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100 Best Book Club Books of All Time (By Year)

If you’re looking for the next book for your book club, this is a list of the 100 Best Book Club Books of All Time . The books are listed in reverse chronological order (so newer books are first), based on publication year.

The list has a preference for titles released in more recent years, but includes notable titles that were published in earlier years as well that have remained firmly on book club reading lists.

Happy reading and if you think there’s something missing, feel free to drop me a line in the comments below!

For more book club reads, see the Best Book Club Books of 2021 or the Best Book Club Books of 2020 .

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Great list! I have heard a lot about some of the books from this list. I have read only 3 but I plan to add some to my TBR. Thank you for sharing!

My book group have read many of the books on this list, and I personally have read and loved even more of them – thanks for producing this list, I’ll certainly check out some of the ones I haven’t read!

I only count 91 books. Are there more to come?

This is an incredible list! I’m definitely inspired to make better use of my Kindle. Great blog and site Jennifer!

What a great list of books!! I have read quite a few on this list…24!!! And others on this list are already on my nightstand waiting impatiently. Not sure if you have a section of “If you like this book, you should read this”. I follow authors so something like that would be helpful. Either way, this list is amazing and the goal now is to read them all. Thank you! Your site is beautiful!!

What an amazing list!! We must be of like minds because I have read 24 of them…like The Handmaid’s Tale and my favorite, A Thousand Splendid Suns!! I am not sure if you have a section like “If you like this book, you should read this” but that would be really helpful. Either ways this is a great list and the goal now is to read all of them. Thank you for such a beautiful site!!!

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10 Awe-Inspiring Memoirs for Book Club

Looking for your next fall book club pick? Look no further than this list of ten thought-provoking, tear-jerking, and original memoirs. Most memoirs are perfect for any book club because of the raw and intimate insights they provide into some of today’s most pressing topics, but each of these titles in particular has a master storyteller at its helm to guide you through perspectives and experiences that are sure to stimulate hour-long discussions. After you choose one of these unforgettable true stories, all that’s left is picking out the wine and cheese.

In this charming and uplifting memoir, Italian book publicist turned bookstore owner Alba Donati describes how her small hillside bookstore became a beloved community center and literary destination. Donati’s plan to open a bookstore in her hometown of Lucignana, a Tuscan village of fewer than two hundred people, seemed like a long shot. But soon the cottage inspired family members, community volunteers, and booklovers worldwide to flock to Donati’s store for one of her fail-safe book recommendations. Perfect for fans of UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN, this memoir is a love letter to books and their readers.

National Bestseller

Under the Tuscan Sun meets Diary of a Bookseller in this charming memoir by an Italian poet recounting her experience opening a bookshop in a village in Tuscany.

Alba Donati was used to her hectic life working as a book publicist in Italy—a life that made her happy and allowed her to meet prominent international authors—but she was ready to make a change. One day she decided to return to Lucignana, the small village in the Tuscan hills where she was born. There she opened a tiny but enchanting bookshop in a lovely little cottage on a hill, surrounded by gardens filled with roses and peonies.

With fewer than 200 year-round residents, Alba’s shop seemed unlikely to succeed, but it soon sparked the enthusiasm of book lovers both nearby and across Italy. After surviving a fire and pandemic restrictions, the “Bookshop on the Hill” soon became a refuge and destination for an ever-growing community. The locals took pride in the bookshop—from Alba’s centenarian mother to her childhood friends and the many volunteers who help in the day-to-day running of the shop. And in short time it has become a literary destination, with many devoted readers coming from afar to browse, enjoy a cup of tea, and find comfort in the knowledge that Alba will find the perfect read for them.

Alba’s lifelong love of literature shines on every page of this unique and uplifting book. Formatted as diary entries with delightful lists of the books sold at the shop each day, this inspirational story celebrates reading as well as book lovers and booksellers, the unsung heroes of the literary world.

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The 10 Most Popular Books of September

By Off the Shelf Staff | September 29, 2023

By Alice Martin | September 12, 2023

Jeannie Vanasco loved her father, a man who named her after his daughter from a previous marriage who died. And when he—the man she always viewed as her hero—dies, Vanasco vows to keep her promise to him of writing a book by investigating the mysterious circumstances around the other Jeannie’s death. As Vanasco falls deeper into a manic obsession with the puzzle-like mystery before her, THE GLASS EYE asks, in its own mesmerizing and engrossing way: What kind of answer can ever be enough to recover from such grief?

When award-winning author Beth Nguyen was eight months old, she, her father, sister, grandmother, and uncles all escaped Saigon for America. Her mother did not. Years later, when Beth was nineteen, they finally met again. Now, unfolding through a collection of brief, fragmented visits over the course of years, OWNER OF A LONELY HEART crafts a refugee coming-of-age story that grapples with motherhood, absence, and conditions of estrangement, all through the lens of Beth’s complex relationship with her mother. Aching, joyful, and compassionate, Nguyen’s memoir is a heartrending must-read.

