Marie III Books

Which celebrity book club is the best?

Celebrity book clubs are popping up here and there, with some having a farther reach than others – like the veterans known as the BIG 4: Oprah, Reese, Jenna and GMA. (This is related not just to their reach but their ability to make a pick become a bestseller, stats I care absolutely nothing about.) But with new celebrities popping up with their own book club – Dakota Johnson, Dua Lipa and Stephen Colbert, are the veterans still the best?

This is just for fun of course, since taste in books is and always will be subjective. I have my favorite book clubs even though they’re not the most followed or pick the highest rated. But let’s see which book club has the most followers and which books the different clubs have picked this year from January – september and what ratings they have on Goodreads.

Oprah’s bookclub

Let’s start with Oprah, since she literally started the trend back in 1996. She doesn’t neccessarily pick at the beginning of the month, she choses more at random and it can be an old book, a new one, any genre and this year she started off by picking the same book she picked in 2008. Needless to say, she’s iconic and she needs no rules. Her 2025 roster is:

  1. A new earth by Eckhart Tolle (4,16)
  2. Dream state by Eric Puchner (3.61)
  3. The tell by Amy Griffin (4,05)
  4. Matriarch by Tina Knowles (4,49)
  5. The emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (4)
  6. River is waiting by Wally Lamb (4,40)
  7. Culpability by Bruce Holsinger (4,15)
  8. Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo (3,81)

There’s no denying that Oprah is the OG, and she consistently picks good books that go on to sell millions, however I do feel that her reach has declined slightly after ending her talkshow. But she now has a podcast partnered with Starbucks where she does her author interviews, and having your book become an Oprah pick is still very prestigeous. The average rating of her books this year is 4,08 – a solid rating proving that many people really love her bookpicks.

Reese’s bookclub – Hello Sunshine

Reese’s bookclub just turned 8 years old, but she’s one of the biggest names in the game. Having her own production company tied to the game, she also produces book to movies/series. She announces her all female author picks the first tuesday of the month also, she’s a girls girl that one:

  1. The three lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan (3,75)
  2. Isola by Allegra Goodman (4,02)
  3. Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall (4,35)
  4. All that life can afford by Emily Everett (3,68)
  5. Great big beautiful life by Emily Henry (3,99)
  6. The Phoenix pencil company by Alllison King (3,51)
  7. Spectacular things by Beck Dorey-Stein (4,15)
  8. Once upon a time in Dollywood by Ashley Jordan 3,85

Reese’s bookclub is considered one of the big four as she utilizes her main account with over 30 million followres to draw attention to her book club. She has an identifiable taste with female centered stories from all over the world and the overall average is an impressice 3,91.

Read with Jenna – TODAY book club

Read with Jenna started in 2019 on the today show where she is a host. In 2025 she also started her own imprint “Thousand voices books” and she has her own podcast now. She’s stated that the thinks of one year as a whole and wants to showcase different genres and highlight debut and diverse authors. A fine mission if you ask me:

  1. The life cycle of the common Octopus by Emma Knight (3,44)
  2. This is a love story by Jessica Soffer (3,23)
  3. The dream hotel by Laila Lalami (3,62)
  4. Heartwood by Amity Grace (3,96)
  5. The names by Florence Knapp (4,16)
  6. A family matter by Claire Lynch (3,74)
  7. Happy wife by Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores (3,78)
  8. My other heart by Emma Nanami Strenner (3,95)

Jenna picks a wide variety of books but they are all mostly character driven with strong female characters. From historical fiction to memoirs and thrillers, she’s not afraid to think outside the box and do poetry or an old book as oppsed to a new release. The average score of her book picks this year comes in at 3,74 on goodreads. Not too bad.

Good Morning America Book Club

Good morning america known as GMA is a popular morning show in America. In 2019 they launched a book club under the GMA name with no front person unlike many other shows.

  1. Homeseeking by Karissa Chen (4,22)
  2. Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine (4,20)
  3. Count my lies by Sophie Stava (3,73)
  4. The Sirens by Emilia Hart (3,74)
  5. The Original Daughter by Jemima Wei (3,69)
  6. Atmostphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid (4,38)
  7. The compound by Aisling Rawle (3,62)
  8. Not quite dead yet by Holly Jackson (4,18)
  9. The book of lost hours by Hayley Gelfuso (4,26)

Good morning America are one of the big four for a reason. They have a popular tv show to promote their picks and they pick some BIG books with BIG names attached to them, giving them an average of 4, that’s pretty good!

