Life.Culture.Discovery.

Tired of superficial dating apps? Bookmark is an app for book lovers

The Bengaluru-based founders are connecting people based on shared literary interests, with features like a virtual bookshelf and witty prompts

Reading Time:4 minutes

Published: 6:15pm, 17 Mar 2025

Shruti Sah met her partner, Harsh Snehanshu, on a regular dating app a few years ago. But what truly ignited the relationship was his interest in James Joyce’s Ulysses, her disdain for it and their shared love of books.

The couple took to reading in public spaces and they were certain there was a larger, like-minded community of partner seekers. In January 2023, they set up Cubbon Reads, a silent reading community in Bengaluru’s most popular park, and six months later more than 70 such communities had mushroomed across the world. That runaway success sparked another brainwave for the couple: Bookmark, a dating app for book lovers.

Cubbon Reads founders Shruti Sah (right) and Harsh Snehanshu. Photo: Anita Rao Kashi

“We saw a lot of folks coming to read at Cubbon Reads, and make friends despite it being a silent reading space. People who came alone were soon hanging out with other regular attendees,” says Sah. “The only time we speak to each other at Cubbon Reads is towards the end, when we stack books and take group pictures. We noticed that when someone sees someone else holding a particular book, they voluntarily initiate conversation with them about the book. That got us to believe books can be a trusted conversation starter for readers, two people can really connect over a mutual liking or disinterest in a book, and the dialogue can go in any direction from there.”

Sah, a marketer and baker who has worked at Edelman and LBB, along with Snehanshu, Sid Zadaun and Avrojyoti Das (the three had earlier launched YourQuote, India’s largest writing app), brainstormed, toiled and released Bookmark last year.

“Dating 1.0 is dead. It is no longer serving to be broad, generic and please-everyone,” says Radhika Mohta, matchmaker and relationship coach. “People are craving connection based on shared values, lifestyle and goals. Therefore, a signalling to the kind of people you are likely to meet, based on shared interest, is a good starting point.”

Screenshots of Bookmark, a dating app for book lovers. Photo: Bookmark

In addition to usual personal preferences such as distance, gender and type of relationship sought, the app is cheekily designed with every book lover stereotype – reclusive, introverted, intelligent, wit-loving, imaginative, creative and so on. A user’s photograph remains blurred until matched with someone and 10 messages are mutually exchanged, which “allows them to bypass superficiality of conversations on an online app due to the focus on book-based conversations”, says Snehanshu.