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- "TODAY" host Jenna Bush Hager chooses a new book recommendation every month for her book club.
- Her selections span a range of genres, subjects, and authors for an eclectic reading experience
- Here are all 33 Read With Jenna picks so far since the club began in March 2019.
In March 2019, "Today" host Jenna Bush Hager began Read With Jenna, a book club to strengthen communities and ignite conversations over novels that would entertain or challenge readers' perspectives.
The Read With Jenna book picks are diverse in content and genre, with selections ranging from a 1970s classic to a newly released memoir.
If you're looking to expand your library with original, entertaining, and conversation-sparking stories, Read With Jenna releases monthly picks with discussion opportunities on Instagram, Facebook, and Goodreads.
The 33 book picks from Read With Jenna so far:
"Beautiful Country" by Qian Julie Wang (September 2021)
"Beautiful Country" by Qian Julie Wang, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $21.25
Chosen for its message of hope and representation of the American Dream, "Beautiful Country" is a newly released memoir about Qian Julie Wang's experiences growing up undocumented in New York City's Chinatown. Impactful and emotional, this memoir offers a first-hand perspective of poverty and the US immigration experience.
"The Turnout" by Megan Abbott (August 2021)
"The Turnout" by Megan Abbott, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $20.99
Jenna's August book club pick was the club's first thriller, a mystery about two sisters who run a dance studio after their parents' passing. When a terrible accident occurs, everything the family has built is suddenly threatened and shrouded in an air of alarming suspicion.
"Hell of a Book" by Jason Mott (July 2021)
"Hell of a Book" by Jason Mott, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $16.20
"Hell of a Book" is a fictional story about a Black man who goes on tour to promote his novel. Intertwined with this story is the one about a boy named Soot, a possibly imaginary child named The Kid, and a tragic story about a victim of police brutality. As these stories converge, the book confidently lives up to its title.
"Malibu Rising" by Taylor Jenkins Reid (June 2021)
"Malibu Rising" by Taylor Jenkins Reid, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $16.80
"Malibu Rising" is a perfect summer read of four famous siblings in 1983 California who come together for an annual summer party. Switching between their childhood and the gathering as it progressively spirals out of control, this read is gripping, dramatic, and full of twists.
"Great Circle" by Maggie Shipstead (May 2021)
"Great Circle" by Maggie Shipstead, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $18
At 14, Marian Graves dropped out of high school to pursue her love of flying and chase her dream of flying around the globe and passing the North and South Poles. A century after Marian's disappearance, Hadley Baxter is a Hollywood star chosen to play Marian in a film, finding much of herself in Marian's story.
"Good Company" by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney (April 2021)
"Good Company" by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $13.99
In a novel about marriage and friendship, Flora finds an envelope containing her husband's wedding ring that he supposedly lost many summers ago. As Flora is forced to question her marriage and her relationship with her best friend, this story becomes an intimate but hopeful take on opportunity and growth within relationships.
"What's Mine And Yours" by Naima Coster (March 2021)
"What's Mine And Yours" by Naima Coster, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $14
Chosen by Jenna for its ability to capture how deeply generational hardship can affect our lives, "What's Mine And Yours" is a historical fiction novel that begins with a school's integration in North Carolina. As two students join a play meant to celebrate the integration, a string of events ties their families together and shape their lives for decades.
"Send For Me" by Lauren Fox (February 2021)
"Send For Me" by Lauren Fox, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $14.79
Beginning during the dawn of World War II, Annelise is a new mother who is given the opportunity to leave for America as anti-Jewish sentiments threaten her family's safety. When Annelise's granddaughter, Clare, finds her grandmother's letters from Germany, she begins to uncover her family's secrets and sacrifices in this historical fiction read, beloved for its emotional prose.
"The Four Winds" by Kristin Hannah (February 2021)
"The Four Winds" by Kristin Hannah, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $14.49
Set during the Dust Bowl era of the Great Depression, Elsa Martinelli is a young woman living in Texas who, like millions of others, must make a decision to stay and fight for her land and community or take the long journey to California in the hopes of a better future. An epic and harrowing story, "The Four Winds" is gripping, emotional, and a painful depiction of the sacrifices made during the Great Depression.
"Black Buck" by Mateo Askaripour (January 2021)
"Black Buck" by Mateo Askaripour, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $13.88
"Black Buck" is a satirical novel about the role racism plays in business and how the ambition and success of Black people have been both challenged and diminished in America. When Darren is offered an opportunity to become a salesman during a chance encounter at his Starbucks job, he is propelled into a "hell week" at a tech startup, spurring a chain of outrageous events that highlight the ever-present racism in corporate America.
"The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison (December 2020)
"The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $9.43
"The Bluest Eye" is Toni Morrison's first novel, published in 1970. The story follows Pecola Breedlove, who prays for her eyes to turn blue so she can be loved like other children in America. Jenna chose this powerful and vivid book as it has resonated with her since she first read it in high school.
