The Best Celebrity Book Club Picks of 2024: Reese Witherspoon, Jenna Bush Hager & More

Jenna Bush Hager Book Club: ‘Good Material’ by Dolly Alderton

Set right after a heartbreak, Dolly Alderton’s Good Material follows stand-up comedian Andy as he comes to terms with the end of his relationship with his ex Jen, his not-so-promising career prospects and how the rest of the world seems to be moving on and growing up without him. 

Jenna Bush Hager Book Club: ‘All the Colors of the Dark’ by Chris Whitaker

Set in Monta Clare, Missouri, in 1975, All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker tells the story of a small town experiencing a string of mysterious murders. But after a wealthy family is targeted, local boy Patch becomes an unlikely hero. 

“Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer,” the description reads. “And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another.”

Jenna Bush Hager Book Club: ‘The Wedding People’ by Alison Espach

The Wedding People by Alison Espach tells the story of Phoebe Stone, a woman who’s been dreaming about a sunset-filled vacation in Newport, Rhode Island for years. But when she finally arrives, instead of being in great company, she’s alone, at rock-bottom and mistaken for a wedding party member. 

“Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe’s plan―which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other,” the description reads. 

Reese Witherspoon Book Club: ‘First Lie Wins’ by Ashley Elston

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston tells the story of Evie Porter, a woman who seems to have everything a girl could want in life but nothing is exactly what it seems. In fact, Evie is living a total double life. “She uses an alias and her job is to infiltrate people’s lives and execute takedowns whenever her boss, the mysterious Mr. Smith, says to,” Witherspoon explained. “She has to stay one step ahead of her past to make sure she will have a future in front of her.”

One day, however, her lies begin to catch up with her. 

Reese Witherspoon Book Club: ‘The Most Fun We Ever Had’ by Claire Lombardo

Witherspoon described The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo in 5(ish) words. “Emotional, Sisters, Messy (in the best way), COMPLICATED relationships, character-driven.” 

“With the unexpected arrival of young Jonah Bendt—a child placed for adoption by one of the daughters fifteen years before—the Sorensons will be forced to reckon with the rich and varied tapestry of their past,” the description reads. “As they grapple with years marred by adolescent angst, infidelity, and resentment, they also find the transcendent moments of joy that make everything else worthwhile.”

Reese Witherspoon Book Club: ‘We Will Be Jaguars’ by Nemonte Nenquimo & Mitch Anderson

We Will Be Jaguars by Nemonte Nenquimo and Mitch Anderson tells the story of Nenquimo and her journey to protect her people and indigenous lands, alongside her husband and writing partner. “I was so moved by this story,” Witherspoon said. 

Oprah Winfrey Book Club: ‘Tell Me Everything’ by Elizabeth Strout

Set in a small town in Main, Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout follows town lawyer Bob Burgess as he investigates an unfolding murder investigation, defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother. “He has also fallen into a deep and abiding friendship with the acclaimed writer Lucy Barton, who lives down the road in a house by the sea with her ex-husband, William,” the description reads. 

“[Strout’s] delivered another heartfelt and a beautiful story, returning to the fictional town of Crosby, Maine, to delve into the interconnected lives and loves of all the residences there,” Winfrey said. “Tell Me Everything has all the things; romance, mystery, secrets and even a possible murder experienced through the unrecorded lives of just ordinary folks.”

Oprah Winfrey Book Club: ‘Small Things Like These’ by Claire Keegan

In this Oprah Book Club choice, Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan follows coal merchant Bill Furlong as he witnesses the infamous horrors of Irish convents when delivering in his small Irish town in 1985. “Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church,” the description reads. 

Jenna Bush Hager & Kaia Gerber Book Club: ‘Real Americans’ by Rachel Khong

In a book that was selected by both Jenna Bush Hager and Kaia Gerber, Real Americans by Rachel Khong follows two separate timelines: complete opposites of Lily Chen and Matthew as they fall in love in Y2K New York City and their son, Nick Chen, as he leaves his single mom Lily and sets out to find his biological dad.

Kaia Gerber Book Club: ‘Sex and Rage’ by Eve Babitz

If you’re a fan of Los Angeles and New York City, Kaia Gerber’s selection Sex and Rage by Eve Babitz might be the book for you. The novel starts out with a young and sunkissed Jacaranda in Los Angeles enjoying the “unattached and unworried in the pleasurable mania of California.” By 28, she moves to New York City to find her purpose and she’s “eager to make it big in the world.” 

