Celebrity book recommendations you'll want to know about

Recommended by: Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman is the well-read owner of @natsbookclub on Instagram, and is in awe of Kaveh Akbar's writing, appreciating how Martyr! "vibrates with love of life, beauty and language". In this debut novel, Cyrus Shams has been grappling with his mother's death. Now, newly sober, he is set to learn the truth of her life. When an encounter with a dying artist leads Cyrus towards the mysteries of his past – an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as an Angel of Death, a haunting work of art by an exiled painter – he finds himself once again caught up in the story of his mother, who may not have been who or what she seemed. As Cyrus searches for meaning in the scattered clues of his life, a final revelation transforms everything he thought he knew. . .

Recommended by: Her Majesty the Queen

Peter James is officially one of Her Majesty's favourite crime writers, and has featured on The Queen's Reading Room Podcast, a place for you to be inspired by the bookish confessions of global literary heroes. He discusses the books that kept him company as a child and those that made him want to become a writer in the first place, his passion for opening lines and his love of Graham Greene. Peter's latest novel, They Thought I Was Dead: Sandy's Story, is a gripping narrative that finally reveals the truth behind the disappearance of Superintendent Roy Grace's wife.

Recommended by: Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey recommends you read Long Island, the long-awaited sequel to Colm Tóibín's prize-winning, bestselling novel Brooklyn. In this instant New York Times bestseller, we reunite with Eilis Fiorello in New York, happily settled with her family, until a stranger's visit prompts a soul-searching journey back to Ireland. Featured as one of Oprah's Book Club picks for 2024, who's described it as a "rollercoaster of emotions", Long Island is an exquisite, exhilarating masterpiece that asks whether it is possible to truly return to the past and renew a great love that seemed gone forever.

Recommended by: Her Majesty the Queen

Kate Mosse, a friend of The Queen's Reading Room, celebrated historical novelist and founder of the Women's Prize for Fiction has also joined her Majesty the Queen on the podcast this year. Her most recent novel, The Ghost Ship, is the third volume in the enthralling and epic series, The Joubert Family Chronicles. Set on the Barbary Coast in 1621, a mysterious vessel floats silently on the water – its hull splintered and its sails tattered and burnt. For months the Ghost Ship has hunted pirates to liberate enslaved prisoners. Now it, too, finds itself hunted. But the ship’s crew hides a secret, and the stakes could not be higher.

Recommended by: Dua Lipa and Natalie Portman

Winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and favourited by both Natalie Portman and Dua Lipa's respective book clubs, Trust is a sweeping puzzle of a novel about power, greed, love and a search for the truth that begins in 1920s New York.

A Wall Street tycoon takes a young woman as his wife. Together, they rise to the top in an age of excess and speculation. Now a novelist is threatening to reveal the secrets behind their marriage. Who will have the final word in their story of greed, love and betrayal? Composed of four competing versions of this deceptive tale, making Dua Lipa's head spin (see her Instagram review below), Hernan Diaz's novel brings us on a quest for truth while confronting the lies that often live buried in the human heart.

Recommended by: Claudia Jessie

Promising to be cosy, heartwarming and good company, it seems like Legends and Lattes has had the desired effect on our celebrity readers as Bridgerton Star Claudia Jessie says reading Travis Baldree's Legends and Lattes was like having a big hug. In this high-fantasy, low-stakes story, after decades of adventuring, Viv the orc barbarian is finally hanging up her sword for good. Now she sets her sights on a new dream – for she plans to open the first coffee shop in the city of Thune. Even though no one there knows what coffee actually is. . .

Recommended by: Gwyneth Paltrow, Barack Obama

Hanya Yanagihara’s novel A Little Life is an undisputed literary phenomenon, beloved by celebrities such as Dua Lipa and Antoni Porowski (author of Antoni in the Kitchen and Let's Do Dinner). But her next novel also has celebrities talking, especially in Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop offices. To Paradise is a bold, brilliant novel telling three different stories spanning across three centuries in an alternative version of American history. Prepare yourself for this work of emotional genius about lovers, family, loss and the elusive promise of utopia. One of the most talked about books in 2022, To Paradise also made its way onto Barack Obama’s list of essential summer reading.

Recommended by: Barack Obama

What could be better than a recommendation from the much-loved and respected former President of the United States, Barack Obama? Well, the book he’s recommending of course, Emily St. John Mandel's Sea of Tranquility. Included in his essential summer reading list, this is a story of time travel, parallel worlds and endless possibilities. Told in shifting timelines across four centuries, it follows the perspectives of multiple characters who have experienced anomalies in time. A beautiful and poignant introduction to the sci-fi genre, we’re sure that you’ll find this book as worthy a read as Barack Obama did.

Recommended by: Emma Roberts

Alongside her bestie Karah Preiss, Emma Roberts channels her love of books through their Belletrist book club. She deemed Luster good enough to feature on her own Instagram feed, a book that was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, meaning our Wild Child really does have good literary taste. Edie, a young Black woman is trying to be seen, all whilst trying to find herself and survive her dead-end job in an all-white office. After reading this brutally funny book, you should thank Emma Roberts for the recommendation that you won’t be able to put down.

Recommended by: Britney Spears

One of the most iconic entertainers in pop history, Britney Spears, is a huge fan of author Danielle Steel, describing her books as “classic in every way”.  One book in particular grabbed her attention, Invisible. Antonia Adams has discovered the safety in being invisible, until she is offered the opportunity to be a movie star. Thinking that it will lead to her true dream of becoming a filmmaker, she has to expose herself in ways she never has before, whilst navigating the struggle to stay true to herself. A story of being in the spotlight, and the struggles that come with it, is it any wonder this page-turning read resonated so deeply with Britney Spears?