It was announced that Mark Zuckerberg crowd-sourced his New Year’s resolution, and he decided upon reading a book every two weeks in 2015. Journalists speculate the creator of Facebook will be bringing increased attention to specific books and their authors, much like Oprah’s Book Club elevated certain books in its hey-day.
Oprah was hugely successful with her book club. Her talk show had a loyal following of viewers who easily fit into the expected audience of book buyers and readers. Oprah’s stamp of approval for a book meant a lot to viewers who put their trust in Oprah’s winning taste.
Does Mark Zuckerberg have the same sort of loyalty from his own generation? Will his stamp of approval to a book garner increased sales as people rush out to follow in Mark’s footsteps? And will publishers and booksellers jump on the bandwagon as they did with Oprah Book Club picks, promoting the books as Mark’s picks?
I’m optimistic. Any endeavour that brings books to new audiences and places reading in the public sphere is good in my books!
On that note, happy reading in 2015!