Celebrity book club picks for May 2026
The tulips are popping, the temperatures are rising, and it’s time to start prepping your summer reading list! If you’re looking for what to read next, take a tip from your favorite celebrity and grab one of these picks off of their star-studded shelves. From Reese’s new Gen Z-focused book club, Sunnie Reads, to comedian John Mulaney’s monthly Instagram picks, these are the books the stars just can’t put down.
In the mood for a motherhood mystery? Swooning for a sweet summer love story? Or maybe you want to explore a luxury island resort with "dark side of paradise" vibes? You got it! There’s a perfect book for every beach bag, plane ride, or wherever the summer takes you. Find them all on Libby from your library—the ultimate summer reading accessory!
Read with Jenna
Caller Unknown
by Gillian McAllister
How far would you go to rescue your child? A mother races against the clock—and finds herself on the wrong side of the law—in a desperate fight to save her teenage daughter in this pulse-pounding thriller from the author of Wrong Place Wrong Time.
From Jenna: “We rarely choose mysteries and thrillers in the book club, although I love them. Gillian McAllister’s newest hit just right... yes, it is a book set in Texas, where I’m from, but also it’s a book that is about motherhood.”
Oprah’s Book Club
John of John
by Douglas Stuart
From the Booker Prize-winning author comes a vivid, moving novel following a young man returning to his Hebridean island home, a portrait of a father's expectations and a son's desires.
From Oprah: "Award-winning author Douglas Stuart, who many of you know from Shuggie Bain, brilliantly weaves a complex and compelling story that ultimately shows us the power of love in a world that is hostile, in a world that is judgmental.”
Reese’s Book Club
The Fine Art of Lying
by Alexandra Andrews
From the critically acclaimed author of Who is Maud Dixon? comes a riveting new novel about a young wife and mother in a world of wealth and privilege, whose rash mistake sets off a domino effect of murder and betrayal.
From Reese: “This book feels like a secret I’m not supposed to share…but it’s too good not to! Set in New York’s art world, full of lies, money, and very messy choices..."
Sunnie Reads (Reese’s Gen-Z Book Club)
That Which Feeds Us
by Keala Kendall
A native Hawaiian teen travels to a luxury island resort in search of her missing twin and uncovers the dark side of paradise, in this riveting supernatural thriller.
From Sunnie Reads: “It shows the real cost of ‘paradise’ and the darker truths behind the colonial version of Hawaiʻi we’re used to seeing."
Good Morning America Book Club
Homebound
by Portia Elan
In this novel of friendship and hard-won hope, four lives are entangled across time by one story, saved to a floppy disk in the 1980s and destined to ripple across the centuries.
From GMA: “Homebound by Portia Elan is a big-hearted story sparkling with examples of community at its best: at our most curious, most creative, most loving, and most resilient.”
Good Morning America YA Book Club
Change of Plans
by Sarah Dessen
A sweet love story about an unassuming girl who learns to stand on her own while falling in love during a life-changing summer.
From GMA YA: “Have plans? Cancel them—our May #GMABookClub YA pick is here to take you on an adventure with no itinerary.”
Belletrist (Emma Roberts & Karah Priess)
Almost Life
by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Two young women meet in Paris one sultry summer in a decades-spanning tour de force about the enduring power of young love and the poignant heartbreak of missed chances—perfect for fans of One Day and Normal People.
From Emma & Karah: “Our May Book of the Month is a novel that lives between choices, between timelines, between who you are and who you thought you’d be... it’s tender, reflective, and a little bit disorienting in the best way.”
Service95 Book Club (Dua Lipa)
So Late in the Day
by Claire Keegan
Celebrated for her powerful short fiction, Keegan gifts us three exquisite stories about love, lust, betrayal, and the ever-intriguing interchanges between women and men.
From Dua: “[Claire Keegan's] stories are small gems: deceptively short, but they carry the heft of a great novel... So Late In The Day is a lesson in what you risk losing if you can't bring yourself to change. Claire delivers this without melodrama or judgment and with endless grace.”
Read with Raegan (Raegan Revord)
Don't Let the Forest In
by CG Drews
As alluring as it is unsettling, award-winning author CG Drews' debut YA psychological horror will leave readers breathless and hesitant to venture deeper into the woods.
From Raegan: “This story completely pulled me in with its atmosphere, its emotion, and the way it blurs the line between what’s real and what isn’t.”
TeaTime Book Club (Dakota Johnson)
My Dear You
by Rachel Khong
From the author of Real Americans, a brilliant short story collection about love, life, and the anguish of becoming oneself in a time when it’s so easy to be someone else.
From TeaTime: “...a collection of stellar short stories from Rachel Khong.”
Mulaney Reads (John Mulaney)
Splinters
by Leslie Jamison
From the bestselling author of The Recovering and The Empathy Exams comes a memoir of rebuilding a life after the end of a marriage—an exploration of motherhood, art, and new love.
From John: “I have not lived Jamison’s life but certain stories of parenthood (Lit by Mary Karr, Blue Nights by Joan Didion, Noah Baumbach’s Margot at the Wedding and The Babadook) will resonate with many people. You absolutely don’t have to be a parent to get into this incredible memoir. But enough disclaimers, just read it. It’s great."
Between Two Books (Florence Welch)
Villette
by Charlotte Brontë
A gothic tale of Lucy Snowe, who travels to the fictional town of Villette in Belgium to teach at a girl's school. The book explores Lucy's psychological and cultural isolation, and her sense of patriarchal repression as she is drawn relentlessly towards love and adventure.
From Florence: “Our BTB book club pick for spring is Villette, Charlotte Brontë’s autobiographical study of solitude and unrequited love.”
Hickman Holler Reading Club (Tyler Childers)
No Country for Old Men
by Cormac McCarthy
From the author of the Pulitzer Prize–winner, The Road, comes a novel that returns to the Texas-Mexico border, setting of the famed Border Trilogy.
RELATED READ: See all the 2026 picks from Tyler Childers’ Hickman Holler Reading Club
*Title availability may vary.
Not sure where to start? Take our quiz to find which club fits your vibe!
🌟 Which celebrity book club should you join?
Add these to your TBR or tag them in Libby—and be sure to join our community of readers so you don’t miss next month’s picks!
RELATED READ: Celebrity book club picks for April 2026
Published May 11, 2026
Annie Suhy
Annie Suhy is the editor of Libby Life. When she’s not working, practicing yoga, or petting cats, she’s doing paint-by-numbers and buying more plants. An avid poetry fan, her favorite collection is The Splinter Factory by Jeffrey McDaniel. She is an Aries.