Jenna Bush Hager is a champion of readers everywhere, with her hugely successful book club Read With Jenna boasting over 86,000 members on Facebook alone.
Now, the book club is entering its sixth year, and the Today star couldn’t be happier about the milestone occasion.
For the special event, Jenna invited 11 authors that she has featured in the past to join her on Today at the Plaza in New York for a book signing.
The authors included Laila Lalami, Megan Abbott, Diane Marie Brown, Essie Chambers, Nicole Dennis Benn, Nikki Erlick, Alison Espach, Lauren Grodstein, Ethan Joella, Jean Kwok and Emma Knight.
“I love all of you and some of our authors who aren’t here,” Jenna shared. “Thank you so much for coming six years in. Read with Jenna has changed my life.”
Fans and authors alike took to Instagram to congratulate her on the major achievement.
“Happy six years! So many wonderful books and authors!” said one fan, while another commented, “PROUD of you and grateful for the work you are doing to inspire!”
“Happy happy six years! We love this team that changes lives!” wrote another, while a fan added, “Thank you for inspiring us to read more.”
The club began after a “dare” from Today producer Libby Leist, according to Jenna. “She had seen two conflicting articles, one of which said that people were reading more than ever, and the other saying that my generation wasn’t reading,” the 43-year-old told Publishers Weekly.
“I was like, ‘I’m telling you, we’re reading more, and people still love to read. So let me start a book club and see how it goes.‘ And the first book, The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin, shot up on Amazon from basically oblivion to number two.”
Jenna’s book club picks tend to skyrocket up the charts, with her co-host Craig Melvin sharing that almost two-thirds of the books became New York Times bestsellers after she featured them, while over half of them received film or TV adaptation offers.
During last year’s celebration of Read With Jenna’s fifth birthday, the blonde beauty’s mother, former First Lady Laura Bush, shared a touching video expressing how proud she was of her daughter.
“By sharing your favorite books, you’re inspiring more Americans to fall in love with reading,” she said. “So here’s to another five years of happy reading for you and all the Today show viewers. Love you.”
Jenna has since ventured into the publishing industry and debuted her new imprint with Random House in January.
The morning show star will help to find emerging talent and encourage more people to read across America.
“I‘ve worked with authors and agents, with readers, with indie bookstore owners,” she said on Today. “I’ve made all these relationships as we’ve tried to build the book club that I think would be amazing to utilize to help with these writers that I’m publishing.”
Her imprint, Thousand Voices, has several books lined up for a 2026 release, with one dropping in October 2025: Conform by Ariel Sullivan.
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