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10. Celebrity book club
14 Plays1 month ago
Big three:
- Reese’s Book Club
- Read with Jenna
- GMA
7 other celebrity book clubs I found interesting:
- Belletrist by Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss
- Tea Time Book Club by Dakota Johnson
- Service95 Book Club by Dua Lipa
- Nat’s Book Club by Natalie Portman
- The Katie Couric Book Club by Katie Couric
- The Queen’s Reading Room by Queen Camilla
- The Fallon Book Club by Jimmy Fallen
You can find me on Instagram @kristinsnextchapter
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Transcript
Introduction to Kristen's Podcast
00:00:01
Kristin Paulin
Hi, I'm Kristin, the host of Kristin's Next Chapter, a podcast to help you find your next read and introduce you to debut authors.
Current Reads and Book-Related Experiences
00:00:08
Kristin Paulin
Today I wanted to chat about some of the many celebrity book clubs that are out there, but first, like usual, i wanted to share what I'm currently reading and some of my recent bookish moments.
00:00:19
Kristin Paulin
For what I'm currently reading, where are my middle-aged ladies? I'm reading American Fantasy by Emma Straub. This book imagines a boy band cruise and the lifelong troves of middle-aged women that are still following the band.
00:00:35
Kristin Paulin
The band is modeled after Kids on the Block and the main character is 50.
00:00:41
Kristin Paulin
Astonishingly, New Kids on the Block was my first concert and I'm 49. So I would say that I am spot on the perfect demographic for this, except that I am not still crazy for New Kids on the Block.
00:00:56
Kristin Paulin
But regardless, this book is a bit of fun. I'm not going to say that I am loving it, but I'll reserve my final review until I finish the book.
00:01:08
Kristin Paulin
It's a new book, it just came out in April, and I snapped it up on Independent Bookstore Day. So in my last episode, I talked about Independent Bookstore Day, and it was so, so much fun.
00:01:20
Kristin Paulin
But that was two weeks ago, and i admit that that was my last real bookish moment. My day job's been really busy for a while now, and i have not been planning many book-related outings, sadly.
00:01:35
Kristin Paulin
I'm not even reading as much as I normally do, but I do know that there's always going to be times like this. But no matter what, without exception, i end my day with a book in bed.
00:01:48
Kristin Paulin
I did have a work trip recently, and i was happy to then have... A bit of extra reading time on the flights between Chicago and Seattle. So that's about as good as it can get if you're busy at work, having that flight time for some extra reading. So not really complaints from me.
Exploring Celebrity Book Clubs
00:02:08
Kristin Paulin
And now shifting into the main topic of the day, all of these celebrity book clubs out there. So have loosely been aware of quite a few of these book clubs, and it's easy to hear about the big ones. But the other day, i came across Dua Lipa's book club and podcast. She wasn't really on my radar of ones to follow, but she was interviewing Roxanne Gay, a feminist author, and I really enjoyed the episode, and it made me want to check out Dua Lipa's other book club picks from the past months. And so I thought this could be a fun time to kind of take a little deep dive into seeing what's out there, what might pique each of our individual interests.
00:02:48
Kristin Paulin
So first, there are what I call the big three, Reese's Book Club, Read with Jenna, and GMA. And these are all high profile. In my experience, everyone has their own favorite based on how frequently the monthly book cup book club picks resonate with them. So for me, i would say I'm a Read with Jenna girl.
00:03:10
Kristin Paulin
But beyond these big ones, there's quite a range and they seem to kind of come and go. and the frequency of book picks can also range. I put together a list of seven to mention today.
00:03:23
Kristin Paulin
and along with their most recent book picks, I explain a little bit about each one. But really, if any of these pique your interest, you're going to want to kind of take a deep dive yourself on that.
00:03:35
Kristin Paulin
So the first one on my list is Bellatrist from Emma Roberts and Cara Preece. The May book club pick is Almost Life by Kieran Millwood Hargrove.
00:03:48
Kristin Paulin
And this book club is consistent with monthly selections. And Bellatrist just collaborated with Tertulia for a monthly book club subscription box to go along with it, which is kind of cool and unique as far as I can tell among the book clubs that I looked into.
00:04:07
Kristin Paulin
The selections from Bellatrix seem to be wide-ranging. They include women's stories, contemporary literary fiction, but you're also going to find thrillers and memoirs. It's been around since 2017, so there are a lot of monthly book club picks within this, so I think that's what definitely why you're seeing such a range.
00:04:29
Kristin Paulin
And the second one on my list is Tea Time Book Club from Dakota Johnson. The May Book Club pick for this one is My Dear You by Rachel Kong.
00:04:41
Kristin Paulin
This book club is also consistent monthly. It's pretty new having just launched in 2024, but it seems to have a really interesting mix of recent picks, most of which are new to me, and it looks pretty indie-ish.
00:04:56
Kristin Paulin
And so i I love being introduced to an indie pick outside of the mainstream books that you you see everywhere. The focus includes both literary and contemporary fiction. You're also going to find some memoirs and some nonfiction.
00:05:10
Kristin Paulin
In general, the focus seems to be on exploring social themes and complex relationships.
Unique Book Clubs and Themes
00:05:17
Kristin Paulin
The third book club is Service 95 Book Club from Dua Lipa. The May book pick is Late in the Day by Claire Keegan.