"White Ivy" by Susie Yang (November 2020)
"White Ivy" by Susie Yang, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $13
Chosen by Jenna for its unique protagonist, "White Ivy" is about anti-hero Ivy Lin, a Chinese immigrant who is sent back to China after her mother discovers her habits of lying and stealing. As an adult, she returns to Boston and seeks the luxurious life she associates with being American — by any means necessary.
"Leave the World Behind" by Rumaan Alam (October 2020)
"Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam", available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $13.99
"Leave the World Behind" is a suspenseful, genre-bending novel about a family who rents a house for a summer vacation but is quickly visited by an older couple — and the owners of the house — who warn of a blackout that's affected the whole city. With no internet or TV, the couple's claims seem suspicious and foreboding of something more sinister.
"Transcendent Kingdom" by Yaa Gyasi (September 2020)
"Transcendent Kingdom" by Yaa Gyasi, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $13.49
Gifty is a neuroscience student at Stanford studying depression and addiction after her brother's overdose left her mother suicidal and nearly catatonic. "Transcendent Kingdom" is a powerful and intimate story as Gifty grapples with the line between science and faith to explain suffering in the world and her life.
"Here For It" by R. Eric Thomas (August 2020)
"Here For It" by R. Eric Thomas, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $12.51
Eric Thomas always felt like an outsider, different in every place he should have belonged. In his memoir-in-essays, Thomas uses his natural comedic wit to explore self-acceptance and identity with a hopeful lens.
"The Comeback" by Ella Berman (August 2020)
"The Comeback" by Ella Berman, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $13
On the eve of her first Golden Globe nomination, rising Hollywood actress Grace Turner disappeared from the spotlight until one year later, when she was asked to present a lifetime achievement award to her old director. Raw and powerful, this novel embraces the Me Too movement as Grace frees herself from her secrets and finds her strength.
"Friends and Strangers" by J. Courtney Sullivan (July 2020)
"Friends and Strangers" by J. Courtney Sullivan, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $11.07
Told in alternating perspectives between a mother, Elisabeth, and her nanny, Sam, "Friends and Strangers" is about two women in different stages of life, exploring their authenticity and happiness. As Elisabeth and Sam grow closer, their friendship is quickly tested as their differences are brought to light.
"A Burning" by Megha Majumdar (June 2020)
"A Burning" by Megha Majumdar, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $12.70
"A Burning" is a contemporary fiction novel set in India featuring three main characters with very different lives that intersect after a terrorist attack on a train. When a young Muslim woman is accused of executing the act, the alibi of a loveable outcast could set her free, yet one rising political figure has everything to gain from her fall.
"All Adults Here" by Emma Straub (May 2020)
"All Adults Here" by Emma Straub, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $13.45
When Astrid Strick witnesses a school bus accident, it brings forth a repressed memory from decades earlier that leaves her questioning her parenting and the lives of her three children. Loved for the deep character development and family drama, this story grapples with our understanding of parenting, memories, and growing up.
"Valentine" by Elizabeth Wetmore (April 2020)
"Valentine" by Elizabeth Wetmore, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $13.13
Set in Texas during the oil boom of the 1970s, this book club pick is about the aftermath of violence when a 14-year-old girl is attacked in an oil field. Haunting and vulnerable, this historical fiction read highlights the resilience of women in a complex story about violence, race, and class.
"Writers & Lovers" by Lily King (March 2020)
"Writers & Lovers" by Lily King, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $13.75
With themes of grief and ambition, "Writers & Lovers" is a portrait of an artist in crisis at the end of her youth. Heartbroken and grieving the recent loss of her mother, Casey is determined to become a successful writer despite the fractures that plague her life.
More Books From Jenna's Book Club:
- "The Girl With The Louding Voice" by Abi Daré (February 2020), available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $12.28
- "Dear Edward" by Ann Napolitano (January 2020), available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $10.52
- "Late Migrations" by Margret Renkl (December 2019), available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $12.17
- "Nothing to See Here" by Kevin Wilson (November 2019), available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $11.54
- "The Dutch House" by Ann Patchett (October 2019), available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $10.90
- "The Dearly Beloved" by Cara Wall (September 2019), available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $14
- "Patsy" by Nicole Dennis-Benn (August 2019), available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $11.99
- "Evvie Drake Starts Over" by Linda Holmes (July 2019), available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $9.69
- "Searching for Sylvie Lee" by Jean Kwok (June 2019), available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $12.13
- "A Woman Is No Man" by Etaf Rum (May 2019), available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $11.82
- "The Unwinding of the Miracle" by Julie Yip-Williams (April 2019), available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $13.29
- "The Last Romantics" by Tara Conklin (March 2019), available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $9.34
Katherine Fiorillo Katherine Fiorillo is a freelance content writer specializing in books, lifestyle, and e-commerce.Katherine has a B.A. in Journalism from Marist College and previously wrote for BuzzFeed's Shopping and Products beat. She is an Army veteran, an avid reader, and designs book-themed stickers for her Etsy shop.Say hi to Katherine at katherinemfiorillo@gmail.com. Read more Read lessncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonyowcidnKxnnJqus7rIp55oopWju6J5wa6qoWWYlrSmvoybpqijXZi5tq4%3D