From the award-winning author of Stealing Buddha’s Dinner , a powerful memoir of a mother-daughter relationship fragmented by war and resettlement.

At the end of the Vietnam War, when Beth Nguyen was eight months old, she and her father, sister, grandmother, and uncles fled Saigon for America. Beth’s mother stayed—or was left—behind, and they did not meet again until Beth was nineteen. Over the course of her adult life, she and her mother have spent less than twenty-four hours together.

Owner of a Lonely Heart is a memoir about parenthood, absence, and the condition of being a refugee: the story of Beth’s relationship with her mother. Framed by a handful of visits over the course of many years—sometimes brief, sometimes interrupted, sometimes with her mother alone and sometimes with her sister—Beth tells a coming-of-age story that spans her own Midwestern childhood, her first meeting with her mother, and becoming a parent herself. Vivid and illuminating, Owner of a Lonely Heart is a deeply personal story of family, connection, and belonging: as a daughter, a mother, and as a Vietnamese refugee in America.

6 New Books I’m Championing This Awards Season

By Sarah Walsh | July 26, 2023

In this unflinching portrait of single, working motherhood, Stephanie Land describes the years she spent scraping by while cleaning the houses of America’s upper-middle class. At twenty-eight, Land’s life was forever altered by an unplanned pregnancy. To build a life for her child, Land began working as a housekeeper by day and completing online courses by night. In MAID , she shares the experience of existing—often invisibly—beside her clients’ biggest triumphs while also being witness to their most vulnerable selves. Catch up on this can’t-miss book before Land’s second memoir, CLASS , comes out this November 7.

Poet Safiya Sinclair was raised by her volatile father, a reggae musician and militant observer of a strict Rastafari sect, who crafted everything around protecting her purity from Babylon, the sect’s term for the corrupting influences of the Western world. But as Sinclair embraced the books her mother gave her and the education she received, she found herself on a rebellious and violent collision course with her father’s beliefs. HOW TO SAY BABYLON is a nuanced and lyrical look at one woman’s grappling with the interlocked legacies of patriarchy and colonization.

With echoes of Educated and Born a Crime , How to Say Babylon is the stunning story of the author’s struggle to break free of her rigid Rastafarian upbringing, ruled by her father’s strict patriarchal views and repressive control of her childhood, to find her own voice as a woman and poet.

Throughout her childhood, Safiya Sinclair’s father, a volatile reggae musician and militant adherent to a strict sect of Rastafari, became obsessed with her purity, in particular, with the threat of what Rastas call Babylon, the immoral and corrupting influences of the Western world outside their home. He worried that womanhood would make Safiya and her sisters morally weak and impure, and believed a woman’s highest virtue was her obedience.

In an effort to keep Babylon outside the gate, he forbade almost everything. In place of pants, the women in her family were made to wear long skirts and dresses to cover their arms and legs, head wraps to cover their hair, no make-up, no jewelry, no opinions, no friends. Safiya’s mother, while loyal to her father, nonetheless gave Safiya and her siblings the gift of books, including poetry, to which Safiya latched on for dear life. And as Safiya watched her mother struggle voicelessly for years under housework and the rigidity of her father’s beliefs, she increasingly used her education as a sharp tool with which to find her voice and break free. Inevitably, with her rebellion comes clashes with her father, whose rage and paranoia explodes in increasing violence. As Safiya’s voice grows, lyrically and poetically, a collision course is set between them.

How to Say Babylon is Sinclair’s reckoning with the culture that initially nourished but ultimately sought to silence her; it is her reckoning with patriarchy and tradition, and the legacy of colonialism in Jamaica. Rich in lyricism and language only a poet could evoke, How to Say Babylon is both a universal story of a woman finding her own power and a unique glimpse into a rarefied world we may know how to name, Rastafari, but one we know little about.

12 Reading Goals We’re Determined to Meet in 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | January 12, 2024

Readers’ Choice: Your 12 Favorite Books of 2023

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 29, 2023

19 New Fall Releases Adored by Indie Booksellers

By Off the Shelf Staff | October 26, 2023

My 10 Favorite Books of 2023 (So Far)

By Katya Buresh | October 3, 2023

Our 26 Most Anticipated Books of Fall

By Off the Shelf Staff | August 15, 2023

All her life, Chloé Cooper Jones has depended on her existence as an academic to provide a cloistered solace from the judgements of the outside world, a world made even crueler because of her rare congenital condition, sacral agenesis. But when Jones unexpectedly becomes a mother, she is forced to look beyond the confines of her academic success to reclaim a life that others—and perhaps even herself—have denied her for years. In EASY BEAUTY, Pulitzer Prize finalist and philosophy professor Jones explores taboo questions of disability and motherhood.

Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Memoir or Autobiography

A New York Times Notable Book of 2022 * Vulture ’s #1 Memoir of 2022 * A Washington Post , Los Angeles Times , USA TODAY , Time , BuzzFeed , Publishers Weekly , Booklist , and New York Public Library Best Book of the Year

From Chloé Cooper Jones—Pulitzer Prize finalist, philosophy professor, Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant recipient—an “exquisite” ( Oprah Daily ) and groundbreaking memoir about disability, motherhood, and the search for a new way of seeing and being seen.

“I am in a bar in Brooklyn, listening to two men, my friends, discuss whether my life is worth living.”

So begins Chloé Cooper Jones’s bold, revealing account of moving through the world in a body that looks different than most. Jones learned early on to factor “pain calculations” into every plan, every situation. Born with a rare congenital condition called sacral agenesis which affects both her stature and gait, her pain is physical. But there is also the pain of being judged and pitied for her appearance, of being dismissed as “less than.” The way she has been seen—or not seen—has informed her lens on the world her entire life. She resisted this reality by excelling academically and retreating to “the neutral room in her mind” until it passed. But after unexpectedly becoming a mother (in violation of unspoken social taboos about the disabled body), something in her shifts, and Jones sets off on a journey across the globe, reclaiming the spaces she’d been denied, and denied herself.

From the bars and domestic spaces of her life in Brooklyn to sculpture gardens in Rome; from film festivals in Utah to a Beyoncé concert in Milan; from a tennis tournament in California to the Killing Fields of Phnom Penh, Jones weaves memory, observation, experience, and aesthetic philosophy to probe the myths underlying our standards of beauty and desirability and interrogates her own complicity in upholding those myths.

“Bold, honest, and superbly well-written” (Andre Aciman, author of Call Me By Your Name ) Easy Beauty is the rare memoir that has the power to make you see the world, and your place in it, with new eyes.

Critically acclaimed novelist Martha McPhee grew up on Omega Farm, a ramshackle New Jersey property that, to her, always seemed filled with art, people, and chaos that were by turns compassionate and sinister. Suddenly, McPhee must travel back to the now-neglected home she once knew with her husband and children to help care for a mother who no longer recognizes her as she slips into dementia. As McPhee tries to mend family ties and surrounding forests alike, her past will not let her go in this complex story of family legacy and environmental repair.

A long-awaited memoir from an award-winning novelist—a candid, riveting account of her complicated, bohemian childhood and her return home to care for her ailing mother.

In March 2020, Martha McPhee, her husband, and their two almost-grown children set out for her childhood home in New Jersey, where she finds herself grappling simultaneously with a mother slipping into severe dementia and a house that’s been neglected of late. As Martha works to manage her mother’s care and the sprawling, ramshackle property—a broken septic system, invasive bamboo, dying ash trees—she is pulled back into her childhood, almost against her will.

Martha grew up at Omega Farm with her four sisters, five stepsiblings, mother, and stepfather, in a house filled with art, people, and the kind of chaos that was sometimes benevolent, sometimes more sinister. Caring for her mother and her children, struggling to mend the forest, the past relentlessly asserts itself—even as Martha’s mother, the person she might share her memories with or even try to hold to account, no longer knows who Martha is.

A masterful exploration of a complicated family legacy and a powerful story of environmental and personal repair, Omega Farm is a testament to hope in the face of suffering, and a courageous tale about how returning home can offer a new way to understand the past.

Mary Beth Keane Recommends: 9 Exquisite Books Told with Heart and Nuance

By Off the Shelf Staff | March 6, 2023

8 Must-Read Books If You Love EDUCATED

By Off the Shelf Staff | January 8, 2020

In this clear-eyed exploration of race, class, and identity, writer and lawyer Omer Aziz describes his experience of growing up as a first-generation Pakistani Muslim boy outside Toronto. Despite fearing the violence and discrimination he sees in the world around him, Aziz embraces his education. But as he moves from college in Ontario to prestigious institutions in Paris and Cambridge, and finally to law school at Yale, Aziz is constantly in conflict with himself: Is it possible to escape his feelings of shame and powerlessness in a Western world seemingly dedicated to reminding him of those feelings?

Brown Boy is an uncompromising interrogation of identity, family, religion, race, and class, told through Omer Aziz’s incisive and luminous prose.

In a tough neighborhood on the outskirts of Toronto, miles away from wealthy white downtown, Omer Aziz struggles to find his place as a first-generation Pakistani Muslim boy. He fears the violence and despair of the world around him, and sees a dangerous path ahead, succumbing to aimlessness, apathy, and rage.

In his senior year of high school, Omer quickly begins to realize that education can open up the wider world. But as he falls in love with books, and makes his way to Queen’s University in Ontario, Sciences Po in Paris, Cambridge University in England, and finally Yale Law School, he continually confronts his own feelings of doubt and insecurity at being an outsider, a brown-skinned boy in an elite white world. He is searching for community and identity, asking questions of himself and those he encounters, and soon finds himself in difficult situations—whether in the suburbs of Paris or at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Yet the more books Omer reads and the more he moves through elite worlds, his feelings of shame and powerlessness only grow stronger, and clear answers recede further away.

