Celebrity Book Clubs
They are not for everyone, but maybe one could enhance your reading life
Hi readers,
Oprah is the pioneer of the celebrity book club, which began in 1996 when she introduced Oprah’s Book Club as a segment on her hugely popular Oprah Show. Since then, it has continued in some format and now has a home on Apple TV+. In choosing many different books over the years, obscure titles have become bestsellers selling millions of copies. Media coined the phrase “The Oprah Effect” to describe the increase in sales of the books she chooses for her book club. There has been controversy with some books selected, but overall, her book club has withstood the test of time.
In the past few years, other celebrities have started book clubs that garner vast amounts of readers that rush to borrow or buy the current month’s book selection. Some have online platforms, and others have a TV/streaming/YouTube presence, but no matter how their book club operates, each has loyal followers that wait anxiously to learn what to read next.
I don’t participate in any celebrity book clubs per se; however, I follow along with several of them to know the monthly book selections. I find books to add to my TBR that I might never have discovered otherwise. Here are several that I follow that might be of interest to you:
Belletrist + Book Club - Best Friends Karah Preiss and Emma Roberts began sending books to each other twelve years ago with notes about why they liked each book, and over time it turned into Belletrist. There is a free option to participate in the monthly book and author chats; there is also a subscription option that offers in-depth author interviews, author-led book clubs inside the Belletrist, and learning more about the author’s books and their writing processes. There is a seven-day free trial, and the monthly subscription amount is $12, or $108 paid annually. I am definitely going to take advantage of the free trial soon, and I’ll let you know what I think about it.
Read with Jenna - This book club began in March 2019 and is hosted on the Hoda and Jenna hour of the morning Today Show lineup. She has featured close to 40 books so far with diverse content and genres; I am drawn to her selections more often than most other celebrities that I follow; unfortunately, I don’t read as many of them as I’d like to. The robust website contains so much information about each book selected, along with other books to read and authors to follow. It’s a goldmine of bookish information.
Reese’s Book Club - This book club began in May 2017, and each month’s pick focuses on a woman at the center of the story. Her selections champion diverse writers and perspectives, and she promotes indie booksellers and increasing access to books. The club offers book boxes with book club selections and bookish goodies to enhance the reading experience. I don’t participate in the book club; I haven’t downloaded the app, but I receive the emails, so I know what the monthly book selection is. The books are similar to the books chosen for Read with Jenna, and I think overall, Reese’s books are more diverse, and it’s a toss-up to which one I like the best. I’ve added several to my TBR, and I’ve read many of those since its inception in 2017.
GMA Book Club - Not to be outdone by NBC, Good Morning America/ABC began its book club in October 2019. A monthly book is selected and discussed on the show. The chosen books are similar to Jenna’s selections; the website has information about each book and other articles from celebrities and other books to read too. Of both morning show book clubs, I prefer Read with Jenna; no specific reason, just a personal preference.
Literati Book Club - In this unique book club, you receive a monthly book related to one of thirteen different book clubs offered through the Literati app. Each of the thirteen book clubs is sponsored by a Luminary such as Susan Orlean, Stephen Curry, Jesmyn Ward, Roxanne Gay, and other notables, and you can pick from any of the thirteen each month. In the app, you can also participate in the discussions in the other book clubs. There is a book club for adults, and there are six different age groups represented in the kids’ book club. I have not joined, and I probably won’t, as I honestly don’t have the time to participate to get my money’s worth, but if I did have the time, this seems like it would be a worthwhile investment. The price seems a little steep, but you are also getting community along with the book. The cost of the adult subscription is $25 a month or $240 paid annually. The kids’ subscription works differently, and that’s a conversation for another day.
Netflix Book Club - The newcomer to this arena is the Netflix Book Club hosted by actress Uzo Aduba from Orange Is the New Black series on Netflix. The premise of this is to feature a book that is or will become a show on Netflix. It’s an interesting premise, but it is somewhat limiting since it only focuses on its own shows. So far, it has interviewed some of the actors and the director from the Passing; it was interesting to learn how the book was turned into a movie and meet the actors that played the historic characters from the book. The second book highlighted is Stay Close by Harlan Coben. I didn’t realize they had released the second actor and author discussion; I’m off to watch it now.
Missing from above is a celebrity book club that features books that I believe would appeal to men from authors like Michael Connelly, Robert Dugoni, Lee Child, David Baldacci, and others. While I’m sure men read books featured in the above book clubs, I have several male reader friends who seem to like adventure and crime books better.
This week, it became painfully apparent that my day job would affect my ability to continue creating two newsletters a week. Once tax season started getting busy, I knew that I would probably cut back to just once a week; however, I didn’t think that would happen until late February. Here I sit in mid-January, arriving home from work each day mentally spent and with no ability to open my computer to do much more than check email. I plan to land in your inbox at least once a week, and I’m still shooting for Tuesday. Don’t be surprised if I sneak in a little more often now and then. Once tax season is over and I reacquaint myself with the real world, I’ll return to my usual posting twice a week.
There are so many interesting new books coming in the next few weeks that I can’t wait to read at least a few of them. I know I won’t get to all that I want to, so I’ll be happy with the ones I can read. I’m so glad you are here; writing this newsletter has added to my reading life, and I hope I’ve been able to add to yours through my weekly posts. Have a great week and happy reading!
This was another great newsletter, Gayla. I’ll be following the lists of books that come out of these book clubs. See you next week and please don’t worry about whether you can do one or two or more newsletters a week. I don’t know how you do all you do but what you do send out always has something I didn’t know and am glad to know.
I had no idea there were so many amazing book clubs out there! I'm with you; I probably won't join any of them, but I'll look around at their choices to see what I've been missing. Thanks so much.
Not to start a war here, but I just 'finished' my first Sue Grafton novel and I was thunderstruck by how much unnecessary filler there was. She describes every little detail down to the paint color under the paint color under the paint color. It could have been an interesting story but after reading what seems like note-taking descriptions of every room she ever entered, and the clothing of everyone she ever encountered--down to the underwear, I swear--I skipped to the end to see whodunnit.
She's so popular, I figured I should see what all the fuss was about. Now I'm wondering if they're all like that, from A to Z, but I don't want to have to read any more to find out. Got any insight? What am I missing?