The humble book club has come a long way from stale crackers and presidential memoirs. Now #BookTok is moving sales numbers, reading is trendy again, and celebrities are getting in on the action. It feels like everyone from Dua Lipa to your best friend’s tween daughter has a viral book club, and they’re not all created equal. Looking to up your literary game? These are the celebrity book clubs to start with.
Oprah started the original celebrity book club in 1996, and the group has been reading (and creating) bestsellers ever since. Oprah’s Book Club reads diverse authors and often tackles social issues. The books are usually novels or memoirs with an occasional nonfiction pick thrown in. Because the club is so established, there’s tons of content to go with it. You can watch videos of Oprah interviewing authors, read roundups of her favorites in different genres, and hear from book club members about what novels moved them most.
TeaTime Book Club (Dakota Johnson)
Dakota Johnson, the quirky actress famed for not caring about anything, launched a book club in April of this year that streams on an Instagram broadcast channel. Contrary to many beach-read type clubs, Johnson’s reading list is meaty, intellectual literary fiction primarily from early career female writers and small presses. In the age of short attention spans and quickly consumed content, it’s refreshing to see a book club refocus on deep thought.
The Shondaland Book Club is a much looser format than traditional book-a-month clubs. Pioneering film and television producer Shonda Rhimes curates a regular selection of top titles worth reading, often books that Rhimes has read and loved herself. This format is great when trying to squeeze reading time between everything else on your to-do list and can’t commit to a monthly requirement. Pick a book and go at your own
Gen Zers are also getting in on the book club action, including model and actress Kaia Gerber, who launched the book club Library Science in 2020. Gerber hosts discussions about each monthly pick on Instagram Live and YouTube and curates a list of underrated reads on the Library Science website. The club’s mission is to get young people reading again. Still, the reading list applies to women of all ages, touching on motherhood, identity, consent, climate change, intersectionality, and more.
Reese Witherspoon developed this famous book club as much for economic reasons as a love of the written word. Her book club is a direct pipeline to her production company, and many books read end up as lucrative movie deals for her. That said, the book club exclusively highlights female authors and female-centered stories, and the reading list is packed with engaging, readable bestsellers.
Run by Emma Roberts; Belletrist highlights a monthly book, usually (but not always) female-driven narratives, and authors. The group has cultivated a strong social media community of like-minded book lovers and, not for nothing, has one of the most easily navigable websites of celebrity book clubs. One book is featured every month, but there are plenty of other recommendations given on Instagram and in the website archive of previous reads.
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