By Thu Nguyen 

SAN JOSE, CALIF. – Meghan Le, the founder of the Book-ish Society, strives to expand the safety net for her romance readers who dare to explore the literary horizon. 

Le has always been a reader. Her literary journey kicked off in elementary school with the iconic “Rainbow Magic” series by Daisy Meadows that embellished the school library bookshelves. From there, she bounced to Sci-Fi, starting with “The Hunger Games” series by Suzanne Collins in middle school. Now, the senior’s reading list is filled with contemporary romance novels, the genre that inspired her book club.  

The student’s inspiration for the Book-Ish Society stemmed from her experience on Booktok — a community on TikTok that concentrates on literature of all forms and genres. Creators are free to contribute by creating short videos where they do book reviews, comment on unique aspects of characters, and recommend five-star worthy books to other members. After witnessing the importance of community to readers first-hand, Le felt encouraged to start her book club at school to replicate the same environment. She aims to sponsor a safe community where readers are comfortable enough to share their opinion. 

The Book-Ish Society is distinct in being the only book club on the Silver Creek campus. The club is also unique in its operation, where they exclusively read contemporary romance novels and no other genre. On the first Wednesday of every month, officers hold a meeting to nominate the book of the month, chosen from a survey collected from the previous meeting. Officers try to nominate books that most members have not read before to broaden their reading scope. They encourage readers to try new tropes they haven’t read before by asking them in the attendance survey to get a feel of what is up for grabs next. During lunch, members gather to vote for the carefully handpicked read of the month, selected based on whichever novel gets the majority vote. Members gather to dispute the book on the last Wednesday of each month. This system allows participants to reap benefits from an open discussion where all topic is free games. Members are free to debate over which character they would choose to kiss, kill, or marry as well as any scenes they were uncomfortable with and felt unnecessary to the development of a character. 

Le greatly encourages more people to get involved in the hobby of reading. She professes that “reading is sexy.” To individuals who want to become a bibliophile, Le would advise them to not judge a book by its cover.