In an era where the algorithm suggests what to see, what to eat and even who to leave, there is also room for literary chance, selfless exchanges and links that are woven from a common reading. This works Book stackthe app created by Ignacio “Nacho” Damianowhich is already known as the “tinder of books.” Although in this case, the matches are not based on profiles, but on titles: one offers a book, another wants it. If the interest is mutual, there is contact and exchange. And from there, many times, a story begins that goes beyond paper.
“You are looking for the book that interests you and you get notifications of who offer it or who are interested in your books. It is a system of coincidences, but also of negotiation and empathy,” explains Damiano.
The application began as an exchange platform for physical specimens, but was soon expanded in community, functions and projection. Today, in addition to allowing exchanges throughout the country – and even by postal mail from interior cities -, Includes online reading clubs with regional scopethat make dozens of people monthly from different points of Latin America. “At this time we are reading Massacre operationby Rodolfo Walsh. We get together by Zoom, with limited quotas. There are about 60 people, ”said the creator in dialogue with El trixtrador (Delta 90.3)
And although everyone present read the same text, Damiano insists on a key idea:
“We all read the same book, but we do not read the same book. Each person is going through his experience, his experience, his vital moment. The book that for you is a treasure, to another person may not arrive. And vice versa.”
That premise – the emotional encounter with a text – is in the heart of this community, which grows around reading but expands in other planes: friendship, conversation, affections. According to data surveyed by the platform, 80% of the people who participate are women between 25 and 45 yearsmany of them active readers that not only look for new readings, but also spaces where to share impressions, exchange ideas and link with other people with common interests.
“Women unquestionably read more than men. And there is a lot of interest in contemporary Argentine literature,” says Damiano. “In addition, beautiful, very free talks are assembled, where the book is the starting point, but there is also talk of personal, politics, current, memories.”
Beyond the workshops, book stack retains its recreational and collaborative imprint. There is no money in between: you just want to share and let the books circulate. In large cities such as Buenos Aires or Rosario, exchanges are usually made face to face. “And many times the encounters include an affective gesture: a chocolate, a signaling, a notita,” he says. In smaller or distant locations, books travel by mail, and with them, the ritual of waiting and surprise.
Currently, the app team works in a new function that will allow Score booksnot with stars or closed grades, but as a way of organizing preferences, affections and sensations. “We want it to be something more human than to say ‘this book is good or bad’. Because it’s not about that. The book is good or not, depending on how you get and at what time you are.
Damiano has dozens of stories that prove the unexpected reach of these exchanges. Some are anecdotes of casual encounters that resulted in long talks. Others, links that are maintained for months thanks to shared readings. And even a love story:
“A boy and a girl met by exchanging a book … and today they have a baby. It’s not the most common, of course, but tells you about power that an object can have when a encounter enables.”
In times where digital isolation is more frequent than contact, virtual reading clubs are revealed as a space of cultural and emotional resistance. Not only promote the habit of reading, but they open the possibility of discussing, dissenting, laughing and connecting with people from other cities and countries that, as one, were excited with the same history. Although, as Damiano warns, it is never exactly the same.
Book stack It is, ultimately, much more than an app: it is an expanding community, a woven network with words and silences, a reminder that books not only build worlds, but can bring people closer. It is no longer just about reading, but reading together. And that, in itself, is already a revolution.
By rn
