Work · Lit Check

Recommendations from people whose taste you already admire.

Readers trusted Reese’s Book Club to help them find their next story. I helped turn that audience insight into a recurring editorial series pairing trusted voices with personal audiobook recommendations.

Emily Henry seated on the Lit Check set, surrounded by the production team and camera equipment. — Behind the scenes with Emily Henry · Photo: Carly Sharp

Belief

Taste is one of the strongest forms of storytelling.

My role

Editorial Strategy
Creative Development
Talent Strategy
Production
Partnerships

The Idea

One of the questions we heard constantly from the Reese’s Book Club community was: “What should I read after this month’s pick?” That told us something important. Readers weren’t just showing up for one book every month—they trusted RBC to help them discover what came next. So instead of building another list of recommendations, we asked: what if discovery felt more personal?

Lit Check invited trusted voices across the Hello Sunshine universe to share the audiobooks they genuinely loved—the stories they’d recommend to a friend, the genres they always came back to, and the books that stayed with them.

Great recommendations feel less like marketing—and more like a friend saying, You have to read this.

The Voices

Four readers. Four points of view.

The goal was never to make four versions of the same episode. Each person had a different relationship to books, a different kind of credibility, and a different audience to bring into the conversation. That meant letting the format flex around the person—so every episode felt personal rather than templated.

Riley Keough · Photo: Carly Sharp

Actor · Storyteller · Reader

Riley Keough

Fresh off Daisy Jones & The Six and the release of From Here to the Great Unknown, Riley felt like the perfect bridge between books and entertainment. We wanted to spotlight her as an actress, storyteller, and reader whose recommendations carried the same thoughtfulness she brings to her work.

From Here to the Great Unknown · Photo: Carly Sharp

Emily Henry · Photo: Carly Sharp

Romance author · Trusted recommender

Emily Henry

Emily has become one of the defining voices in romance, with multiple adaptations on the horizon. Readers already trust her taste, so inviting her to recommend the books she loves felt like giving book lovers even more of what they were already asking for.

I’m a romance girlie, so after the shoot, I went home and read every single book on her recommendation list.

Inside the Apple Books shelf · Photo: Carly Sharp

More voices

Two more kinds of taste.

Thriller author · Genre reader

Ashley Elston

After First Lie Wins became one of Reese’s Book Club’s biggest thrillers, Ashley was the perfect person to spotlight the genre from the inside out. Her episode leaned into the kind of recommendation only a true thriller reader can give: not just what to read, but what made the story impossible to put down.

The Pasta Queen · Memoir reader

Nadia Caterina Munno

Nadia brought a completely different reading identity into the series. Her episode helped us reach a lifestyle audience that might not expect to discover their next audiobook through someone they already followed for food—and showed how flexible the format could be across interests and communities.

Behind the Production

Lit Check was the first project where I was deeply involved in production from beginning to end—scouting locations, sourcing photographers, managing budgets, coordinating approvals, reviewing edits, and helping shape each episode from brainstorm through final delivery.

The first shoot felt like figuring it out in real time. By the last, we had a rhythm: enough structure to make the production run smoothly, with enough room for each person to feel like themselves.

What I loved most was seeing how all the invisible decisions—location, styling, framing, props, questions, talent comfort—added up to the feeling of the final piece.

First shoot · New York

Jane K Lee and her creative partner taking a mirror photo while scouting The Bowery Hotel the night before Riley Keough’s shoot. — The night before Riley’s shoot at The Bowery Hotel · Personal archive

Walking the space the night before Riley’s shoot, still figuring out how every piece would come together.

Last shoot · Los Angeles

Jane K Lee and Emily Henry smiling together while reviewing a phone during filming. — Filming with Emily Henry in Los Angeles · Photo: Carly Sharp

By Emily’s shoot, the process felt natural—we knew the format well enough to stop thinking about it and focus on the story.

I love bringing a vision to life with the right people.

What Stayed With Me

Lit Check started with one simple observation: our community wanted more recommendations.

What made the series work was everything that came after—choosing the right voices, letting each person’s taste shape the format, and building a production approach that made the recommendations feel personal rather than packaged.

It reminded me how much I love working in the space between editorial instinct and creative execution—finding the idea, bringing the right people around it, and giving everyone enough room to make the work better.

Emily Henry and Jane K Lee smiling together after the Lit Check shoot. — With Emily Henry after filming · Photo: Carly Sharp