Jenna Hegre

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Jenna Hegre
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You can count on Jenna Bush Hager to recommend a book that you won't be able to put down. Since her book club, Read With Jenna, launched in March 2019, Bush Hager has championed 31 reads to date, each ranging in author and genre, but sharing the same warmth.
Generally speaking, Read with Jenna's picks are well-written contemporary novels with propulsive plots. Hager explained her taste in an interview with Good Housekeeping . "No matter what, you have to have a great, compulsively readable plot. Something where you cannot wait to figure out what's going to happen. And, obviously, I was an English major, so it has to be beautifully well-written," she said.
If you head to the TODAY Show 's website for more information about Read With Jenna, you can also find Bush Hager's interviews with authors , alongside thought-provoking questions to guide your book club discussions or solo reads. Bush Hager also encourages posting your reading journey with the hashtag #ReadWithJenna.
Much like Oprah, who launched her book club in 1996, Bush Hager has made it her mission to connect people through great books. After an interview on the TODAY Show during Oprah's 2020 Vision wellness tour with WW , the two candidly gushed about their book clubs—and dissuaded any notion of competition between the two.
"I do not feel there's competition," Oprah says in the clip. Hager agreed, saying she told Reese Witherspoon, who also has a successful book club , the same thing. "We are not competing!" Then, the women each turned to the camera and said "We love to read!" to emphasize their point.
Their shared enthusiasm for reading demonstrates something that all book lovers know to be true: Being a book-lover means you're already part of a community . Whether you join Oprah's Book Club or Read With Jenna, you will instantly connect with even more people who love reading, too.
Here are the 31 books selected for Jenna Bush Hager's book club list so far, beginning with her most recent pick, Hell of a Book by James Mott .
For her 31st book club pick, Bush Hager selected a read with a clever title. She calls Hell of a Book by Jason Mott "original, heartbreaking, poignant and in moments, hilarious." The novel features two parallel storylines. In one, an unnamed Black author travels America on tour, who is haunted by visions of a child who was killed in an act of police violence. In the other, a young Black boy named Soot grows up in the South.
Mott is a poet and the author of four books, including The Wonder of All Things and The Returned . He said the novel is inspired by his own experiences on book tour—and beyond. Hell of a Book explores the cost of racism for the individual spirit, and for the nation. "Writing is very much the place where I go to kind of sort out my emotional and mental stressors," Mott told TODAY .
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
From the author of Daisy Jones and the Six (soon to be a show ) and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo comes another pop culture-steeped novel destined to become one of the summer's "it" beach reads. Malibu Rising centers on close-knit siblings on the day of a party that will change all of their lives.
"I felt like Malibu Rising was a compulsively fun read that anybody would want to throw in their beach bag," Bush Hager said. "I think after the year we’ve had, everybody is looking forward to summer and this book felt like the perfect kick-off."
Great Circle intertwines the stories of two women, each trying to chart her own course. Born in 1914, Marion Graves falls in love with aviation the instant a plane flies overhead, and strives to become a pilot. A center later, the actress Hadley Baxter signs on to play Marion on her final voyage in a feature film.
Bush Hager called Great Circle one of the most ambitious novels her book club has ever highlighted. "Now, more than ever, I love reading about women who chart their own courses," she said. "As a mom of two little girls and a young boy , I believe it is important to highlight fictional and nonfictional stories of fierce, independent women who don’t conform to what society says we need to be."
Good Company by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
Flora Mancini thinks she has the facts of her life straight. Then, she finds an envelope containing the wedding ring that her husband had allegedly lost five years ago. The discovery prompts her to reassess her marriage, and her relationship with her best friend, Margo, who is somehow involved in this very personal matter (no spoilers).
Good Company is by the same author as the sweeping, tender family drama The Nest , so expect an equally immersive page-turner about changing relationship dynamics.
"It’s in some ways a coming-of-age book for a woman that is about to become an empty nester. We will always evolve and change. Watching this character do that will feel very relatable for a lot of different women," Bush Hager told TODAY .
