We all have our own personal style. And thanks to TikTok, there’s an aesthetic for everyone to capture their vibe, express themselves and find others within the niche online. These subcultures reflect what you wear, the movies you watch, the music you listen to, your personality, your favorite food or drink and yes, even what you like to read.

While the list of different aesthetics grows by the minute, here’s a few that have gone mainstream, along with some recommended reads if you identify with these ‘cores.’ Find these reads on the free Libby app from your library, and follow @libbyapp on TikTok for more reading inspiration.

Coastal Grandmother reads

You don’t have to be a grandmother to enjoy this trend. It’s all about beach houses and big gardens, breezy white linen pants and a wide brim sun hat. Read more about how to channel this look, and explore these reads that fit in with cool, relaxing days spent seaside.

The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand

Fresh off a bad breakup with a longtime boyfriend, Nantucket sweetheart Lizbet Keaton is desperately seeking a second act. When she’s named the new general manager of the Hotel Nantucket, she hopes that her local expertise and charismatic staff can win the favor of their new London billionaire owner as well as the wildly popular Instagram tastemaker who can help put them back on the map. And while the Hotel Nantucket appears to be a blissful paradise, there’s a lot of drama behind closed doors. The staff (and guests) have complicated pasts, and the hotel can’t seem to overcome the bad reputation it earned in 1922 when a tragic fire killed 19-year-old chambermaid Grace Hadley. With Grace gleefully haunting the halls, a staff harboring all kinds of secrets and Lizbet’s own romantic uncertainty, is the Hotel Nantucket destined for success or doom?

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer—they have been her brother figures, her crushes and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

Out of the Clear Blue Sky by Kristin Higgins

Lillie Silva knew life as an empty nester would be hard after her only child left for college, but when her husband abruptly dumps her for another woman just as her son leaves, her world comes crashing down. Lillie isn’t heartbroken. She’s furious. Lillie has loved her life on Cape Cod, but as a mother, wife and nurse-midwife, she’s used to caring for other people. Now, alone for the first time in her life, she finds herself going a little rogue. She finds an unexpected ally in her glamorous sister, with whom she’s had a tense relationship all these years. And an unexpected babysitter in, of all people, Ben Hallowell, the driver in a car accident that nearly killed Lillie 20 years ago. And then there’s Ophelia, her ex-husband’s oddly lost niece, who could really use a friend. It’s the end of Lillie’s life as she knew it. But sometimes the perfect next chapter surprises you out of the clear blue sky.

📚 Browse more coastal grandmother reads.

Cottagecore reads

This nature-inspired trend is gentle, quaint, natural and will have you appreciating the simple moments in life, preferably among the rolling hills of the countryside with a book in hand. Slow down and get cozy with one of these wholesome reads.

The Forgotten Cottage by Courtney Ellis

England, 2014: Audrey Collins knows only two things about her beloved grandmother's past: She was born into nobility and she immigrated to America at 17 years old. So when Audrey inherits her gran's home in North Yorkshire, she finds an abandoned stone cottage perfectly preserved as Gran left it when she fled in 1941—ration book and all—and begins to uncover what secrets her family has been keeping.

France, 1915: Lady Emilie Dawes is working as a nurse on the Western Front, grateful to have escaped the restraints of her restrictive, privileged home life. As the war rages around her, Emilie realizes she cannot continue running from who she is until she decides who she truly wants to be. Over a hundred years apart, Audrey and Emilie each struggle to find purpose, love and a place to call home in this enchanting family saga celebrating the courage of underestimated women—and the power a secret can hold across generations.

A Year at Catbird Cottage by Melina Hammer

At the foot of the Shawangunk Mountain Ridge lies the hamlet of Accord, New York, dotted with orchards and farms, population 562. There, Melina Hammer welcomes guests from near and far to stay and eat at Catbird Cottage, a B&B run out of her charming home. Her eclectic table is set with meals that showcase stories and ingredients from her own garden, New York’s wild landscape and her travels around the globe. In her debut cookbook, Melina shares the beloved recipes from this special place, all presented seasonally just like the meals at Catbird Cottage. The food of Catbird Cottage is community on a plate—grown, harvested, persevered and presented with love—and shared with cherished companions.

Knit or Dye Trying by Allie Pleiter

As spring comes to Collinstown, the village launches a food festival to draw a new group of tourists. Libby, proud owner of Y.A.R.N., has planned a yarn event to provide an alternative option to a foodie weekend. Artisan fiber dyer Julie Wilson—known for her work with animal-friendly, plant-based knitting fibers such as bamboo and hemp as well as her brilliant use of color—will hopefully draw a crowd with a special dyeing workshop. But the night before the event, Julie is found alone in the warehouse event space—dead. The witty “Watch Julie Wilson Dye” workshop title now has a terrible new meaning—and it’s up to Libby to catch a crafty killer.

📚 Browse more cottagecore reads.

Dark Academia reads

School is never out with this classic, goth-inspired vibe. Leather-bound books by candlelight, argyle sweaters, private boarding schools and Ivy league colleges define this brooding subculture. While any and all literature is a must for this trend, readers will also appreciate these darkly intriguing novels.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Under the influence of a charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at a New England college discover a way of thought and life a world away from their banal contemporaries. But their search for the transcendent leads them down a dangerous path, beyond human constructs of morality. This is the essential dark academic read.

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Nell Young's whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field and Nell's personal hero. But she hasn't seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map. But when Dr. Young is found dead in his office, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can't resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence...because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one—along with anyone who gets in the way.

Vladimir by Julia May Jonas

And so we are introduced to our deliciously incisive narrator: a popular English professor whose charismatic husband at the same small liberal arts college is under investigation for his inappropriate relationships with his former students. The couple have long had a mutual understanding when it comes to their extra-marital pursuits, but with these new allegations, life has become far less comfortable for them both. And when our narrator becomes increasingly infatuated with Vladimir, a celebrated, married young novelist who's just arrived on campus, their tinder box world comes dangerously close to exploding.

📚 Browse more dark academia reads.

*Title availability may vary by region.

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