May’s Celebrity Book Club Picks

Bestsellers Club is a service that automatically places you on hold for authors, celebrity picks, nonfiction picks, and fiction picks. Choose any author, celebrity pick, fiction pick, and/or nonfiction pick and The Library will put the latest title on hold for you automatically. Select as many as you want! Still have questions? Click here for a list of FAQs.

It’s a new month which means that Jenna Bush Hager and Reese Witherspoon have picked new books for their book clubs! Reminder that if you join Bestsellers Club, you can choose to have their selections automatically put on hold for you.


Oprah has selected Matriarch: A Memoir by Tina Knowles-Lawson for her latest pick.

Curious what Matriarch is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

A revealing personal life story like no other—enlightening, entertaining, surprising, empowering—and a testament to the world-making power of Black motherhood

“You are Celestine,” she said. She squatted to push the hair off my face and pull leaves off my pajama legs. “Like my sister and my grandmother.” And there, under the pecan tree, as she did countless times, that day my mother told me stories of the mothers and daughters that went before me.

Tina Knowles, the mother of iconic singer-songwriters Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Solange Knowles, and bonus daughter Kelly Rowland, is known the world over as a Matriarch with a capital M: a determined, self-possessed, self-aware, and wise woman who raised and inspired some of the great artists of our time. But this story is about so much more than that.

Matriarch begins with a precocious, if unruly, little girl growing up in 1950s Galveston, the youngest of seven. She is in love with her world, with extended family on every other porch and the sounds of Motown and the lapping beach always within earshot. But as the realities of race and the limitations of girlhood set in, she begins to dream of a more grandiose world. Her instincts and impulsive nature drive her far beyond the shores of Texas to discover the life awaiting her on the other side of childhood.

That life’s journey—through grief and tragedy, creative and romantic risks and turmoil, the nurturing of superstar offspring and of her own special gifts—is the remarkable story she shares with readers here. This is a page-turning chronicle of family love and heartbreak, of loss and perseverance, and of the kind of creativity, audacity, and will it takes for a girl from Galveston to change the world. It’s one brilliant woman’s intimate and revealing story, and a multigenerational family saga that carries within it the story of America—and the wisdom that women pass on to one another, mothers to daughters, across generations. – One World


Jenna Bush Hager has selected The Names by Florence Knapp for her May pick.

Curious what The Names is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

The extraordinary novel that asks: Can a name change the course of a life?

In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register her son’s birth. Her husband, Gordon, a local doctor, respected in the community but a terrifying and controlling presence at home, intends for her to name the infant after him. But when the registrar asks what she’d like to call the child, Cora hesitates…

Spanning thirty-five years, what follows are three alternate and alternating versions of Cora’s and her young son’s lives, shaped by her choice of name. In richly layered prose, The Names explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities of autonomy and healing.

With exceptional sensitivity and depth, Knapp draws us into the story of one family, told through a prism of what-ifs, causing us to consider the “one . . . precious life” we are given. The book’s brilliantly imaginative structure, propulsive storytelling, and emotional, gut-wrenching power are certain to make The Names a modern classic. – Pamela Dorman Books


Reese Witherspoon has selected Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry for her May pick.

Curious what Great Big Beautiful Life is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: to write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years—or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the twentieth century.

When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.

One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.

Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication.

Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.

But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.

And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad . . . depending on who’s telling it. – Berkley


Join Bestsellers Club to have Oprah, Jenna, and Reese’s adult selections automatically put on hold for you!

Tea and Treachery : a Tea by the Sea Mystery by Vicki Delany

Tea & Treachery is the first book in the Tea by the Sea Mystery Series by Vicki Delany.  Delany is a powerhouse in the genre of cozy mystery writing with many unique and interesting reads.  She has about a half dozen series under her belt, and you can always count on her for a fun, yet complex cozy mystery!  I was looking to start a new series and came upon Delany’s latest, and I am glad that I did.

Lily Roberts is the proprietor of the quaint tea shop, Tea by the Sea, in picturesque Cape Cod.  In this vacation mecca, Roberts stays busy with the shop thanks in part to her grandmother’s Victorian B&B next door where her tea is a hit with guests.  Her grandmother, Rose, has inspired much in Lily’s life, especially the tea shop whose British theme pays homage to Rose’s homeland.  Rose is feisty, sassy and holds no opinion back.  One of Lily’s main jobs is reining in her grandmother and keeping her out of trouble!

Both the tea shop and the B&B rely on summer tourism to keep the doors open.  A real estate developer named Jack Ford arrives in town and hints that he will be purchasing the adjacent land to the shop and B&B.  His purchase of the adjacent land would turn it into a large complex with a golf course.  With this news, Rose goes on the offense and prepares to battle against the development.  Developer Jack Ford will hear none of the objections from Lily, Rose and the other residents who fear the new development will change the charm of the cape.  Tempers flare and words are exchanged between Rose and Jack with both drawing a line in the sand.

Everything soon changes when Jack is found dead at the bottom of the beach access stairs on Rose’s property!  Law enforcement knows that she had a motive to want Jack Ford dead.  Lily steps in and plays intermediary with the police when Rose is questioned as a suspect.  After the police release Rose after questioning, Lily knows that things aren’t looking good for her grandmother and time is of the essence for her to find the real killer!

This series has a bit of everything – a beautiful setting, a fun cast of characters (especially entertaining is the banter between Lily and Rose), an interesting “who done it” and scrumptious descriptions of food and tea!  If you are looking for a new cozy series, think about Tea by the Sea!

Online Reading Challenge – May

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge is focusing on graphic novels. Our main title for May is Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the coming-of-age story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.

Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane’s child’s-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, with laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love. – Pantheon

Looking for some other graphic novels? Try any of the following.

As always, check each of our locations for displays with lots more titles to choose from!