Weaving together his powerful personal narrative with the books and friendships that move him, Aziz wrestles with the contradiction of feeling like an Other and his desire to belong to a Western world that never quite accepts him. He poses the questions he couldn’t have asked in his youth: Was assimilation ever really an option? Could one transcend the perils of race and class? And could we—the collective West—ever honestly confront the darker secrets that, as Aziz discovers, still linger from the past?

In Brown Boy, Omer Aziz has written a book that eloquently describes the complex process of creating an identity that fuses where he’s from, what people see in him, and who he knows himself to be.

Editors Recommend: 12 Brilliant and Surprising Spring Reads

By Off the Shelf Staff | January 16, 2023

Christie Tate thought her problems with commitment were over when she finally settled down with the right guy. But when her friend Meredith—twenty years older and both brutally and somehow gently honest—challenges her to dig into her many past failed female friendships, Tate realizes the hard work is still to come. Together, the two explore the shame, jealousy, and fears that led to Meredith’s many broken relations with other women and begin to consider what a “healthy relationship” really means. Funny and emotionally generous, BFF is a love letter to female friendship.

From the author of Group , a New York Times bestseller and Reese’s Book Club Pick, comes a moving, heartwarming, and powerful memoir about Christie Tate’s lifelong struggle to sustain female friendship, and the friend who helps her find the human connection she seeks.

After more than a decade of dead-end dates and dysfunctional relationships, Christie Tate has reclaimed her voice and settled down. Her days of agonizing in group therapy over guys who won’t commit are over, the grueling emotional work required to attach to another person tucked neatly into the past.

Or so she thought. Weeks after giddily sharing stories of her new boyfriend at Saturday morning recovery meetings, Christie receives a gift from a friend. Meredith, twenty years older and always impeccably accessorized, gives Christie a box of holiday-themed scarves as well as a gentle suggestion: maybe now is the perfect time to examine why friendships give her trouble. “The work never ends, right?” she says with a wink.

Christie isn’t so sure, but she soon realizes that the feeling of “apartness” that has plagued her since childhood isn’t magically going away now that she’s in a healthy romantic relationship. With Meredith by her side, she embarks on a brutally honest exploration of her friendships past and present, sorting through the ways that debilitating shame and jealousy have kept the lasting bonds she craves out of reach—and how she can overcome a history of letting go too soon. But when Meredith becomes ill and Christie’s baggage threatens to muddy their final days, she’s forced to face her deepest fears in honor of the woman who finally showed her how to be a friend.

Poignant, laugh-out-loud funny, and emotionally satisfying, B.F.F. explores what happens when we finally break the habits that impair our ability to connect with others, and the ways that one life—however messy and imperfect—can change another.

6 Emotionally Impactful Found Family Tales

By Katya Buresh | November 22, 2023

Staff Picks: 6 Reads Recommended to Us by Indie Booksellers

By Off the Shelf Staff | April 25, 2023

Indie Booksellers Recommend: 17 Spring New Releases Hand-Picked for You

By Off the Shelf Staff | March 8, 2023

My 7 Favorite Memoirs of the Year

By Holly Claytor | December 27, 2022

Our Most Anticipated New Books of 2023

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 15, 2022

CREEP is a collection of essays by writer and critic Myriam Gurba that unearths the disturbing manifestations of toxic traditions. In essays that are half cultural criticism and half personal essay, Gurba explores everything from the carceral system to Mexican stereotypes to inmate abuse. Wide-ranging and adventurous, razor-smart and provocative, these pieces explore the ecosystems that both sustain and result from oppression, systems that creep into every facet of life, from school to work and government institutions to family homes.

A ruthless and razor-sharp essay collection that tackles the pervasive, creeping oppression and toxicity that has wormed its way into society—in our books, schools, and homes, as well as the systems that perpetuate them—from the acclaimed author of Mean , and one of our fiercest, foremost explorers of intersectional Latinx identity.

A creep can be a singular figure, a villain who makes things go bump in the night. Yet creep is also what the fog does—it lurks into place to do its dirty work, muffling screams, obscuring the truth, and providing cover for those prowling within it.

Creep is Myriam Gurba’s informal sociology of creeps, a deep dive into the dark recesses of the toxic traditions that plague the United States and create the abusers who haunt our books, schools, and homes. Through cultural criticism disguised as personal essay, Gurba studies the ways in which oppression is collectively enacted, sustaining ecosystems that unfairly distribute suffering and premature death to our most vulnerable. Yet identifying individual creeps, creepy social groups, and creepy cultures is only half of this book’s project—the other half is examining how we as individuals, communities, and institutions can challenge creeps and rid ourselves of the fog that seeks to blind us.

