Getting Lit

Stars like Reese Witherspoon and Emma Watson have well-established book clubs, but newcomer Jenna Bush Hager's is bigger than them all. We go inside the today show host’s selection process.

- David Canfield

AROUND 10 minutes into my interview with Jenna Bush Hager, I make a careless mistake: I assume her new Today show book club isn’t merely a one-woman band. “You say ‘You guys,’ but you really are just talking about one person— me!” she responds, laughing. “Reese Witherspoon was on the show the other day, and we were talking about it. She’s like, ‘I have a whole team, Jenna!’ The problem is, I definitely need to read the whole book before I recommend it—and I’m a pretty picky reader.”

To assume Hager comes armed with a screening crew is to miss what has made her book club such a breakout success. Read With Jenna is but the latest literary recommendation operation launched by a major public figure—see everyone from Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon to Emma Watson and Sarah Jessica Parker (below)—and, collectively, these celeb-led groups have transformed the publishing industry in a crucial moment, spotlighting distinctive titles for large fan bases amid the distractions of Netflix and social media and our ongoing political nightmare. But Hager is demonstrating an individual power not seen since Oprah’s glory days.

Read With Jenna began on a monthly basis in March, when Hager was announced as co-host of Today’s fourth hour. Half of its four selections are debuts by women of color, and none lean commercial; all have been catapulted to instant best-seller status. For context: On the morning of May 1, both Hager and Witherspoon announced new picks, Etaf Rum’s A Woman Is No Man and Tembi Locke’s From Scratch, respectively. Within hours, Hager’s choice ranked among Amazon’s top 5 best-sellers, while Witherspoon’s hadn’t cracked the top 50. (One reason: Today averages over 4 million viewers a morning, an unrivaled platform.)