Which Celebrity Book Club is Right For You?

None of these interest me. How about Scandinavian Noir or medieval historical fiction or political discourse or horror?

Other book club suggestions than American ones 😴

One thriller? That's all I read!

Christian wrote: "Other book club suggestions than American ones 😴"

Emma Watson isn’t American. 🤨

Definitely Reese’s

Aren't there any book clubs of indie books? These books are all from big publishers.

Don't forget Life's Library with Rosianna Halse Rojas and John Green! Lots more variety of books plus some incredible community discussions and the occasional author Q&A.

Does any recommend male writers?

Carol wrote: "None of these interest me. How about Scandinavian Noir or medieval historical fiction or political discourse or horror?"

What are some Scandinavian Noir recommendation

@Alex Cox one of the highlighted ones in Oprah’s book choices is written by a male author.

Also, to people complaining, these are CELEBRITY book clubs. Not just random ones. John Green is not a celebrity. I’m sure there are other book clubs Goodreads can and maybe will highlight. It’s just not THIS post. I’m guessing it’s unlikely you’ll find one that routinely recommends Scandinavian Noir 🙄 Start your own.

They all have read books that interest me. Reese's the least, however. Emma's book choices have come a long way since being called out for her white privilege and I commend her on that.

J.S wrote: "Aren't there any book clubs of indie books? These books are all from big publishers."

That's because the indies don't have the budgets to pay the big names to flog their books. Celebs don't just happen to pick a book off the shelf. Publishers pay through the nose for that publicity.

Adam wrote: "Carol wrote: "None of these interest me. How about Scandinavian Noir or medieval historical fiction or political discourse or horror?"

What are some Scandinavian Noir recommendation"

Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole books are good, but he does refer back to previous books. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series by Steig Larsson are great.
I Remember You by by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
The Keeper of Lost Causes by by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Snowblind by by Ragnar Jónasson
Still Waters by Viveca Sten
Sun Storm by Rebecka Martinsson

All tend to be be too "high brow" for me. But on occasion I see something I like.

What about adult SFF and Historical Fiction?

Adam wrote: "Carol wrote: "None of these interest me. How about Scandinavian Noir or medieval historical fiction or political discourse or horror?"

What are some Scandinavian Noir recommendation"

Whitney wrote: "@Alex Cox one of the highlighted ones in Oprah’s book choices is written by a male author.

Also, to people complaining, these are CELEBRITY book clubs. Not just random ones. John Green is not a c..."

I guess that depends on how one defines celebrity. If it's someone who's only appeared in movies and t.v. then yeah he might not be a celebrity. If it's someone who's famous in general, then I would say John Green is a celebrity. He's well known in the literary, podcast, and YouTube world and has quite the following of fans. So I too would suggest his bookclub as one to check out. :)

J.S wrote: "Aren't there any book clubs of indie books? These books are all from big publishers."

That's probably because the publishers are writing a fat check to the celebrities for the use of their name/club endorsement.

I was going to say I have never become interested in a book because a celebrity endorsed it under guise of a book club, but that's not entirely true. I have read a couple of books base on Bill Gate's posting a detailed review of them here on GR. Not quite the same, though. I'm not reading a book because Famous Person claims it's good, but because the review was substantive enough to pique my interest in the book. Read a book just because Reese Witherspoon's or Oprah's name is attached to it? No. That adds no value to me.

Adam wrote: "Carol wrote: "None of these interest me. How about Scandinavian Noir or medieval historical fiction or political discourse or horror?"

What are some Scandinavian Noir recommendation"

I recently read "A Nearly Normal Family" but, not entirely sure if it would completely qualify.

None of these look right for me, how about some historical fiction/non-fiction?

Carol wrote: "None of these interest me. How about Scandinavian Noir or medieval historical fiction or political discourse or horror?"

YES!!!!

I’m with Carol Palmer. I want to be in that book club!!

um, none of them. what is the human population's fascination with "famous" people? what the absolute fuck do they know about books (or anything else) that "non-famous" people don't?!?!? jesuschristonafuckingcracker people, stop it. just stop. gggrrrrr.

It is difficult to take some of these celebrity book clubs seriously when the quality of most of the books they recommend - in my opinion - are lightweight, fluffy, insipid chick-lit, or romance drivel that are a dime a dozen. Pfft!

I have no problem with a celebrity giving a book recommendation, but if this is the level of books they continue to shill out, I'll look elsewhere. Oprah thankfully appears to be fair by including male authors, and for recommending books with heavy subject matter, mixture of fiction and non-fiction. Emma Watson commendably included one classic. The rest here are predominantly lightweight fluff.

