[title]
There’s nothing quite like the simple pleasure of getting stuck into a good book. From TikTok bookshelf tours, sad girls books and the Brontë Bros (a.k.a Timothée Chalamet and Jacob Elordi), Marc Jacobs and his reading hour or Dua Lipa’s Service95 Book Club, if you didn’t already know, reading is cool again. Or, as Kaia Gerber said earlier this year, ‘reading is so sexy’.
A whopping 669 million physical books were sold in the UK last year, the highest overall level ever recorded, and visits to libraries are up 71 percent. Spotted on morning commutes, sprawled across a bench and reclining in a deck chair, there’s no hotter accessory than a paperback this summer.
But which books are Londoners loving the most this season? Photographer Orlando Gili took to the streets to find out. Here’s what he found, from Graham Swift and Ali Hazelwood to Richard Osman.
The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer
![Image of man reading The Satsuma Complex on the train](https://media.timeout.com/images/106156683/image.jpg)
Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift
![Image of woman reading Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift on the grass](https://media.timeout.com/images/106156686/image.jpg)
To Kill the Truth by Sam Bourne
![Image of man on a bench reading To Kill the Truth](https://media.timeout.com/images/106156691/image.jpg)
The Machine Stops and Other Stories by EM Forster
![Image of a girl on the tube reading Machine Stops and Other Stories by E M Forster](https://media.timeout.com/images/106156697/image.jpg)
Aquinas Among the Protestants by Manfred Syensson and David VanDrunen
![Image of a man in a deck chair reading Aquinas Among the Protestants](https://media.timeout.com/images/106156698/image.jpg)
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas
![Image of a girl reading A Court of Wings and Ruin on the tube](https://media.timeout.com/images/106156700/image.jpg)
Butter by Asako Yuzuki
![Man sitting on a deck chair reading Butter](https://media.timeout.com/images/106156703/image.jpg)
Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh
![Image of a woman sitting in a park reading Cursed Bread](https://media.timeout.com/images/106156717/image.jpg)
Curationism: How Curating Took Over the Art World and Everything Else by David Balzer
![Man sitting on a bench reading Curationism: How Curating Took Over the Art World and Everything Else](https://media.timeout.com/images/106156715/image.jpg)
The Last Devil To Die by Richard Osman
![Image of a woman on a bench reading The Last Devil To Die](https://media.timeout.com/images/106156719/image.jpg)
Bride by Ali Hazelwood
![Image of a girl reading Bride on the tube](https://media.timeout.com/images/106156729/image.jpg)
Slanted #42 Magazine
![Image of a man reading a copy of Slanted magazine](https://media.timeout.com/images/106156726/image.jpg)
For more Orlando Gili photography on Time Out, check out his snaps of elated Taylor Swift fans on the first night of the Eras tour in London and these shots capturing the fading world of Smithfield’s midnight meat market.
Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.