00:05:27
Kristin Paulin
And Dua Lipa's book club also is very consistent with monthly selections, and she's been doing this since 2023.
00:05:37
Kristin Paulin
Her selections seem to be wide-ranging, and they look really fun to me in terms of discovering new book interests. I've seen it described as diverse and thought-provoking with a mix of contemporary fiction, memoirs, and storytelling that explores complex social themes.
00:05:56
Kristin Paulin
And the fourth one is Nat's Book Club from Natalie Portman. So the most recent pick for this is The Beginning Comes After the End by Rebecca Solnit, or maybe Solni. I'm not quite sure how it's pronounced.
00:06:12
Kristin Paulin
um But Natalie also does a very consistent monthly club selection, and it ranges with literary and contemporary fiction, memoirs, political and cultural essays, and a bit of nonfiction, too.
00:06:27
Kristin Paulin
So regarding the pick from May, The Beginning Comes After the End by Rebecca Solnit or Solny, I picked this up in my shopping on Independent Bookstore Day because I've enjoyed several other books of essays from the author.
00:06:44
Kristin Paulin
a Field Guide to Getting Lost is a particular favorite of mine. as is Men Explain Things to Me. So Field's Guide is about wandering, getting lost in order to kind of have discovery and find yourself, you know, themes of that nature.
00:07:00
Kristin Paulin
While Men Explain Things explores the patriarchy, sexism, and the silencing of women. So Natalie has been doing this for a long time.
00:07:11
Kristin Paulin
I'm going to call her one of the OGs, just like Bellatrice. She launched her book club back in 2019.
00:07:18
Kristin Paulin
Next on my list at number five is the Katie Couric Book Club, or as she abbreviates it, KCBC. Her most recent pick for May is The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout.
00:07:34
Kristin Paulin
So her book club, Katie's Book Club, just launched this year. So it's brand new. She seems to be doing things a little bit different. um she She does a mix between Instagram, which is very common across all these book clubs, and Substack. So she uses her Substack to interview authors.
00:07:57
Kristin Paulin
And it's kind of an interesting way to incorporate a another book social media, or I'm not even sure, it's more of a newsletter platform. But yeah, so I thought i thought that was pretty interesting. um So, so far her focus is contemporary fiction and just more recently acclaimed popular novels.
00:08:19
Kristin Paulin
Number six is The Queen's Reading Room from Queen Camilla. So this is a bit more of a unique book club because Her Majesty picks four favorite books in each of the four seasons of the year. And she's very consistent with this. And the focus has been really wide ranging. She includes classic literature, modern historical fiction and thrillers, some also acclaimed contemporary fiction as well. And she's been doing this since 2021.
00:08:49
Kristin Paulin
It's been a while now, too. And the seventh one on my list, the seventh and final one, is The Fallon Book Club from Jimmy Fallon. So this one is definitely a little bit different as well. The most recent pick is My Friends from Frederick Backman.
00:09:07
Kristin Paulin
And this book club isn't really a monthly club. It centers more around summer reading It originally started in 2018, but I don't think it's been consistent during that whole
Future Reading Plans and Excitement
00:09:21
Kristin Paulin
time. But in it seems to be a oh popular, well-liked ah book club, and so I thought I would include it here as well.
00:09:33
Kristin Paulin
But you're going to find that there's a lot of celebrities out there that are making recommendations, and there are even some that have their own imprint, like the queen, Sarah Jessica Parker, has her own imprint now.
00:09:45
Kristin Paulin
And the most recent book club picks that I've talked about here might not be enough to spark your interest one way or another, so I really suggest you know poking around with some of these, seeing which ones you might connect with. It could be a fun way to expand your reading interests into more areas.
00:10:01
Kristin Paulin
And I have to say for myself, just poking around in all of these and coming up with this short list, I'm really excited about some of them. I think Dua Lipa's, Natalie Portman's, Dakota Johnson's, all the picks look really interesting to me. So I'm going to definitely start following them more closely and and probably picking up some of those monthly selections going forward. And actually, Bellatrix looks really interesting to me too. So I guess they all probably do a little bit because I've included them on my list here.
00:10:32
Kristin Paulin
But as always, I like to end with my reading intentions from now until we meet again. have another work trip coming up, which means more flights. So this also means more uninterrupted reading time, which I'm very happy about. But when I finally return, will be Memorial Day weekend. And that weekend, my friend Jen and I are having our next buddy read discussion. We're doing Caller Unknown by Jillian McAllister.
00:10:59
Kristin Paulin
And then the day after Memorial Day, I'm hosting a book-bedazzling party with my Classy Ladies Book Club. So I have never bedazzled anything, but I've seen these events around locally. They fill up really fast, so I've never been able to attend one. And I've also seen videos on Instagram. So I just think it looks like a lot of fun.
00:11:22
Kristin Paulin
And my Classy Ladies Book Club are some crafty. They like doing crafts. They're very fun. And I just know it's going to be a great time. But we'll see how my bedazzled book turns out, though. That I can't say is definitely going to be a success.
Episode Wrap-up and Listener Engagement
00:11:38
Kristin Paulin
So that's it for today. Thank you for listening. If you liked this episode, please tell a friend. In the meantime, you can find me on Instagram at kristinsnextchapter, all one word. I'd love to hear from you.
00:11:52
Kristin Paulin
Do you follow any celebrity book clubs? If so, which are your favorite? I hope this episode inspired you and happy reading.