These Gen Z Bookworms Prove That Reading Is Still Very Much Alive
Five young book-lovers in Singapore chat with us about their favourite reads, the influence of BookTok, and going analogue in a digital era.
Whoever said the next generation doesn’t read? In an era of endless scrolling and shrinking attention spans, reading habits are changing, but that doesn’t mean books are on their way out. Here’s, we meet five young bookworms in their own spaces to unpack what reading looks like today, and what people get wrong about Gen Z’s reading habits.
CHARMAINE LIM, 29, FREELANCE WRITER
With an estimated 380 to 430 books on her shelves, Charmaine Lim is hardly a casual browser. She started sharing her literary tastes on YouTube as @CharmaineReads in 2015, posting reading vlogs, hauls, reviews and recommendations, before expanding to Bookstagram as @charmaines.reads in 2020.
HER FAVOURITE GENRE: “I’m a big mystery reader, with the genre making up over 50 per cent of my annual reads. My mum got me into it when I was quite young, buying the original Nancy Drew series and Famous Five books for me because she had fond memories of reading them during her childhood. I enjoy the process of putting together the clues and seeing if I can piece together what’s going on before the characters do.”
ON BOOKTOK’S INFLUENCE: “I think the Covid‑19 pandemic was really what propelled young people to read more. The BookTok boom wouldn’t have happened if we weren’t all stuck inside and books became one of the most accessible forms of entertainment…Hopefully everyone will continue reading and branch out to discover what they like from there.”
PREFERRED READING FORMAT: “I read across pretty much every format. I don’t think I could limit myself to just one because I’ve had good personal experiences with all. If not for the audiobook, I don’t think I would have made it through The Odyssey in university because the physical version literally put me to sleep twice.”
HER ADVICE TO NEW READERS: “Read what you want and discover what you like about reading. Not everyone will find their favourite genre at a young age like I did, and that’s incredibly normal. It takes time to know what you enjoy, and reading is meant to be fun, not some kind of purely academic pursuit that exists only as an extension of school.”
AMANDA SUGIHARTO, 29, PHARMACEUTICAL EXECUTIVE
As of press time, Amanda Sugiharto has 242 books in her personal collection, most of which explore identity, belonging and the intricacies of being human. In fact, the 29‑year‑old describes her reading habits as “committed to the female gaze”.
HER FAVOURITE BOOK: “Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth (a novel about a young woman grappling with her sexuality and belonging in a small, unaccepting village). It’s a coming‑of‑age reckoning of identity, what it means to have to choose, to have to give up parts of yourself to make yourself whole, and to have the only home you’ve ever known be both a source of comfort and the thing that holds you back. There is so much introspection and yearning, and so much pain reminiscent of my own life and the decisions I have to make every day.”
ON BOOKS EXPLORING THE FEMALE GAZE: “Ninety‑five per cent of the books on my bookshelves are written by women and often write women into existence beyond the roles they’ve been assigned. I love reading books in which female characters crave for bigger lives, come to terms with the largeness of their desires and discuss the feelings they can’t quite explain. The world is quick to categorise and mould us, but people are complicated creatures, and women are allowed to be messy, selfish, greedy, sad, intelligent, ambitious and fluid. I’m tired of hearing what people think of women; I am so very hungry to read about the full range of ways women see themselves!”
GO‑TO BOOK SOURCE: “The library! It’s such a wonderful microcosm of the gift economy, and in my opinion, the last real example of third spaces. Instead of monetary transactions and profit maximisation, the library operates on trust, community and the sharing of knowledge.”
ZAIRE CAMARA, 19, ARCHITECTURE STUDENT AND MUSICIAN
Architecture student by day, vocalist and bassist for local alternative rock band Muff by night, Zaire Camara approaches books with an insatiable curiosity. His interests span existential fiction, philosophy and theology, with literature occasionally finding its way into his songwriting too.
ON JUDGING A BOOK BY ITS COVER: “That’s actually how I got back into reading. I was at a friend’s house just chilling and stumbled upon a copy of The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (a story about a man who wakes up one morning transformed into a giant insect) – the Penguin Little Clothbound Classics edition. I thought it looked sick and asked if I could borrow it. The answer was no, so I bought my own copy.”
