Let us now praise celebrity book clubs

Posted in The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

I’m not a fan of influencers or gossip magazines or tabloid news. I’m not wowed by famous people, don’t select my clothes based on what the stars are wearing, and couldn’t care less about lifestyles of the rich and famous.

But books? That’s a whole different matter.

I’m here now to proclaim my heartfelt opinion: Celebrity book clubs are good for readers, good for authors, good for the publishing industry, and… dare I say it?… good for the world in general!

Why? Because they get people to read, of course.

If you’re here reading this blog, chances are you’re a book fanatic — like me! — and need no encouragement to pick up a book wherever, whenever. (The hard part is getting us to put the books down — amirite?)

But for plenty of less avid readers who sometimes need a bit of inspiration or motivation, celebrity book clubs can be the perfect way to spread the word and get books into more readers’ hands. And even for die-hard book lovers (*raising my hand*), checking out celebrity book club picks can lead to discovering books that might not otherwise have crossed our radar.

I think we can all agree that Oprah Winfrey is the godmother of the modern-era celebrity book club. There are plenty to choose from now, but in 1996, when she unveiled her first book and introduced the book club concept on her daytime talk show, it was a groundbreaking moment.

Per Wikipedia: The book club’s first selection on September 17, 1996, was the then recently published novel The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard.

Since then, Oprah has been joined by many, many other celebrity-sponsored book clubs — some with consistently great picks, some that make me give a little side-eye — and while I say (again) that anything that gets people reading is fabulous, not every club or selection will be for every reader.

Beyond that, being chosen for one of the high-profile celebrity book clubs is often a breakthrough moment for authors. These books tend to end up on bestseller lists, and it’s no exaggeration to say that the impact can be life-changing (and certainly career-changing) for authors.

These days, if I remember, I keep my eye on the monthly selections for Reese’s Book Club (Reese Witherspoon), GMA Book Club (Good Morning America), Read with Jenna (Jenna Bush Hager of The Today Show)… and Oprah too, of course.

I thought I’d share some of the books I’ve love that I’ve either discovered through these book clubs, or read and then discovered that they were book club selections.

And finally, going back to the GOAT of celebrity book clubs…

Among other wonderful things that Oprah has done by popularizing great books through her book club, she’s made a point of including classic fiction among her selections. Here’s a look at some of the classics she’s chosen over the years — I’m highlighting the ones that I’ve read, although until just now, I didn’t realize that they were Oprah picks!

And here are other Oprah books I’ve read. As with the other book clubs mentioned, I didn’t necessarily pick up these books directly because of Oprah… but I think for many, she gets the credit for making them so widely discussed and shared, which one way or another really raised awareness of these books.

I should point out that it’s thanks to Oprah that I first read a book by author Chris Bohjalian (Midwives)… and he’s become one of my favorite authors!

This round-up really just scratches the surface when it comes to celebrities promoting books! I’ve highlighted the book clubs that seem to consistently choose books I enjoy — although I certainly pick and choose which of their selections to read, even for the clubs I follow. Again, not every book is for every reader! And also, if I read every single one of their selections, when would I find the time to read anything else???

I’ll note that I’ve found some other interesting books that are tied to celebrity book clubs; notably, in the last year or so, I’ve read two of Mindy Kaling’s recommended books, and have a couple of others bookmarked to come back to at some point:

As I’ve said, there are lots of celebrities promoting lots of books, and while I might not be interested in all of them — either the celebrities or the specific books — I do wholeheartedly endorse anything that gets more people interested in reading and discussing books!

Do you follow celebrity book clubs? Are there any whose picks you find especially worthwhile? Have you ever discovered an amazing book thanks to one of these (or any other) celebrity book club? I’d love to hear your experiences!

Purchase links: There are obviously too many books in this post to provide links to every single one! But if you’re interested in clicking through, here are a few places to start:

Amazon – Oprah’s Book Club
Amazon – Reese’s Books Club
Amazon – Read with Jenna
Amazon – Mindy’s Book Studio
Amazon – GMA Book Club
Bookshop.org – Celebrity book club picks recommended by Bookshelf Fantasies

14Sep2024

Book Review: The Wedding People by Alison Espach

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Wedding People
Author: Alison Espach
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication date: July 30, 2024
Length: 384 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Library
Rating:

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help us start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She’s immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamt of coming for years―she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe―which makes it that much more surprising when the women can’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns uproariously, absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is a look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined―and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.

