If You Joined All the Book Clubs, Here’s What You’d Be Reading
Book clubs. They’re not just for small neighborhood gatherings anymore. With the advent of the internet, the book club has become a uniter across state and country lines. All around the world, book clubbers can unite and read the same book, discussing their thoughts at length in online forums, virtual meetups, apps, and more.
If you’ve ever bought a book and noticed a big giant “O” sticker slapped in the middle of its cover, then you know that celeb book clubs are all the rage. There was once a time when it really did seem like Oprah’s Book Club was the only game in town. But that was a different time. It’s 2021, and everyone has a book club.
Afraid of getting FOMO? Not wanting to miss out on a single book club pick? I totally get it. And summer is the perfect time to reinvest in your reading and set a (potentially unrealistic) reading goal for yourself. You want to make that lofty reading goal to read every book for every major book club? Go for it. I believe in you.
Here’s your guide to everything you have to read if you want to keep up with all the book clubs this month. Strap in, and let’s get to some marathon reading sessions.
All the Book Club Books: What You’ll Be Reading
Welcome to July! A bunch of book clubs are in full swing, and new books have been announced for the month. Here’s what the big book clubs are reading this month.
Last month, Oprah’s Book Club announced that their latest pick is The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris. This one is 368 pages.
As of writing this, Reese Witherspoon has not yet announced her July pick, but her summer 2021 YA novel has already been announced, and it’s Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean. This book is going to add another 336 pages to your reading load.
Did you know Goop has a book club now? Well, they do. Gwyneth Paltrow is diving into the world of book clubs, and the book she’s chosen this month is The View Was Exhausting by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta. Add another 336 pages with this book.
The Good Morning America Book Club has announced that their July book club pick will be The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. They’re calling this one a cross between Bridgerton and Succession. Is that an accurate description? You’ll have to read all 352 pages of this book to find out.
Next up, we’ve got Stephen Curry’s book club. For July, he’s picked Butterfly by Yusra Mardini. Good news, readers, this one is only 288 pages!
We’ve got a few newcomers to the book club game this summer. Everyone’s favorite book lover LeVar Burton has finally started his own book club. And for July, he’s reading The Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward. If you want to read along with him, that’ll be another 226 pages.
Speaking of Jesmyn Ward, the author has also started her own book club. July is Ward’s second month in the book club game, and for this month she’s chosen Last One Out Shut Off the Lights by Stephanie Soileau. That’ll be 256 pages added to your reading list.
Last but certainly not least, we could not possibly leave off Roxane Gay’s new book club. Like Ward, this is Gay’s second month running her book club through Literati. And for July, you and your new reading buddy Roxane Gay will be reading The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade. This one will be your longest read at 432 pages.
How Much You Will Need to Read: A Breakdown
If you want to make it though these books, you’ll have to pace yourself, and you’ll need to be realistic about it. If you start off reading only 50 pages per day, you’ll soon get overwhelmed. So you’ll need to set a goal for every day to get all this reading done by the end of July.
I know. The month is already well underway. And you might need a few days to gather up the books. So let’s just say you have 15 days total to get all this reading done. If you’re one of those people who likes to read multiple books at a time, then you can just break this down by pages. All of these books equal 2,594 pages total. So if you divide that into 15 days, that’s 172.9333 pages a day. Totally doable.
Oh, You Want a Day-by-Day Schedule? Here You Go.
I love a good schedule, don’t you? So for your convenience, I’ve put together a little reading schedule to help you stay on track to finish all of these books by the end of the month. Especially if you’re more interested in reading one book at a time. Here you go!
Day 1: The Five Wounds pages 1–173
Day 2: The Five Wounds pages 174–348
Day 3: The Five Wounds pages 349–end
Day 3, continued: Tokyo Ever After pages 1–90
Day 4: Tokyo Ever After pages 91–264
Day 5: Tokyo Ever After pages 265–end
Day 5, continued: The Sweetness of Water pages 1–102
Day 6: The Sweetness of Water pages 103–276
Day 7: The Sweetness of Water pages 277–end
Day 7, continued: The View Was Exhausting pages 1–82
Day 8: The View Was Exhausting pages 83–256
Day 9: The View Was Exhausting pages 257–end
Day 9, continued: The Fire This Time pages 1–94
Day 10: The Fire This Time pages 95–end
Day 10, continued: The Personal Librarian pages 1–42
Day 11: The Personal Librarian pages 43–216
Day 12: The Personal Librarian pages 217–end
Day 12, continued: Butterfly pages 1–137
Day 13: Butterfly pages 138–end
Day 13, continued: Last One Out Shut Off the Lights pages 1–23
Day 14: Last One Out Shut Off the Lights pages 24–197
Day 15: Last One Out Shut Off the Lights pages 198–end
But I Need More Books!
Is this not enough reading for you in the second half of July? Here’s a handy list of 15 more book clubs you can join online right now. And while you’re making big plans to join a bunch of book clubs online, here are some tips for how to join and what do to once you’re in. Happy reading, book clubbers! Here’s to never having FOMO again!
