The Best Read With Jenna Book Club Picks Of All Time

Jenna Bush Hager is an eager reader who loves sharing her favorite books. This is why she created Read With Jenna, a book club she kicked off in March 2019, and has been updating monthly ever since. For Bush Hager, any genre can offer a worthwhile read. The books on her list include themes of family life, historical fiction, coming-of-age stories, motherhood, memoirs, and humor. Clearly, she loves it all and encourages her fans to pursue a wide variety of literature. The Today Show co-host has a hefty Instagram following and a podcast called "Open Book with Jenna" to continue her endless discussion about reading and books. She loves books that have strong, female leads, and she's in good company; cultural icon Greta Gerwig loves books with a feminist edge. The same goes for Meghan Markle's favorite books, and Reese Witherspoon's popular book club also celebrates stories that center women. These celebrity readers all have great taste, but for right now, we're getting to know Jenna Bush Hager's particular taste. 

It's no wonder that she's such a fan of books. She's an author herself, and wrote the 2020 memoir "Everything Beautiful In Its Time." As the daughter of President George W. Bush and the granddaughter of President George H. W. Bush, Jenna has a lot to share about family life and coming of age. So with her keen eye for a good read, we've compiled the best of Read With Jenna's books. 

Coco Mellor's novel "Blue Sisters" is a favorite of Jenna Bush Hager's. It was the September 2024 pick for Read With Jenna, largely because of Mellor's skill for depicting sisterhood dynamics. "I grew up with a mother and grandmother who read 'Little Women' to me, which is about a strong group of sisters. Not since then has a book about sisterhood stuck with me as much as Coco Mellors' 'Blue Sisters,'" Bush Hager explained on Today. The cover of the novel now even boasts a "Read With Jenna" sticker. 

The book is about four sisters who grew up in Manhattan and spread out across the world in adulthood. When one of the four sisters dies, the other three are left to reckon with their familial relationships and the grief that comes with losing a sibling. The quirky, lovable read is a hit on Goodreads, and Bush Hager's decision to include the book in her list is backed by rave reviews from other readers. It earned 4.08 stars out of 5 on the site, and many echoed what Bush Hager said about loving sister dynamics as a theme. "[I]f you have a sister—you NEED to read this book!" one reader wrote. "[D]ysfunctional family, sisterhood, substance abuse, addiction, compulsive disorders, grief and loss, coming to terms with our lives," another reviewer began. "The writing is quite addictive." Bush Hager was right to include this novel on her list. 

"Maame" by Jessica George earned the coveted spot of the February 2023 pick on Read With Jenna. It was a meaningful and moving book, according to Jenna Bush Hager, who told Today why she loved the book. "It felt singular and interesting — raw and new," Bush Hager began. "I just couldn't believe the author's talent and the range of emotions I felt while reading it. On one page I was crying, yet on another page, I laughed hysterically." The novel is about a woman named Maddie, who lives in London and tries to navigate independence from her family. When her larger-than-life mother returns from Ghana, Maddie sets out to carve her way. What people love about "Maame" is the celebration of a late-bloomer main character. George illustrates how it's never too late for someone to have a second shot at life. 

"Maame" was shortlisted for the TikTok Book Awards for Book of the Year in 2023. The novel earned 4.06 stars out of 5 on Goodreads, with readers loving the tale of someone carving out a life of their dreams. "'Maame' is [an] extremely fresh, engaging, powerful novel! It's about family, grief, self-growth, guilt, regrets, starting over!" one reviewer wrote. "I adored this heartfelt, well-developed story about a twenty-something, navigating her own Ghanian culture and a British culture," another reviewer said. "Maame" offers a rich look at life and family in a way that really resonates with readers.

Tara M. Stringfellow's 2022 novel "Memphis" earned the April 2022 spot on Read With Jenna. Explaining why she loved it, Jenna Bush Hager expressed to Today, "This debut novel is a magnificent, engaging book about how love, trauma, and sacrifice are passed down through three generations of Black women," Bush Hager said. "While the women endure deep loss, racism, and abuse, they also find healing in friendship, community, and forgiveness."

