Last summer at Normandy music festival Beauregard, Florence Welch, frontwoman of Florence + the Machine, took to the mic between songs and recognised two teenagers in the crowd.
“She spoke to us between the lyrics, asking what we were doing in France,” said Leah Moloney. “[Then she] told the crowd we were special guests and got us up on stage.”
What makes the scene particularly unusual is that the musician and the fans had already met, having got to know each other online through a shared love of literature. Welch announced to the crowd that the girls ran her online book club, waving a sign with the words Between Two Books on it.
These days, it is not unusual for a book club to be hosted on social media - or led by a celebrity. Emma Watson has just kicked off her feminist club Our Shared Shelf on Amazon-owned Goodreads, while Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had a go at a year-long one on his own social network - with mixed results. Oprah Winfrey’s own became “2.0” in 2012, with a new focus on social media. But, the likelihood of a fan’s tweet getting through the online clutter and not only reach, but convince a rock star to take on her own idea are small, at best.
When a 14-year-old Moloney tweeted at Welch in 2012, she never expected a book club - and relationship - to form; but Between Two Books now counts more than 26,000 followers on Instagram.
In July 2012, Welch tweeted a picture of herself in front of Portland’s independent bookshop Powell’s, with the caption “Booksbooksbooksbooks”.
“I always looked up to her and knew she was very literary ... I thought it would be cool if she had a proper book club,” says Moloney. “I responded to her tweet and said we should start a book club, where fans read books on her recommendation.”
“I wasn’t entirely serious, and knew it was a far-fetched idea. She was very elusive and not even that active on social media,” said Moloney, who started the project with friends Abbie Whitehead and Heather Hale.
To her surprise, Welch took her up on it, messaging her and offering to help. Within a week, the star was promoting the club at a gig in Indianapolis, flaunting the book on stage in the city where, coincidentally, the first club choice - Opposed Positions by Gwendoline Riley - was set. She announced the name - Flow’s Book Club, or Between Two Books.
“I don’t understand the internet, so I could get that a bit confused,” joked Welch. Three-and-a-half years later, the book club lives on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Welch and fans have read 18 books together, ranging from John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces to Patti Smith’s memoir Just Kids, and have taken part in projects like a bookmark design competition judged by the musician.
“So shall we do this poetry thing, then?” asked Welch on a post inviting followers to read young LA poet Mira Gonzalez alongside Ted Hughes.
“Honored to be the current subject of @betweentwobooks ... Maybe I should join the club once it’s a book I haven’t already read:) Hello kids!” Instagrammed Lena Dunham when her memoir was the book of choice.
“It’s all very fluid and organic collaboration,” said Moloney, adding that this arrangement matches Welch’s own personality.
Despite the size of the project now, it lacks a specific structure and remains fan-run, adapting to the star’s erratic schedule. Everyone posts when they are available, and Welch’s involvement ranges from posting pictures of what she’s reading to hosting charity fundraisers or interviewing Donna Tartt (taking readers’ questions).
Moloney, who is in frequent communication with Welch and posts on her behalf from Dublin, where she is a student, has become aware of the power of the club in promoting literature.
“[Welch] has always been so into it. It’s a really lovely thing for me, too - I’ve always been into reading. When I was eight or nine, reading was not something you would admit to. It wasn’t seen as cool. This is so good because we can use her name to promote reading. I definitely think that reading has become a more ‘hip’ thing to do lately.”
Reflecting on the last few hectic years, Moloney, now 19, highlights how Between Two Books has affected readers’ lives. After the France gig, she “wanted to give something back” to Welch and asked book clubbers to write what the club had done for them.
“Many got back to me saying that they were in a bad place, and knowing Florence was reading the same book as them made them feel more connected. I have felt that too about reading with someone else - knowing that someone else has read the same exact lines can really help.”
For now, it’s time to read Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, on the recommendation of fellow musicians the Maccabees - as well as Patti Smith.
— Guardian News & Media Ltd