THE BOOK HE WOULD READ AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME: “The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (a novel following the titular Gray, whose idealised portrait – painted by the artist Basil Hallward – grows increasingly grotesque while he himself remains youthful, reflecting the moral corruption brought on by his hedonism). I wrote a song about it called Basil, actually. It was originally a demo I recorded when I didn’t know how to play the guitar. I spent a long time figuring out tunings and didn’t really have much to write about until I read the novel…I think Hallward represents trying to do something with the best intentions, only to fall into despair as everything around you crumbles. I saw parallels in the real world when I was reading the book and the lyrics are written from his perspective – with a few embellishments from my own life.”
THE BOOK HE SECRETLY JUDGES OTHERS FOR READING: “Meditations by Roman philosopher Marcus Aurelius. I used to love that book too, but if Marcus Aurelius came back today and saw people using his diary for clout, I think he would flip out. That’s not what Stoicism (what he practised) is supposed to be about.”
BOOK REVIEWS – YAY OR NAY: “I try to steer away from things like that…I’d even skip the introduction section. I think the best way to consume any form of media is completely blind.”
GABRIELLE CHONG, 20, MEDIA, ARTS AND DESIGN STUDENT
Books, vinyl records, DVDs, toys and posters – Gabrielle Chong surrounds herself with all of them, proving she is an analogue girl through and through. Give her a fairy‑tale world to get lost in, and she’s more than happy to stay a while.
HER FAVOURITE BOOK: “I would have to say Undercover Princess by Connie Glynn (this boarding school‑based story, about an ordinary girl and a princess who swap identities, is the first book in a five-book series called The Rosewood Chronicles). I’d be lying if I mentioned any other book. This has been my favourite book for years, and I grew up with the series. Although it’s very different from the books I read now, there has never been a book I’ve loved as deeply as it. It warms my heart and makes me giggle every time I read it.”
WHAT GOT HER INTO READING: “I don’t remember which books made me fall in love with reading. I just remember my love of books always being present in my life. As a child, my grandma would bring me to the library, and I would max out the borrowing limit by bringing home any book with stories about fairies, princesses and unicorns.”
WHAT HER BOOKSHELF SAYS ABOUT HER: “This person is definitely a girl.”
ON THE “GEN Z DOESN’T READ” DEBATE: “I think it’s true that a lot of people don’t read anymore, but it’s not just Gen Z. I haven’t heard about the discourse online, but I wouldn’t blame my generation for not reading. I’d blame the internet. I’m sure that any generation that grew up with the internet would stop reading; my generation just happened to be the first one.”
THE BOOK SHE SECRETLY JUDGES OTHERS FOR LOVING: “There isn’t one. Why would you shame someone else for liking something, simply because you don’t? I think we should just let people like what they like.”
CHARLOTTE LIM, 21, ENGINEERING STUDENT
Give Charlotte Lim a fantasy world to get lost in, a love story to obsess over, or a mystery to solve, and she’s happy. She says her reading tastes might not always satisfy literary snobs, but she’s not going to let them decide what counts as a good read – and neither should you.
HER FAVOURITE BOOK: “The Song of Achilles (a retelling of the Greek myth of Achilles and Patroclus, whose friendship grows into a love story) by Madeline Miller. This book was my first‑ever Greek mythology novel and it emotionally wrecked me in the best way possible! The writing was also beautiful without ever feeling too heavy.”
HOW MUCH SHE SPENDS ON BOOKS EVERY MONTH: “Books are not cheap, especially if you’re looking for special or limited editions. I tend to set aside $50 to $100, depending on the number of new releases that month!”
ON BUYING A BOOK BECAUSE OF ITS COVER: “I’m guilty of judging a book by its cover; sometimes, the cover art is just too pretty to resist! One such example is The Strawberry Patch Pancake House by Laurie Gilmore.”
THE BOOK SHE’D RECOMMEND TO GET PEOPLE READING AGAIN: “Any Freida McFadden book! Even if you’re not into thrillers, her books will definitely get you hooked because you’ll want to find out what actually happens.”
ON THE “GEN Z DOESN’T READ” DEBATE: “I think some people quietly look down on what we read. For example, reading non‑fiction books gets dismissed as not ‘real’ reading. To me, you can read anything from newspaper articles to non‑fiction books to fiction books; they’re all reading material.”
TEXT & COORDINATION GABRIELLE ANGELA ANDERSON PHOTOGRAPHY LAWRENCE TEO ART DIRECTION JONATHAN CHIA
This article first appeared in Volume 11 of F ZINE