Celebrity bookworms are here to stay.
Ever since Oprah Winfrey started her iconic book club in the ’90s, celebrities including Reese Witherspoon, Emma Roberts, Dua Lipa and Jenna Bush Hager have joined the ranks, picking monthly books that skyrocket to the top of the bestseller lists.
“I absolutely love reading, I love the idea of sharing how books make people feel … books are really important to me and if I can share that in some way, then I feel like I’m on the right track,” Lipa told Elle UK in 2023.
Roberts, who started Belletrist with best friend Karah Preiss in 2017, told AP that giving book recommendations brings her “so much joy.”
Witherspoon, meanwhile, built an empire on books with her Hello Sunshine media company, highlighting diverse female authors.
See below for all the August celebrity book club picks.
Goodreads rating: 3.92/5
“This novel is full of motherhood and friendship and identity and loss—I fell in love with each character and was grasping for more with every chapter,” Bush Hager said of her latest book club read.
“Set between Pennsylvania and Japan, the story follows a mother who was devastatingly separated from her daughter, and two best friends on the brink of adulthood, each searching for where they come from—and where they belong. When the three paths finally intersect in an unforgettable climax, we are left with a story full of heart, honesty, and power. It’s intelligent, moving, and just so gorgeously written.
“Run, don’t walk. I can’t wait for everyone to read this one. 💫”
Goodreads rating: 4.14/5
“This month we’re reading ‘Make Your Way Home’ by Carrie R. Moore. It’s a beautiful debut collection of stories set across the American South, featuring characters who struggle to find love and belonging in the wake of painful histories,” Johnson’s TeaTime book club announced.
“In eleven stories that span Florida marshes, North Carolina mountains, and Southern metropolitan cities, ‘Make Your Way Home’ follows Black men and women who grapple with the homes that have eluded them. A preteen pregnant alongside her mother refuses to let convention dictate who she names as the father of her child. Centuries after slavery separated his ancestors, a native Texan tries to win over the love of his life despite the grip of a family curse. A young deaconess who falls for a new church member wonders what it means when God stops speaking to her. And at the very end of the South as we know it, two sisters seek to escape North to freedom, to promises of a more stable climate.
“Artfully and precisely drawn, and steeped in place and history as it explores themes of belonging, inheritance, and deep intimacy, Carrie R. Moore’s debut collection announces an extraordinary new talent in American fiction, inviting us all to examine how the past shapes our present—and how our present choices will echo for years to come.”
Goodreads rating: 3.80/5
“My next @oprahsbookclub pick is ‘Bridge of Sighs’ by Richard Russo,” Winfrey announced of her August pick. “It’s a powerful story about unrequited love, life-long friendships, epic family drama, and the grip of the past. One man’s small-town life takes a turn when a trip to Venice reopens old wounds and forgotten dreams. It makes you wonder: Can you truly overcome your destiny?”
Goodreads rating: 4.28/5
“Say hello to our August 2025 @reesesbookclub pick: ‘Once Upon a Time in Dollywood’ by @ashleyjordanwrites! 💛 A #LitUp Fellow turned debut author, Ashley’s voice is vibrant, funny, and full of heart. I read this in one sitting, it’s that good! 📚✨,” Witherspoon wrote alongside her club’s new pick.
Goodreads rating: 4.04/5
“In ‘This House of Grief,’ Helen takes us inside the real-life trial of Robert Farquharson and invites us to join her as she sits through days of detailed evidence, weeks of witness testimony and years of appeals. What she reveals along the way is not simply a courtroom drama but a sharp and forensic analysis of the human condition,” Lipa wrote of her August read.
“This is what really drew me to Helen’s writing. She’s not looking for monsters – her interest lies with ordinary people who seem to have been pushed beyond their emotional limits. As the trial progresses, I found myself questioning my own reactions, asking myself less, Did he do it? and instead, Is it possible to have empathy for this man, even if he did the worst thing imaginable?
“Although Helen has been writing for almost 50 years, her work is new to me and it’s a thrilling discovery. She’s one of the most fascinating writers I have come across in recent years, and I’m sure that, like me, you’ll find yourself diving into her back catalogue. There’s a lot to uncover, so let’s get started.”
Goodreads rating: 4.29/5
“We’re ‘Not Quite Dead Yet’ over this August #GMABookClub pick…but close 💀,” “GMA” announced with their August book.
“Holly Jackson’s twisty thriller ‘Not Quite Dead Yet’ follows a young woman on a mission to solve her own murder.”
Goodreads rating: 3.82/5
Molly Jong-Fast is the only child of a famous woman, writer Erica Jong, whose sensational book Fear of Flying launched her into second-wave feminist stardom,” Belletrist wrote of their August memoir.
“She grew up yearning for a connection with her dreamy, glamorous, just out of reach mother, who always seemed to be heading somewhere that wasn’t with Molly. When, in 2023, Erica was diagnosed with dementia just as Molly’s husband discovered he had a rare cancer, Jong-Fast was catapulted into a transformative year.”
