Celebrity Book Clubs

While trying to figure out what book to read next on this slow August month, I noticed a lot of celebrities are either starting their own book clubs or at least giving a consistent amount of book recommendations to make it worthwhile to make a list of what they're recommending and what they've read in the past.  

Here's a list that I've compiled as of September:

1) Andrew Luck Book Club

Image via Andrew Luck Book Club

Not only is Andrew Luck a Quaterback for the Indiannapolis Colts he is also known as "'Colt's very on librarian' giving and suggesting books for his teammates."  He picks two books monthly one for younger readers "Rookies" and for older readers "Veterans".  To give you an idea of Luck's book choices here are the book picks of the last few  months:  September - Despite the Height by Ivory Latta and Charles R. Smith, Jr. for the "Rookies" and Catch A Star: Shining Through Adversity to Become a Champion by Tamika Catchings with Ken Petersen for the "Veterans", August - Wonder by R. J. Palacio for the "Rookies" and Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis for the "Veterans", July - Black Beauty by Anna Sewell for the "Rookies" and Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose for "Veterans", and June - Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein for "Rookies" and Dune by Frank Herbert for the "Veterans".  Along with his website, Luck uses Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to announce his picks for the month.  By entering #ALBookClub in social media Luck wants to build a community of readers.

2) Emma Roberts

Image of Erin Ellis handwritten logo for Belletrist

Emma Roberts, along with friend Karah Preiss, started a website called Belletrist, in March 2017.  Belletrist is an active online book club that you can join by subscribing to the newsletter.  Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss realized the only way they could satisfy their book compulsion was to "create a space that fosters that connection for readers around the world."  The new book pick for the month on Instagram is Stay With Me by Ayobami Adbayo and on the website they're currently reading - Sex and Rage by Eve Babits. Previous books have been: Touch by Courtney Maum, Marlena by Julie Buntin, South and West by Joan Didion and The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy. Belletrist will include interviews and photos to encourage discussions through social media.  You can follow Belletrist through their website as well as Instagram, Tumbler and Facebook.

3) Emma Watson

Image via Goodreads

Emma Watson is not only a talented actress but she is also a UN Ambassador who started a feminist book club in March 2016 called Our Shared Shelf through Goodreads.  Watson wants to build a community by selecting a book a month then posting questions and/or quotes to get a discussion going during the last week of the month.  You can join the book club by registering for an account on Goodreads and joining the group.  For the summer the current read is The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf.  A few examples of her previous book picks are The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler and The Color Purple by Alice Walker.  You can also follow Our Shared Shelf on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

4) Florence Welch

Artwork by Heather Hale for Florence and The Machine Book Club

Florence Welch, lead singer of Florence and The Machine, tweeted a picture of herself standing in front of a bookstore in Portland and because of that picture a Fan, Alessandro Michele, created the book club in her honor.  Between Two Books was started in July 2012.  Although it is a fan based website Welch gives reading recommendations every few months.  The current read is Salt by Nayyirah Waheed, Bone by Yrsa Daley-Ward and Too Much and Not the Mood by Durga Chew-Bose.  Previous reads have included Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer, The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride and Just Kids by Patti Smith.  You can also follow Between Two Books on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

5) Kimberly Williams-Paisley

Image from KWP instagram feed

On top of being an actress, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, wrote a memoir, Where the Light Gets In, regarding the impact her mother's dementia had on her whole family.  Williams-Paisley is not only an author but an avid reader as well.  She has recently started an official book club on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #KWPbookclub where she adds her book suggestions.  She even started doing giveaways!  Sounds like a winning book club to me.  Her recent book pick is Theft by Finding Diaries 1977-2002 by David Sedaris.  The last book she "read" was audiobook Fortunately, The Milk by Neil Gaiman.  Previous reading suggestions have been Stuart Little by E.B. White, The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti, A Paris All Your Own by Eleanor Brown and The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth.  You can check out Williams-Paisley's website, Facebook and Instagram.

