While the town of Oxford has historically been known for being a literary hotspot, the rise of TikTok has re-popularized reading among young people — and influenced what the students of the University of Mississippi have been reading this year.
Senior psychology and political science major Sarah Smith revived the Ole Miss Book Club in the fall semester of 2023. The club focuses on connecting with peers through the acts of reading and discussing literature.
“I just like to read,” Smith said. “I just wanted to be able to talk to other people that also like to read and like to discuss books.”
Though Smith was unsure of how popular the book club would become, the current roster has about thirty students. Smith discussed the demographics of the club.
“It’s mostly women, I’m not going to lie,” Smith said. “It’s a lot of freshmen and sophomores, I think because juniors and seniors don’t really want to get into a new club. … But we’re pretty diverse within the women, and we are starting to get a few guys in there, too.”
In terms of what the group is reading, romance and fantasy are the most requested, along with general interest in the mystery genre.
“A lot of people like romance and fantasy, those are their favorites,” Smith said. “But each month, we try to do a different genre, so we have all interests covered. So, everyone is happy and it also helps diversify everybody’s reading.”
At their March meeting, the book club discussed “Cruel Prince” by Holly Black, which is a faerie-inspired fantasy novel for young adults. Past reads include “Promises and Pomegranates” by Sav R. Miller, “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid and “Icebreaker” by Hannah Grace.
Cody Morrison, the book buyer and inventory manager at Oxford bookstore Square Books, also noted the popularity of the romance and fantasy genres.
“General topics like romance are really hot right now, along with fantasy. Some people call it ‘romantasy,’” Morrison said.
Morrison also said that most customers who buy those genres are typically young adults and college students.
As far as the amount of books sold this year, Morrison said that Square Books stays “pretty steady.”
“It ebbs and flows (depending) on the seasons. There’s usually the fall and the summer. … The fall is probably the biggest, but spring is probably the next biggest,” Morrison said.
Square Books is also the hotspot for most literary-centered events in Oxford, hosting about 150 events per year.
“We have a pretty robust event schedule,” Morrison said. “We have lots of signings in addition to the Oxford Conference for the Book.”
Morrison also emphasized that Oxford is a very important town as far as literature is concerned.
“It’s William Faulkner’s hometown,” Morrison said. “I could probably name 30 different authors that live here. Many teach on campus or choose to live here, so we’re really fortunate in that way.”
Smith and Morrison both spoke of many of the same authors being popular right now, such as “A Court of Thorns and Roses” author Sarah J. Maas, fantasy author Rebecca Yarros and romance writer Elle Kennedy.
Though Oxford is almost always hosting some sort of book-related event, springtime is an especially busy time for the literature-loving community. Earlier this month, the Oxford Conference for the Book kicked off its 30th annual festival in collaboration with the Southern Literary Festival.
Both festivals brought notable authors to Oxford and the surrounding communities. Smith encouraged all students at the university to become involved and engaged with some sort of reading-based group, whether that be the Ole Miss Book Club or simply reading a book with friends in the Grove.
“It is never too late to join,” Smith said. “Everybody is welcome at our meetings.”
