Exploring the Impact of Pleasure Reading on Readers’ Interest and Motivation: A Qualitative Case Study of Literacy Practice in Semarang Book Club and Sundayreads Book Club

Several previous studies believe that pleasure reading can improve someone’s reading ability and develop their reading habit, especially after the recent result of Indonesia’s declining reading score in PISA 2022. This research explored the influence of pleasure reading in the book club environment on their reading interest and reading motivation. The research used a qualitative case study to focus on the two book clubs, Semarang Book Club and Sundayreads Book Club. The data is collected through observation from the book clubs' activities, distribution of the pre-questionnaire and post-questionnaire, and interviews with the founders of the book clubs. Data analysis was conducted descriptively through qualitative coding to identify the factors that influence reading interest and motivation. The results showed that pleasure reading activity in the book club has given positive influences on the participants' reading interest and motivation. The main factors that influence the increase include relaxing and non-pressuring reading activity, social interactions from peer readers, opportunities to reflect and share their reading experiences, book club strategies in maintaining the members' engagement, and many more. The pleasure reading activity proved to help the participants develop their identity as readers and develop continuous intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Keywords: Pleasure Reading, Reading Interest, Reading Motivation, Book Club