Service95 Bookclub – Dua Lipa

Service95 bookclub – an initiative by Dua Lipa’s editorial platform started in June 2023. She also has a podcast where she does indebth interviews with the authors she picks and they often provide additional content like essays, curated playlists and reading lists. She does a monthly pick, but the books are often old (or older than a new release anyway):

  1. Drive your plow over the bones of the dead by Olga Tokarczuk (3,94)
  2. The Bee Sting by Paul Murray (3,89)
  3. There there by Tommy Orange (3,98)
  4. Grief is the thing with feathers by Max Porter (3,81)
  5. Still born by Guadalupe Nettel (4,13)
  6. Widow Basquiat by Jennifer Clement (4,36)
  7. Small boat by Vincent Delecroix (4,06)
  8. This house of grief by Helen Garner (4,03)
  9. The trees by Percival Everett (4,06)

Service95 fronted by Dua Lipa is THE one to watch at the moment. She also uses her main account with 88 million followers to pull attention to her book picks and club. She’s also picked an impressive line up of books that comes in at an average of 4,03!

Belletrist – Emma Roberts + Karah Preiss

Belletrist just celebrated their 8th year in April. Best friends Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss started it together for the love of good books and reading. They do indepth live interviews with authors and go above and beyond to dive deeper and find those books that stand out, wether it be through story, narrative, prose or other things, they always manage to find books that really stand out.

  1. The motherload by Sarah Hoover (3,81)
  2. The mystery guest by Grégoire Bouillier (3,71)
  3. The strange case of Jane O. by Karen Thompson Walker (3,87)
  4. Twist by Colum McCann (3,75)
  5. Searches: Selfhood in the Digital age by Vauhini Vara (3,88)
  6. Lush by Rochelle Dowden Lord (3,17)
  7. Notes on infinity by Austin Taylor (3,64)
  8. How to lose your mother by Molly Jong-Fast (3,78)
  9. Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild (3,90)

Personally I love Belletrist because they always pick interestig books that all over the map. That can be a hit or miss, but it’s never boring! Their latest pick is one of my favorite books this year! Their average pick comes out at 3,72 and thats not bad, not bad at all.

TeaTime bookclub – Dakota Johnson

TeaTime bookclub launched in april 2024 as part of Dakota Johnson’s TeaTime pictures entertainment company. They support local bookstores by partnering with bookshop.org and from what I can see they pick a mix of old and new, and from several genres, since they are so young still, I can’t really see a pattern in their picks.

  1. Letters to a young poet by Rainer Maria Rilke (4,28)
  2. The Lamb by Lucy Rose (3,83)
  3. LOCA by Alejandro Heredia (3,82)
  4. The Antidote by Karen Russel (3,94)
  5. Audition by Katie Kitamura (3,34)
  6. Flashlight by Susan Choi (3,85)
  7. The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams (4,22)
  8. Make your way home by Carrie R. Moore (4,03)
  9. The Dilemmas of Working Women by Fumio Yamamoto (3,75)

It’s a little backwards, but theTeaTime pictures account where the bookclub is promotes Johnson’s movies more than Johnson does on her main. But on her main she has more book club posts than movie promo posts. Backwards right? Anyway, Johnson has 7,6 million followers that helps her bookclub rise in the ranks. And her picks are doing well at an average of 3,90.

Natalie’s book club – Natalie Portman

Natalie’s book club has been active since 2021. On the website the message from Natalie reads: “I try to find books that deepen our connection to ourselves and each other. Seeing yourself reflected in a character can be just as eye opening as empathazing witha character who yo might not readily identify with. These are the books that she’s picked in 2025:

  1. Saving Time – Discovering a ife Beyond Productivity Culture by Jenny Odell (3,60)
  2. The Coin by Yasmin Zaher (3,47)
  3. Saving Five by Amanda Nguyen (4,28)
  4. Autocracy, Inc. – The dictators who want to run the world by Anne Applebaum (4,20)
  5. Consider yourself kissed by Jessica Stanley (3,56)
  6. The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt (4,07)
  7. A different kind of power by Jacinda Ardern (4,48)
  8. No Straight Road Takes You There – Essays for Uneven Terrain by Rebecca Solnit (4,24)

Nat’s bookclub is heavy on the non-fiction, but oh so relevant. She also posts her book picks on her main account to 9,1 million followers and her books have an average of 3,99 on goodreads – a real solid number!

