Arts analysis: Why book clubs are making a come back

“There is no friend as loyal as a book,” wrote Ernest Hemmingway, a man for whom solitude was as fortifying as literature. In both his life and his work, the great American writer lived by the maxim that reading is the most satisfying activity for the introverted soul.

And yet, increasingly, in this age of hyper connectivity, reading is also a vivifying communal activity. From Booktok to Goodreads to the more old-fashioned book club, reading ...