Happy Birthday, Oprah Winfrey, who was born on this day, January 29, 1954. Personally, I don’t think there’s any gift we could give our favorite Black billionaire that she doesn’t already have, but we can use her birthday, to remind ourselves of the gift she has been to the book industry in general, and to dozens of writers over the years. Specifically, we need to give thanks to Oprah for launching the celebrity book club movement, which is still going strong.

The Celebrity Book Club Effect

*We need celebrity level devotion for our book club picks.*

Even though Oprah’s Book Club doesn’t have the same life changing effect for an author as it did 29 years ago, when Oprah launched her book club with Jacquelyn Mitchard’s The Deep End of the Ocean, Ms. Winfrey can still sell a book. She can also still command national news headlines with her literary anointings. Case in point, when Oprah selected Ann Napolitano’s, Hello Beautiful for her 100th Book Club pick in 2023, stories ran in The New York Times and on CBS This Morning among other news outlets.

Obviously Oprah can’t bless all the books and wave her wand over every author. But she did open the door for other celebrities to launch their own book clubs and add the title of literary influencer to their resume. Dare I say that Oprah made book clubs cool for the rich and famous?

Today, in 2025, celebrity book clubs seem to be all the rage. Dua Lipa has one. Natalie Portman has one. Dakota Johnson has one. Even people who you wouldn’t normally associate with literary pursuits, are bringing their golden glow to the reading space. Which, at the end of the day is a good thing for authors who need all the extra promotion a celebrity endorsement can bring to book sales.

So, my question is, where are the celebrity book clubs run by BIPoC celebrities?

Where are the BIPOC Celebrity Book Clubs?

Like all things in the mainstream publishing world, celebrity book clubs tend to trend white. At least the ones that publishers get excited about. I’m talking about celebrities like Reese Witherspoon and Zibby Owens. And no shade should be given to our blonde-haired book lovers, because they often select authors of color for their Book Club picks and support them well.

An extreme literary ally in this realm is none other than Eat Pray Love author, Elizabeth Gilbert. Gilbert started a book club in 2020 called the Onward Book Club, where members only read books by Black women authors. Her current pick is Tara Roberts’ Written in the Waters. Presumably, Gilbert’s audience is mostly white, so this club is Gilbert’s way of using her platform to educate her people. It is an admirable way to use her celebrity platform to diversify people’s reading habits.

But if you’re looking for '“celebrity” book clubs headed by BIPoC celebrities, it is slim pickings. There is The Literary Swag Book Club founded by Literary Celebrity and Simon & Schuster Editor, Yahdon Israel. And then there’s Oprah.

Steph Curry had a book club, but the club doors were shuttered in 2023. Shonda Rhimes calls her list of books she reads a book club, but really it’s just a list of books she reccomends. Other celebs, like Barack Obama, also share their favorite books at the end of the year or summer, but that’s not a book club. That’s a book list. It’s always nice to know a famous person read your book, but it’s not the same as getting the celebrity book club treatment.

Scouring the internet, it’s clear that there are tons of national books clubs that cater to melanated readers, as well as smaller local book clubs, but where is our Reese Witherspoon? Where is our Dua Lipa?

Do you think it would be too much to ask for Beyonce to start a book club? Not because I believe Bey is a book lover, but because if she told her book club members to buy a book, they’d buy the book and a few lucky authors would feel like Jacquelyn Mitchard circa 1996.

BIPoC Celebrities Who Should Start Book Clubs in 2025

Since we’re facing four years with an administration determined to make book banning easy, and where BIPoC authors may have a harder time getting space on store shelves, some BIPoC celebrity book clubs, might be just what we need right now. Here are five BIPoC celebrities I think should start book clubs in 2025.

*Ali Wong is a bonafide celebrity, who is also an author, so she’d be the perfect host for a book club.*

Beyoncé - For obvious reasons stated above. Also, if Beyoncé does plan to tour again this summer, she could bring her book club picks with her and sell them on the road. The lucky authors could come along and sign books. Obviously, I volunteer my book, Hair Story, for her first book club pick.
Tyler Perry - While it is possible, Perry would want to write his own books and then promote those if he started a book club, it would still be a win for reading and book culture. I’d be cheering for him and his book club.
Ali Wong - Ali Wong should start a book club specifically for women where they read raunchy but satisfying books about women who come out on top. I personally would join this book club. And Wong’s own memoir, Dear Girls, could be the club’s first pick.
Bad Bunny - First of all, just the name, The Bad Bunny Book Club sounds fly. Second, with his international audience, and his success rate for creating hits, The Bad Bunny book club would definitely take off.
Zendaya - For all the Gen Z girlies, Zendaya would be the perfect celebrity to lead a Book Club. She already wrote her own book about surviving the tween years, and has often been photographed with a book in hand.

The fact of the matter is, BIPoC authors deserve a celebrity book club or two, or three, where the focus is on books by BIPOC authors. And there’s room in the literary playing field for more than one BIPOC celebrity to take on this noble cause. If Bey and Bad Bunny read this post, I hope they take the idea and run with it.

Let me know in the comments, which BIPoC celebrities you think should start a book club.