Yes, Bookstagrammer of the Week is back and better than ever!
Marianne, AKA @mariannesbookparlour on Instagram, walks the line of classic and modern. She’s from Wiltshire, famous for its ancient archeology, but living in London, loves Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice as well as Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Her comfortable aesthetic radiates warmth and love for the tea-stained, cursive kind of vintage through her expertly curated Instagram feed.
While her page may appear uniquely planned, Marianne posts what she wants and ensures that it fits among the rest of her photos later.
“I guess my personal aesthetic is a mixture of Light Academia and Vintage with a tiny bit of Cottagecore thrown in! I like creating a cozy, welcoming vibe so I use a lot of warm tones in my photos.”
Welcoming is an understatement. You could scroll for hours on her page and not know it, caught up in the chorded sweaters and neat clock faces, dried flowers, and well-loved book covers. Her favorite book covers reflect her love for all things anachronistic, touched by stylistic aging.
“I love the covers of The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein, These Violent Delights, and the edition of Rebecca with the white embroidery cover.”
Even her fictional crush, Mr. Darcy, reflects a love of the classic love story and aristocratic, brooding love interest.
“It’s true, though. He’s been my fictional crush since I first read Pride and Prejudice when I was 11. At this point, he is my fictional husband!”
Marianne didn’t even start posting with a Bookstagram account in mind. Her account gradually morphed into a Bookstagram as she started posting stylized photos and book reviews to her story out of her love for all things literary.
“Then I started to chat to a few people in the community who shared my love of books (and Gilmore Girls) and I soon found myself fully immersed in the Bookstagram world!”
Despite having over 15,000 followers and posting 3-4 times a week, Marianne doesn’t feel as if she’s “made it” as Bookstagrammer yet, but does delight in people reaching out to her for the occasional book recommendation.
Even in the face of her success, Marianne feels the pressure that social media places on many of its users. As a Bookstagrammer, feelings of inadequacy sometimes come from how many books she’s read a week or what genre they may be, but she hopes that her account lifts that pressure from her followers.
“On my Instagram, I hope to encourage people that any amount of reading, of whatever genre is an achievement. Some months you will read less than others and that’s really ok! Just do what makes you happy and don’t feel pressured to keep up with anyone else.”
All these challenges aside, Marianne remains grateful for the space she has to share her passions.
“I am so glad that I have a creative space to share my passions with like-minded people. It’s just so comforting to know that all over the world are these people who are just like me who will happily geek out over Jane Austen novels!”
Marianne is a superfan of her own, having some of her favorite Bookstagrammers herself, including @thepoetichistorian @wonderingkatherine @talesbytheshire @katieelizabeth_reads @maevaeatsbooks, and @abigailscupoftea. These, she said, are just a few of them.
When she’s not supporting her fellow Bookstagrammers, Marianne dives into some Oscar Wilde, or her other favorite novels, like Norwegian Wood by Haruki Makamuri and All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. She might even make a divet in her TBR list, which includes a host of Agatha Christie books as well as thrillers and detective stories when she chooses to stick to it.
Her tastes obviously span a number of genres, even stretching to 1984 by George Orwell, which she even lied about reading when she was younger. Having read it, she has since absolved her “bookish sin.” The key to her heart, in fact, is a lifetime supply of books that span her diverse tastes.
When she’s not reading, posting, or desiring to meet authors Chloe Gong of Matt Haig, she’s running her Etsy shop, LiteraryCraftParlour, creating and selling bookmarks, stickers, journal kits, replicas of famous fictional letters, and other bookish gifts.
Or she’ll stop by her favorite bookstores, Waterstones, a UK mainstay, or independent shops like Skoob Books in London or Mr. B’s Emporium in Bath. She might even be singing, another beloved hobby of hers.
For anyone wishing to follow in Marianne’s footsteps, her advice is to just engage with the community, since Bookstagram is full of the friendliest people you will ever meet online (with the best recommendations).
“Try to find an aesthetic that suits your personality, not one that you think other people want to see. Post about what you love and the rest will come naturally.”
featured images via @MARIANNESBOOKPARLOUR