Kaia Gerber Book Club: ‘Martyr!’ by Kaveh Akbar

In a novel that’s become one of the most talked-about books of 2024, Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar follows Cyrus a newly sober queer poet who is the orphaned son of Iranian immigrants who “becomes obsessed with martyrs and the idea of making your life and death mean something,” Gerber explained. 

Emma Watson Book Club: ‘Beloved’ by Toni Morrison

Written by revered novelist Toni Morrison, Beloved tells the heartbreaking story of Sethe, a young woman who escaped slavery and moved to Ohio but can’t seem to escape the horrors she once experienced. “And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved,” the description reads.  

Emma Watson Book Club: ‘Butterfly’ by Yusra Mardini

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to leave your home country and travel uncertain waters as a refugee, then Butterfly by Yusra Mardini will open your eyes, and potentially even get them teary-eyed along the way. The novel, which was since been adapted to a Netflix movie named The Swimmers, follows the author’s own experience as a Syrian refugee who risked her life to move to Greece and follow her dream of becoming an olympic swimmer on the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Olympics. 

Emma Watson Book Club: ‘Pachinko’ by Min Jin Lee

Emma Watson’s book club also recommended the National Book Award finalist Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. The touching novel follows four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family fighting to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan. 

Dakota Johnson Book Club: ‘Beautyland’ by Marie-Helene Bertino

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino follows the tale of a woman who struggles to feel at home on Earth and manages to make contact with her extraterrestrial relatives, beings who have sent her to report on the happenings of planet Earth. When Dakota Johnson recommended the pick to her book club, she said she heavily resonated with the protagonist, Adina Giorno. “I don’t know if I’m from anywhere or I belong anywhere,” Johnson told Bustle. “So, yes, I do relate to the alien.”

Dakota Johnson Book Club: ‘The Anthropologists’ by Aysegül Savas

In another thought-provoking read from Dakota Johnson, The Anthropologists by Aysegül Savas follows best friends Asya and Manu as they look for an apartment in a new city and take an anthropological look in their lives and in those of the new neighborhood they’re moving into.

“Back in their home countries parents age, grandparents get sick, nieces and nephews grow up-all just slightly out of reach,” the description reads. “But Asya and Manu’s new world is growing, too, they hope. As they open the horizons of their lives, what and whom will they hold onto, and what will they need to release?” 

Emma Roberts Book Club: ‘Intermezzo’ by Sally Rooney

In another highly talked-about book this year, Intermezzo by Sally Rooney is the latest novel from the best-selling author. The story follows two brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek, in the wake of their father’s death. As they grieve the loss, successful and untouchable Peter struggles with addiction and coinciding his relationships with two women while his younger loner brother Ivan connects with an older women with her own turbulent past. 

Emma Roberts Book Club: ‘Long Island Compromise’ by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Another one of Emma Roberts’ best book picks this year was Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. The novel follows the wealthy Fletcher family as they continue to grapple with the side effects that followed dad Carl Fletcher’s brutal kidnapping forty years ago in 1980. While each of the parents and their grown-up kids cope with the fear differently, the incident has lasting effects. 

“As they hover at the delicate precipice of a different kind of survival, they learn that the family fortune has dwindled to just about nothing, and they must face desperate questions about how much their wealth has played a part in both their lives’ successes and failures,” the description continues. 

Emma Roberts Book Club: ‘The Friday Afternoon Club’ by Griffin Dunne

Emma Roberts’ book club also recommended Griffin Dunne’s memoir, The Friday Afternoon Club. In it, the actor and director looks back on his life and his relationship to familiar names like his aunt Joan Didion, 007 Sean Connery and his “soulmate” Carrie Fisher. He also remembers some of his troubling moments, including his sister’s brutal murder and the public trial that soon followed. 

Sarah Jessica Parker Book Club: ‘The Story of the Forest’ by Linda Grant

The Story of the Forest by Linda Grant is the latest novel to get Sarah Jessica Parker’s stamp of approval. The novel follows Mina and her brother Jossel as they move across the world from the Baltics to England upon the looming threat of WWI. What follows is a multigenerational story of family, tragedy, perseverance, and much more. 

Sarah Jessica Parker Book Club: ‘Coleman Hill’ by Kim Coleman Foote

Coleman Hill by Kim Coleman Foote follows friends Celia Coleman and Lucy Grimes as they join the Great Migration and move from the racist south to for the “Promised Land” of Vauxhall, New Jersey. But upon settling there, their new life comes with its own set of challeneges – which are all told by nine different family members over the course of the next seventy years.

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