The Laufey Book Club

Islandic singer Laufey started her book club in the second half on 2022 when her music career started taking off. Lately she’s partnered with Little Free Library, holding in-person events and discussions about literature. She’s stated that literature is important to her songwriting. She doesn’t do a strict montly release, but these are the ones she’s picked in 2025:

  1. A wrinkle in time by Madeline L’Engle (3,97)
  2. Bonjour Tristtesse by Francoise Sagan (3,74)
  3. Blue sisters by Coco Mellors (3,93)
  4. Open water by Caleb Azumah Nelson (4,00)
  5. Bunny by Mona Awad (3,47)
  6. Katabasis by R.F. Kuang (4,03)

Laufey has really mastered her wonderland aesthetic and her picks seem to lean towards the magical and weird girl books. She’s the only one I’ve seen so far that doesn’t use her main account to promote her book club, and still her book club has a solit 223k followers on the separate Laufey book account. Her picks are doing pretty good too with an average of 3,86.

Library Science – Kaia Gerber + AlyssaReeder

I do not understand the concept of this book club since there doesn’t seem to be any montly picks, but they are partnered with bookshop.org supporting local bookstores. They have a website with books they are promoting, but they also sell merch in form of clothes, totes and pens. They don’t highlight a montly pick, but will suddenly drop a whole list of books to read. Here are the last ones I think were picked in 2025:

  1. The Wickedest by Caleb Femi (4,02)
  2. Early Thirties by Josh Duboff (2,93)
  3. Set my Heart on Fire by Izumi Suzuki (3,35)
  4. Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan (3,74)

Library Science is definitely a vibe, and I kind of like the loose format of just having book recommendations without the strict montly read. Her picks score at the low end with an average of 3,51, but I would say her picks are more eccentric and niche, and not for the masses. However, I’ve seen massive crowd pleasers on her list too, like: Crying in H mart, Joan Didion, and Oscar Wilde. So I guess it really depends.

The Audacious Book Club – Roxane Gay

Roxane Gay’s book club was the book club I didn’t know I needed until I found it writing this post. The book club started in 2021 and it’s free for anyone to join in, however paid subscribers can join the live conversation. Here are the books she’s picked this year:

  1. Private rites by Julia Armfield (3,63)
  2. Homeseeking by Karissa Chen (4,22)
  3. Back after this by Linda Holmes (3,74)
  4. The dream hotel by Laila Lalami (3,62)
  5. My documents by Kevin Nguyen (3,93)
  6. Marsha by Tourmaline (4,31)
  7. Great black hope by Rob Franklin (3,56)
  8. Nice girls don’t win: How i burned it all down to reclaim my power by Parati Shallow (3,85)
  9. Resting Bitcch Face: Poems by Taylor Byas (4,42)

I absolutely love Roxane Gay and after watching her masterclass in writing I’m hooked on her perspective. Her aim is to focus on books by underrepresented American writers and foster conversatons about books and connect the readers with the writers. The average score of her picks of 2025 is a nice 3,92.

Jordy’s Book Club – Jordan Moblo

Mobolo started his book club in 2019 while working as a director for creative acquisitions for Disney. He worked for Netflix for a period, but has now landed with Universal. In other words – he makes our favorite books into series or movies! He’s also the only male front figure on this list of celebrity book clubs, here’s his picks:

  1. The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha (3,68)
  2. Deep cuts by Holly Brickley (3,65)
  3. All the other mothers hate me by Sara Harman (3,53)
  4. Big Chief by Jon Hickey (3,63)
  5. Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle (3,97)
  6. King of Ashes by SA Cosby (4,11)
  7. We are all guilty here by Karin Slaughter (4,40)
  8. Too old for this by Samantha Downing (3,99)

As one of the few major male influencers when it comes to books, Jordan best known as Jordy has a thriller heavy pick list, with some literary fiction in between. Jordy’s book club is partnered with Allstora along many other celebrity book clubs, but stands out with consistent posting, many recommendations and some fast paced trillers that gives an average score of 3,87 on goodreads.

RuPaul’s book club

Ru Paul’s book club launched in 2024 and is partnered with Allstora along with several other celebrity book clubs.

  1. A return to love by Marianne Williamson (4,25)
  2. You can heal your life by Louise Hay (4,15)
  3. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (4,15)
  4. The Sunflower Boys by Sam Wachman (4,63)
  5. Frankie by Graham Norton (4,22)
  6. Let’s call her barbie by Renée Rosen (4,06)
  7. Still so excited! by Ruth Pointer (4,14)
  8. Lula Deans Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller (4,06)

Ru Paul also shares some of their reads on their main profile, but it’s not consistent. It’s hard to tell if these are even the real picks or not since they don’t announce monthly and you need to subscribe to Allstora to get the montly book. The books are a mix of self help books, memoirs and queer fiction and they have an average of 4,21!! I would expect nothing less from The QUEEN of drag! Since there isn’t much to immerse yourself in when it comes to interviews and such, It’s not as “serious” many of the other book clubs, but Queen can pick a crowd pleaser!