With her ruthless mind, wry humor, and adventurous style, Gurba implicates everyone from Joan Didion to her former abuser, everything from Mexican stereotypes to the carceral state. Braiding her own history and identity throughout, she argues for a new way of conceptualizing oppression, and she does it with her signature blend of bravado and humility.

Photo credit: iStock / Andrii Medvediuk

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The 24 Best Book Club Books For Your Next Group Read

By Chloe Schama , Chloe Malle and Hannah Jackson

There are competing theories about how to pick the best book club book. When I nobly started a book club in my early 20s, I had grand ambitions of filling in the holes in my undergrad education. I think we started with Confessions of Zeno . Years later, I joined what had been dubbed the “high-low club”, a group that used the gathering as an excuse to read some of the mass-market fiction that was dominating the bestseller lists. I think the first book that group read was Fifty Shades of Grey. A decade later, that’s the group I still meet with every month, and it’s solidified allegiances with some people I now consider my closest friends.

There is really no answer to what makes the best book club book, so I asked a few trusted reader friends, including Kate Slotover, who is so obsessed with the matter that she started The Book Club Review Podcast , as well as my favourite local independent book-sellers, Briana Parker and Davi Marra of Brooklyn’s Lofty Pigeon Books . As Kate puts it, it all comes down to the reaction the book provokes: “What you want is a great read, but also, ideally, a book that generates lots of different opinions – then the fun is in the debate, and seeing if you can all meet in the middle.” Below, find some of our choices.

By Chloe Schama , Taylor Antrim , Marley Marius , Lisa Wong Macabasco , Chloe Malle and Daniel Rodgers

Acts of Service by Lillian Fishman

The protagonist of Acts of Service by Lillian Fishman is feeling impulsive and maybe a little stuck when she decides to post nudes online, leading to a relationship with another couple. But it’s her obsessive questioning and chronicling of the dynamics of gender, sex, sexuality, and personality among the three of them (and her girlfriend) that will have you overthinking along with her, and looking for someone to talk it all over with, perhaps mining and divulging your own personal experiences and revelations along the way. Plus, it’s pretty sexy. – Briana Parker, Co-Owner, Lofty Pigeon Books

The Bees by Laline Paull

The Bees , Laline Paull’s compulsively readable novel set in a beehive, is a bit of a wildcard. I know it will divide people. It tells the story of Flora, a lowly sanitation worker bee, who uncovers a dark secret at the heart of her hive. The social hierarchy is unbending, but Flora knows she is destined for something greater, even though this puts her at odds with her superiors. There is no speech, everyone communicates by pheromones, and Tarantino-esque levels of danger and violence are never far away. Wildly inventive, written with great dramatic flair and ultimately a strong ecological message that will stay with you, your book club will either love it or loathe it, and you’ll have fun finding out which. – Kate Slotover, host of The Book Club Review podcast

The Book of Night Women by Marlon James

The Book of Night Women by Marlon James is so uniquely devastating, it’s ideal to have a support system in the form of a book club to read with. Exploring the particularly cruel form of slavery that existed on Jamaican sugar plantations, James brings up thorny issues of consent, desire, love, class, and power without resorting to clichés, presenting a story of such depth and humanity that you’ll want to spend hours picking apart the nuances even as you recover emotionally from this wrenching read. – BP

Evicted by Matthew Desmond

After hearing the low-grade but long-running buzz about how amazing this book was, I “made” my book club read it. It falls into the category of something I would never pick up on my own, and needed a bit of peer pressure to complete. But I was so glad I did. For those of us who have never confronted the trauma of eviction, it can seem like one of those problems on the periphery. But by deeply embedding himself with his subjects, Desmond shows how thoroughly housing insecurity is entwined with all other corollary effects of poverty. If you don’t have a reliable place to call home (to send post, to register for school, etc, etc), it is almost impossible to obtain the modicum of stability that is necessary to begin to escape poverty. This is an incredibly sobering text that reads like a novel. It shook our book club, and years later I still think about it. – Chloe Schama

Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

My book club read this book for one of (maybe the) last gatherings before the pandemic, and when I polled my books club members about their favourites, this one was nominated. (Full disclosure: we are a group of New York City women who undoubtedly share some zip codes with Brodesser-Akner’s characters.) This is one of those books that puts its finger very precisely and somewhat uncomfortably on the material concerns of a certain milieu. Did it cut close to home? It certainly made for a good discussion. – CS

Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi

Another can’t-fail book club choice is Free , Lea Ypi’s memoir of her childhood in Albania, a country ruled by the hardline Communist party and largely closed to the countries beyond its borders. Everything changed once Albania opened up to the West in the late 1980s, and Ypi was finally able to understand the truth behind lies she had been brought up with all her life. Today Ypi is a Professor of Political Theory at the London School of Economics, and reading her story you understand why, for her, politics and economics could never be abstract – she shows the dramatic way in which they affected a whole nation of people, and some of the good that was lost along with the bad. It’s a fantastic book, vivid, relatable and surprisingly enjoyable, despite the fact that there is some heartbreaking material contained within. It will lead to rich discussions afterwards, I guarantee it. (Also-ran: Border by Kapka Kassabova.) – KS

Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman

Many a 20-something Brooklyn dweller saw themselves reflected in Adelle Waldman’s debut novel, The Love Affairs of Nathanial P . That is likely not true of her second novel, which is set in a big box store, but has none of the voyeuristic distance that the premise might imply. This is a caper told with such sensitivity and nuance that it might just alter the way you think of the workplace novel. Set against the ruins (or triumphs?) of late-stage capitalism, Help Wanted gave my book club a huge amount to chew over in terms of – and this isn’t much of an overstatement! – what America is. All that, and it’s a great read that every member of my group finished. (While we have the best of intents, I can’t recall the last time that happened.) – CS

How I Won a Nobel Prize by Julius Taranto

Sometimes you read something new and immediately think how brilliant it would be for book club. How I Won a Nobel Prize by Julius Taranto has all the hallmarks of a book that will set sparks flying, an of-the-moment campus novel that deftly explores moral relativism. The protagonist is Helen, a brilliant physicist working on superconductors, who is forced to move to a new academic institution brought into existence by a reclusive billionaire (his face smoothed away by wealth) that exists to provide a haven for academics and cultural figures who have been “cancelled” elsewhere. Unwillingly along for the ride is Helen’s partner, Hew, who disapproves of the whole enterprise. Enjoy the fascinating and surprisingly accessible dive into theoretical physics, appreciate the accumulating tension of the psychological drama, and laugh out loud at the one-liners. (Also-ran: When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut.) – KS

How to Talk About Books you Haven’t Read by Pierre Bayard

The more serious you and your book club become about reading, the more hopeless you may end up feeling about all the books you will never, even with the best of intentions, have time for. How to Talk About Books you Haven’t Read by Pierre Bayard will make you feel much better about this and, indeed, let you beautifully off the hook if you haven’t managed to finish your book club read in time. That’s okay, you can skim, flip through, read the end, or even just hold the book, unopened in your hands, all are fine with Bayard and he makes a compelling case for why you might be better able to discuss the book if you haven’t actually read it. Although Bayard’s credentials as a reader and academic are serious, his book is delightfully mischievous and funny. Give it a try and see if you agree with him or not. You might want to adopt his notation system for future reference: UB: book unknown to me; SB: book I have skimmed; HB: book I have heard about; and FB: book I have forgotten. – KS

Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott

Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott should be required reading for every New Yorker, as it details, with extraordinary compassion and acuity, a side of the city not often written about or shown. In a monumental feat of immersive journalism, Andrea Elliott spends years  with a Black unhoused family, and the reader comes to know them like their own family. It’s a book with the power to change the way you see the world, and what better way to experience that than with others in conversation. – Davi Marra, Co-Owner, Lofty Pigeon Books

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab vibrates with beautiful melancholy. In eighteenth-century France, Addie makes a Faustian bargain to live forever, but she is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. The book goes back and forth in time between the first desperate days of her curse and present-day New York where she’s figured out how to push up against its limits and carve out a life – until one day, everything changes. Like the show Russian Doll, the book similarly sparks an intense interest to pick apart the nuances of the plot and the decisions of the main character and to consider what you’d do in her unique circumstances. – BP

Little Library cookbooks by Kate Young

A tangential thought: if you like to gather friends and serve food at your book club Kate Young’s fabulous series of Little Library cookbooks may be the literary inspiration you need. From a Sebastian Flyte-inspired picnic to a loving recreation of Babette’s Feast (minus the turtle), Young offers a go-to list of crowd pleasers drawing on her expertise as a cook and as a lifelong reader. Pick a recipe: try the Väserbottenostpaj (Swedish cheese tart) inspired by The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, read the text, share the meal, and discuss; the perfect recipe for book club. – KS

Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt

It’s no secret that I adore this book , but I promise I wasn’t just seeking new opportunities to plug it when I put it on this list. This nomination comes via my very own book club. When I asked the group chat what book from our readings stayed with them, this was the first response that came back. This delightful little novel (that is immense in its emotional scope) is the kind of quiet-seeming book that might pass you by. But our conversation ranged widely when we discussed it, and while everyone had quite a strong response, the reactions varied and brought up all kinds of questions about parenting, emotional inheritance, and familial responsibility. I have said it before, but this is a really stunning read. – CS

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov is one of those books where its history is just as interesting to discuss as its contents. A too-often-overlooked classic of Russian literature, it presented such a devastating send-up of the Soviet regime that it couldn’t be published until after the author’s death. It’s also uproariously funny, original, and weird, so you feel both like you’re reading capital “L” Literature but also having a grand old time. The devil and his entourage visit Moscow, and Soviet Russia and generations of readers were never the same again. – BP

