Member-only story
Celebrities Are Carrying Books Around Like Brainy Accessories
How fashion, celebrity culture, and social media affect the literary conversation
I was watching YouTube and stumbled across an Architectural Digest video of Ashley Tisdale’s immaculately decorated house. She toured us around her home and took us to the living room with big shelves of books, and she nonchalantly said, “These bookshelves, I have to be honest… actually did not have books in them a couple days ago,”
It turned out Tisdale sent her husband to stock those shelves with 400 brand-new books right before the interview. She claimed that “any interior designer would have done the same. They do it all the time. I was just honest about it.”
I was speechless. I couldn’t believe someone would buy books not to read but to decorate.
Tisdale is not the only celebrity who treats books as accessories. Singers, actors, and models also hold books around like brainy accessories to show their taste and intellect.