Celebrity Book Clubs
Book Clubs are not a recent phenomenon. They go back as far as the 17th Century. But this post is not about the history of book clubs in general. Instead, I am featuring Celebrity Book Clubs! The undisputed ‘queen’ of celebrity book clubs is Oprah Winfrey. Now we have Reading with Jenna and Reese’s Book Club. In fact, a recent article in the NYT about Reece’s book club prompted me to add this entry.
Elisabeth Egan wrote the New York Times article that appeared on May 18, 2024. Egan interviewed Witherspoon in Nashville and found that her love of books started at a young age. The super star remembers seeing her grandmother, a first grade school teacher, always reading Danielle Steel novels. Witherspoon got a library card as soon as she learned to read! As her acting evolved into filmmaking, she continued to read, focusing on books that prepared her for her new craft. Sharing her favorites books on Instagram evolved into an ‘official’ book club. The first book she recommended was Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. While the NYT’s article quotes her as saying she chooses books that are ‘optimistic’, I did not find the above book to be very optimistic. If you haven’t read it, maybe you will and then let me know what you think. The pick for May is How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang. As in most of Reece Witherspoon’s endeavors, she uses her book club to promote and celebrate women.
Oprah Winfrey’s book club began as the part of her talk show during which she shared with viewers a book she had read and liked. It’s hard to believe that the club started in 1996, isn’t it? The first book she recommended was The Deep End of the Ocean, and it became a best-seller. If Oprah Winfrey read a book and discussed it on her show, publishers would rush to have plenty of copies ready to sell! Her book club was a real boon to the book publishing world, not to mention a cultural sensation. It prompted many people, mostly women, to read for pleasure, something many did not think they had the time or interest to do. Winfrey chose a variety of books through the years, but at one point she suspended her book club because she wasn’t able to keep up with it. Now, since her talk show is no more, she has Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 which appears digitally on OprahDaily.com. In the new format, Winfrey interviews authors and facilites interactive reader discussions. The current and number 105th pick is Long Island by Colm Toibin, an Irish author.
Reading with Jenna began when Hager joined the Today Show in March of 2019. Her initial goal was to simply create a community of readers. Like Witherspoon, Hager has broadened her book club to include a partnership with Universal Studio in order to adapt her favorite books into TV shows and movies. Hager is quoted as saying, “I cannot go to bed if I don’t read. It puts me to sleep. I feel like my parents gave me that. Because they read to me every single night before I went to bed, and I do it with my kids, too.” She has to do a lot of reading these days to keep up with her once a month suggestions as well as three children and a television show. Her first pick–The Last Romantics. Current pick–Real Americans, by Rachel Khong.
Other celebrities have book clubs. Critics have a lot to say about all of them, and not all the feedback is positive. For more indepth analysis of what is certainly a fairly recent phenomenon, try some of the links below:
biblioracleBiblioracle compares celebrity book clubs – Chicago Tribune
https://www.today.com/popculture/books/celebrity-book-clubs-rcna143075
If you read Oprah’s current pick , Long Island, make sure you have read Brooklyn by the same author. Long Island is a sequel.
I highly recommend both books..
And in follow-up to Reading Around’s post on Jimmy Fallon’s bookclub, ANNIE BOT is a great read for those who wonder how we’ll be integrating robots with humans. It’s multi-layered and ethically thought-provoking. Word of caution: it’s very sexual. So if you find that offensive and you don’t want to skip over those parts, you might want to pass on this book. On the other hand…LOL.
Would love the chance to discuss with anyone who’s read it. Let me know and we’ll go to lunch.