Every month I read the influencer book club picks. I thought it would be fun to go month by month and pick my favorite and least favorite book choices. My favorite book of the month will be bolded. My least favorite will be italicized.

MonthReese WitherspoonJenna Bush Hager (Today Show)Good Morning AmericaBarnes and Noble
January“Such a Fun Age” by Kiley Reid“Dear Edward” by Ann Napolitano“Children of Virtue and Vengeance” by Tomi Adeyami
(this might not be January but my GMA list is not great)		“Dear Edward” by Ann Napolitano
February‘The Scent Keeper” by Erica Bauermeister“The Girl with the Louding Voice” by Abi Dare“Long Bright River” by Liz Moore (this might not be Feb but my GMA list isn’t great)
“American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins
March“The Jetsetters” by Amanda Eyre Ward“Writers and Lovers” by Lily King“In Five Years” by Rebecca Serle“A Good Neighborhood” by Therese Anne Fowler
April“Untamed” by Glennon Doyle“Valentine” by Elizabeth Wetmore“Oona out of Order” by Margarita Montimore“Valentine” by Elizabeth Wetmore
May“The Henna Artist” by Alka Joshi“All Adults Here” by Emma Straub“The Book of V” by Anna Solomon“All Adults Here” by Emma Straub
June“The Guest List” by Lucy Foley (June/July)“A Burning” Megha Majumdar“The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett“The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett
July“I’m Still Here” by Austin Channing Brown (June/July)“Friends and Strangers” by J. Courtney Sullivan“Sex and Vanity” by Kevin Kwan“Florence Adler Swims Forever” by Rachel Beanland
August “Everything Inside” by Edwidge Danticat“Here For It” by R. Eric Thomas
The Comeback” by Ella Berman		“The Lions of Fifth Avenue” by Fiona Davis“The Pull of the Stars” Emma Donoghue
September“The Last Story of Mina Lee” by Nancy Jooyoun Kim“Transcendent Kingdon” by Yaa Gyasi“Fifty Words for Rain” by Asha Lemmie‘Transcendent Kingdom” by Yaa Gyasi
October“His Only Wife” by Medie Adzon“Leave the World Behind” By Rumaan Alam“The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig“Leave the World Behind” Rumaan Alam
November“Group” by Christie Tate“White Ivy” by Susie Yang“Memorial” Bryan Washington“The Cold Millions” by Jess Walter
December“The Chicken Sisters” by KJ Dell’Antonia“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison“This Time Next Year” by Sophie CousinsNo Pick

Must give kudos to Jenna and Reese for keeping their picks organized. It was actually difficult for me to trace back the Barnes and Noble and GMA picks because they don’t keep a running tally. Or if they do, it’s not easily accessed.

For the most part, I really enjoyed the vast majority of these books. There were very few that I did not like, and there were even a few months where the choice for best was quite difficult.

40 thoughts on “Battle of the Book Clubs”

  2. I find the “influencer” book clubs difficult. I pick up book because they interest me and I am not usually on the same page (sorry for the pun) as Reese Witherspoon or Oprah. If if gets more people to read great but I do wonder if it really does.

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    1. I like it for two reasons: it gets me out if my reading comfort zone. Some of these books were truly amazing and I might never have picked them up otherwise. And 2) with these clubs, there’s always a discussion board. It’s nice knowing that if I want to ask or talk about a part of the book, there are a bunch of people who have read it as well. But, I always have a book that’s easily read going on at the same time…

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      1. I go through stages where I will read easy reads and then settle in for a mind altering non-fiction then on to something lighter again. Funny the books I listen to on my phone through the Hoopla app are always mysteries and I don’t like to read mysteries.

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      2. I have a few books going at a time. I’m currently reading a story about women and family and friendship which is good but light, a history about Churchill during WWII, and a book about the woman who dresses the Queen. I read the lightish book before bed, and I read a chapter of the other twin during my afternoon break

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    1. I got into them in the last year and a half, and I admit, as I was going through my fave books of the year, many of them did come from influencers. It broadens my reading base, which I like

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  7. Thanks for the list, LA. I tend not to read book club books, but need to order more books, so I’ll check them out. I’ve read and enjoyed The Guest List and The Pull of the Stars, and the library book club is doing Dear Edward next, but many of them I’ve never heard of.

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      1. I know…..it’s the challenge of trying something different, but the ones my book club picks out tend to be unknown Canadian books which don’t even entail much discussion, I find Oprah generally depressing, and Reese W. well I tried reading that one about Where the Crawdads sing but just could not get into it. Sometimes my mind just needs distraction, not too much thinking!

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  10. Influencer book clubs? Sounds like someone who is paid to push a book or has an agenda they want to promote. I’m not saying I would never read anything from their lists, but I would actually never read their lists. I’m more interested in what more down to earth people have to say about books.

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    1. I’ll say this…the books I read from these lists are way better than the books chosen by the real people in my real book clubs. I’m reading a book now for my tea book club (we meet on Zoom) and it’s so bad I already know that when I finish it, hopefully before the January book club, it will go down as one of the worst books ever. So, I’m not in agreement with you on this one. These picks have opened up my eyes to books I might never have found.

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  12. Thanks for this potential alternative to the way I choose the books I read. I still retain membership, through Zoom, in some of the book clubs I enjoyed while I was living in EST vs PST where I am now. I still generally read their monthly selections.

    The selections in those groups are generally pretty worthwhile, probably because of the caliber of the members, if I do say so myself. I also led a couple of them when I lived there so I may be a bit biased but still…

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  13. Pingback: Battle of the Book Clubs – Pig By The Coast

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