When Phoebe arrives at the Cornwall Inn, she’s literally at the end of the line. She’d dreamed of coming to this elegant Newport inn with her husband, except now he’s her ex, her dreams of starting a family ended with unsuccessful IVF rounds and a terrible miscarriage, and her work life — she’s an adjunct professor of literature who can’t seem to finish the books she’s been writing for far too many years — is stagnant and unfulfilling. After the devastation of her husband’s betrayal, the only bright spot remaining to Phoebe was her beloved cat — but finding him dead one day removed the last ray of light in her life. And so, Phoebe has come to this fancy inn for a final night of luxury before taking pills and slipping away.

Except life seems to have other plans for her. Upon arrival, Phoebe finds the Cornwall stuffed full of “wedding people” — she’s the only guest in the entire place not connected with the over-the-top, super-expensive, weeklong wedding extravaganza.

They laugh and then trade war stories of their terrible flights here and Phoebe does her best to ignore them, to keep her eyes focused on the magnificence of the lobby. But it’s hard. Wedding people are much louder than regular people

Mistaken for a wedding guest by the bride, Lila, Phoebe ends up on the receiving end of Lila’s gifts and confidences.

The bride steps out of the elevator and into the lobby wearing a glittering sash that says BRIDE so there is no confusion. Not that there could be any confusion. She is clearly the bride; she walks like the bride and smiles like the bride and twirls bride-ishly when she approaches High Bun and Neck Pillow in line, because the bride gets to do things like this for two or three days. She is a momentary celebrity, the reason everybody has paid thousands of dollars to come here.

Lila is self-centered and outspoken, and when she learns the truth about Phoebe’s reason for coming to the Cornwall, she’s aghast — a suicide will ruin her wedding!

Phoebe realizes that she does not truly want to end her life, and instead begins to reengage. Finding herself pulled into the wedding people’s stories and intrigues, she becomes an active part of the events, the planning, and the secrets and woes of the various people involved. Through Phoebe, we also learn much more about Lila and her family, as well as about the groom, Gary, whose story is sad and sympathetic, and his preteen daughter, who is not at all a fan of his young bride.

I initially found The Wedding People slow and not entirely interesting, but once Phoebe starts interacting with Lila and the “wedding people”, it becomes much more compelling. This is not an action-driven story by any means — instead, through the events of each day leading up to the wedding itself, we get to know the various characters, their feelings and movitations, and get a deeper understanding of how loneliness, loss, and family complications can lead people down paths they didn’t expect to follow.

Naturally, The Wedding People is also a send-up of wedding culture and the wedding industry, where the bride is always right, the wedding must be spectacular, and every detail — from napkins to chairs to the shoes of the wedding party — much be exactly right. The bachelorette party activities are so ridiculous that they’re both funny and pathetic, and each attempt of the bride’s to create a uniquely fabulous pre-wedding event is a testament to how out-of-control the focus on having a perfect wedding has become.

She can’t destroy a wedding. This wedding is too big to fail. This wedding is like the revolution of the earth. It’s going to happen whether Phoebe says anything or not.

The Wedding People is also unexpectedly touching. I found myself moved by Phoebe’s story, the emotional suffering she’s been through with the collapse of her marriage and the end of her dreams of starting a family with her husband. Because we understand so deeply what brought her to the low point where we first meet her, it’s quite lovely to see her find a new sense of self and purpose as the week goes on.

She wonders if her feelings for [spoiler] could be a new form of love, one she’s never known before: love without expectation. Love that you are just happy enough to feel. Love that you don’t try to own like a painting. But she doesn’t know if that is a real thing. She hopes it is.

Needless to say, the overarching concept of the book is funny in itself: Can you imagine being stuck at a fancy inn overrun by wedding people? It really does sound dreadful.

The Wedding People has many lighter, humorous moments, but overall, it’s an affecting story of loss, connection, endings, and beginnings. Highly engaging and readable — highly recommended.