On a quiet weekend in Hyderabad, a living room fills up, not for a party but for a book discussion. A few kilometres away, a mother is swapping her child’s screen time for a Roald Dahl book. In the affluent Jubilee Hills, a reader walks into a bookstore, lingering between shelves, taking in the smell of fresh books.
Something is shifting in the city- Hyderabad is reading again. And this time, the movement is being shaped, sustained and quietly led by women.
Rebuilding what was lost
When sisters Sapna and Shilpa Sudhakar opened Luna Bookstore in Jubilee Hills in 2022, they were chasing a ghost.
“Growing up in the 90s, there were several bookshops in the city that we used to go to all the time, but they all closed, and we really felt their absence,” Sapna tells Siasat.com. At the time, names like Walden and AA Hussain were relics, and only the venerable Akshara remained as a pillar of the independent scene.
So, Luna was designed as a sanctuary for the “delight of discovery.” Unlike the algorithm-driven shelves of massive retailers, Luna’s collection is hand-picked. “We choose not based on popularity, but on the basis of the quality of writing,” Sapna explains. “What we want is for customers to walk into Luna and find books and authors that they have perhaps never heard of.”
Libraries as living spaces
If bookstores are bringing readers back, libraries are reshaping how they stay.
In Nallagandla, Sankeertana Varma runs Wild Geese Library, a lending library she started in 2025. For her, the idea had been quietly waiting for years. “My inspiration, honestly, is just this wish of running or owning a bookstore,” she says. “A library felt like a more well-rounded and sustainable way to go about it.”
What began as a personal dream has grown into a community space. The library operates on a membership model, allowing readers to borrow and exchange books freely. For Sankeertana, the most rewarding part is watching the excitement for reading return. “Most of the members are kids aged between 5 and 16, and watching their parents too get excited about books and stories is a great sight to behold,” she says.
For some, the push to reopen physical libraries was born from maternal necessity. Divya Pathi, co-founder of Pustaka Library in Manikonda, saw her five-year-old son slipping into screen addiction. Finding a lack of good reading options, she and her cousin, Mallika Pathi, a sustainability advocate, launched Pustaka in September 2025.
“Why purchase hundreds of copies of one book when hundreds of people can read one book?” Mallika asks, highlighting their commitment to conservation. To make reading accessible, they have looked to the past, offering walk-in passes for as low as Rs. 99. “We are trying to replicate the early 2000s when internet cafes used to have a Rs. 10 pass,” she says. Their “Pustaka Passport,” where readers log their journeys, has become a hit with kids and adults who are seeking a return to habit.
Furthermore, some spaces in Hyderabad are looking towards heritage. In Gachibowli, Kathatitam offers a stark contrast to the surrounding glass-and-steel IT corridor. Founded by educator Shilpa Kiranveer, the space is designed to mimic a traditional Indian village, complete with earthy tones and a “storytelling adda.” For Shilpa, the mission is not just to lend books, but to use oral storytelling as a tool for value-based education. By integrating folk tales and diverse literature in English, Telugu, and Hindi, Kathatitam serves as a cultural anchor.
Reading, but make it social
Hyderabad’s reading revival is also unfolding in community spaces, through book clubs that are redefining how people engage with books.
Two friends, Unnati Ved and Kalpana Sinha, launched The Lit People Club in February 2025 with a specific goal: providing “purpose” to adulthood. “The city is burgeoning with clubs, supper clubs, run clubs, women’s clubs, but I feel like these clubs lack a purpose. So, we decided to start something where people can have fun with a purpose,” Unnati tells Siasat.com.
For Vibha Jain, a 55-year-old entrepreneur, the mission was to bring reading into the personal sphere. Her Book Bliss Reading Club is “travelling,” moving between homes, offices, and cafes. “Long before the era of OTT and doomscrolling, people liked reading. I am just trying to bring back that time,” Vibha says.
What’s common between these clubs is the experience they offer. Their sessions are immersive: when Lit People Club read Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary, they invited the head of a private space agency to discuss India’s space sector. A Japanese murder mystery was paired with a city-wide scavenger hunt. Meanwhile, Book Bliss Reading Club chooses a theme for every session. “Our most notable session was with architect Kalpana Ramesh at the recently restored Kudikunta Lake,” Vibha shares.
A quiet revolution in Hyderabad
As these spaces continue to grow, a larger question remains: why is this revolution so distinctly women-led?
For Unnati, it is a reflection of a broader societal shift. “Women are finding their own paths in India right now. India is having a shining moment, and women are making the most of it,” she notes.
In Hyderabad, that “shining moment” is being written in the quiet rustle of pages and the low hum of intellectual debate. By reclaiming the city’s third spaces, these women have done more than just revive a hobby; they have built a sanctuary from the digital age.
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