Book club podcasts are booming

Considering their associations with suburban politeness, you might be surprised to hear that book clubs have decidedly radical origins. Dating back to the 1700s – some sources say even earlier – the clubs began with groups of women, barred from formal education, meeting to discuss what they were writing and reading.

From these improvised seminars in the backs of bookshops and in neighbours’ kitchens, the book club model was born – and, in the intervening centuries, it’s come a long way. 

In 2025, thanks, in part, to the boom of #Booktok – where influencers dispense literary recommendations to their TikTok followers – book clubs are more popular than ever. (Surely, bolstered by Gen Z’s fervour for reading: 83 per cent of say they read regularly, compared to 75 per cent of 30-to-45-year-olds.) 

But it’s not just the conventional format (you know, an informal meet-up with friends or neighbours, picking a new book each month) that’s on the rise. In the past four years, there’s been a 350 per cent increase in book club events on Eventbrite.

Recent years have seen attempts at making TV iterations stick, too: like Liz Day and Andi Oliver’s Sky Arts Book Club Live, or BBC’s Between the Covers with Sara Cox, both established in 2020. Elsewhere, Gen Z celeb-fronted versions have taken root – see singer Dua Lipa’s Service95 book club (with author interviews on YouTube), or actress Kaia Gerber’s Library Science (ditto). But in 2025, one new medium seems to be rising head and shoulders above the rest. Welcome to the era of the book club podcast. 

The formula is simple: a host (or hosts) pick a book to discuss, and audiences tune in at their leisure, usually opting to read the book beforehand. It’s an undeniable hit – I swear, these days I can’t open my phone without seeing announcements about the launch of a new book club in podcast form. It’s an intuitive fit, really – especially for those of us who hate leaving the house or shudder at the thought of talking to strangers. 

Sure, a podcast doesn’t offer the immediacy, the exchange of ideas, or social aspects that an in-person club does. But that’s probably what puts off many book lovers in the first place. A podcast can offer the same moment of calm that reading does – and I have a hunch the Venn diagram of bookworms and podcast fans would be pretty much a circle.

Transposed to a podcast, someone can glean all the joy of digging into a knotty plot without having to tussle with a local science teacher for a share of the bowl of nibbles. This is technically true of TV book clubs, too – offering the opportunity to sit back and let the frothy literary analysis and celebrity guests wash over you – but fundamentally, books are not a visual medium. TV isn’t their natural habitat, and whoever thought of smashing the two together was trying to shove a round peg in a square hole. 

There is not much added by seeing people discuss something rather than just hearing them – though, in short clips, that might drive engagement on socials. Between the Covers, for instance, functions just as well with your eyes closed. And although podcasts can be solitary, they needn’t be – many shows have online communities who continue the discussion on forums and social media, at whatever time suits them. The NTS Radio book club, for instance, has a dedicated Discord channel for subscribers to chime in on the book chat. What’s more, it takes five seconds to share an especially interesting podcast episode with a friend – much easier than trying to get them to sit through a whole TV episode, or relate the ins and outs of an in-person discussion.

For me, the portability of a podcast – the ability for it to accompany me throughout my day, wherever I go – is what solidifies it as the book club’s ideal medium. Book-chat brain-whirring is perfectly suited to the kind of autopilot that podcasts were made for – transforming commutes into bright windows of interest, overhauling the washing up or laundry-folding into a soothing background activity. Here, my mind is free to focus on character arcs, bad syntax, or an idea that had never occurred to me before – the kind that only clicks into place with the irresistible intuitiveness only sharp analysis can deliver. 

The nature of podcasts makes it easy to dip into an episode about a book you haven’t read, too, though many podcasters suggest reading along. How’s that for expanding your literary palette while you’re re-organising the fridge? And free from the confines that limit an in-person book club (you know, time and space), podcasts can give you so much more, such as access to the author themselves.

As more elements of our lives are transformed by the internet, time-honoured formulas are finding new formats. So come on in, won’t you? The podcast water’s fine. To help you get started, I’ve put together a list of tried-and-tested best podcast book clubs to help you find your tribe.

The Book Club Review

Hosted by Laura Potter and Kate Slotover, who have both worked in book publishing, The Book Club Review takes reading seriously – in a good way. Episodes are divvied up between author interviews, recommendations, and the titular book club, where the hosts report back from one of their in-person clubs about their latest read (and sometimes, rip it to shreds). Their no-nonsense “read and discuss” commitment to the book club’s original form makes this a place for purists. Expect heartfelt criticism, insightful analysis and rousing debate.

Sara and Cariad’s Weirdos Book Club

Described as a book club for those who “don’t like people or wine or nibbles”, this podcast will also appeal to those who like their literature with a side of laughter. Hosted by comedians Sara Pascoe and Cariad Lloyd, the vibe is of being on a classic panel show but with none of the attendant blokey humour. The hosts are joined by guests, from comedian Aisling Bea to actress Jessica Fostekew, who have also read the book in question, making it more giggly chat than hardcore review. I snorted more than once at the Bridget Jones’s Diary episode. 

Bookclub 

Radio 4’s Bookclub offers the energy of a book club’s back-and-forth but goes one better, putting the authors at the centre of each discussion. Hosted by the former Today programme presenter James Naughtie, with questions posed by a live audience, it’s a joy to hear everyday people address their musings directly to the writer – and get answers from the proverbial horse’s mouth. Of course, the author’s presence puts most griping off the table, but that’s a small price to pay for its inimitable authorial access. The atmosphere is polite, though steers clear of prim – for those who like to club with propriety.

Books & Boba

Specialising in Asian and Asian American authors, Books and Boba focuses on one book each month, hosted by award-winning podcast producer Marvin Yueh and writer Reera Yoo. There’s lively conversation encompassing politics and identity issues in the publishing world, as well as passionate literary analysis. Episodes alternate between reviews and author interviews, with many over an hour long – perfect for fans of the deep dive.

Joel Golby’s Book Club

Presented solo by journalist and author Joel Golby, this is arguably less a book club than a series of audio reviews. Nonetheless, I encourage you to turn a blind eye. The show arrives in eminently digestible chunks of less than half an hour, each ending with a good old-fashioned mark out of 10. Before that verdict, Golby offers analysis that is just the right balance of personal and objective; the books he chooses are a satisfying mix of surprising old favourites (Chris Kraus’s I Love Dick) and zeitgeisty newbies (Miranda July’s All Fours). He is funny and smart and I want to be his friend.