I'm dyslexic and avoided reading until BookTok got me hooked - now I run a book club

Image source, Amelia Lord Image caption, Amelia Lord didn't feel confident reading until BookTok posts encouraged her to try By Natalie Grice BBC Wales Published 11 July 2026 Updated 12 July 2026 07:05 BST Romance is the key that finally unlocked the world of reading for Amelia Lord after she had avoided it throughout her life. Love was all over her TikTok feed in the form of BookTok – the app's literary subcommunity - just as she was searching for a new hobby to take up after moving from her home in Newport to Gloucester. The 28-year-old social media and events coordinator did not read at all before she was 21. Although "intrigued", a dyslexia diagnosis made her think she couldn't do it. "I kept seeing BookToks on my TikTok," she said. "I was seeing loads about it and it piqued my interest." She made her first ever New Year's resolution, to read just one book, Colleen Hoover's It Ends With Us , which was released as a film starring Blake Lively in 2024. "I didn't want to set the boundary too high," she laughs. "I'm a dyslexic girl and I've always thought, can I do it? Then I read it and I was hooked straight away. "I went into town two days later and started buying loads of romance books." Amelia, now living in Cardiff with her partner and young daughter, has used books to build a very local community. She said: "When I came back [to Wales] I didn't really have many friends around me anymore. "And then I became a mum and hobbies which I had before I wasn't interested in or didn't have the time for anymore. So I feel like books were the only thing that was still a part of before I had my little girl." She established Booked Up Book Club after her boss gave her space at the play café where she works in the suburb of Whitchurch. Image source, Amelia Lord Image caption, Amelia's book group space is designed to feel welcoming and cosy There is a monthly meeting to discuss whichever book the group has chosen and another "scrap and yap" session, which focuses on book journalling and craft. Amelia combines discussion of the books with quizzes and games, and events such as book bedazzling , external . "I was so nervous when I launched the tickets," she admits. "I thought 'what if nobody comes to this'? But it's going well." The club mainly focuses on different aspects of the romance genre – this month's pick is a cowboy romance, although she is open to other types of books such as thrillers. "One of my friends had only ever read one book before book club. She started coming and now she reads all the time." Image source, Aimee Cummings Image caption, Aimee Cummings called opening her book shop Love Stories a "passion" project Romance - always a solid performer in the publishing world - has rocketed in popularity in recent years, with sales figures in 2024 reaching record levels in the Romance and Saga category , external , according to industry analysts NIQ. It was women like Amelia who helped inspire another Cardiff reader to open the city's first b