The Pants Pod book club – Leisha Hailey + Kate Moennig

You might know these two from the hit show “The L word” and the revival “The L word, generation q” – after which they started a podcast and following it up with a book club. Their picks are most likely to be queer or queer adjecent like these picks:

  1. We could be rats by Emily Austin (3,99)
  2. Say Everything by Ione Skye (4,04)
  3. The shutouts by Gabrielle Korn (3,80)
  4. Pretend We’re dead by Tanya Pearson (3,77)
  5. Woodworking by Emily St. James (4,33)
  6. Palm Meridian by Grace Flahive (4,00)
  7. Girls Girls Girls by Shoshana Von Blanckensee (4,30)

Also partnered with Allstora The pants pod started as a podcast and added a bookclub building on their success. The bestfriends have also released a memoir together “So gay for you”. It was unclear if this was part of their book club or not, but it’s being marketed on all their platforms. I didn’t add it to the picks, but the picks they have announced has an average of a high 4,03!

The Queens reading room – Queen Camilla

Queen Camilla launched her book club named The Queens Reading Room in 2023. It is a charity that aims to celebrate and promote the power and benefits of reading and helping people find and connect with books that enrich their lives. Her 2025 picks so far are:

  1. The diary of a young girl by Anne Frank (4,20)
  2. Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer (4,34)
  3. Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen (4,09)
  4. The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley (3,58)
  5. Miss Austen by Gill Hornby (3,79)
  6. The Figurine by Victoria Hislop (4,08)
  7. Long Island by Colm Tóibín (3,72)
  8. Orbital by Samantha Harvey (3,53)

The Queen kicked the year off with some CLASSICS with all caps! And then it kind of went all over the place, with a thriller, an oprah pick (and second book in a series) to last years booker winner. I have a hard time placing her taste and understanding her picks, but the average rating comes out at a solid 3,92 – not bad at all.

SJPlit – Sarah Jessica Parker imprint

Technically not a book club, Parker now has her own imprint where she publishes books under Zando independent publishing. So far she’s released 6 books on her imprint:

  1. These days by Lucy Caldwell (3,67)
  2. The story of the forest by Linda Grant (3,60)
  3. Women and children first by Alina Grabowski (3,32)
  4. They dream in gold by Mai sennaar (3,72)
  5. Coleman Hill by Kim Coleman Foote (3,79)
  6. A quitters paradise by Elysha Chang (2,85)

Sarah Jessica Parker is a booker judge this year and while we patiently await the shortlist, and the winner there, were also waiting for 3 more books she has planned releases for on her imprint. So far her books have gotten an average of 3,49.

Between two books – Florence Welch

Between two books started in 2012 when an Irish teen tweeted Florence that she should have a book club. Florence loved the idea and started recommending books immediately. The club also regularly feature recommendations from other arists. The book club however doesn’t post consistently, but they have a long list of books you can pick from. This year they have only picked 2, so here are the last 4 books the club has picked:

  1. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (4,22)
  2. Hagstone by Sinead Gleeson (3,52)
  3. The parable of the sower by Octavia E. Butler (4,2)
  4. There are rivers in the sky by Elif Shafak (4,38)

A popular bookclub for over 13 years now, I wish they had more consistency, but at least they have a good list of books to look back on. The average of their last 4 picks averages at 4,08.

Late Show Book Club – Stephen Colbert

In june before the announcement of the cancellation of the late show with Stephen Colbert, he launched the late show book club. And all I can say is that I hope he manages to move it to another network because his book club shows great promise with picks like:

  1. Orbital by Samantha Harvey (3,53)
  2. The Director by Daniel Kehlmann (4,20)
  3. A marriage at sea by Sophie Elmhirst (3,90)
  4. People like us by Jason Mott (4,04)

Since we definitely need more male celebrity book clubs I sincerely hope Stephen Colbert manages to keep his book club going. So far his picks have gotten an average of 3,92!

Mulaney reads -John Mulaney

I’m not sure this one is fair to include because John Mulaney just started “Mulaney reads” in june and he announces books he has read after the fact. He’s been consistent since, but the mid year start gives him far less picks than the rest. But nevertheless – here are his picks.

  1. Playworld by Adam Ross (3,79)
  2. Shark heart by Emily Habeck (3,95)
  3. Pan by Michael Clune (3,44)

I’m not sure I understand the format of the book club, announcing the june book on june 28th, the july book on july 30 and the august book on september 1st. Push them all a month forward and that’s the regular format, this makes me feel like I’m late to the party before it even started. But I like his picks, so far they’ve all intrigued me, so he’s definitely one to look out for, and one of the few male celebrity book clubs, starting off with a good 3,73 average.

