Skip to main content

Tumblr’s first official book club taps your inner ‘fangirl’

Tumblr’s official book club is here, and it’s not your average daytime-TV style operation. Instead, the Reblog Book Club Tumblr site is a celebration of Internet fandom culture, and an example of how Tumblr can contain a lot more than porn and selfies. 

Book clubs are often considered the domain of wine-clinking mommies with minor literary affectations and major loves of gossip. But this trope of a catty, pinot-swilling gaggle of book club members does a disservice to the active, thriving communities of book lovers who genuinely want to discuss the books they read. And Tumblr is right there waiting to catch them.

Recommended Videos

As a platform, Tumblr is a godsend for niche fandoms. So launching the company’s first official book club with a novel called “Fangirl” is an especially appropriate move for the blogging service.

The book club works like this: Tumblr users read the novel, and for the first week, they discuss general themes. The following weeks are devoted to more plot-based discussion about each section of the story. Fans can use the Ask box to send questions to “Fangirl” author Rainbow Rowell, who will respond. To participate in the discussion, people can use the hashtag #reblogBook Club, and moderators will reblog their post onto the main page. They can also contribute directly to the main page through the Submit Post feature. 

Rachel Fershleiser, Tumblr’s literary community organizer and the woman who runs the club, is excited about the project – to say the least. 

“I have always wanted to do a Tumblr book club,” says Fershleiser. “Tumblr is full of people talking about books, and I think there’s this idea that Tumblr’s cat GIFs and pictures of pretty girls, and quotes about love over sunsets – and it is all those things. But my community on Tumblr is super literary and loves talking about books, and also to react to books, and create in reaction to books.”

Fershleiser says that, with Reblog Book Club, she wanted “to welcome in people who aren’t necessarily talking about books on Tumblr all the time.” Finding the right book to launch Reblog Book Club with was a “challenge,” she says. But then came “Fangirl.”

With the release of “Fangirl,” Fershleiser knew it was the perfect title for the community she is trying to curate. Thus, Reblog Book Club was born.”Fangirl” author Rainbow Rowell is “super active on Tumblr,” says Fershleiser, as is Noelle Stevenson, who designed the book’s cover (above). Plus, “Fangirl” is “about a young woman who writes fan fiction and is part of a passionate online fan community,” says Fershleiser, making the fit even more perfect.

“The book is technically kind of considered young adult, but I knew people in their 30s and 40s reading it and loving it,” says Fershleiser. “So you have this book that’s appealing to all ages, and is about how important it is to love the books we love and to have online friends to talk to about the books we love.” 

The book club is still in its early stages, but “Fangirl” is already getting a warm reception. Fans are creating playlists, artwork, and sharing recipes inspired by their experience reading. And if they’re drinking wine and talking trash, at least they’re doing it in front of their computer screens. 

(Fan art by Hey Veronica)

Kate Knibbs
Former Contributor
Kate Knibbs is a writer from Chicago. She is very happy that her borderline-unhealthy Internet habits are rewarded with a…
Topics
Bluesky finally adds a feature many had been waiting for
A blue sky with clouds.

Bluesky has been making a lot of progress in recent months by simplifying the process to sign up while at the same time rolling out a steady stream of new features.

As part of those continuing efforts, the social media app has just announced that users can now send direct messages (DMs).

Read more
Reddit just achieved something for the first time in its 20-year history
The Reddit logo.

Reddit’s on a roll. The social media platform has just turned a profit for the first time in its 20-year history, and now boasts a record 97.2 million daily active users, marking a year-over-year increase of 47%. A few times during the quarter, the figure topped 100 million, which Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman said in a letter to shareholders had been a “long-standing milestone” for the site.

The company, which went public in March, announced the news in its third-quarter earnings results on Tuesday.

Read more
Worried about the TikTok ban? This is how it might look on your phone
TikTok splash screen on an Android phone.

The US Supreme Court has decided to uphold a law that would see TikTok banned in the country on January 19. Now, the platform has issued an official statement, confirming that it will indeed shut down unless it gets some emergency relief from the outgoing president.

“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” said the company soon after the court’s verdict.
So, what does going dark mean?
So, far, there is no official statement on what exactly TikTok means by “going dark.” There is a lot of speculation out there on how exactly the app or website will look once TikTok shutters in the US.

Read more