What Book Clubs Are Reading in January

This month, Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss selected a motherhood memoir written by an art historian and cultural critic that Oprah Daily calls "a long-overdue reality check," while praising the author’s "blistering honesty" in recounting her messy journey through motherhood and postpartum depression. Sign up today at Tertulia.com/Belletrist to have each monthly Belletrist book pick delivered to your mailbox, along with an intimate author conversation at the end of the month.

In January, The New York Times Book Review will spotlight the new novel from the Booker Prize-winning author of The Line of Beauty, recently named one of the Book Review's 100 Notable Books of 2024. Praising the "sweeping tale" as “the story of a life beautifully told by a literary master,” the review highlights how the author, over the course of his 30-year career, has "helped pave the way for queer literature.”

Reese’s first selection of the year is a debut suspense novel from an award-winning sports journalist about a secretive bestselling author who decides to finally reveal her true identity after years of hiding from her past. “This story swept me away with its big dreams, love, and unexpected twists.”

Dylan Mulvaney recently joined the growing list of book club mavens, with a club that will focus on “stories featuring fierce female leads, steamy rom-coms, empowering self-help, and amazing LGBTQIA+ reads.” For her first pick, the TikTok sensation chose a book that’s all about “calling ourselves out on some of our own bullshit” while navigating overthinking and social media chaos. “This feels like the perfect book for us to read together - examining our shared human quirks while holding space for growth, vulnerability, and, yes, maybe even a little magical thinking!"

Natalie Portman invites her club members to kick off the year with an inspiring call to action: freeing ourselves from the constraints of the ticking clock. Drawing inspiration from pre-industrial cultures and geological timescales, the author of How to Do Nothing offers “an exploration of how we can revise our relationship with time to inspire hope and action,” remarked Portman.

Dua Lipa's latest book club pick is a dark yet comical mystery novel by a Polish author and Nobel Prize winner. “It’s a crime novel, but much more than a mere whodunnit... Darkly humorous, deadly serious, and with a quirky cast of characters that will stay with you forever, this is definitely not to be missed," raved the pop star. "The author won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and when you read this novel you’ll see why.”

Good Morning America’s January book club pick is an epic love story that spans six decades of Chinese history. Two lovers torn apart by war are reunited by chance in a sweeping tale that’s “intimate in its focus on a single couple but sweeping in its universal truths about how lives are forever changed by war,” according to Reader’s Digest.

This month, Dakota Johnson went with a timeless favorite, describing it as “so inspiring it may just set you on a journey to the best year yet.” Written by one of the 20th century's most celebrated poets, it offers profound insights on creativity, love, and solitude, inspiring icons like Lady Gaga and Patti Smith.

To start the year, Oprah chose to revisit a book she first recommended in 2008 that she says “transformed how I see my life, as well as how I understand pain, ego, and self-worth.” She further reflected, “As we enter a new year, I felt it was important to bring Eckhart’s wisdom to a new generation of readers, offering them the opportunity to discover their life’s purpose through the principles it contains.”

Jenna Bush Hager's January selection is a debut novel that follows a young Canadian woman navigating her first term at the University of Edinburgh, where she uncovers a family secret while falling in love for the first time. "This is a book about friendship, motherhood and finding ourselves with mystery and romance at its core. This debut novel will sweep you up your feet," promised the TODAY host.