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Reese Witherspoon (a.k.a our favorite legal blonde and America’s Sweetheart) is many things. She is an actress, film producer, entrepreneur, feminist, and mother, but did you know she’s also a huge lover of books?So much so that she created her very own book club, Hello Sunshine, that created the Reese Witherspoon Book Club List. The name is perfect since Reese is such a charming, bubbly ray of sunshine who has captured the hearts of pretty much everyone in the world.
Reese founded Hello Sunshine with the purpose to change the narrative for women through the Reese Witherspoon Book Club List. Reese and her team find books written by women for women. The books recommended on the Reese Witherspoon Book Club List are all excellent reads that celebrate and highlight women of all types, from all places, and tell diverse and engaging stories of womanhood.
Aside from the Reese Witherspoon Book Club List, Reese is also turning her passion into profit. She has her own production company, also called Hello Sunshine, and produces TV shows and movies based on the books she fell in love with reading. It all started with Cheryl Strayed’s riveting “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail.” Reese produced and starred in the film adaptation and the movie was a huge success. Reese was even nominated for an Oscar for her killer performance in the movie!
Additionally, her production company co-produced “Gone Girl,” which is a film adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s novel of the same name. The novel-turned-movie grossed over $369 million (not too shabby, Reese). Oh, and you know HBO’s hit show “Big Little Lies?” She produced that as well.
Reese Witherspoon is absolutely #slaying the game and knows a good book when she reads one. Check out some of the Reese Witherspoon Book Club List recommendations:
“Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” by Gail Honeyman
$10 at time of publication
“Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” is about a girl named Eleanor Oliphant who lives a lonely life until she meets Raymond, the IT guy at her office. Two strangers create a beautiful connection, and the book does a great job of portraying friendship. Eleanor is a character everyone wants to root for. She’s a bit of a loner and hasn’t had the easiest childhood (warning: there are themes of childhood trauma and abuse in this book). Everyone wants Eleanor to get that perfect ending where she ends up happy. Will she? Read and find out.
“The Alice Network” by Kate Quinn
$13 at time of publication
Calling all thrill and mystery seekers, this book is for you! “The Alice Network” is an exciting and fast-paced story about Charlie St. Clair, an American college girl. Toward the beginning of the book, the reader finds out Charlie is pregnant and her parents send her to Europe to “take care of it.” While she’s there, she heads to London and ends up connecting with Eve Gardiner, an ex-spy, and a young soldier to find out what has happened to Charlie’s cousin (which was Eve’s mentor). I love powerfully strong female protagonists, which is why I am obsessed with this book.
“The Proposal” by Jasmine Guillory
$8 at time of publication
Nikole’s love life has been a hot mess, to say the least. Her recent love nightmare was being proposed to by a self-conceited boyfriend in front of 45,000 people at Dodger Stadium. Nikole (rightfully) says no, which leads to a brother and sister rescuing her from the embarrassment of having everyone staring and judging her. Nikole finds the brother quite sexy and thinks he’d be the perfect rebound, but soon finds out it can be much more than that. “The Proposal” is sassy, hilarious and charming and y’all will love Nikole. I appreciated the diversity in the characters and just how downright relatable Nikole and her love life is.
“The Lying Game” by Ruth Ware
$10 at time of publication
Four friends (Isa, Fatima, Thea, and Kate) meet in boarding school where they are bound to secrecy after doing something hauntingly illegal. They were able to cover their tracks and no one was aware of the act done. 17 years later, the secret comes up again and the girls have to work together to try to keep their dark secret from coming into their light.
Will the truth be told? This story gives me modern-day Pretty Little Liars vibes, so if you loved that show, you’ll love this book.
“Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng
$10 at time of publication
Single mother Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl move to a new town in Cleveland, where they form a connection with the Richardson family. Elena, the mother of the Richardson family, and Mia end up on opposing sides of a town drama. Elena does everything she can to win this battle, which includes digging up Mia’s past. But what Elena finds will change things forever. This book is strong on motherhood.
Fun fact: This is being turned into a Hulu limited series starring Reese and Kerry Washington. Talk about girl power. Learn more about the series here.
“The Rules of Magic” by Alice Hoffman
$9 at time of publication
You know the movie “Practical Magic” starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman? Well, that film is based on the novel of the same name that author Alice Hoffman wrote in 1995.
