By Collection Management Librarian Dontaná
Since Oprah’s first book club pick in 1996, we have been reading as the celebrities do, falling in love with, or hating, characters with our fellow book club readers. Book clubs offer an opportunity to be in community with others, even if we’re not together in person.
Other celebrities who love to read have started book clubs, and even magazines are getting in on the action! Enjoy these January picks from well-established and new celebrity book clubs.
Please note: Many of these books are brand-new releases. We’ve ordered extra copies, but if you’re waiting on hold, be sure to check out the new materials shelves at the Maze and Dole branches and Hot Picks at the Main Library (these copies can’t be placed on hold or renewed). If the title is listed as available in the catalog, head over and pick up your next read before someone snatches it up!
Read with the stars
The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
Who's reading it? Good Morning America Book Club
Description: A Malayan mother becomes an unlikely spy for the invading Japanese forces during WWII—causing shocking consequences to rain upon her community and family.
Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook by Sohla El-Waylly
Who's reading it? The Audacious Book Club from Roxane Gay
Description: A practical, information-packed, and transformative guide to becoming a better cook and conquering the kitchen, Start Here is a must-have master class in leveling up your cooking. A one-stop resource, regardless of what you’re hungry for, Start Here gives equal weight to savory and sweet dishes, with more than two hundred mouthwatering recipes.
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
Who's reading it? Reese's Book Club from Reese Witherspoon
Description: Evie Porter, a woman with many faces and identities, covertly moves from job to job for her unknown employer until Ryan Summer, her latest mark, gets under her skin and makes her envision a different sort of life.
Holding Pattern by Jenny Xie
Who's reading it? Belletrist from Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss
Description: Kathleen Cheng has gone through a humiliating breakup, dropped out of her graduate program, and left everything behind. Now she's back in her childhood home in Oakland, wondering what's next.
The Waters by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Who is reading it? Read with Jenna from Jenna Bush Hager
Description: A master of rural noir returns with a novel about exceptional women and the soul of a small town.
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
Who is reading it? Noname Book Club from Noname
Description: This meticulously researched analysis of the abiding repercussions of European colonialism on the continent of Africa has not only informed decades of scholarship and activism, it remains an indispensable study for grasping global inequality today.
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
Who is reading it? PBS Readers Club
Description: A scientist from Australia and a Nigerian-American art historian become connected by their shared interest in a 19th-century racehorse, one studying its remains, the other uncovering the history of the Black horsemen who were critical to its success.
One in a Millennial by Kate Kennedy
Who is reading it? Read with Marie Claire
Description: In this laugh-out-loud book filled with keen observations, a pop culture commentator and host of the millennial-focused podcast Be There in Five both celebrates and criticizes the culture that shaped her as a woman, tackling AOL Instant Messenger, American Girl Dolls, Spice Girl feminism, millennial motherhood, and more.
About Dontaná
Dontaná is a Collection Management Librarian who was born with an unending reading list. She is almost always reading two books simultaneously and is easily distracted by cool covers.
