Elizabeth Banks Is Starting a Book Club Exclusively for Drinking Wine

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“If you’re a female famous person and you don’t have a book club, are you actually famous?” quips Elizabeth Banks, closing the novel in her hands and taking off her glasses. “No! Of course not.” It’s a clip from a promo video introducing her own, not-entirely-traditional venture: The Elizabeth Banks Book Club.

But, plot twist, there aren’t actually any books to read in this one—that is, apart from the made-up titles (such as Thirty-Four Things You Shouldn’t Put in a Blender, Things Horses Don’t Care About, and How to Play The Violin Despite Your IBS), which serve merely as a clever and cheeky wink, a light introduction or preface, if you will, to cut to the chase and get to the wine-drinking portion of the gathering, which is, for Banks, what book clubs are all about. “Wine and community,” she says over a Zoom call.

The wine, specifically in terms of Archer Roose. The actor-writer-producer-director (the latter two for the recent comedy thriller Cocaine Bear) joined the affordable luxury and low-intervention wine brand as chief creative officer and co-owner in 2021, and loved the disruptive nature of wine in a can. “If there’s one word that I wanted to use for me as a performer and an entertainer, I’d like to be accessible,” she says. “I like to be somebody who audiences trust to entertain them and have a good time. And to me, that’s what this wine also said.”

Established in 2015 by Marian Leitner-Waldman and her husband David, Archer Roose entered Banks’ world in 2020, and she quickly became enamored by the way it didn’t take itself too seriously. “I’ve definitely felt a little wine-shamed in my life,” she says of the culture, which she finds can be “snooty” and “inexplicably expensive.” But with Archer Roose, she says, “it felt very authentic to who I am as an accessible artist.”

The idea to then come up with a non-book book club—which gets quite meta when you really think about it—in conjunction also seemed appropriate. “Most women I know who are in book clubs also drink wine with their book club,” she says. But as many of us know, life can often get in the way of reading the requisite book. “I’ve been a bad book club member, that’s for sure,” confesses Banks, sometimes not finishing the book. She recounts how, among the personal book club she’s been in since around the millennium, there have been times when “all of us working moms were like ‘Hey, should we just read an article?! And let’s talk about the article’” instead. And, on another occasion, “we just went to my friend’s house, sat in a hot tub, talked a little bit about the book, but mostly discussed our kids and husbands and then just drank a lot of wine, and sat around in robes. So, you know, that’s the kind of book club I’m interested in,” she says, noting she has never officially had a book club along the lines of Reese Witherspoon, Oprah, or Natalie Portman. It was a eureka moment. “What if there was a book club but it was really just about the wine?”

Which, now it is. Each month, via Archer Roose’s Instagram, she will post fake book suggestions—the idea being that it’s a good excuse to have a “book club,” Elizabeth Banks style. All that said, Banks did indulge us in some suggestions for wine and book pairings, should you want to pick up that book as well as your glass. See and shop them below.

A Better Man: A (Mostly Serious) Letter to My Son by Michael Ian Black

Part memoir, part advice and words of wisdom, Michael Ian Black writes a poignant letter to his son before he goes to college that explores themes of boyhood and masculinity.

Ideal wine pairing: A more full-bodied white that offers a richer profile of lush tropical fruit, grilled pineapple, butterscotch, and vanilla.

“Chardonnay is one of the most popular white wines that women drink, and I really feel like this book should be more popular. (I’m raising two sons, after all.) It’s really about what it means to be a man in today’s world, and how to be supportive of inclusivity and vulnerability. There are lessons in this book for everybody—and I want the most popular wine to go with it because I think it should be more popular!”

Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger

A series of witty and affecting stories published in the 1950s following the acclaimed author’s classic Catcher in the Rye, and featuring “A Perfect Day for Bananafish.”

Ideal wine pairing: A rich, velvety red blend bursting with flavors of ripe plum, black cherry, and toasted cedar, with scents of dark fruit and pepper.

“I read this book years ago, but turn back to it often. It’s an old collection of short stories, and you just need to read it by a fire in the evening...and that’s obviously when you drink red wine.”

The Witches Are Coming by Lindy West

A cultural critique of misogyny during the #MeToo era from the bestselling author of the memoir Shrill. Deemed a manifesto of sorts.

Ideal wine pairing: Something crisp and dry with fruit-forward notes of pear and apple and white flowers on the nose.

“I read it when it came out. Archer Roose’s Bubbly is a celebratory wine—it’s about celebrating—and I feel that Lindy West is always all about celebrating feminism and women. I just love her sharp wit; there’s something very crisp about her.”

The Push by Ashley Audrain

A powerful and unsettling story about motherhood and confronting its deepest fears.

Ideal wine pairing: A cabernet sauvignon from Old World regions like Bordeaux, France packs herbal aroma with graphite, violets, tobacco, and black fruit flavors.

“So, it’s a beach read, there’s a mystery. I just feel like there’s so much flavor and action in the red that you know it’s rich and bold and there’s a lot going on, and that feels consistent with The Push.”

Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore

Deadlines, secrets, marriage, betrayal, family baggage, and more are set to be revealed in Maine over the course of one summer.

Ideal wine pairing: A dry, pink wine made from a red grape with flavors of red fruit, flowers, citrus, and melon.

“Frothy, fresh, fun, that’s really what this is. I read it last summer. When you’re on the beach and it’s daytime, you gotta break into the rosé.”

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