Celebrity book club picks for July

From twisty thrillers and high-stakes fantasies to thought-provoking debuts and urgent literary fiction, July’s celebrity book club picks are packed with unforgettable stories and powerful themes. Whether you're in the mood for a summer page-turner or a novel that lingers long after the last chapter, these selections from Jenna Bush Hager, Reese Witherspoon, Dua Lipa, and more offer something for every kind of reader.

We know there are so many celebrity book clubs out there, but we recommend the best of the best here on Libby Life, so make sure you subscribe for an update on next month’s celebrity picks. And if something on this list catches your eye, remember you can borrow all these books for free on Libby!

Read with Jenna

Happy Wife by Meredith Lavendar and Kendall Shores
🎧 Audiobook

In Jenna Bush Hager’s July pick, a young woman must find her missing husband and prove her innocence. This “delicious summer thriller” is a twisty, unputdownable novel set in an ultrawealthy Florida community where looks can kill. Happy Wife follows Nora Davies, a struggling 28-year-old in the elite enclave of Winter Park, Florida, whose life takes a dramatic turn when she marries wealthy, older lawyer Will Somerset after a whirlwind romance. But their fairy-tale life unravels when Will vanishes the morning after his birthday party.

Oprah’s Book Club

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger
🎧 Audiobook

A riveting family drama about moral responsibility in the age of artificial intelligence. Culpability explores a world newly shaped by chatbots, autonomous cars, drones, and other nonhuman forces in ways that are thrilling, challenging, and unimaginably provocative.

From Oprah: “The novel is so prescient, it could be now or anytime in the future.”

Reese’s Book Club

Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein
🎧 Audiobook

In Reese’s latest book pick, sisters Mia and Cricket navigate an impossible choice that will change everything. Each sister has a role to fill: The responsible and academically minded Mia assumes the position of caregiver far too young, while Cricket, a bouncing ball of energy and talent, seems born for soccer stardom. But the cost of achieving athletic greatness comes at a steep price. As Mia and Cricket grow up, they must grapple with the legacy of their mother’s secret past while navigating their own precarious future.

From Reese: “Think sisterhood, sacrifice, and the golden age of women's soccer all wrapped into one epic story.”

Good Morning America YA Book Club

The Nightblood Prince by Molly X. Chang
🎧 Audiobook

I know they say never to judge a book by its cover, but I was ready to read GMA’s YA pick the second I saw its gorgeous cover!

The Nightblood Prince is a lush, high-stakes fantasy about prophecy, power, and the price of freedom. Fei, destined from birth to become the Empress of All Empresses, has lived a life of isolation in the imperial palace. When she dares to defy fate by hunting a mythical tiger, she encounters Yexue—a mysterious, magic-wielding prince from a rival kingdom who commands an army of vampires. As Fei is torn between two princes and haunted by visions of war, she must decide whether to follow the stars or rewrite her destiny. This spellbinding tale blends romance, danger, and destiny in a world where nothing is as it seems.

Good Morning America Book Club

The Compound by Aisling Rawle
🎧 Audiobook

One review called this book “Lord of the Flies meets Love Island,” which certainly piqued my interest!

In a dystopian near-future, ten young women wake up in a mysterious desert compound, lured by the promise of escape from a crumbling world. But they soon discover they’re part of a twisted reality show, watched by millions. With ten men on their way to join them—if they survive the journey—the women must navigate a brutal game of survival, desire, and manipulation. A razor-sharp satire of modern media and social obsession, The Compound is as addictive as it is unsettling.

Read with Raegan

Difficult Girls by Veronica Bane
🎧 Audiobook

This razor-sharp YA thriller debut is perfect for fans of dark humor and twisty mysteries.

Teen outcast Greta Riley Green is desperate for a fresh start after a mysterious incident last year. Her summer job at Hyper Kid Magic Land seems like the perfect escape until a dazzling co-worker, Mercy Goodwin, vanishes after confiding in Greta at a party. As Greta digs into the park’s sinister past and Mercy’s disappearance, she realizes she may have been the last person to see her alive. With secrets piling up and her own troubled history threatening to resurface, Greta must confront the truth—before it’s too late.

Belletrist (Emma Roberts & Karah Priess)

Notes on Infinity by Austin Taylor
🎧 Audiobook

This debut is already making waves for its blend of science, ambition, and emotional intensity.

Zoe and Jack, two brilliant Harvard students, stumble upon a potential cure for aging. As their secret project turns into a high-stakes biotech startup, they’re thrust into the spotlight, grappling with fame, fortune, and a love that’s as volatile as their discovery. But when a shocking accusation threatens everything they’ve built, Zoe must confront the cost of chasing immortality. A sharp, thought-provoking novel about ambition, young love, and the price of success.

Service95 Book Club (Dua Lipa)

Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix

Shortlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize, Small Boat is a haunting, urgent novella that fictionalizes the real-life tragedy of 27 migrants who drowned in the English Channel in 2021. Told through the chilling perspective of a French radio operator who receives their desperate calls for help, the novel explores the moral numbness and societal detachment that allow such horrors to unfold.

With its stark opening line— “I didn’t ask you to leave”— Delecroix forces readers to confront the human cost of indifference. Dua Lipa calls it “an essential story that needs to be told,” and it’s easy to see why. This is a powerful, unsettling read that lingers long after the final page.

Tea Time Book Club (Dakota Johnson)

The Hitchhiker’s Guide the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
🎧 Audiobook

When Earth is unexpectedly demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is thrust into a wildly absurd adventure across the universe with nothing but a towel, a fish, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Douglas Adams’s sci-fi comedy classic is a brilliantly chaotic romp through space, satire, and the search for the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything. Just remember: DON’T PANIC.

*Title availability may vary.

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