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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 said in a 2023 interview.
Roberts, who started Belletrist with her 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 February celebrity book club picks.
Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club February 2025 pick: “Isola” by Allegra Goodman
Goodreads rating: 4.29/5 stars
“Our February Pick is here, and I can’t stop talking about it!” Witherspoon wrote alongside her announcement.
She added, “Based on a true story, ‘Isola’ by [Allegra Goodman] has it all: love, resilience, defiance… I mean, she even fights a bear! 🐻 This is easily one of my favorite historical fiction reads yet.”
Dua Lipa’s Service95 Book Club February 2025 pick: “The Bee Sting” by Paul Murray
Goodreads rating: 3.92/5 stars
“For a masterclass in building tension, look no further than this book. It’s a family saga set in modern Ireland, following the Barnes family – mother Imelda, father Dickie, 18-year-old Cass and 12-year-old PJ. Thanks to almost Shakespearean levels of miscommunication, we witness this seemingly normal family misfire at every turn until they become isolated from the small community they live in – and each other,” Lipa wrote of “The Bee Sting.”
She added, “Paul Murray absolutely nails the loneliness of childhood and teenage years, and the ways in which acting normal on the surface can conceal the darkest of secrets. Every character is flawed but no-one is judged – in fact, there is an abundance of empathy in this novel. But this might not be enough to save the Barnes family.
“As the book builds pace, it sucks you into a whirlpool of tension, where all escape routes are cut off. The result: a grand finale that will leave you sweating. It’s genius!”
“Good Morning America” Book Club February 2025 pick: “Junie” by Erin Crosby Eckstine
Goodreads rating: 4.39/5 stars
“Eckstine’s novel explores grief, destiny and the weight of choice. It follows Junie, a young girl who, after awakening her sister’s ghost, must make a life-altering decision while uncovering truths about love, friendship and power as the Civil War looms,” “GMA” announced on social media.
Jenna Bush Hager’s Read with Jenna Book Club February 2025 pick: “This is a Love Story” by Jessica Soffer
Goodreads rating: 3.57/5 stars
“This epic and deeply emotional tale spans fifty years of love, dreams, ambition, and struggle. Set against the timeless backdrop of Central Park, it follows Abe and Jane, a couple whose marriage has endured life’s many highs and lows. As they reflect on their journey, now in their seventies, secrets are uncovered, and their bond is tested in ways that will leave you both heartbroken and hopeful,” the book club wrote in their announcement.
“This is a Love Story is a powerful, unforgettable tribute to love, marriage, and the enduring strength of art.”
Natalie Portman’s Book Club February 2025 pick: “The Coin” by Yasmin Zaher
Goodreads rating: 3.51/5 stars
“Our February pick follows a Palestinian school teacher as she grapples with life in America and embarks on a pyramid scheme,” Portman told members of her Nat’s Book Club. “I love the way Yasmin Zaher writes about the tension between the body and mind and hope you’ll join me in reading!”
Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss’s Belletrist Book Club February 2025 pick: “The Mystery Guest” by Grégoire Bouillier
Goodreads rating: 3.73/5 stars
“When the phone rang on a cold November afternoon in 1990, Grégoire Bouillier had no way of knowing that the caller was the woman who had left him, without warning, five years before. And he couldn’t have guessed why she was calling: not to say she was sorry, not to explain why she’d vanished from his life, but to invite him to a party. A birthday party. For a woman he’d never met,” Belletrist wrote of “The Mystery Guest.”
“Here is the unlikely but true account of how one man got over a [broken] heart, regained his faith in literature, participated—by mistake—in a work of performance art, threw away his turtlenecks, spent his rent money on a 1964 bordeaux that nobody ever drank, and fell in love again.”
Dakota Johnson’s TeaTime Book Club February 2025 pick: “The Lamb” by Lucy Rose
Goodreads rating: 4.28/5 stars
According to Johnson, “The Lamb” is “for fans of cannibalism and mommy issues.”
“Margot and Mama have lived by the forest ever since Margot can remember. When Margot is not at school, they spend quiet days together in their cottage, waiting for strangers to knock on their door. Strays, Mama calls them. People who have strayed too far from the road. Mama loves the strays. She feeds them wine, keeps them warm. Then she satisfies her burning appetite by picking apart their bodies.
“But Mama’s want is stronger than her hunger sometimes, and when a beautiful, white-toothed stray named Eden turns up in the heart of a snowstorm, Margot must confront the shifting dynamics of her family, untangle her own desires, and make her bid for freedom.”
