7 Online Book Clubs You Can Join Now

New York Public Library and WNYC Virtual Book Club

In 2020, to help counter the tedium of self-isolation during the pandemic, the New York Public Library (NYPL) and public radio station WNYC launched a virtual book club — and it’s still going strong. The club focuses on a different book each month — July’s book, for example, was the best seller The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner, which WNYC host Alison Stewart discusses on the air and on social media. Other recent selections have included the novels Trust by Hernan Diaz (on the longlist for the Booker Prize and set for an HBO adaptation starring Kate Winslet), and The Candy House by Jennifer Egan, along with actor and activist Harvey Fierstein's memoir, I Was Better Last Night. The vast New York public library system (encompassing 88 neighborhood branches) also hosts a variety of online classes, events and book discussions with authors.

Oprah's Book Club

Oprah Winfrey's book club is arguably America's most influential literary hit-maker, turning unknown titles into massive best sellers — from its early days on The Oprah Winfrey Show to its rebirth in 2012 in the pages of her magazine as “Oprah's Book Club 2.0.” While some may snub their nose at her mass-market appeal, Winfrey has awfully good taste in books. so you can hardly go wrong if you turn to the more than 90 books she has chosen through the years. Recent selections have included Nightcrawling, the debut novel by 19-year-old poet Leila Mottley; actress Viola Davis’s memoir Finding Me; and life coach Martha Beck’s The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self. You can sign up for the book club newsletter and see videos of Oprah with authors on OprahDaily.com.

Los Angeles Times Book Club

This club hosts a community event with each of its authors, many of whom are heavyweights, from Barack Obama to Jane Goodall to Billie Jean King. Author and veteran news editor Donna Wares hosts the club, and the Times runs articles related to book selection topics. The selections often feature a California angle, such as the recent California Soul: An American Epic of Cooking and Survival by Keith Corbin, who writes of his rise from maximum-security inmate to celebrated chef (Corbin will discuss his book on Aug. 23). Sign up for a newsletter on the book club site.

Read With Jenna

When Today show cohost Jenna Bush Hager launched her book club in 2019, it seemed like a perfect fit. Hager is a lifelong bibliophile and her mother, former first lady Laura Bush, has launched a foundation to assist America's libraries, one of her multiple literary endeavors. Hager's club picks a new book every month, sometimes including ones by new authors (The Measure, by Nikki Erlick), as well as literary faves such as Naima Coster and her novel What’s Mine and Yours. The book club site, housed under the Today show umbrella, offers discussion questions, author interviews, other book recommendations and a list of previous book club selections. Readers can sign up for a newsletter and post their book comments on Facebook and Instagram by using the hashtag #ReadWithJenna.

Reese's Book Club

Before you dismiss Reese Witherspoon's book club as some Hollywood vanity project, consider this: Many of her picks rise to the New York Times Best Sellers list, and she has excellent literary taste. Each book centers around a woman's story, such as Honey and Spice, by Bolu Babalola, a romance novel featuring a sharp-tongued on-campus heroine, and Counterfeit, the fictional tale of two women who go into business selling fake luxury handbags, by Kirstin Chen. To learn each month's pick and chat about the selections, follow @ReesesBookClub on Instagram (where the club has 2.3 million followers), Facebook and Twitter. You can also find her five-year list of selections — starting with her first pick, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman — on ReesesBookClub.com.