6)  Lena Dunham

Image via Lenny Letter website

Lenny Letter is an online feminist weekly newsletter created by Lena Dunham and Jennifer Konner.  Lenny serves to give young woman a platform to discuss feminist issues.  "Random House has joined forces with Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner to launch a new publishing imprint in 2017.  Lenny will be a home for exciting, emerging voices-in fiction and non-fiction that Lena and Jenni Konner are already attracting and publishing successfully in their newsletter and popular website."  The first imprint book by Lenny will be Sour Heart by Jenny Zhang.  In October 2017 the next imprint book is Courage Is Contagious: And Other Reasons to Be Grateful for Michelle Obama which is a collection of essays with a foreword by Lena Dunham.  In Lenny book and/or essay recommendations are made on Thursday's which she calls Lit Thursday and short stories are put on the website, Facebook and Instagram sites.  Lit Thursday book recommendations are: How to Behave in a Crowd by Camille Bordas, Sour Heart by Jenny Zhang, Made for Love by Alissa Nutting and Nuclear Family: A Tragicomic Novel in Letters by Susanna Fogel, Lit Thursday essays are: Caca Dolce by Chelsea Martin, Carmen Lynch's essay about how having scoliosis led to a career in stand-up and Susannah Meadow's essay of women forming bonds in a women's locker room.  Some recent short stories are: "The Man in the Sky" by Ottessa Moshfegh, "Very Nice" by Marcy Dermansky and "The Expectation of Anywhere" by Alissa Nutting.

7) Oprah Winfrey

Image via Oprah.com

One of the most well-known book clubs is Oprah Winfrey's Oprah's Book Club.  Winfrey started her book club during the tenure of her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show.  The book club started in 1996 and ended it's 15-year run when the show ended in May 2011.  During the course of the show a total of 70 books were recommended and as a result of the book club many of the books became bestsellers.  Since then Winfrey has remained an avid reader and decided to relaunch Oprah's Book Club as Oprah's Book Club 2.0 in June 2012.  Although it's not as consistent as a book a month she still picks books for the book club.  This is a run down of the books she has picked since starting Oprah's Book Club 2.0:  2012: June - Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed, December - The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis; 2014: January - The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd; 2015: February - Ruby by Cynthia Bond; 2016: August - The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, September - Love Warrior by  Glennon Doyle Melton; and 2017: June - Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue.  If you would like to participate in the book club you can join Oprah's Book Club group in Goodreads.  Winfrey will also post about books and interviews in her Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

8)  Reese Witherspoon

Image via #RWBookClub instagram

Although many of us know Reese Witherspoon from her movies Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, Walk the Line and Wild, however, there's little doubt the reason she started #RWBookClub on Instagram is because she loves to read. She often posts books she's reading and asks her followers to share their thoughts. She also posts pictures of books, with books and about books. Pretty much anything book related. It's a visually euphoric. In case you've been hiding under a rock she was instrumental in adapting Liane Moriarty's bestseller Big Little Lies into a seven-part miniseries with HBO earlier this year. Witherspoon played the part of Madeline Mackenzie one of the main characters from the book. The last few books on her feed are: The Crying Game by Ruth Ware, Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty, Are You Sleeping by Kathleen Barber and The Arrangement by Sarah Dunn. Check out the #RWBookClub. ​

9)  Sarah Jessica Parker

Image via Twitter Penguin Random House

Sarah Jessica Parker is well-known for her iconic character, Carrie Bradshaw, on Sex and the City.  Currently she has become an honorary chair for the American Library Association’s new Book Central which started in June 2017.  The first book recommended is:  No One is Coming To Save Us by Stephanie Powell Watts.  Parker has also partnered with Molly Stern a publisher from Crown and Hogarth, a part of Random House, Inc., to create SJP for Hogarth in which she will acquire and curate “works of fiction that reflect her own taste as a reader.”  The books recommended through SJP Hogarth are:  The Redemption of Galen Pike: Short Stories by Carys Davies, Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, Sergio Y. by Alexandre Vidal Porto, White Fur by Jardine Libaire and Woman No. 17 by Eda Lepucki.

The following celebrities do not have book clubs you can join but they are always posting on their social media accounts reading suggestions so I wanted to include them as well such as:  Mindy Kalig, Olivia Wilde and Jessica Biel.   

Are there any celebrities or athletes you follow who often give book/reading suggestions?  Have you read any of the books suggested?  What do you think of the books suggested by the celebrities?  Will you read or have you read any of the suggested books?  Do you look to celebrities for book suggestion?  Why or why not?

I will update when I come across any other celebrity book clubs and let me know of any you follow so I can include them on this list.

​Thanks!!