Dua Lipa‘s July pick for her Service95 book club is ‘Small Boat‘ by Vincent Delecroix. The short novel fictionalises the events around the real-life drowning of 27 people in the English Channel in November 2021. Those who lost their lives – always referred to as ‘migrants’ in the press – were crowded into a sinking inflatable dinghy and made increasingly desperate calls for help – in French, in English, and in Kurdish. But no help came. Dua said: “This book challenged me profoundly. It moved me, and stayed with me. It’s not an easy read – but as our politics descend into hate-mongering and point-scoring, it’s an essential story that needs to be told.”

Follow us on X/Twitter to stay updated.

Dua Lipa‘s June pick for her Service95 book club is ‘Widow Basquiat‘ by Jennifer Clement. The non-fiction book is a chaotic love story between artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and his lover and muse, Suzanne Malouk. It follow them when they meet at 20 years old and into hustling in 1980s New York. Dua says the book is “a remarkably deep, tender and, at times, disturbing study of these two young souls – their difficult childhoods, the clubs, bars and galleries they inhabit and the forces of ambition, jealousy and excess that ultimately lead to Basquiat’s death at the age of only 27.”

Follow us on X/Twitter to stay updated.

Dua Lipa‘s April pick for her Service95 book club is ‘Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter. The novel tells the story of a young family devastated by grief when the boys’ mother suddenly dies. As the weight of their grief threatens to sink then, a human-sized cow arrives on their doorstep and moves in, announcing that he will stay there until they no longer need him. Is the giant talking cow real or a figment of their imagination? That’s the question that carries through the book but, by the end, it barely matters. Dua said: “Ever so occasionally, you pick up a book and it spins you around and turns you upside down. This is one of those books.”

Dua Lipa‘s March pick for her Service95 book club is ‘There There‘ by Tommy Orange. The novel follows twelve characters from Native communities, all travelling to the Big Oakland Powwow, who are all connected to one another in ways they may not yet realise. Dua said Orange “starts with a brief but sharp history lesson in the prologue of ‘There There,’ dispelling 400 years of slurs and stereotypes against Native people in 10 fiery pages — almost too painful to bear, but essential to start his story.”