What's The Highest Rated Pick From Dua Lipa's Book Club, Service95?

Dua Lipa laid down "New Rules" for literary cool when she announced the start of her book club in 2023, inviting bibliophiles to "read the world differently." More than just a pop star pivoting to paperbacks, she set out to make global literature feel as essential as a great hook or a four-on-the-floor beat. The club, an offshoot of her editorial platform Service95, quickly became a must-follow for bookworms with taste.

"Reading a book is one of the most profound joys in life," she told Harper's Bazaar at the time of the club's launch. "It provides a form of escapism, a way to understand human connection, and helps us navigate human relationships." With each monthly pick, Lipa curates stories that expand horizons — and tastefully rewrite the idea of what a pop star's reading list can be. Every selection is a title that resonates with her — and, increasingly, with her global fanbase. The reading list so far has included everything from feminist manifestos to genre-blurring memoirs, reflecting a sensibility that, like her music, is emotionally attuned. 

But one book, as it turns out, has truly levitated above the rest. According to Goodreads, the highest-rated Service95 pick to date is "Bad Habit" by Alana S. Portero — a lyrical, courageous memoir about growing up trans in working-class Madrid. With an average rating of 4.53 across more than 25,000 reviews, it's the book club's chart topper, the literary equivalent of a platinum hit.

The Madrid of Alana S. Portero's "Bad Habits" is not the Madrid you'll find on the postcards. Álex, the protagonist, comes of age in San Blas — a peripheral barrio on the outskirts of the city, marked by poverty and addiction. Her adolescence offers few of the protections it promises elsewhere; heroin is common and resources are scarce.

Álex moves through this landscape with an interior vigilance, observing closely and drawing quiet lines between the wounded and those who wound. Humor surfaces as a dry-eyed resilience that keeps sentimentality at bay. Portero's sensitivity to injustice and refusal to flatten complexity makes "Bad Habit" an especially good fit for fans of James Baldwin (whose work not only ranks among the most tragic classic books, but has also been a favorite in Natalie Portman's book club).

In her write-up for Service95, Dua Lipa recalled her first encounter with "Bad Habit" in visceral terms: "I got actual chills when I read the opening scenes of this book," she wrote. It seemed for the pop star, this novel's lies in both its emotional immediacy, and in its portrayal of identity forged in harsh conditions. She described it as "a beautiful story of someone coming to terms with who they are in an environment that doesn't allow them to truly flourish," and praised its focus on finding connection in unlikely places — "the people who help you grow." That response wasn't hers alone. One Service95 book club reader echoed the sentiment on YouTube, writing: "I read a lot and this was one of the most touching and important books I've ever read."