Federal Benefits Made Simple - July 2025

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Insurance products are offered through the insurance businesses Federal Benefits Made Simple and E.A. Buck Financial Services. Federal Benefits Made Simple is an Investment Advisory practice that offers products and services through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM), a Registered Investment Advisor and Buck Wealth Strategies, a Registered Investment Advisor. Securities offered only by duly registered individuals through Madison Avenue Securities, LLC (MAS), member FINRA/SIPC. AEWM does not offer insurance products. The insurance products offered by Federal Benefits Made Simple and E.A. Buck Financial Services are not subject to Investment Advisor requirements. AEWM is not affiliated with Federal Benefits Made Simple, E.A. Buck Financial Services, or Buck Wealth Strategies. In California, we are known only as E.A. Buck Insurance Services in all solicitations of insurance. Federal Benefits Made Simple, an E.A. Buck Company is not affiliated with or endorsed by the US government or any governmental agency. E. A. Buck Financial Services, Buck Wealth Strategies, Federal Benefits Made Simple, An E.A. Buck Company are affiliated by common ownership. CMP-52555- 6/25

INSIDE THIS ISSUE page 1 The Secret to Thriving in Front of an Audience page 2 We’ve Got Your Back in Tough Times Master the Art of Connecting With Grandkids From Afar page 3 Parks You’ve Never Heard of (But Need to Visit) Garlic Parmesan Shrimp

page 4 Celebrity Book Clubs Drive Book Popularity

How Star-Powered Book Clubs Drive Bestsellers THE CELEBRITY EFFECT

Nowadays, celebrities influence countless consumer decisions, from buying cosmetics to backing charities. However, few sectors have been more deeply affected than book publishing. Celebrities from Reese Witherspoon to Dua Lipa are triggering rising sales of an increasingly varied selection of books. Publishing industry sources credit their book clubs with creating closer reading communities and more adventurous book choices among Millennial and Gen Z readers. Oprah’s Book Club kick started the trend in the 1990s, sparking millions of book sales with a single mention. In a recent shift, other celebrities are using their clout to fast-track book choices into TV adaptations. Reese Witherspoon, who rivals Oprah in her book-selection clout, turned Celeste Ng’s “Little Fires Everywhere” into a bestseller and a TV adaptation (starring herself). Actress and producer Dakota Johnson last year founded a book club called TeaTime, which is linked to her production company by the same name. The club aims to adapt book picks such as Maria-Helene Bertino’s “Beautyland” into TV shows and movies. Actress Emma Roberts’ book club, Belletrist, has produced two TV shows based on books she recommended, “First Kill” and “Tell Me Lies.” With her friend and co-organizer Karah Preiss, Roberts tends

toward indie bookstore picks with an intellectual vibe, heavy on literary and historical fiction and memoirs.

Pop star Dua Lipa calls her Service 95 platform a “cultural concierge” that includes shopping guides, travel ideas, and book picks. The singer has recommended a global potpourri of works to broaden readers’ perspectives, including Polish author Tomasz Jedrowski’s “Swimming in the Dark,” Korean-American author Michelle Zauner’s “Crying in H Mart,” and Argentine author Hernan Diaz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Trust.” Actress Emma Watson followed a different path when she launched Our Shared Shelf in 2016. The “Harry Potter” co-star’s choices tilt more toward political and personal causes, including Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues” and “Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race” by Reni Eddo-Lodge. Whatever their motive, these stars deserve credit for endearing books to a much larger audience. This can only be a good thing, especially in an era when many talented authors have a hard time paying the rent!

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