Jenna Bush Hager is overcome by emotion and admits she’s going to cry.
Standing on a stage at the W Nashville at 9 a.m., in front of navy-blue bookshelves created for this moment, Jenna reflects on six years of her book club. Or, as she puts it, “Read With Jenna is in kindergarten!”
The book club started as a dare to prove that people still read — the festival, which unfolded over May 30 and 31 and was sponsored by Nashville Music City, is proof that she was right.
Since Read With Jenna launched in 2019, Jenna has chosen 80 books and counting, with a focus on championing debut and diverse voices. Fifty books became bestsellers. And 15 of the club’s authors are in the room at the Read With Jenna Book Festival.
The first ever live gathering of Jenna’s book community and authors is the culmination of years of work. But it’s also the product of a lifetime.
Jenna, onstage, talks about the two grandmothers and mother whose love of reading molded her into the woman, and literary tastemaker, she is. She says Jenna Welch, her namesake, read to explore beyond her life in central Texas. Her grandmother Barbara Bush read for connection and enjoyed reading her granddaughters’ selections. Her mother, Laura Bush, a librarian, read for purpose.
You could say Jenna reads for all those reasons — plus, perhaps, change-making. In addition to bringing people together around her monthly picks, Jenna is starting her own imprint and having a hand in shaping books that go out into the world. (The first book, “Conform,” is out later this year.)
At the Read With Jenna Book Festival, audience members experienced the magic of books. While reading is a solitary act, Jenna believes a shared love of books, and the conversation they inspire, can bring people together.
On the morning of May 31, the room was full of about 200 readers from more than 35 states around the country — cities including Atlanta, Charleston, Chicago, Huntsville, Alabama and of course, Nashville.
Many attendees were friends, like an Elin Hilderbrand-loving duo who met in high school and Amy Sixbey and Cindy Hedges, who met at a yarn store they later co-owned. (Hedges and Sixbey, who are in multiple book clubs each, give advice for running one: Meet once a month and "read the book.")
Another woman gave an instant “yes” the moment her sister sent the event’s registration link.
Multiple sets of mothers and daughters at the festival said reading keeps them together even as their lives diverge. "We communicate through the books we read," Patti Grote of Chicago said, next to her grown daughter. "Bad on Paper" cohost and novelist Olivia Muenter got her mom tickets for Mother's Day.
Many came by themselves, like one woman who wore Read With Jenna merch she hand-bedazzled for the event — a jean jacket for the VIP event on Friday and another T-shirt for Saturday’s mainstage. When a 20-year-old couldn't find a friend to join her, she drove by herself.
The day began around 8 a.m. with breakfast and mingling. On the sunny terraces of the W Nashville overlooking Nashville's Gulch district, longtime friends sat side-by-side with solo travelers.
Before events started, and throughout the day, attendees stopped by the many vendors, picking charms to feature on bracelets from local store Charm Bar (cowboy hats and books were popular options), decorating book-shaped cookies from Butterfly Bakehouse, creating a bouquet from Amelia's Flowers, assembling bags of children's books for local libraries and getting their tarot cards read by Sarah Jane Chapman. They also perused pop-ups — Parnassus Books, the record store Groove and Shop TODAY.
The itinerary was stacked enough to impress a preteen. When Jenna called her eldest daughter Mila to describe the day, Mila responded, “Jenna, are you trying to make me jealous?”
Following breakfast came what could only be called a literary marathon. Stepping through the secret door in the bookcase were two bestselling authors, whose chats with Jenna will eventually feature on the Open Book with Jenna podcast.
First, Jenna spoke to “Tom Lake” author Ann Patchett about the nun who taught her to read, running a bookstore in Nashville and why she doesn’t have a cell phone.
Jenna also marveled at the full circle moment their conversation represented: At 18, Jenna and her twin Barbara Bush said Donna Tartt and Patchett were their favorite authors — and now, she was sitting on stage with Patchett. (Patchett said she and Tartt were chuffed by the Bush twins' answer at the time).
From the back of the room, the next speaker, Elin Hilderbrand looked on wearing a white dress that contrasted with her perpetual Nantucket tan. Hilderbrand took the stage after Patchett to discuss whether she’s really retiring, writing with her daughter and how, after 25 years, she’s ushering in a new era: Adaptations.
She and Jenna also shared some news: They are collaborating on a screen project — but, as Jenna said, "We can't share much." Hilderbrand's fans (“Hilderbabes," as they're called), will be delighted but not surprised to know that throughout the day of the festival, the best-selling author took breaks out by the pool.
From there, attendees shuffled between the day’s activities. There were interactive book club sessions with Read With Jenna authors Amity Gaige (“Heartwood”), Emma Straub (“All Adults Here”) and Christina Henriquez (“The Great Divide”), asking questions about the novels and answering questions about how they were personally moved.
Later came a chance to tap into their creative sides in workshops led by novelist Jessica Soffer (“This Is a Love Story”) and songwriter Eric Paslay.
After lunch, comedian Tiffany Haddish took the mainstage with Jenna. Haddish got deep, fast, about how her past trauma informs her comedy, and her revelations about her childhood in the foster care system inspired an attendee to share her own story.
One undeniable highlight came when Haddish “cursed” the audience with joy — “I curse you with all the joy and abundance and success you can handle. You deserve to be happy.” Another unplanned moment came when she and Paslay collaborated on a moving song about her.
The day rounded out with a celebration of what makes Read With Jenna so special: Its authors (who Jenna calls rock stars).
Jenna moderated a panel with multiple Read With Jenna authors (Coco Mellors, Rumaan Alam, Jean Kwok, Alison Espach, and Chris Whitaker, plus a cameo from Mellors’ son, Indigo). Then, lines formed for signings with all the authors in attendance, a list that included Cara Wall, Diane Marie Brown and Tara Stringfellow, too.
Almost 11 hours after the Read With Jenna Book Festival started at 8 a.m., the crowd gathered to listen to singer Blessing Offor perform. (Holly Williams performed with her husband during the VIP event — it's Music City, after all).
Jenna, overcome yet again, thanked attendees — and made, if not a firm promise, then the hope of one.
“Maybe we’ll make this an annual pilgrimage. Until then I hope you connect with us," she said.
