Forget the latest It bag—nowadays, celebrities are carrying a different status symbol: books. With the recent proliferation of celebrity memoirs, celebrity book clubs, and celebrity memoir book clubs, there’s never been a better time to be literate.
It makes sense, after all: Books carry a social and intellectual cachet. What people read (or, at the very least, appear to be reading) conveys far more than a regular paparazzi shot. Just earlier this week, Jacob Elordi proved himself a true cinephile, thumbing through Jean Cocteau’s The Art of Cinema while on holiday in Sardinia. With her heavily annotated books of essays, meanwhile, Kendall Jenner regularly reminds us that she’s more than just a pretty face.
With that, we ask: Are celebrities actually, genuinely poring over the books they tote around? And does it matter? Where a few of the more voracious readers are surely lurking on secret Goodreads accounts, others may well treat the latest buzzy novel a bit like a trendy accessory. But who’s to say—or to judge!
Here, a survey of the ever-growing list of books that the paparazzi have captured in the arms of celebrities recently. Happy browsing—and reading!
Jacob Elordi
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