What's Mine and Yours by Naima Coster
Bush Hager described Naima Coster's What's Mine and Yours as a "sweeping, fresh new novel ," one that especially resonated with her as a mother.
What's Mine and Yours looks at what happens to a community in the Piedmont region of North Carolina after an initiative brings students from a predominantly Black school district on the east side of town to the wealthier, predominantly white schools on the west side. Mothers Lacey Mae and Jade find themselves on opposite sides of a heated debate.
"As a mother myself, I related to the mothers' fierce love for their children even when they made mistakes," Bush Hager said. "Nobody understands us like our families, even when imperfect."
In Send For Me , a young Jewish woman in pre-WWII Germany faces a difficult decision. She's given the opportunity to move to the United States with her husband and daughter—but in doing so, must leave her parents behind.
Send For Me was inspired by author Lauren Fox's own family history. Speaking to TODAY , Fox revealed that she found a box of letters exchanged between her great-grandmother in Germany and her grandmother in Milwaukee, where she had moved. Similarly, Clare, one of the novel's main characters, discovers a trove of her grandmother's correspondences and sets off on a journey through her family tree.
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah has a special place in Jenna's Book Club lore. According to TODAY , Hannah's sweeping historical fiction book set in Texas during the Great Depression is the first book that readers helped her pick.
The Four Winds is Hannah's 24th novel—others include The Nightingale and Firefly Lane , which is now a Netflix series . Speaking to TODAY , Hannah named Elsa Wolcott her "favorite character" of all of her books. She described Elsa as a woman with low self-esteem who, through the hardship of supporting her family during the Dust Bowl, grows into her own power. "We can learn so much from our own history. I really think that the message of The Four Winds t oday, in this moment, is a reminder of the strength of the human spirit and our ability to survive," Hannah said.
Black Buck is a satirical sendup of corporate culture as experienced through the eyes of a Black man—and it had Jenna Bush Hager "underlining constantly." The novel follows Darren, a 22-year-old college grad plucked from his Starbucks job for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to work at a trendy startup. Beyond all the ping pong tables and beer on tap, though, are uncomfortable truths.
When introducing the book, Bush Hager raved about debut novelist Mateo Askaripour. "[His] voice is so fresh. The writing is so intimate. At moments, it's satirical and funny and then at moments, it's heartbreaking," she said.
Speaking to TODAY , Askaripour revealed that the novel was informed by his own experiences working in sales. "I was sort of at creative rock bottom," said Askaripour. "It was that do-or-die mentality that allowed me to say, 'Let me not shy away from the themes of my life that I had been avoiding about race, sales, startups and things that were so close to my life for years, that I didn’t think I could effectively write about.'" We're happy he didn't shy away—because Black Buck marks the start of an unforgettable literary career.
The Bluest Eye was an Oprah's Book Club pick in 2000, as were several other books by Morrison. In an Instagram tribute after the author's death, Oprah called Morrison "our conscience, our seer, our truth-teller." Later, in an interview with Variety , she said, "For me, there is no one else."
Now, Bush Hager is following in Oprah's footsteps by picking The Bluest Eye for the book's 50th anniversary. "It was the first book that really opened my eyes to how literature can create understanding and take you into worlds you don’t know," Bush Hager wrote about The Bluest Eye , which follows a young Black girl named Pecola who wishes, desperately, for blue eyes.
"If you are reading for the first time, I hope you marvel at the beauty of Toni Morrison’s writing the way I did when I first picked up a copy. 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 said.
White Ivy is a gripping character study. Ivy, the book's protagonist, is a proud master of deceit. She lies, and she's good at it. Narrating the book in first person, Ivy explains how she came to be a social climber. Long story short? The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Ivy would do anything to make it in America.
If books like The Talented Mr. Ripley or Gone Girl are your thing, then you'll love White Ivy . "I’m really drawn to stories with anti-hero protagonists," Yang told TODAY . "When I knew that I wanted to create that kind of character, the first line of the book came to me."
