Michelle Obama hosted a really exclusive book club and all your faves were there

Michelle Obama hosted a book club for her new memoir Becoming featuring some of the most influential and inspiring black women in the country. This “dream book club” was invite only and it was highly exclusive, with the guest list including powerhouse producer Shonda Rhimes, Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Verna Williams, dean at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.

“It went quickly, the conversation we had that day. But it was a vivid and visceral afternoon, a table full of women having a shared experience,” said Rhimes, the creator of Shondaland and hits like Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal.

Rhimes recalled receiving a call earlier in the fall for an “intimate book discussion” with Obama. “Did I want to read Mrs. Obama’s book before anyone else? And then did I want to sit around, eat cookies and talk to Mrs. Obama about it?” Rhimes wrote. “Let me think….’Why, yes. Yes, I did.’ YES. YES! I DID!”

Many people shared her enthusiasm. Obama’s memoir, which was published Tuesday, instantly rose to the top of Amazon’s bestseller list. But here’s a look at the epic circle of poets, scholars, authors and legal minds who got to preview the former first lady’s work:

• Michelle Norris, author and former NPR host

• Erica Dunbar, professor at Rutger’s University and author

• Farah Griffin, professor of African-American literature at Columbia University

• Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage, winner of the National Book Award

• Jacqueline Woodson, author of children’s books

• Elizabeth Alexander, American poet, essayist and playwright

• Natasha Tretheway, former United States Poet Laureate

• Verna Williams, Interim Dean at University of Cincinnati College of Law

• Shonda Rhimes, producer, author and founder of Shondaland

• Sherrilyn Ifill, president of NAACP Legal Defense Fund

• Martha Jones, professor at Johns Hopkins University and author of Birthright Citizens

Read Shonda Rhimes’ full book review here.