Fast forward to 22 years later, Alice wrote the prequel in 2017 to the “Practical Magic” storyline. In the prequel, it follows the Owens family with a focus on the three Owens siblings: Franny, Jet, and Vincent. Their family has a dark secret: their ancestors placed a curse on all her descendants that whoever they love will die. To protect them from heartbreak and loss, the siblings’ mom keeps them away from society.
Will the Owens siblings follow the rules of the curse and stay away from falling in love? Only one way to find out.
“This is the Story of a Happy Marriage” by Ann Patchett
$14 at time of publication
A blend of literature and memoir, author Ann Patchett allows us into her life as she talks about her relationships, family, friends, etc. The book recaps Ann’s journey to the present and how she becomes the woman she is today. It’s up close and personal, and I’m sure a lot of girls will relate to Ann’s story.
“The Last Mrs. Parrish” by Liv Constantine
$9 at time of publication
This novel has everyone who’s reading it on the edge of their seat. The story follows Amber Patterson, who is sick and tired of her current situation. She wants love, money and most importantly, power, and she will do whatever it takes to get it. Through a lot of manipulation, Amber gets in between a couple — Daphne and Jackson — and it seems like she’s about to get everything she wants. But will she?
This novel is the epitome of a psychological thriller. I guarantee once you start reading it, you won’t be able to put it down.
“Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone” by Brené Brown
$14 at time of publication
For all my philosophical gals, check out this book on the Reese Witherspoon Book Club List. “Braving the Wilderness” by Brené Brown is a nonfiction novel where Brown redefines what it means to truly belong in our society and how disconnection is at an all-time high. This novel is an interesting read. Here’s a little excerpt from it:
“True belonging requires us to believe in and belong to ourselves so fully that we can find sacredness both in being a part of something and in standing alone when necessary. But in a culture that’s rife with perfectionism and pleasing, and with the erosion of civility, it’s easy to stay quiet, hide in our ideological bunkers, or fit in rather than show up as our true selves and brave the wilderness of uncertainty and criticism. But true belonging and self-worth are not goods; we don’t negotiate their value with the world. The truth about who we are lives in our heart. Our call to courage is to protect our wild heart against constant evaluation — especially our own.”
“Whisper Network” by Chandler Baker
$17 at time of publication
I love a good murder mystery and this novel on the Reese Witherspoon Book Club List is just that. Four women who work together have found out that their company’s CEO has just died. Their boss, Ames, is about to become the CEO and the women are not happy. There have been rumors about how Ames has treated women, and when the women take a stand.
This is the perfect blend of mystery, suspense, and sisterhood. And, with an opening line like “If only you had listened to us,'' you can’t not read this book.
“From Scratch” by Tembi Locke
$12 at time of publication
This beautifully written novel is about a woman’s journey of finding and losing the love of her life. Her healing journey is a tear-jerker and beautifully heartfelt. There are different generations of women’s perspectives in this book, which is neat.
“The Light We Lost” by Jill Santopolo
$9 at time of publication
This novel focuses on Lucy and Gabe’s love story. They met at Columbia University where they had an instant connection, but life and their careers keep them apart for years. The book details their 13-year journey together, and the ending is unforgettable.
“Daisy Jones & The Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid
$20 at time of publication
This fictional novel from the Reese Witherspoon Book Club List is based on true events that happened in Daisy Jones & The Six band, particularly between lead singers Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne. There’s lots of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll, but hey, it’s based in the late sixties, what do you expect? A lot of my friends rave over this book, so I’m super stoked to check it out next time I go to the library.
Fun fact: Reese and her production company are turning this novel into a TV show with Amazon studios. More information on that here.
“The Last House Guest” by Megan Miranda
$16 at time of publication
An instant New York Times bestseller on the Reese Witherspoon Book Club List, “The Last House Guest” is a story about Sadie Loman and Avery Greer. Avery resides in Littleport, Maine and Sadie is visiting for the summer. They become best friends — until Sadie is found dead. People in the town are starting to talk, and they think Avery’s the one who killed Sadie. Avery is set on clearing her name and finding out who killed Sadie.
“The Secrets We Kept” by Laura Prescott
$21 at time of publication
I’ll never not love reading a good spy book, so I’m adding Laura Prescott’s “The Secrets We Kept” to my TBR (To Be Read) list. The story takes place during the Cold War and follows two secretaries turned spies (uh how does that even happen?). This is a thrilling, page-turning book and is also another New York Times bestseller.