Prompt 8: Celebrity Book Clubs

 

Dear Reese Witherspoon,

            I read August's suggestion for your book club, The Last House Guest, by Megan Miranda.  I love the books.  I just want to say thank you for having a Reese's Book Club.   One is that it is a great way to find new material on authors that I may have missed in a crowded field of new books.  You can turn an unknown author into an international best-seller, which is a great accomplishment. Your book club is also great for books to find their way onto the Movie Theater or television, which increases the audience and can create more awareness of the screenplay or an author’s book.   

            I am a feminist, and I am proud that you support women. Your production company, Hello Sunshine, is crucial because it focuses on female protagonists and writers.  “For Hello Sunshine CEO Sarah Harden, the “heart of a book club” hearkens back to groups of women meeting and connecting with friends through their love of storytelling” (Nichols, 2019, p. 5.).  It is essential because we must celebrate women and bring awareness to women authors, especially in fields that don’t advertise books because the authors are women. For example, romance authors aren’t reviewed unless they are top sellers because romance is a woman-oriented field.  Similarly, women authors are told to change their names or go with initials that hide their gender.  For example, J.K. Rowling was told to use her initials for Harry Potter and the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith to publish Cuckoo’s Calling, a crime fiction novel.   [Hello Sunshine] “is founded on the belief that storytelling can shift culture, and if we can shift culture, we can shift the way that women get to walk through the world” (Nichols, 2019, p. 6).  

         As a reader of the books you recommend, thank you for giving these women authors a chance and bringing new authors to my awareness. And as a woman, thank you for supporting women.  

 

 

 

      

References

Nichols, M. (2019, August 16). How the new celebrity book clubs are boosting literary sales. Variety. https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/reese-witherspoon-celebrity-book-clubs-little-fires-everywhere-1203279897/