8 celebrity book club picks to read this month from Reese Witherspoon, Jenna Bush Hager and more
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 July celebrity book club picks.
Dua Lipa’s Service95 Book Club July 2025 pick: “Small Boat” by Vincent Delecroix
Goodreads rating: 4.07/5 stars
“Vincent takes us inside the mind of the French radio operator receiving these distress calls. I was deeply shocked that, instead of scrambling to help the drowning people, the operator casually responds to their calls for help with that frank opening line – “I didn’t ask you to leave” – as the phone goes dead. Her attitude seems inhumane, but perhaps it is reflective of society’s detached attitude to ‘migrant’ deaths at sea, and the dehumanization that allows us to turn away as innocent men, women and children drown on a pitch-black night in the English Channel,” Lipa wrote alongside her July book club announcement.
“This book challenged me profoundly. It moved me, and stayed with me. It’s not an easy read – but as our politics descend into hate-mongering and point-scoring, it’s an essential story that needs to be told.”
Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club May July pick: “Spectacular Things” by Beck Dorey-Stein
Goodreads rating: 4.19/5 stars
“Kicking off July with our newest book pick!” Witherspoon announced of her latest pick. “‘Spectacular Things’ by @beckdoreystein follows sisters Mia and Cricket as they navigate an impossible choice that will change everything. Think sisterhood, sacrifice, and the golden age of women’s soccer all wrapped into one epic story.”
Dakota Johnson’s TeaTime Book Club July 2025 pick: “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy” by Douglas Adams
Goodreads rating: 4.22/5 stars
“This month we’re reading one of Dakota’s favorites! Get ready for the best, most fun and wild journey with ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams,” Johnson’s TeaTime book club announced in July.
“It’s an ordinary Thursday morning for Arthur Dent . . . until his house gets demolished. The Earth follows shortly after to make way for a new hyperspace express route, and Arthur’s best friend has just announced that he’s an alien. After that, things get much, much worse.
“With just a towel, a small yellow fish, and a book, Arthur has to navigate through a very hostile universe in the company of a gang of unreliable aliens. Luckily the fish is quite good at languages. And the book is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy . . . which helpfully has the words DON’T PANIC inscribed in large, friendly letters on its cover.”
Jenna Bush Hager’s Read with Jenna Book Club July 2025 pick: “Happy Wife” by Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores
Goodreads rating: 3.97/5 stars
“The perfect book to start at the beach and finish before you leave. It’s suspenseful, addictive, and each page will have you begging for more,” Bush Hager wrote of her latest pick.
“Our protagonist, Nora Davies, finds herself struggling to make ends meet in her new home of Winterpark, FL. Enter Will Somerset: a prominent lawyer and recently single father. He and Nora set the Florida social scene ablaze with a fiery romance and quick marriage.
“Nora’s life is finally starting to make sense — until Will’s sudden disappearance after a birthday party turns everything upside down, leaving Nora as the sole suspect.
“This book is the perfect combination of drama, romance and mystery, and we hope you love it just as much as we do. Grab your copy in any store now and find out for yourself — Where. Is. Will?!”
Oprah Winfrey’s current book pick: “The River is Waiting” by Wally Lamb
Goodreads rating: 4.27/5 stars
“In 1997, I called @wallylambauthor to tell him I wanted to choose his book ‘She’s Come Undone’ as an @oprahsbookclub selection. A year later, I dialed him again to choose ‘This Much Is True’ as a pick. And now in 2025, I’m calling him yet again to choose his new novel ‘The River Is Waiting’ as our June selection. That’s three selections in 20 years, but that should tell you everything you need to know about what I think of this truly masterful and beloved writer,” Winfrey announced of her latest pick.
“Can you ever forgive someone if they’ve done something unthinkable to your family? That’s what the main character, Cory Ledbetter is facing, in this gripping story. He’s a new father, he lost his job, has a growing secret addiction, and is having marriage woes—then he causes a tragedy that breaks his family apart.”
“Good Morning America” Book Club July 2025 pick: “The Compound” by Aisling Rawle
Goodreads rating: 3.84/5 stars
“‘The Compound’ by debut author Aisling Rawle offers a chilling, addictive look at how entertainment, control and survival collide when the cameras never stop rolling,” “GMA” wrote alongside their July pick.
Natalie Portman’s Nat’s Book Club July 2025 pick: “A Different Kind of Power” by Jacinda Ardern
Goodreads rating: 4.50/5 stars
“I can’t think of a better time to read Jacinda Ardern’s memoir — the story of how she became New Zealand’s 40th Prime Minister, but it is also a story of motherhood, vulnerability, how to lead with compassion,” Portman said of her July book club pick.
Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss’s Belletrist Book Club July 2025 pick: “Notes on Infinity” by Austin Taylor
Goodreads rating: 3.70/5 stars
“A singular, extraordinary debut about Zoe and Jack, Harvard students who find themselves propelled into the intoxicating biotech startup world when they announce they’ve discovered the cure for aging. A different kind of love story where the thirst for achievement consumes and the stakes are forever,” Belletrist wrote with their July announcement.
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