Have We Maxed Out on Celeb Book Clubs?

Short answer: No! When it comes to getting people psyched about reading, especially now, we say the more the merrier

- 

It’s easy to hate on celebs jumping into the book-club fold, and occasionally our first response is an eye roll: We get it, you can read! Maybe it seems opportunistic, trying to grab a slice of that sweet #BookTok action.

(The hashtag has more than 100 billion hits on the app.) But right now, when the number of Americans who read for pleasure has dropped by 40 percent, according to a new study, we're slowing our (eye) rolls and instead saying bring them on! In fact, start even more book clubs!

Reese Witherspoon is the biggest success story in the most recent wave of club promoters. She launched the female-fiction-focused Reese’s Book Club in 2017 with Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, and she’s had more than 110 picks since. The New York Times dubbed her the Queen of the Book Club in May 2024, reporting that the previous year, her selections accounted for a staggering 2 million-plus in print sales. Witherspoon had two goals in starting the club, she said: to simplify choices for busy readers and “bring the book club out of your grandma's living room.” And she succeeded, big-time.