Bookshelf Weath, the interior design trend for the curated display of desirable books, makes its debut at this year’s Żejt iż-Żejtun on Saturday October 25. As part of the festival’s annual second-hand book sale, a dozen Bookshelf Wealth genres including Melitensia, Militaria, Art, Design, Photography and Architecture will be available to the public.
Originating on social media sites like TikTok, Bookshelf Wealth has become a real-life phenomenon. Retailer Etsy reported a 19,616% increase in searches for book-lover decor this year and the market has responded. At one end, companies now sell books by the metre based on their bindings, for instance, all leather or only books with red covers. However, most Bookshelf Wealthers are passionate readers and book lovers whose collections reflect “their interests, obsessions and/or hold space for their favourite authors” says writer Marcus Brewster, convener of this year’s Zejt-iz Zejtun sale.
The publishing industry has been quick to capitalise on the Bookshelf Wealth trend with deluxe ‘speckled’ editions of popular novels. Distinguished by decorative pages, sprayed edges, foiling and other embellishments, speckling elevates the visual appeal of the book product per this current design-led aesthetic. “Some social media feeds even boast shelves where the book’s title is to the wall and the spayed edges are on display,” notes Brewster.
Beyond best-selling titles by Richard Osman and Freida McFadden, backlist perennials like ‘The Book Thief’ and this year’s setwork ‘Animal Farm’, Saturday’s sale has been expanded by over 50% to accommodate the emergence of several new genres.
Brewster points to New Adult as a stand-alone category catering to the reading tastes of BookTok fans, noting that all the big publishers are launching romance-led boutique imprints. “Until recently, the industry recognised Middle Grade (MG) and Young Adult (YA) as distinct genres. BookTok blurred the edges in the YA space by attracting surprising numbers of older readers, women in their twenties and thirties. These female buyers created the market for Romantasy, a fusion of spicy love story with YA’s magical settings of dragons, sorcerers and fae kingdoms.” Sarah J Maas’s ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ novels and Rebecca Yarros’s Empyrean series are category bestsellers.
Another blurring of children’s and woman’s fiction is Dramione. Arising from the Harry Potter fan fiction community, Dramione imagines the enemies-to-lovers sparks between the grown-up Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger. Standout titles include Brigitte Knightly’s ‘The Irresistible Urge to Fall for your Enemy’ and SenLinYu’s ‘Alchemised’, which debuted at #1 in US bookstores.
This year’s Zejt iz-Zejtun book sale will also acknowledge 2025’s oddest literary moment – Rawdogging Ulysses. Referring to the reading of James Joyce’s novel without recourse to footnotes, Brewster promises unannotated copies for those willing to take the challenge.
In addition to the curated selection of fiction and non-fiction, a range of cult, classic and collectible DVDs and CDs will be on sale. Also new this year: ‘Carrie Bradshaw’s Closet’ – vintage and designer thrift inspired by the fashion-forward character.
‘Well-Read Books’ 60, Triq San Girgor, Żejtun. Sale starts mid-afternoon Saturday until 11pm.