Who said young people don’t read anymore? Born between 1997 and 2012Generation Z is apparently bringing physical books back into fashion.
Record sales of printed books and library attendance
As the Guardian reports, 22-year-old model Kaia Gerber has launched her own book club, Library Science. For The Guardian, this initiative he reflects a collective trend among young people between 27 and 12 years old to reconnect with the book object, in an era where night lights and other reading on the phone are on the rise. “Books have always been the great love of my life. Reading is so sexy” declared the young model, daughter of Cindy Crawford.
Faced with the figures shared by The Guardianit is clear that Gerber is not an isolated case. In 2023, 669 million physical books were sold in the UK, the highest figure ever recorded. A study by Nielsen BookData highlights that they are printed books that Generation Z prefers. Between November 2021 and 2022 they accounted for 80% of their reading-related purchases. Finally, the British newspaper notes that young people are returning to libraries en masse, preferring quiet cafes to noisy cafes.
If the English market is doing well, it is no exception. In France, inflation does not appear to have deterred the French from buying new books printed (the price of the book has increased by 4.8%). As reported by GFK, the partner organization of the Paris Book Festival, “25.9 million French people aged 10 and over purchased at least 1 book in 2023, down compared to 2022 (-7%) but with an increasing purchase frequency (+4%). »
Reading a Book: A Celebrity Entertainment?
This passion for printed books is also palpable in the world of influence. Have books become a way for stars to send a message to their audiences?
In 2019, Kendall Jenner was photographed on a yacht off the French Riviera while reading “Tonight I’m someone else”an essay by Chelsea Hodson on the objectification of women and the commodification of their bodies. The copy of him is covered by publish it. As for Timothée Chalamet and Jacob Elordi, they are nicknamed i “Bronte Bros”, in reference to the Brontë sisters. Indeed, Chalamet quotes “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevsky as one of his favorite books, while Elordi was photographed holding Prima facie in hand, a novel based on exploring the flaws of the justice system in rape cases.
After the publication of these photos, we saw the idea of “performative reading”, to designate what appears to some as a staging by the protagonists of their own intimacy. Performance or passion, one thing is certain: printed books have long days ahead of them.
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Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
