Tinder for readers: A new social app is based on books you love

Can similar reading tastes lead to a healthy romance? Klerb, a new social app based on literary preferences, seems to think so.

The app has already been called “Tinder for bookworms,” despite being in early beta. According to the site, Klerb is “a free meetup app for readers,” with IRL activities being offered for like-minded readers “based on the similarity of their bookshelf.”

It basically sounds like a book club, with the app doing the work for the reader: the algorithm finds people who have similar reading tastes or have read the same book recently, then creates themed events around these interests. They encourage groups to then turn these events into a club, if things go well during in-app chats.

Though the premise sounds like a dating app, the developer behind the app, Abe Winter, told The Guardian that Klerb is “not a hook-up app or a dating app of any kind.” But he says that he is trying to bring the Tinder model to reading, creating aa “a geo-radius social tool” for people with “academic interests.”

So the app isn’t trying to be the next Bumble or Tinder but there could be scope for romance. The tagline does suggest this: “Use Klerb to find compatible people, groups, and events in your radius.”

There appears to be 1,605 existing members already, and Winter says that there is a waiting list and plans to roll out the app once he gauges there is enough interest.

For real book-worms, this may just be the most romantic meet-cute of all. In the Klerb.