I love when celebrities use their soap box to promote BOOKS. Right now celebrity book clubs are at their peak. They are breaking such tremendous ground by leading to strong female roles in film adaptations, putting feminist literature into the hands of young women and bringing book groups to new levels of brilliance. Forget about Oprah’s book group. Just follow the carefully curated cheat sheet that I have provided you below. No worries. I will spell it out for you!
REESE WITHERSPOON
So Reese has been killing it in the book adaptation department. Before Gillian Flynn’s massively best-selling novel Gone Girl was released Reese had it optioned for a movie through her production company. Since then she has gone on to produce Cheryl Strayed’s memoir Wild (which garnered a best actress Oscar nomination) and turned Liane Moriariy’s Big Little Lies into a hit TV miniseries (which won an Emmy for Nicole Kidman and Alexander Skarsgaard respectively). The lady clearly has an eye for books!
Should you be interested in joining Reese’s Book Club of big name books then all you need to do is follow her on social media. Reese’s Book Club has both a Facebook and Instagram page called Reese’s Book Club X Hello Sunshine! Seriously you are in great hands following her monthly book recommendations. Some of my best reads of 2016 were part of her book club. While I tend to stay on top of the trending novels coming out, I cannot deny that she has introduced me to some new authors. Here are some of the books that Reese and I have both read:
All is Not Forgotten and Luckiest Girl Alive are both novels that I discovered through Reese’s book group. I probably would not have read them without Reese’s input. She is great at picking books. I can vouch for the fact that she will rarely steer you in the wrong direction.
Reeses’s book list is quite extensive so read on to learn more: RW Book Group List
Reese was recently reading
EMMA ROBERTS
Currently, Emma Roberts is my absolute favorite reading celebrity. In going through Emma’s Instagram feed I quickly learned that we have very similar tastes in reading. Here are some bookish picks we share:
We also share an appreciation for memoirs, old school horror (Whatever Happened to Baby Jane) and ALL book stores. Pretty much all of her reading picks have made it onto to my TBR list.
Emma and her BFF Karah recently began an online reading community that I absolutely adore called Belletrist. At its essence, it is just two friends doing what they love which is talking books. It is still relatively new although its conception has been a long time in the making. I am thrilled that it finally came to fruition. I have to say that the reading selections from Belletrist are incredibly well-rounded, slightly edgy and not your typical picks. I think that is why I love it the most of any celebrity reading group out there because it really does challenge me. I have recently read two of their selections:
Both were beautiful and original. Totally fit into the Belletrist vibe. Were they my favorites? Not necessarily but I am glad to have read them. The Belletrist book selections are opening my eyes to more challenging literature which is fully appreciated on my part. Thanks Belletrist for challenging me and helping me grow as a reader!
Emma and her Belletrist crew were recently reading
EMMA WATSON
Actress Emma Watson is a self-appointed female warrior and it is AWESOME. Emma is leading the charge of empowering young woman around the world. Her feminist reading group Our Shared Shelf is a Goodreads page that allows for global interaction and discussion of the powerful titles chosen by Emma. It is truly a unique and impactful book group that I follow. Emma is known to go out into public areas throughout the world and hides the latest reading selections. In the picture above she is sharing books in a London tube station. Readers are encouraged to share the book group reads on social media. I follow the Our Shared Shelf Instagram page and it is incredible to see how much her book group is thriving throughout the world. I have seen so many awesome international covers of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale because of the page. It is a grand movement that I gladly follow. I will admit that some of her choices are above and beyond my taste; intimidating even. However, despite my reservation to read some of her choices, I am not ignorant to the empowerment that is coming from her followers throughout the world. Her membership is over 200,000 but I think readership is higher than that. Bravo Emma!
Our Shared Shelf selections I have read:
I did not care for The Vagina Monologues but I was very amused by Caitlin Moran’s memoir How to Be a Woman. I have read other work by Caitlin Moran. She has a truly unique voice.
Emma and her Our Shared Shelf book group recently read
SARAH JESSICA PARKER
SJP’s Instagram is one of my favorites to follow. I would love to live her life for a week. She has a killer wardrobe, amazing shoes complete with feet that can tolerate heels and she’s basically living the life of an awesome old lady in her downtime. She is an avid reader, loves to do jigsaw puzzles and is a public library champion. She does not have an actual book group of her own persay but her Instagram is a great resource to gather book recommendations. SJP does not mess around when it comes to books. She is forthright and speaks the language of a true reader. When talking about The Nix by Nathan Hill all she said was “please don’t end. please don’t end. please don’t end.” SJP. I can totally relate because I was also drawn into the powerful story that was The Nix. SJP has the special ability to make it seem like she is only talking to you in her posts which really makes it all the more fun.
SJP has chosen to go straight into the publication world with her very own imprint with Hogarth. She has also established a connection with the American Library Association (ALA) to share book recommendations. Her first choice was No One is Coming to Save Us. On her Instagram, SJP frequently talks about her love affair with the New York Public Library. It is so awesome that she is so vocal in her support for libraries and continues that involvement with organizations like ALA. As a librarian, it is tremendous to have a bookish celebrity in our corner preaching the importance that libraries have in all communities for ALL people.
SJP and I have read the following:
TIM MCGRAW
This is, without a doubt, a wonderful surprise. Country music artist Tim McGraw reads in his downtime and, better yet, he shares his books on his Instagram! McGraw has been sharing his favorite books via social media since November 2012. His list is not extensive but there is certainly enough worth mentioning! I was thrilled by his reading picks because they were so diverse! Better yet there are books that he is not sharing because some of those books are clearly a part of series. A very impressive reading list. Bravo Tim!
Here is Tim’s Reading List
Tim was recently reading: Leonardo Davinci
This Bookish Life 
Impressive list!
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