Middlemarch by George Eliot

In the depths of Covid winter my best friend, her sister, her dad and I started a book club and kicked it off with Middlemarch. It changed my life! I read the book AND listened to the audio book and fell in love with Dorothea and felt I’d moved to the Midlands for a couple of months. I bought the book in January 2021 and the manager at Shakespeare and Co told me, masked, “I wish it was the middle of March, then we’d have a vaccine available.” Thanks to George Elliot the next two months flew by and soon enough it was mid-March. – Chloe Malle

A Month in the Country by JL Carr

Book club can be just the nudge you need to read a classic from the past. A Month in the Country by JL Carr is a slim little novel that was recommended to me by a friend who cited it as his all-time favourite read. It tells the story of Tom Birkin, a traumatised World War I veteran who takes a job in a tiny village in the North of England restoring a medieval mural in the parish church. Over the course of the summer, he comes to know the locals and one other interloper, a young archaeologist excavating a field. Not much happens as slowly, slowly the mural is revealed, and yet Carr’s prose is weaving its spell. At the end you will find yourself reflecting on the nature of time and lived experience and with any luck come away with something that you will carry in your heart for the rest of your days. But at the very least there’s plenty to be charmed by and discuss. Richard Osman says he’s never met a person who didn’t love it! If you buy the Penguin modern classic edition you get the double whammy of the perfect introduction by Penelope Fitzgerald. (Also-ran: The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald.) – KS

Random Family by Adrien Nicole LeBlanc

This was another book where the lore preceded my book club’s reading – and probably would have influenced it were the book anything less than a truly astounding tour de force. I first read it about 10 years after it came out, but two decades later, I am sure it still holds up as one of the most amazing feats of embedded journalism. (Davi’s excellent pick, above, Andrea Elliot’s amazing Invisible Child , is a definite heir to the approach.) Another work of non-fiction that is every bit as compelling as a novel, it was a harsh but rewarding read that left us with tons to talk about. – CS

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe is one of the many deeply human stories to be told about the Irish Troubles. It reads like a thriller and culminates in the probable resolution of a decades-long mystery about the identity of the people who kidnapped and murdered a mother of 10 accused of passing sensitive information on to the British. It’s an extraordinary piece of journalism that raises as many questions as it answers, and therefore it’s the perfect pick for a non-fiction book club. – DM

Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama

Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama is an extraordinary thriller steeped in a genuine sense of mystery and suspense. Readers are rewarded with a fascinating deep dive into Japanese journalism and policing, all while an urgent procedural unfolds to locate a killer who may be related to a cold case that haunts the novel’s protagonists. Whether you picked up on or missed the clues which point to the unforgettable climax, you absolutely must talk to somebody else who read the book as soon as you finish. – DM

Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us by Rachel Aviv

Sometimes a book club is all about the text, and sometimes it’s all about what people are bringing to it. This book, which has plenty to discuss between its covers, fell into the latter category when my group discussed it. The book is, loosely, an examination of the mental health industry, and in the opening essay, Aviv, a New Yorker journalist, discloses her own experience being deemed the youngest anorexia patient in America at the age of six – a diagnosis that was partly about a certain kind of medicine, but also about labels and stories, as is so much of the class of care that falls under mental health. Read this one to question the way we interact, categorise, and deal with people whose neurology isn’t quite “normal”, and also to (maybe) learn things about your fellow book club members that you never knew. – CS

Super Infinite by Catherine Rundell

Non-fiction can be great for book club, with the caveat that ideally you want a page-turner. (Our book club is still reeling from the time we attempted Adam Feinstein’s exhaustive biography of Pablo Neruda .) With this in mind I recommend Super Infinite , Catherine Rundell’s prize-winning biography of the poet John Donne. The lines of poetry themselves might not immediately light you up, but Rundell’s analysis will, and to read this book is to walk with her through time. (If you’ve ever read Helene Hanff’s 84 Charing Cross Road – a book club classic, by the way – and wondered why she was so obsessed with Donne’s sermons, this will put that mystery to rest.) Super Infinite is a fantastic read and made for brilliant book club discussion. If you try it I’d encourage you to go a step further and get everyone to bring a poem they love to share. Trust me, good things will come of this. (Also-rans: The Poetry Pharmacy by William Sieghart, Ghost in the Throat by Doireann ni Ghriofa, and Pearl by Sian Hughes.) – KS

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

I ran my post-college book club like a little tyrant, and if it had lasted longer than two books I certainly would’ve made everyone read Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. Coming in at 400-plus pages, it appears intimidating, but Zevin’s vivid writing and gripping storytelling had me totally spellbound. Tomorrow seems like it was engineered to be a book club read – squabbling over the polarising main characters, Sam and Sadie, is the perfect low-stakes book club fodder. – Hannah Jackson

