Celebrities are just like Us — even they enjoy burying their noses in a good book.
Several stars have shared their love of reading with fans by creating their own book clubs. Today host Jenna Bush Hager launched her Read With Jenna book club in 2019 and has recommended nearly 70 of her favorite novels to fans. She has also donated hundreds of books to libraries across the country.
“I love reading for so many reasons. It really is my escape from everyday life,” she shared in a January 2023 interview with Today.com. “It’s how I calm down. It’s how I detach. It’s how I fall in love with other places that I will never go to. It’s how I empathize with characters who are nothing like me. There’s nothing like falling in love with a book.”
Meanwhile, Reese Witherspoon has adapted many of her book club picks, such as Where the Crawdads Sing and Daisy Jones & The Six, into movies and TV shows through her production company, Hello Sunshine.
Little Fires Everywhere, Big Little Lies and You are among the best-selling books that made their way to the small screen in the form of TV adaptations. Reese Witherspoon is at the center of many of the most successful TV shows based on books, thanks to her passion for bringing fresh stories to a new […]
“[I] was trying to create more projects that had roles for women in them,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in October 2019. “I’ve always really gravitated towards female authors and women at the center of novels, so I started optioning some of them and turning them into movies. Then, I just started sharing all the books that I read, ’cause I read a lot.”
Scroll down to find out which celebs have shared their love of reading with fans:
Jenna Bush Hager
Fans can check out Bush Hager’s full list of Read With Jenna book selections on Today.com. The former First Daughter signed a production deal with Universal Studio Group in 2022 to adapt her book club picks into TV shows and movies and has since announced television adaptations of The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk W. Johnson and All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker.
Reese Witherspoon
Selected by the Oscar winner monthly, Witherspoon’s Reese’s Book Club picks include a variety of stories for adult and young adult audiences and feature female characters at their center.
Queen Camilla
Camilla founded her own book club during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 as a way to build connections and community through reading. “The Queen’s Reading Room is the charity working to celebrate and promote the power and benefits of reading and is on a mission to help more people find and connect with books which enrich their lives,” the organization’s website states.
In addition to book selections, The Queen’s Reading Room provides free educational content, hosts literary festivals, and launched its very own podcast in early 2024.
Emma Watson
The actress launched Our Shared Shelf in 2016 and selected books with feminist themes for readers to discuss with each other. She has also previously worked with the organization The Book Fairies, which places books in public places for people to pick up, read and place back for others to discover.
Jimmy Fallon
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon host launched the Fallon Book Club in 2024. He kickstarted the club by having fans vote on which book they would read together through a tournament-style online bracket.
Emma Roberts
The American Horror Story star cofounded the Belletrist book club with Karah Preiss in 2017. Two years later, the pair launched their own production company, Belletrist Productions, which has gone on to produce TV shows such as Netflix’s First Kill and Hulu’s Tell Me Lies.
Florence Welch
The Florence and the Machine singer created Between Two Books in 2012 after a fan suggested she begin her own book club via social media. “The club regularly features guest recommendations from artists, writers, musicians and directors such as Greta Gerwig, Nick Cave, Fiona Apple, Adwoa Aboah, Jeremy O. Harris, Grayson Perry and Sally Rooney,” the club’s website reads. Fans can participate in book discussions via the club’s social media pages.
Dua Lipa
Launched in February 2022, the pop star’s Service95 book club consists of monthly book picks from Lipa, a newsletter and the “Dua Lipa: At Your Service” podcast. “Members are invited to read along with the Book of the Month aided by discussion guides, author Q&As and further reading lists to bring readers closer to the authors, their inspirations and the worlds they create,” reads the club’s website.
Mindy Kaling
Kaling launched her Mindy’s Book Studio club in partnership with Amazon in 2022 to celebrate “emerging and diverse voices, from fresh romantic comedies and poignant coming-of-age stories to suspenseful dramas with unforgettable female protagonists,” its website states.
The partnership also includes a deal with Amazon Studios to adapt Kaling’s selections into films. In 2023, it was announced that the actress would be bringing the novels Woke Up Like This by Amy Lea and The Vibrant Years by Sonali Dev to the big screen.
Gabrielle Union and more celebrity parents have released picture books for children. The Bring It On actress released her debut book, Welcome to the Party, in May 2020 to celebrate non-traditional families. Union, who shares daughter Kaavia with husband Dwyane Wade, said during a Today show appearance at the time: “I know I’m definitely not […]
Kaia Gerber
Gerber and Alyssa Reeder have shared their favorite reads with fans through their Library Science book club since 2020, and have included books that cover a variety of topics and genres. Per the club’s website, the duo’s goal is to get young people reading” and to emphasize the idea that “we often learn the most from the stories that aren’t our own.”
Sarah Jessica Parker
Similar to Kaling, Parker’s book imprint, SJP Lit, is in collaboration with the publishing company Zando Projects. She also served as an honorary chair of the American Library Association’s Book Club Central program from 2017 to 2019 to help provide resources and her favorite reading selections to other book clubs.
Shonda Rhimes
Rhimes’ production company, Shondaland, has its very own book club. In addition to book recommendations, the group’s website features interviews with authors of the club’s various picks.
Dakota Johnson
Johnson also launched her book club through her and Ro Donnelly’s production company, TeaTime Pictures, and the pair share new book pics every month via Instagram.
“One of the greatest thrills of my life has been finding stories that bring me deeper into my own existence, or catapult me into a new world. I can’t wait to read with you,” the actress captioned a February 2024 Instagram announcement post.
