“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book,” the inimitable Groucho Marx famously mused. But his wisdom seems increasingly lost on so many of us. Bombarded from all sides with more content than we can possibly consume, we are spending more and more time streaming movies and binging TV shows and often missing out on the joy that, every reading enthusiast will eagerly tell you, lies between the pages of a book. Which is a pity, given the many benefits – from reducing stress to preventing cognitive decline – that the habit of reading can provide us.

To encourage us to spend more time in the company of books and embrace literature, several celebrities have set up online book clubs, with regular selections that can inspire someone who hopes to start a reading habit and also help bookworms choose their next pick.

Whether you are looking for some fiction to tickles your imagination or want to dive into some non-fiction to lift your spirits, here are a few celebrity book clubs that might help you get going.

Belletrist

A decade ago, actress Emma Roberts and her best friend Karah Preiss – both avid readers – used to send each other books via snail mail with little notes written on them. They eventually decided to channel their hobby into an online community by creating Belletrist, a book club that “celebrates great books and the people who read them”. Each month, the ladies choose a different work of literature, discuss the novel, and often interview the author about the story and the writing process.

Their most recent pick is last month’s selection: Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth, a “darkly funny domestic horror novel” about a woman who must deal with the vengeful ghost of her mother-in-law.

Oprah’s Book Club

The one that started it all! Oprah Winfrey has been busy turning books into bestsellers for decades. Her wildly popular club has existed in one form or another – be it a segment on her television programs or a project on social media platforms – since the mid ‘90s (minus a break after the end of her syndicated series). The chat show queen has been recommending a variety of books – mostly novels but also works of non-fiction – to her fanbase and spreading the love of literature in the process.

The O club is currently reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead, which tells the story of a boy, born to an impoverished single mother, who “braves the modern perils of foster care, child labour, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses.”

Between Two Books

Singer Florence Welch helms the Between Two Books community that was started in 2012 and quickly gained popularity among Florence and the Machine fans around the world. A decade in, the book club continues to recommend books and also features guest picks by artists, writers, musicians and directors, from Greta Gerwig and Fiona Apple to Nick Cave and Jeremy O. Harris.

At the moment, the club is reading The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, a 1959 gothic horror novel that tells the tale of a group of people who arrive at a notorious house that holds many secrets.

Reese’s Book Club

Reese Witherspoon used her love of books to revive her career by producing and often starring in several female-led literary adaptations. The actress also runs her own book club. Each month, she picks a volume she loves with a woman at the centre of the story, chats to the author who wrote it, and encourages the very considerable community she has amassed online – the club’s page has 2.4 million followers on Instagram – to read the work.

Her pick for November is Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar, a non-fiction collection by her friend Cheryl Strayed (the author of the 2012 memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail that was adapted by the actress into a 2014 film which marked her comeback following a career downturn) that puts together advice columns Strayed wrote, mostly anonymously, for online literary magazine The Rumpus.