British singer Dua Lipa has been running her own book club for three years now, actively promoting reading among her audience. For a fresh interview with Vanity Fair, she met with seven writers whose books she had read through her club and spoke in detail about how she manages to fit reading into her busy schedule. In the article, the singer shared her favorite authors, literary selection principles, and explained why it is important for her not to put the author in the position of endlessly repeating the same questions.
Service95 Book Club: How It Works
Dua Lipa has her own cultural platform, Service95, where she regularly posts personal recommendations, essays, and collections on film, music, health, wellness, and social initiatives. It was within this platform in 2023 that the Service95 Book Club was launched—a book club for which the singer chooses a book to read every month and records a special podcast with the author. According to Lipa, the podcast format grew out of personal experience: “I’ve done so many interviews, and I’ve had to answer the same question over and over again. So I don’t want to put an author in that same position. It’s one of my favorite things; I get so much from these conversations.”
22 Books a Year and 'Careless People' by Sarah Wynn-Williams
Dua Lipa calls herself an avid reader: she has already managed to read 22 books this year. Among the most recent is 'Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism' by Sarah Wynn-Williams. The memoirist was a global policy director at Facebook, and in the book, she spoke candidly about the company’s internal processes: the flaws in corporate culture, Facebook’s role in Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, and other topics she considers important for a wide audience.
Seven Writers in the Vanity Fair Frame
For the Vanity Fair feature, Dua Lipa met with seven of her favorite writers: Douglas Stuart, Brit Bennett, Patti Smith, Roxane Gay, Jennifer Clement, Patrick Radden Keefe, and Min Jin Lee. All these authors' books were read in the singer's book club at her personal recommendation. In shots from the interview, Lipa poses with a stack of books, including 'Widow Basquiat,' Douglas Stuart's 'Shuggie Bain,' Min Jin Lee's 'Pachinko,' Brit Bennett's 'The Vanishing Half,' and Roxane Gay's 'Bad Feminist.'
Writers on the Singer: “She Pushes You to Lean In”
The writers whose books have been included in the club respond positively to Lipa's efforts to promote reading. Douglas Stuart, author of the novel 'Shuggie Bain,' noted that the singer does not choose the easiest books, but, on the contrary, encourages readers to challenge themselves. “She says: ‘Read this difficult book, this banned book, and see what they want to deny you, see what you can achieve, and have access to what will make you more powerful!’” Vanity Fair reports.
Reading on the Go: A Habit That Sticks
As to how Lipa manages to find time to read, she was straightforward: she most often reads while traveling. “I can read in the car; I don’t get motion sick,” the singer says. According to her, she always keeps a book in her purse, which allows her to fill any free moment of the day. This habit, by her own admission, has become one of the few sustainable rituals in a schedule where no two days are the same for weeks on end.
