The August 2023 Celebrity Book Club Spoilers to Enjoy Now

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

August 2023 Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick

Ann Patchett is an amazing storyteller and we love all her books, so it’s no surprise that this story is one of our best books of 2023 picks! I was completely enchanted by this story. In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return home and beg their mother to tell the story of her romance with a movie star from long ago.

Throughout their Mom’s telling of her summer theatre experience at Tom Lake, the daughters get the long-awaited answers to questions they’ve asked for years. The whole family also re-examines their lives and relationships through the new lens of information. While this is a pandemic story, it’s more of a plot device to get the family together than anything else. So don’t expect to be triggered!

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume

August 2023 Read with Jenna Book Club Pick

In the summer of 1977, Victoria Leonard’s world changes forever when Caitlin Somers chooses her as a friend. Dazzling, reckless Caitlin welcomes Vix into the heart of her sprawling, eccentric family, opening doors to a world of unimaginable privilege, sweeping her away to vacations on Martha’s Vineyard, an enchanting place where the two friends become “summer sisters.”
 
Now, years later, Vix is working in New York City. Caitlin is getting married on the Vineyard. And the early magic of their long, complicated friendship has faded. But Caitlin begs Vix to come to her wedding, to be her maid of honor. And Vix knows…. MORE

The Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo

August 2023 Good Morning America Book Club Pick

This is the first adult book from National Book Award Winner Elizabeth Acevedo, whose YA novels we devour. #gifted

It’s about the women in a Domenican-American family, their special gifts, and the bonds they share with each other. It starts off with Flor, who has the ability to know the date of people’s death, informing everyone that she wants a living wake.

As her family grapples with what that means, Acevedo explores each woman’s special gift and how it has impacted their lives.

I was fascinated by the magical realism elements of the story, but it was the depth of the characters that drew me in. Rich in culture and exquisitely written, this family saga wove a magical realism story I never wanted to end.

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

May 2023 Oprah Book Club Pick

The Covenant of Water is the long-awaited new novel by Abraham Verghese, the author of the major word-of-mouth bestseller Cutting for Stone, which has sold over 1.5 million copies in the United States alone and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over two years.

Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on South India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning—and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl from Kerala’s long-existing Christian community, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time.

From this unforgettable new beginning, the young girl–and future matriarch, known as Big Ammachi–will witness unthinkable changes over the span of her extraordinary life, full of joy and triumph as well as hardship and loss, her faith and love the only constants….. MORE