Katie Couric's 2026 New Year's resolution is simple: "less scrolling, more reading."
Her goal is to read one book every month this year and she's holding herself accountable by reading each one alongside her 2.1 million Instagram followers -- Introducing KCBC, the newest celebrity book club.
"I love to read," Couric tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview. "And I found that keeping up with current events, scrolling social media -- doomscrolling more often than not -- was just taking too much of my headspace and not leaving me with enough time to read great books."
Couric read some true page-turners in 2025, including Signal Fires by her friend Dani Shapiro and All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley, but she didn't get through as many as she'd hoped. When she took to Instagram to gauge her followers' thoughts on starting a book club, the response was overwhelming.
The post got over 56,000 likes and almost 10,000 comments, a couple of which read: "OMG. I LOVE this idea!! Invite me. Invite me!! Xoxo." And, "YES a book club with Katie would be so fun! I am in!"
Couric is hoping KCBC (which stands for Katie Couric's Book Club, but reminds Couric of the rock band AC/DC) not only helps her accomplish her New Year's resolutions, but helps her followers do the same. "I think a lot of people are feeling they spend too much time on their phones," says Couric. "It's not just a problem for teenagers, it's a problem for adults too."
She's also hoping to use her following and influence to convince each author to partake in a live interview. Fortunately for KCBC members, Virginia Evans -- author of this year's viral breakout hit The Correspondent -- is already locked in to join Couric on Monday, Jan. 19.
"I slid into her DMs, as they say," says Couric. "I kind of gave a formal invitation to her, as if I was writing a letter, because The Correspondent is what's called an epistolary novel, which is a series of letters." Couric is happy to share that Evans was very excited to hear from her.
KCBC members can join Couric and Evans on Couric's Substack next week -- the platform she's decided to make her book club's home base.
When it comes to selecting each month's book, Couric plans to crowdsource. "I'm just going to pick one and hope that people like it and that they're excited by it," she says. And while she plans to feature mostly fiction -- and is looking forward to some "escapist reads" -- she's sure the club will "get some nonfiction choices in there too."
"I think I'm really excited to read more fiction, to be honest with you," Couric shares with PEOPLE.
After The Correspondent, Couric's second book of 2026 was Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Bell Burden. She hasn't chosen her third book yet, but is excited to share her next pick with KCBC members and get the chance to chat with the author -- and her audience.
"There's something about talking to authors who really pour their heart and soul into a book," says Couric. "I think they deserve our gratitude and appreciation, and I just love to go behind-the-scenes and understand how somebody put something together. How they were inspired; their process; what they learned from writing."