British social media personality Jack Edwards has launched the Inklings Book Club, attracting 46,000 members on Instagram and 26,000 on the Fable platform within 10 days of its debut. The initiative represents Edwards's effort to create what he describes as a middle ground between traditional local book clubs and celebrity-driven reading recommendations.

Edwards, who has 3.7 million followers across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Goodreads, and has been called "the Internet's resident librarian" by Oprah Daily, made headlines last year when his TikTok video about Dostoevsky's White Nights helped make the novella the fourth bestselling translation in the U.K. in 2024. The success demonstrated the sales impact of social media book recommendations, leading Penguin Audio to release a new audiobook version narrated by Bridgerton star Luke Thompson.

The inaugural Inklings pick is Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna, which PW called an "ornate tapestry" that readers will "savor."

"I find a lot of book clubs intimidating," Edwards said. "You either have those really localized town hall type book clubs—the very first one was in 1634 with sailors' wives discussing Bible verses—or, today, you have celebrity book clubs where someone famous talks about books or recommends them, but there's not that grassroots conversation."

To make participation in the club more accessible and affordable, Edwards ensures that all book selections are available in paperback, which "essentially halves the price," Edwards said. "It's more likely you'd be able to find them at a thrift store or charity shop. Your library probably has copies in stock."

He said he was drawn to the Fable platform in particular for Inklings because it allows chapter-by-chapter discussions, enabling members to participate without completing entire books. Edwards said this nonlinear approach removes barriers to participation that exist in traditional book clubs.

"The great thing about Fable is that it's not a conversation where you've either read the book or you haven't," Edwards said. "You can actually discuss every chapter individually."

Edwards’s began his career as a content creator five years ago after graduating with a literature degree during the pandemic and struggling to land a job in publishing. He started off making videos about books that celebrities were photographed reading, as well as books that appeared on television shows and movies. He soon became a trusted source for book recommendations.

In addition to his own videos, Edwards has hosted livestreams for the Booker Prize announcements and conducted interviews with authors including Percival Everett, Douglas Stuart, and Richard Osman. He has also appeared at major literary festivals including Hay Festival and the Gothenburg Book Fair, where his discussion about BookTok's impact on the industry was the best attended program at the event and led to an invitation to curate an entire day of programming at this year's fair.

"The first time I went to Hay Festival,” Edwards recalled, “we were in the green room and I could hear authors whispering to their publishers or agents and publicists, 'He's not going to make me do a TikTok, is he?' TikTok was a dirty word, but as time has gone on, people have realized it can hugely impact book sales."

Edwards's own influence on book sales is undeniable. U.K. sales of Haruki Murakami's The City and Its Uncertain Walls nearly doubled following one of Edwards's TikTok posts about the author’s latest novel, and his discussion of Dostoevsky's White Nights led to U.K. bookstores displaying the Little Black Classics as a prominent, point-of-sales selection around their cashwraps.

Edwards is keen to spotlight both classic and genre literature, drawing connections between historical and contemporary works. "I care so much about the craft of writing and believe that all books are worthy of the dignity of criticism," he said. "I want to talk about fluffy romances and fantasy and romantasy, and all of these new subgenres with as much respect as I talk about the classics and literary fiction."

With his growing online celebrity, Edward said he feels he’s helping establish more meritocratic and inclusive literary landscape. “Making the time to read and fall in love with a book is not motivated by the one that comes with the biggest marketing budget," he said. "It's about the book that resonates with the most people and has the most thought-provoking message."