Goodreads, please find celebrities who read (or accept a check to promote) literary fiction or literary non-fiction. Partner with publishing houses that publish solid, significant literature. How about writing a blog post of President Obama's reading list. His lists are always solid and balanced.

Reese Witherspoon, I think you're a funny actress and I think you're great as a producer and star of HBO's 'Big Little Lies', but I implore you to elevate your book game, ma'am. Your book recommendations do nothing for me.

Whatever. Since Goodreads makes no effort to elevate the level of its book offerings, I'm glad I take a hands-on approach to curating my to-read list.

For anyone who appreciates literary fiction, I just finished Richard Powers' 2019 Pulitzer Prize winner, 'The Overstory', and it is superb! It is a novel that requires full attention and work from the reader, but its allegorical output and the prose are sharp. A stellar work.

Okay, so, me and Emma Watson have a similar taste in books!

Ain't no celebrity gonna tell me what books I should read!! :P

Nope..not interesting enough for me.

C I N D L E wrote: "It is difficult to take some of these celebrity book clubs seriously when the quality of most of the books they recommend - in my opinion - are lightweight, fluffy, insipid chick-lit, or romance dr..."

I agree, or at least have someone who gives indie authors a nod.

I already picked Reese's book club. I bought Little Fires Everywhere because she recommended it and she's making a show.

Chick lit gag barf gag

These clubs have as much diversity ie many genres, as a ham sandwich at a PTA meeting

Wow, I love how Pachinko is in here. It was one of my favourite books of 2017.

Reese. No doubt.

I don't read that many books but my interest would be in Reese Witherspoon's picks. I get a newsletter from her Sunshine Club. Also like Oprah's.

C I N D L E wrote: "It is difficult to take some of these celebrity book clubs seriously when the quality of most of the books they recommend - in my opinion - are lightweight, fluffy, insipid chick-lit, or romance dr..."

Totally with you. I am in the middle of The Overstory, and as you say, requires one to pay attention, and yes, superb!

Emma Watson’s choices sound good to me!!

I love Our Shared Shelf! I’ve been introduced my many great feminist writers that I’ve never heard of before- like Bell Hooks!

My sister reads from Reese’s book club and has loved their picks so far. I will probably start it soon.

Jessica wrote: "Ain't no celebrity gonna tell me what books I should read!! :P"

Hear, hear!

I've accidentally read a couple Oprah and Reese picks because of the premise, not the rec. None of the Clubs appeal to me across the board, but I absolutely support the idea. I don't think celebs know more about books than us Joes and Janes; I support any public figure who encourages reading. If these book clubs get someone (back) into reading, that's a win. Sure, I'd love to see more indie and genre picks, but this is a good start. Maybe we can get Wil Wheaton or Felicia Day to start geekier clubs?

Rose wrote: "I want to start first by saying a big "thank you" to you . There are a bunch of nuts out there just trying to make a fast buck, but you are genuine! I prayed before I went online that God would sen..."

I can't find my car keys, should I call?

Jessica wrote: "Ain't no celebrity gonna tell me what books I should read!! :P"

they're not telling which books to read, they're just recommending!

#ReadWithJenna looks good - I like a mix of story types which she seems to capture.

Based on my TBR and read piles it looks like Oprah and Reese. But I read what I want when I want.

Tesalonica wrote: "Jessica wrote: "Ain't no celebrity gonna tell me what books I should read!! :P"

they're not telling which books to read, they're just recommending!"

....I know. It was a joke.

Emma Roberts and Karah Priess' choices look good to me!

I avoid anything recommended by Oprah..they give me a nauseous pain...

Katie wrote: "One thriller? That's all I read!"

Christian wrote: "Other book club suggestions than American ones 😴"

Check out Stephen King’s recommendations on FB or Twitter.

Sophia wrote: "Okay, so, me and Emma Watson have a similar taste in books!"
Emma and I

Carol wrote: "None of these interest me. How about Scandinavian Noir or medieval historical fiction or political discourse or horror?" Agreed!

None of these book clubs or their books interests me. I used to follow Oprah's book club, but then all the books seemed to be about the same thing. I'd rather follow my own instincts and read what I want, when I want.

@Adam: You can't look for non-celebrity reads in an article about celebrity book clubs. Scandinavian noir is also known as Nordic Noir, i.e. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. @Katie: I follow Stephen King; he's always recommending books to read by other authors.
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