Stringfellow's novel expertly weaves through three generations of women in Memphis, with the city itself becoming a compelling, central figure. Protagonist Joan embarks on her quest and as she grows up, she learns the rich backstory of her mother and her grandmother, and comes to understand that so much of her passion and goodness comes from them. The novel earned a 4.10 out of 5 on Goodreads, with readers loving the generation theme, just like Bush Hager. "This was such a beautifully written but heartbreaking story about three generations of African American women with deep roots in Memphis," one reader noted. Readers were also dazzled by the fact that this was Stringfellow's first book. "Wow, this was a debut novel? The melodic prose, the strong black female characters, the messages of overcoming, community and sisterhood, the non-linear timeline, and the shifting POV through 4 generations of the women of the North family — it all took my breath away," a happy reader wrote. 

It's not all new releases that get celebrated on Read With Jenna. The Today host chose the classic novel "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison, originally published in 1970. Jenna Bush Hager chose the novel for her December 2020 spot because of how much Morrison and this book in particular means to her. "She is my favorite author of all time, and I am honored to be recommending her book to this special group of readers," Bush Hager wrote on Today. She explained that she first read the novel in high school in Texas and was aware that the book was banned in parts of the United States, including some schools in Texas. Bush Hager wanted readers to engage with this powerful book. "As Morrison's debut novel turns 50 years old, it still holds incredible power to spark current conversations," she wrote. "While this fact is heartbreaking, it also shows how complicated and complex some of these themes are."

"The Bluest Eye" is beloved on Goodreads, too, earning a 4.12 out of 5. Morrison's novel is so powerful that many readers have returned to it throughout their lives. "While this isn't my first go-round with this book, it took me such a long time to make it through every single page," a reader wrote. "This book is not, and I repeat not, for the faint of heart." Bush Hager isn't alone in finding this novel endlessly moving. 

For her September 2021 selection on Read With Jenna, Jenna Bush Hager chose the memoir "Beautiful Country" by Qian Julie Wang. "'Beautiful Country' was one of those remarkable books that stays with you long after you've finished reading it," Bush Hager said, per Today. "I love memoirs and I particularly love beautifully written memoirs that read almost like novels." Wang writes of her own childhood as an undocumented immigrant living with her parents in New York City's Chinatown. It's a complicated, charming story of inhabiting a new country and reconciling with the reality of living in a place one has dreamed of for so long. Wang became an American citizen in 2016, and felt compelled to write her own story of immigration and citizenship. 

Not only is the memoir loved by Bush Hager, but it's also loved by readers on Goodreads, earning 4.18 stars on the site. "Through the eyes of a child, the experiences of being an undocumented immigrant will leap off the page and into your heart in this unforgettable memoir," one reader wrote. "I read this book in two days," another reviewer began. "Qian Julie Wang captured my heart with her beautifully written memoir of growing up as an undocumented immigrant. I was heartbroken by the racism and disconcern that left her family in dire poverty." This memoir is a worthwhile read, and Bush Hager certainly thinks so. 

While we were intrigued by every book that landed a spot on Read with Jenna's book club, we had to narrow the stellar selection down to five books. We chose to match up Jenna Bush Hager's choices with ratings and reviews on Goodreads, to ensure that the book was endorsed by both Bush Hager herself, but also by readers at large. So each book in our selection earned at least 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, in addition to having been chosen as a book of the month by the Today host. We aimed for a broader swath of genres, choosing both novels and memoirs. We included the classic by Toni Morrison to balance out many of the more contemporary publications that are loved by Bush Hager and the reviewers on GoodReads. We chose different books to celebrate different voices, and to add richness in diversity of character, place, and themes. We also carefully selected a variety of writerly statuses; some of the authors are brand new to the literary scene, while others are well-established. We hope that this range of texts provides a worthwhile guide in pursuing new books to enrich your readerly experience.