“Social reading,” as a concept, is actually quite simple:  people want to share what they have read with other people and receive feedback about their thoughts and ideas.

Social reading helps a book become memorable

Social reading also leads to shared writing and shared thoughts which fosters better idea formation and explanation, than solitary, deep-focus reading (Johnson, et. al, 2011, p. 8).

There are numerous reasons why people join traditional book clubs.  Perhaps the main motivation is for the social interaction between group members over a common interest (AuYeung, Dalton, & Gornall, 2007, p. 3).

The description of an online book club participant can often be described as:  “adult reader, primarily female, but also including men, twenty to forty years old, Internet savvy, with at minimum, a medium reading level” (AuYeung, Dalton, & Gornall, 2007, p. 7).

One major con of online book clubs is the idea of “membership.”  Membership in online book clubs can often be unpredictable and less interactive.

The Kindle has recently introduced several new features that encourage readers to share their thoughts with other Kindle users around the globe.  The most popular and most controversial feature is called “popular highlights.”  Popular highlights appear as dotted lines under phrases in books that multiple Kindle readers have highlighted (Johnson, 2010).

Finally, the Kindle has also introduced a “lending” function that allows readers to share the book with a friend after completing it (Cain Miller, 2011).

“books that we’ve known and handled often have a personal, physical connection to the past that e-books won’t be able to capture” (Ng, 2010)