What To Read

What Book Clubs Are Reading in June

From comedians to hip hop artists to movie stars, book club mavens have made their selections! Check out pop star Dua Lipa’s very first Booker Prize-winning selection, Natalie Portman’s mysterious faux bio, and the dark satire picked by Roxane Gay.

Tertulia •

Jun 8th, 2023

Natalie's Book Club

Biography of X by Catherine Lacey

Natalie Portman invites her club members to delve into this critically acclaimed novel that follows a grieving widow as she peels back the layers of her enigmatic late wife, a mysterious artist and cultural icon with a secret past. "Part narrative fiction, part fake biography — Catherine Lacey's Biography of X already feels wholly original," declared the Academy Award winner.

Service95 Book Club

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

Kicking off her new book club in style, Dua Lipa's first selection is the Booker Prize-winning, heart-wrenching tale of a young boy's life in 1980s Glasgow. Keep an ear peeled for the pop sensation’s podcast on June 16th for an illuminating episode featuring the book’s author.

The Audacious Book Club

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

Roxanne Gay's June selection is a piercing indictment of white privilege, cultural appropriation and the lack of diversity in the publishing world by an acclaimed fantasy writer. The dark satire tracks the meteoric rise of a white author who finagles her way onto the bestseller list by shamelessly stealing the work of her dead Asian friend.

#ReadwithJenna

The Celebrants by Steven Rowley

Jenna Bush called her latest pick the perfect summer novel. "It's full of humor (if you've read Steven's other novel, "The Guncle," you know what I mean) and centered around a powerful love story. It's an ode to the incredible nature of friendship that will make you truly grateful for those long-standing friends in your own life!" raved the former First Daughter.

Kaia Gerber's Book Club

Acts of Service by Lillian Fishman

Named one of the best books of the last year by The New Yorker, this story about "desire, pleasure, politics of power, queerness, and ambiguity," is the latest pick from Kaia Gerber‘s book club.

Belletrist

The Three of Us by Ore Agbaje-Williams

Emma Roberts' June pick is a wickedly clever debut novel from a British Nigerian writer that captures the escalating tensions between a woman's doting husband and her best friend. The story comes at readers from three distinct perspectives - the wife’s, the husband’s, and the wife’s snarky pal - over the course of a single explosive day.

Lilly's Library

A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar

Ahoy! The South Asian author focused book club founded by actor and comedian Lilly Singh celebrates Pride Month with a “sapphic infused heist novel circling 4 girls committed to making a big steal on the Titanic.”

Reese’s Book Club

Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale

For June, the Big Little Lies superstar brings her club members a “super charming and witty” time-traveling tale starring a “main character Cassie who is stuck in a time loop and trying to fix the 3rd worst day of her life.”

Noname Book Club

The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah

The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx

The rapper, poet and record producer doubles down this month with two bold choices. There’s a fiery debut novel set on the New York streets by a renowned hip hop star and activist, along with that classic and oft-maligned Marxist manifesto.

Zibby's Book Club

Life and Other Love Songs by Anissa Gray

Hedge by Jane Delury

Sticking to her two-book formula, podcaster and publisher Zibby Owens chose an era-hopping family saga, plus a Zibby Books novel that Kirkus called “a persuasive, quietly satisfying portrait of a woman's midlife crisis and the essential choices she makes."

Joy's Banned Book Club

The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country by Amanda Gorman

Every week, comedian and talk show host Joy Behar highlights banned books on The View. Her choice this week is the the poem that echoed throughout the country when Amanda Gorman became the nation’s youngest poet to recite at a presidential inauguration in 2021.

Read with NBF

South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry

For its last installment of the season, Read With NBF selected this expansive 2022 National Book Award nonfiction winner that its judges said “guides us gently below the Mason-Dixon line, drawn legally and geographically, and into the American South’s cities, towns, forests, mountains, and coast lines to understand the region’s history.”