Inklings -Jack Ben Edwards

The youtuber, booktoker calling himself “The internet’s librarian” and does red carpet book events. I was just too tempted to add him because his book club launched last month and he already has a solid followig on fable and instagram. He’s only had 2 picks so far, but they were pretty solid if you ask me:

  1. Evenings and weekends by Oisin McKenna (3,79)
  2. The Coin by Yasmin Zaher (3,47)

It’s not really fair to do an average of just two books, but these are both books he has rated 5 stars on goodreads. The majority of goodreads readers are not fully in agreement, since the average lies at 3,63. But I’m looking forward to his picks and I’ve purchased both of these. The Coin was also a pick of Natalie Portman.

Most popular book club based on follower count on Instagram:

These are the book clubs that have their own instagram username and is not just posted through their main personal profile.

  1. Reeses book club – 3M
  2. Oprahs book club – 931K
  3. Read with Jenna 350K
  4. Jordys book club (partnered with Allstora) 313K
  5. Belletrist 274K
  6. Laufey’s book cub -223K
  7. The Queens reading room – 183K
  8. Natalies book club – 178K
  9. Between two books – 147K
  10. Good Morning America Book Club – 146K
  11. Service 95 – 117 K
  12. Teatime book club – 88K
  13. Library science – 87,1K
  14. SJPlit – 76,7K
  15. Inklings Book Club – 52,4K

Outliers/partnerships/New book clubs – book clubs that don’t have their own handle on instagram:

  1. Ru Paul’s book club – 5,9M Ru Pauls main account, partnered with Allstora
  2. Late show book club – 4,6M – started this summer and posts through The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
  3. John Mulaney -2,1M posts through their main account
  4. Roxane Gay – 343K* posts through their main account
  5. The Pants Pod – 310K posts through their podcast account partnered with Allstora

Celebrity book clubs has mostly been fronted by women, but more and more men are joining the literati. Some have come and gone already like John Green, he had one with Rosianna Halse Rojas, but they stopped posting in 2022. American quarterback Andrew Luck had a book club, but stopped posting in august of 2020. Jimmy Fallon has a book club summer read, that picks one book they read during the summer. Would love to see him expand on that since he has the tonight show as a platform for this. Like Stephen Colbert has done, but I have to wonder what will happen to it after the news of the shows cancellation.

Allstora has many more celebrity collaborations, but this list was getting exhausted already. But if you want to check them out they also collaborate with author Emma Noyes, author Adam Silvera, Joan Vassos (The first golden bachelorette), Gays reading and many, MANY more! If you’re on fable there is also a club section where you can even create your own book club and follow founder Padma’s book club, or other celebrities like LeVar Burton and Sean Astin. (Some of these features might have charges.)

So to the reason behind this entire post – which book club picks the best books?

The book club with the highest rated books on goodreads:

  1. Ru Paul’s book club – 4,21
  2. Oprah’s book club – 4,08
  3. Between two books – 4,08*
  4. Service95 book club – 4,03
  5. The Pants pod book club – 4,03
  6. GMA book club – 4
  7. Natalies book club – 3,99
  8. Audacious book club – 3,92
  9. The Queens reading room – 3,92
  10. The late show book club – 3,92
  11. Reese’s book club – 3,91
  12. TeaTime book club – 3,90
  13. Jordy’s book club – 3,87
  14. Laufey’s book club – 3,86
  15. Read with Jenna – 3,74
  16. Mulaney reads – 3,73*
  17. Belletrist – 3,72
  18. Inklings book club – 3,63*
  19. Library Science -3,51*
  20. SJPlit – 3,49*

*some of these might not have enough book picks to give a proper average, might not post consistently or be new.

The Queen of drag stealing the show as always, before Oprah who stands steady high up on this list. (It’s quite impressive that Oprah has been at it for as long as she has, and her popularity is evident!) Sharing the second spot it Between to books with Florence Welch, but they only had 2 book picks this year, so I added two from 2024 and 2023 also . They are so inconsistent that I almost considered dropping them from the whole thing. But there it is. And in third place is the newcomer Service95 book club fronted by Dua Lipa. Honestly, Dua Lipa deserves to be this high. Her interviews with the authors are always so good and well reflected. And the serive95 book club site is a whole vibe!

Just looking up all these book clubs I found a whole bunch of new ones I want to look into and plenty of more books for my TBR. Do you have a favorite book club? Or did you find one on this list you might want to follow?