And over at OprahMag.com, read an essay by the book's author, Susie Yang , about how her own childhood experiences informed the plot of White Ivy .
Read Leave the World Behind before it gets spoiled for you. Rumaan Alam's third book is a blisteringly timely thriller about two families caught in the middle of a rapidly changing world.
The book opens when Amanda and Clay take their two children for an idyllic getaway at a vacation rental. Not long into their trip, an elderly Black announces that they're the owners of the house. G.H. Washington and his wife, Rose, explain that they were forced to flee Manhattan after an inexplicable blackout. Now, the strangers all have to face the new world, and its new rules, together.
"It is a suspense at its core, but to call it only a thriller discredits the incredible detail and intimacy with which the author writes about and understands family dynamics and race," Jenna told TODAY , adding that people should read this book "with the lights on."
Transcendent Kingdom is the story of what happens to a family after they move from Ghana to Alabama—the turns and tragedies that befall them, and the strivings and dreams that keep them going.
The book is narrated by Gifty, a Ph.D. student at Stanford University, researching the human brain. Her academic passion may be the result of personal experience: Back home, her family is consumed by the heroin epidemic, depression, and a quest to make sense of their suffering.
The author, Yaa Gyasi, was inspired by a friend of hers who was a neuroscience student. "She used to explain it to me in layman's terms, of addiction and depression, so I wondered if it would be possible to fashion a novel around this question of a woman who is doing this research while experiencing the things that she researches in her own life," Gyasi told TODAY .
Bush Hager thinks of this book as a conversation starter. "The fact that this book tackles the themes of mental health and race at this moment in our culture, I think will lead our book club to have some really important conversations," she told TODAY .
How can a collection of essays be so funny, so emotionally wise, and so politically meaningful all at once? We don't know–but we're "here for it." With his collection Here For It, Elle humor columnist R. Eric Thomas writes essays about his life and upbringing as a Black, queer man in America.
Speaking to TODAY , Bush Hager revealed that the book was chosen in a collaboration with Noëlle Santos , owner of The Lit. Bar , Bronx's only independent bookstore . " I knew [Santos] would have ideas on books that we can read as a club that would help us open our minds," she said.
If your social life has been affected by quarantining, Thomas hopes his book—written in a humorous, conversational tone—will fill the void. "The book is, I hope, like a conversation with a good friend at brunch, that’s the way I always imagined it," Thomas told TODAY . "I haven’t been to brunch in like four months so I think a lot of people are like, 'If I can’t be out in the world, at least we get to have this conversation in book form.'"
Grace Turner is a former Hollywood star, now living in her parents' home. She left behind her glamorous life. Why? Because for eight years, she was abused by a director—the same man who helped pave the road to fame.
The resurgence of the #MeToo movement began with a wave of Hollywood actresses sharing their experiences with sexual misconduct. Narrated in first person, The Comeback puts an intimate, searing face on the headline-making quandary.
"I really wanted to focus on the aftermath of trauma as opposed to the actual incident itself, and I wanted to show how that can affect someone—their relationship with everyone in their life, their friendships, their career—that feeling of numbness or being frozen," Berman told TODAY .
Can a mother and her nanny become friends? In Friends and Strangers , J. Courtney Sullivan explores the dynamic between two women in very different life stages, who are pulled to each other nonetheless. Sullivan drew from her own work experience as a nanny.
“I’ve been that young woman wondering what the future holds and how she’s going to pay off her student loans, and I’ve been the middle-aged mom doling out advice to babysitters in their 20s while I still am totally unsure how to handle aspects of my own life,” Sullivan told TODAY .
Elisabeth and Sam's friendship raises questions of class and privilege, and just how far an emotional bond can go in bridging divides.
A Burning , Megha Majumdar's taut, India-set thriller is the kind of book that will glue you to the page, even as it devastates you. The story follows three characters as their lives become intertwined in the wake of tragedy. At the center of it all is Jivan, an English tutor from the slums wrongly accused of orchestrating a train bombing in Bengal after a Facebook post, gone awry.
