From Laufey to Dua Lipa – why does every famous woman now have a book club?

Book clubs have long been a way to engage communities in important literature or to offer areas for discussion. Whether approaching classics from a new angle or exploring the reasons behind the popularity of new romance, book clubs offer a space to discuss and share ideas on current reads. However, this community feel has recently begun to expand, being taken over by celebrities eager to jump into the trend and offer their own space. These celebrity book clubs have become increasingly popular, influencing new audiences to read by showcasing to their fans their top picks of the month. Women from Oprah and Reese Witherspoon to Dua Lipa and Laufey have all opened up their list of favourite reads for us fans to enjoy, creating a new segment of book clubs which is led by celebrities. But are these just a short-term hobby for celebrities, or do they benefit the reading space overall?

When so many celebrities have dived into industries such as cosmetics, fashion or fitness, it’s interesting to understand why book clubs have since become popular too when they seem to offer no obvious financial gain. An obvious reason is that a book club can be a way for celebrities to create their community around something they are truly passionate about in which they can share their thoughts, feelings and interests that aren’t as apparent in more common business ventures. Creating a book club can allow this passion to be shared without openly sharing political or religious views, which might influence future work they wish to undertake. In essence, it allows them to share a part of themself and engage with their fans or audience without opening a route for obvious criticism or hate that can be more damaging to them and their careers.

Alongside the monetary benefits that these celebrity book clubs might offer to retailers and authors, they are also just another way to engage people in reading

Celebrity book clubs can have large effects on the book space in general. When books have big names backing them and loyal armies of fans ready to purchase anything recommended, this can have huge influences on sales and popularity. These celebrities have the power to drive market changes in authors or genres and provide bookshops or retailers further opportunities to advertise books by utilising celebrity names and reviews. Social media spaces can take this further by offering creators a ready-made set of books to review or showcase, which can support authors through free marketing of viral trends.

Alongside the monetary benefits that these celebrity book clubs might offer to retailers and authors, they are also just another way to engage people in reading. As often targeted towards celebrity fanbases, these groups have a positive effect on pushing for people to pick up more books or even just read more variety. Celebrity book clubs create a large community for people to share their thoughts and ideas easily and can make people feel connected to individuals whom they admire or idolise. Artist Dua Lipa’s book club Service95 aims to highlight diverse voices and was even showcased at last year’s world-famous Hay Literary Festival as a book club with top books to read. Others, such as Reese Witherspoon’s book club, have been ongoing for over seven years and created a solid space for sharing top reads each month.

Reading and books are hobbies that most people feel sincerely passionate about, and so when this coincides with fame and celebrities, unsurprisingly, there is slight friction around the true purpose of these book clubs for celebrities

But how do celebrity book clubs differ from the usual, and do these positives outweigh the negatives? Book clubs are inherently community-based, and although these celebrity groups offer space for comments or discussion online, are they missing that close interaction that you can have from a tight group that knows each other well enough to have a deeper discussion? Previously, these communities were spaces to choose books together, but when led by one individual, these conversations are lost to some degree, and so to what extent does the variation of literature change too? For fans of celebrities, it can be easy to become excited by the new book each month, but are we blinded by fame, as happens across so many other areas, to recognise whether these books are interesting or enlightening? Reading and books are hobbies that most people feel sincerely passionate about, and so when this coincides with fame and celebrities, unsurprisingly, there is slight friction around the true purpose of these book clubs for celebrities.

Despite the concerns about the authenticity and depth of celebrity book clubs, their influence on the reading space has been largely positive. These clubs introduce new audiences to literature, create excitement around books, and encourage more people to engage with reading in a meaningful way. Whether they are a long-term passion project or a passing trend, celebrity book clubs have undeniably expanded the literary community and made reading more accessible and appealing to a wider audience.