Move over dating apps Gen Z is now having meet-cutes at book club

Are book clubs the new dating app? Nearly one in four book club members have had a meet-cute at their reading group, according to a new survey.The poll of 2,000 Americans who attend a book club found that a surprisingly high number (23%) have met someone they’re interested in romantically at their club.Interestingly, men were significantly more likely to report having met a romantic interest at a reading group compared to women (38% vs.16%). Conducted by Talker Research and commissioned by ThriftBooks, the study found that 44% of respondents would rather meet a romantic partner at their book club rather than on a dating app.And out of all generations, Gen X (45%) and Gen Z (47%) were most likely to opt for a book club meet-cute over a dating app.However, more than half of book club members (56%) confessed they like to keep their book club membership a secret from others in their life, with men being notably more likely to feel this way compared to women (69% vs.

48%). Investigating how much reading they’re getting up to, the study found that book club members read 10 books, on average, in the last year. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said that they found it difficult to meet others with similar literary taste prior to joining a book club. And respondents’ top reasons for joining reading groups, according to the study, were to read new books (68%), socialize (63%) and to make new friends (59%), with Gen Z and millennials (both 61%) being more likely to join book clubs in order to forge friendships, compared to older generations. Seeing where they meet, 42% of book clubs meet in-person, 11% meet online and 43% meet via a combination of in-person and online gatherings.Nearly all respondents (93%) agreed that meeting with a reading group has been therapeutic and 98% said it’s improved their mental health. “Not only are reading groups having a significant impact on readers’ romantic lives and friendships, they’re also hugely beneficial for book...