Beyond singing, Dua Lipa also loves reading books; here are 5 interesting titles from her bookshelf

When ‘Houdini’ singer Dua Lipa isn’t performing, she’s quietly reading. We share five cool titles from her bookshelf!

With her third concert in the city in November 2024, multiple Grammy Award-winner and Albanian British singer-songwriter Dua Lipa had us under her spell. Few people know that she also runs a podcast called Dua Lipa: At Your Service, and a book club, Service95. The pop star curates a book each month and invites authors for an in-depth conversation about it.

Dua Lipa and author Paul Murray in conversation. PICS COURTESY/YOUTUBE; WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

They reflect on incidents or triggers that led to the writing of their books and the forms that these narratives ultimately came to take. For instance, Ocean Vuong shares why he chose a fragmentary, epistolary style for his novel. They also discuss how literature allows space and an opportunity for writers and readers to inquire into questions that don’t find easy answers.  

1. The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

The songstress’ selection for this month is the Booker-shortlisted novel about a prosperous family living in Ireland, undergoing financial distress after the Great Recession. Dickie Barnes has a hard time at his garage with car dealerships. Meanwhile, his wife Imelda decides to put her family’s possessions on sale online. Their children Cassie and PJ have troubles of their own with toxic friendships and bullies. The novel is humorous and moving in equal measure.

2. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Min Jin Lee

Divided into three sections, the novel traces the story of Korean immigrants in Japan between 1910 and 1969. While the first section takes place in Yeongdo, Korea, the second and third dive deep into the heart of Japan. The lives of Hoonie, a Korean fisherman’s only surviving son, Sunja, his daughter, and Noa and Mozasu, Sunja’s sons, take us into pachinko parlours and restaurants that serve kimchi. The book was adapted as a TV series to reflect its central theme of discrimination.

3. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Brit Bennett

Identical twins Desiree and Stella live in a fictional town in Louisiana, where residents are light-skinned African-Americans. The sisters bear witness to a lynching in their family as well as sexual abuse. Their experiences compel them to leave the town and follow different paths. The novel traces the consequences of a sister’s decision to pass off as white. They manifest not only in her life but also spill into that of the next generation.   

4. Trust by Hernan Diaz

Hernan Diaz

The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by the Argentine-American writer centres around the lives of four narrators, each narrating their story in four different formats: a novel within the novel, a historical document, a memoir, and a diary. Set during the 1920s Wall Street Crash in the United States of America aka The Great Crash, it is a story primarily about capital and power, but also about truth. The protagonists make frequent entrances and exits in each other’s narratives.

5. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

Olga Tokarczuk

The Nobel Prize awardee’s novel drags us to the rural Polish villages where men are getting murdered. Janina Duszejko tasks herself with finding who the murderer is. The novel carries echoes of William Blake’s poetry, from where the title comes from. Tokarczuk propels us towards thinking about the rights of animals and interrogating who decides the worthy survivor between animals and humans.

Available: All leading bookstores and e-stores.

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