books. On the other hand, Liao’s article had a different vibe concerning celebrities and sharing books to read. I wonder if the differences lie in Oprah being more of an entrepreneur, and the celebrities Liao features start their own separate bookstagram and/or online book club; Oprah reaches a vast audience, whereas the other celebrities more directly focused on readers through bookstagram and online book clubs.
Looking at the bookstagram posts featured in Liao’s article, it reminded me of READ posters that featured pop culture celebrities and characters. Bookriot has a fun article of old READ posters, which features a 1988 poster of Phil Collins dressed as Davy Crockett:
Except posts featured in Liao come off as more personal, especially Emma Watson’s bookstagram posts, like this one (shared by Liao):
Regardless, no matter how books are recommended by famous people, it isn’t an infallible and timeless way to increase readership; it’s always up to the reader’s decision. Liao mentions celebrity book clubs have been mainly positive, but “...their future prosperity remains uncertain.” But there will always be unique and engaging ways to promote reading, which I believe dedicated readers will always keep up with so long as book lovers (famous or not!) continue influencing others to read more.
I was thinking about celebrity book clubs/endorsements and it occurred to me that I can't think of any led by men. With the exception of Oprah, are they all white women?
ReplyDeleteThat's an excellent point! I can't think of any men who endorse books like Oprah or Emma Watson; the closest I think of this moment is Rick Riordan who supports and suggests his fans read books published through the 'Rick Riordan Presents' Imprint. I suppose this observation of lack of male-led bookclubs could be connected with the continued stereotype that reading is more of a feminine thing?
DeleteAndrew Luck had a book club as did Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg I believe!
DeleteBrittany, you bring up some really good points here- some of which I echoed in my comments this week- I also posted about celebrity book clubs. However, I have been fascinated for a couple years about Reese Witherspoon's ability to funnel books into Hollywood movies and awards for herself. There is something interesting to the celebrity effect, because, with the exception of stars like Oprah and Reese, it feels like a celebrity club, with less focus on the books. Oprah and Reese seem to treat their book clubs as businesses, and I think that is the difference. They turn the focus into reading and buying in. The other clubs are focused on Instagram pictures and all of the social media presence that comes along with being famous.
ReplyDeleteWhen I heard my favorite singer Florence Welch had a book club a few years ago I wanted in- until I realized how informal and blah it was. And, when I went to the site they are actually on a (probably permanent) hiatus, so I don't think there is much longevity for the Instagram and Twitter book clubs.
I think that's a great insight concerning Oprah and Reese' clubs not really being focused on the books themselves. Although in Reese's case, she could be helping more individuals read more by making her favorite books into films. In contrast, you had a bad experience with Welch's book club since not enough time/budget was put into it. I do like how a singer started a book club, since books don't really relate to singing, that way it Welch comes off as a genuine reader. But again, it was "informal and blah." I never realized how difficult it would be to follow a great bookclub!
DeleteReading preferences are such an individual thing that I wonder if, as time went on, many of Oprah's fans simply discovered that her reading tastes were very different from their own and stopped trying her recommendations. When I went down the list of books she has promoted, I think there was only one that I had read. I seemed to me that she chose a lot of very intense, literary fiction.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point about the difference in celebrity platform. I'm sure Oprah's book club had much greater reach than some of the others because if they regularly tuned in to her show (at least in the beginning) they would just get the book club, too. With all the others, you have to make a special effort to search out their Instagram, blog, or whatever, to see what they're doing with books.
Fantastic response! If it get's people reading, cool. But many seem to peter out, is it the books chosen, the celebrity, the readers? You have lots of good thoughts. Full points!
ReplyDelete