The Most Iconic Reese's Book Club Picks That Everyone Had To Get Their Hands On

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Since its 2017 launch, Reese's Book Club, has been responsible for highlighting some amazing books. While every selection that makes it on Witherspoon's monthly list has earned its place there, there are some that have no doubt stood out beyond the others when it comes to cultural impact. Some titles, like "Big Little Lies," get transformed into movies or TV shows. Others garner cult followings of their own, with a massive media presence and record sales. Of course, these books also receive strong reviews and high star ratings, but the iconic status goes beyond that. For instance, the highest rated reads from Reese's Book Club, according to reviews, are actually different books from this iconic list, so we're looking beyond reviews. We're looking at books that had a massive, cultural impact. 

Witherspoon's book club has proven remarkably influential. Witherspoon actually does read all of the books that make it onto her book club's picks, and while she has a healthy variety of genres, it's clear that Witherspoon has a soft spot for thrillers and mysteries, because these genres tend to dominate. While these certainly make for addictive reads, the iconic books from Reese's Book Club actually have a much wider range in genre. 

Taylor Jenkins Reid's "Daisy Jones & The Six" was first published in March 2019, and that same month, it earned the pick of the month on Reese's Book Club list. The novel tells the story of a popular band in the 1970s, focusing on the lead singer and star of the band, Daisy. Billy Dunne, the head of the band The Six, has a fraught relationship with the reckless Daisy, and the band ends up breaking up at the height of their popularity. The book is exciting and tumultuous and riveting, so it's no surprise that it became a national bestseller and sold over two million copies. It was named one of the best books of the year by countless news sites. While the novel was blowing up, it was really Reese Witherspoon who helped launch this novel into its iconic status. 

Getting chosen for a monthly pick on her book club is a surefire way to reach success, but Witherspoon didn't stop there. Witherspoon's production company, Hello Sunshine, played an instrumental role in adapting the novel into a TV series for Prime Video. Witherspoon was a producer on the show, and the TV adaptation ended up earning two Emmy awards and several more nominations. 

"This book has it all," Reese Witherspoon said of Delia Owens' "Where the Crawdads Sing." She went on, "This book has romance, it has a murder mystery, it has nature and beauty, and a love triangle." Witherspoon raved about the combination of the natural setting and the lush, intriguing marshlands with the thrilling complications of the murder story. "It is so engrossing, this novel," Witherspoon went on, "I hope you pick it up." Witherspoon chose Owen's exciting novel for her September 2018 Reese Book Club pick. 

The book went on to gain global fame. It sold over 18 million copies and became a New York Times bestseller. Witherspoon wasn't done with her impact. Her production company, Hello Sunshine, helped adapt the novel into a movie, and Witherspoon herself functioned as one of the film's producers. Clearly, Witherspoon was hooked by the touching story of the "Marsh Girl," or Kya Clark, a reclusive young women who lived alone in the marshes along North Carolina's coast in the late 1960s. A popular young man in the town, Chase Andrews, is found dead and the townspeople suspect Clark of committing the murder. But it's not that simple, and Owens takes her readers on a wild quest through the stunning backdrop of the secretive, mysterious marshes. 

According to Reese Witherspoon, one of the best themes in Celeste Ng's novel "Little Fires Everywhere" is the ferocity of motherhood. Witherspoon chose the novel as her September 2017 book club pick. Set in the 1990s in Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, and centers around the absolutely perfect Richardson family. The idyllic setting is disrupted when Mia Warren arrives, a single mother who brings her teenage daughter, Pearl. An adoption case thickens the plot, pitting the Warren family against the Richardson family in an exciting story of division, family ties, and the unbreakable bond between a mother and her child. 

"I loved these characters, I love what this book said about motherhood," Witherspoon said of "Little Fires Everywhere." In fact, Witherspoon loved the story so much that she produced and starred in a miniseries alongside Kerry Washington, who was also an executive producer. Witherspoon's production company, Hello Sunshine, played an influential role in getting the show made. Witherspoon played the image conscious Elena Richardson while Washington played the character, Mia Warren, and the two women put on a dazzling performance of rivalry and the complicated things mothers will do for their families. 

Tembi Locke's "From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home" is a memoir, rather than novel, that absolutely blew up both because of the exquisite story, but also because Reese Witherspoon highlighted as her book club pick for May 2019. The memoir is the story of Tembi, who met a handsome, Italian chef Saro on the streets of Florence. They fall in love, but Saro's Italian family doesn't approve of Tembi, who's a Black, American woman. They marry anyway, and begin a life together in Los Angeles, welcoming their daughter, Zoela. Saro dies of cancer, leaving Tembi and Zoela alone; the mother and daughter return to Italy after his death, and begin a new relationship with his family. 

Not only did the memoir become a New York Times bestseller, it also was turned into a TV show. Sure enough, when Witherspoon loves a book, she makes big things happen. Her production company, Hello Sunshine, helped to adapt the memoir for the screen, and in October 2022, it became a miniseries on Netflix starring Zoe Saldaña, with Witherspoon as a producer. 

While most of the books that have reached an iconic status on Reese's Book Club are novels, "Tiny Beautiful Things" is unique in that it's a nonfiction collection of columns from author Cheryl Strayed. The compiled advice column was such a popular hit that it became a Hulu Original Series starring Kathryn Hahn and Sarah Pidgeon. Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine production company was behind the project, and Witherspoon was a producer. 

The collection of best pieces from the advice column was the November 2022 pick for Reese's Book Club. Strayed wrote the columns under the name Dear Sugar, hence the very cute title. In a video with Strayed, Witherspoon explained why she loved the book so much. "This is actually one of my favorite gifts to give to young people, older people, people going through divorce, grief, loss," Witherspoon said. "There isn't a human emotion that isn't reflected." Clearly, Witherspoon felt that Strayed's unique book offered wisdom and comfort to a wide demographic of readers. And the book is so transcendent, that it ended up becoming a delight to viewers, too.