Bush Hager thinks this current moment calls for reading challenging books like A Burning , as well as escapist reads. "I think books are a tool for empathy," she said on TODAY . "And now when we are stuck at home—and I definitely won’t be traveling to India this summer—this is a tool for all of us to learn more about the plight of people all over the world."
Majumdar's debut novel was also recommended by Oprah , as part of a list of books to transport you this summer. For a sneak peek, check out an excerpt .
All Adults Here , the fifth novel by author and Brooklyn bookseller Emma Straub, is the juicy and emotionally intelligent family saga you—and Bush Hager—have been waiting for. "I loved it because I thought, on one hand, it was light and funny," Bush Hager told TODAY . "On the other, Emma Straub has the capability of writing in a way that explores these themes that are important and interesting."
The book begins when Cecelia Strick moves in with her grandmother, Astrid. Meanwhile, Astrid is caught up in her three children's drama, as well as her own. Fundamentally, All Adults Here is about the cycle of family life. Kids turn into parents, while still feeling much like kids themselves.
"It’s not easy to feel like you are the person who is supposed to be a grown-up and supposed to be in charge and still feel like a kid," Straub told TODAY. "Then also, your parents are continuing to evolve in ways that you don’t feel like you are ready for.”
Which leads us to the title, All Adults Here . "It is sort of, in my opinion, ironic because in many parts the adults in this novel are not acting very much like adults," Bush Hager said.
Valentine might just be the perfect book to read right now: It's about a how a community in a small Texas town bands together (and falls apart) following a tragedy.
"It’s not an easy book, and in a lot of ways, it’s not a happy book, but ultimately I see it as a novel of hope in the midst of a terrible crisis and about the ferocity of these women’s spirits," author Elizabeth Wetmore told TODAY .
Specifically, 14-year-old Gloria Ramírez is attacked on a nearby oil field. Through alternating perspectives, Valentine unfurls what happened, and its effect on the people involved.
Hager was first drawn to Valentine because of its West Texas setting, but she loved it because of the characters. "Elizabeth really developed these characters that I felt like I knew," Hager told TODAY . "I found myself missing them when the story was over. The women are complicated. They are a lot of things at once."
If you've ever desperately missed a loved one, then this elegant novel will strike you to the core. Though there's something in Writers & Lovers , the story of a young writer trying to find her footing, that will resonate with everyone.
The book centers on Casey, a New England woman who spends her days waitressing so that she can spend her morning writers. King, author of Euphoria , expertly renders the love triangle in which Casey finds herself. Through the book is Casey's perpetual ache: If only my mom were still beside me.
“I think after she loses somebody that she loves so very much, she has to decide what her priorities are and how she is going to grow," Hager told TODAY .
Writers & Lovers , to Hager, is an unusual love story. "When you are done with this book, what you find is that as long as you are true to yourself and you really understand what makes you happy, that is the true love story,” said Hager.
Adunni knows what she wants, and she knows what other people want from her. Unfortunately, the two are diametrically are opposed. Living in Nigeria with a single father, 14-year-old Adunni dreams of an education. Her father, however, sells her to be a third wife to an old and unappealing man.
Unbelievably, that's just the start of Adunni's troubles. She's also forced to take a job as a domestic servant in a toxic household, because the last servant disappeared. ( Hmmmm ...) But this is not the story of how Adunni withered—it's about how she found her wings.
"While reading, there were times when I felt like Adunni was whispering, singing and in parts, crying to me," Hager told TODAY .
The Girl With the Louding Voice is an unforgettable debut that will have you standing up and cheering by the end. Hager called it the "most hopeful story" she read this year.
At the start of Dear Edward , 191 people board a plane leaving Newark airport—and 12-year-old Edward Adler is the only survivor. Dear Edward is told in alternating timelines, delving into the passengers' last hours, plus Edward's life after the crash.
Napolitano, an author of two previous novels and the editor of One Story literary magazine, got the n
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