About Between Us Readers
Hi, I'm Emily 👋
I've loved books my whole life. As a young girl I devoured books like Magic Tree House, Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, the Great Illustrated Classics, and so on. I had the reading appetite that meant keeping my lights on covertly under my blanket and reading late into the night to finish a book.
Then real life got in the way and reading became something I had to do for school, for university, and in that transition somewhere it stopped feeling exciting. For many years, I barely read for fun at all.
In 2022, a few friends recommended A Court of Thorns and Roses and I picked it up not expecting much, and it completely reignited something I thought I'd lost. Within months I was reading fiction, contemporary romance, memoir, literary fiction, historical fiction, things I'd never have reached for before. It felt like my reading battery had been given a shock from a starter cable.
Since then I've read more than I ever have. But I've also felt and seen the other side of it, including the pressure of BookTok, the reading challenges, the sense that if you're not reading a book a week and reviewing it online, you're somehow doing it wrong. I got close to burning out on reading, which felt absurd for something that's supposed to bring joy.
That's when Between Us Readers started to take shape.
I wanted to do something connected to books and the reading community but without the constant content treadmill. Something slower, more personal, more sustainable. I kept thinking about how a good book recommendation from a friend can completely change someone's relationship with reading. What if I could do that for people who felt the way I used to feel - like reading was something they'd lost, or something that now felt overwhelming?
What we're about
We believe reading should feel good, not like another thing on your to-do list. Whether you want something Gentle to unwind with, Steady to keep you engaged, or Immersive to completely lose yourself in, we've got you covered. We use a mix of reader reviews, community insights, and AI assistance to curate selections that actually match what you're looking for.
Every book is matched to your reader profile using a mix of reader reviews, community insights, and careful curation so what arrives feels like a recommendation from a friend who actually knows you, not an algorithm that doesn't.
Between Us Readers is also a community. A quiet corner for people who love books but feel left behind by book culture. Where your reading pace is never judged, your TBR is never a source of guilt, and two pages absolutely counts as a win.
Why pre-loved/secondhand?
Growing up, my parents would take us to secondhand bookstores to trade in books we'd finished for credit towards new ones. It taught me that books have lives beyond their first reader and frankly, they deserve more than one reader. Every secondhand book has already been someone's favourite, someone's comfort, someone's spark plug.
In the UK alone, approximately 320 million books end up in landfill every year. Many of those are in brilliant condition and could bring joy to someone else. In a world of plastics and overconsumption, creating a small corner for sustainability and circularity felt like something worth doing.
And now, new books too
Here's something I want to be upfront about: as much as I love secondhand books (and I really do), a preloved shelf can only stretch so far. Some genres come to me in waves, others take longer to find, and I never want someone landing on their perfect Reading Track only to find there's not quite enough there for them yet.
So alongside the secondhand finds, I've started bringing in new titles too - chosen with exactly the same care, just fresh off the shelf instead of someone else's. It's not a step away from what the core of Between Us Readers is about. It's the same curation, the same Reading Tracks, the same "this was picked for you" feeling - just with a slightly wider net, so there's always the right book waiting, however it found its way here.
The secondhand story is still the heart of this. New books are just here to fill in the gaps, not replace it.
Why encourage returns?
Because I'm an ENFP Cancer who loves origin stories and the idea of linking people together through the little things that bring joy. Every book that comes back gets to start a new chapter with someone else and that idea of books having journeys, just like the stories inside them, is at the heart of what BUR is trying to build.
Community, connection, and a bit of book magic. That's what we're working toward.
So that's what Between Us Readers is. A small, warm community for people who love books and for those who also sometimes feel left behind by book culture. A place where your reading pace is never judged, your TBR is never a source of guilt, and every book that arrives has been chosen specifically for you and will go on to live many lives after yours.
Let's Be Friends
📧 Email: hello@betweenusreaders.co.uk
(I actually read these. Usually respond within 24-48 hours.)
📱 Instagram: [@betweenusreaders]
📱 TikTok: [@betweenusreaders]
(Book subscription chat, book recommendations, Reading Track deep dives, and more)
This is a small business. It's me, doing this from the UK, sourcing books, packing boxes in my office, meeting people in-person at events, and thinking carefully about every match I make.
It's not a warehouse and it's not venture capital.
It's personal. Sometimes that means I mess up (I'll fix it) (if you have any questions on my methodology for picking books, I'm happy to discuss!) But it also means every book is chosen with genuine thought.
That matters to me. I hope it matters to you.
- Emily x