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

One of the first books we ever read for the show was a fantastic book club read: The Vegetarian by Han Kang. Winner of the 2016 International Booker Prize, this is a psychologically intense short novel structured in three parts. The protagonist, Yeong-Hye, is a young woman who decides she will stop eating meat, without reckoning on the lengths her family will go to in order to get her to conform to South Korean social norms. Beautifully written, surprisingly erotic and ultimately quite strange (but in a good way), this is a novel guaranteed to provoke questions. (A side-benefit of reading any Booker shortlisted novel is that you can avail yourself of the excellent reading guides and extra material on the Booker website, a boon to those who like to have plenty of background.) (Also-rans: The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa and Love by Hanne Orstavik.) – KS

A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter

One of our favourite discoveries on the pod was A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter. In 1934, Ritter joined her fur-trapper husband to spend the winter living in an isolated hut on Spitzbergen, a remote island north of Norway. She had hoped it would be an opportunity to “read thick books in the remote quiet and, not least, sleep to my heart’s content” – and who doesn’t want to do that, but of course life rarely works out as we expect it to. Funny, dry and relatable, it’s impossible not to be charmed by Ritter, or to share her dismay in discovering that there will be another, previously unknown to her, man sharing their cramped living quarters. Read it for the sense of adventure, the beauty of the arctic, and the profound appreciation of regeneration and rebirth once the sun returns. Discuss Ritter’s extraordinary talent, and collectively lament the fact that she never wrote another book. – KS

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Best Book Club Books: Memoirs

Memoirs offer an incredible opportunity to immerse yourself in another life with the author as your guide. The true story of how someone overcomes incredible obstacles also allows you to wonder, What would I do?

For a good book club memoir discussion, choose a book that’s a bit outside of your group’s comfort zone. And if discussion questions aren’t provided with the book, ask each member to come with one or two of their own. These memoirs — stories of survival and even triumph — would all make excellent book club books.

Finding Freedom

By erin french.

Celebrated chef Erin French shares her moving story of overcoming obstacles and finding community in her bestselling memoir , Finding Freedom . From her formative years working the line at her dad’s diner to opening her own critically acclaimed restaurant The Lost Kitchen in Freedom, Maine, French’s journey to the head of the table was anything but easy. Indeed, she endured addiction, hit multiple rock bottoms, and faced the challenges of single motherhood along the way. Told with candor and warmth — and enriched by French’s delectable food writing — Finding Freedom celebrates the life-affirming joys of family and finding your voice and the delicious connection between good food and great company.

While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence

By meg kissinger.

In While You Were Out, award-winning journalist Meg Kissinger movingly chronicles her relationship with her family and the mental health crises that they endured. Combining the intimacy of memoir with the rigor of investigative journalism , Kissinger’s narrative guides us through moments of personal tragedy, love, resilience, and unexpected humor with an eye toward the future and changing the way we talk about mental health care in America. 

Being Henry: The Fonz...and Beyond

By henry winkler.

With self-deprecating humor and a healthy dose of Hollywood charm, Happy Days star Henry Winkler opens up about his life in this entertaining celebrity memoir. The Emmy Award–winning actor touches on everything from his lifelong struggles with dyslexia and the daily grind of showbiz to dazzling anecdotes from the sets of Barry and Arrested Development, and, of course, his career-defining turn as the Fonz on Happy Days . Radiating sincerity and warmth, Being Henry teaches lessons on being truthful to yourself no matter the odds — something every reader can appreciate.

Unmasked: My Life Solving America's Cold Cases

By paul holes.

For true crime aficionados, Paul Holes needs no introduction. The seasoned cold case investigator has dedicated his life to the pursuit of evil and he has helped crack some of the most notorious cases in modern American history, from the kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard to the 20-year manhunt for the Golden State Killer. He’s proud of his work, putting away criminals and providing closure to survivors. But he’s also haunted by a troubling question about his career: What was the cost to his well-being and his family? In this bestselling true crime memoir , Holes looks back on the cases he’s investigated and opens up about the many sacrifices he’s made in pursuit of justice, from frayed personal relationships to missing out on the joys of fatherhood. Delivered with unflinching honesty, Unmasked is a powerful account that “grabs its reader in a stranglehold and proves more fascinating than fiction and darker than any noir narrative” ( Los Angeles Magazine ). 

Hollywood Park

By mikel jollett.

From being born into an infamous cult – to a childhood filled with poverty and addiction, Mikel Jollett struggled to find love and a sense of normalcy in world where nothing made sense. His incredible story is at once heartbreaking and inspiring, and it shows you that family loyalty and fierce determination can take you to places you only dreamed about.

Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares

By aarti namdev shahani.

In a way, NPR correspondent Aarti Shahani has lived the American dream. She and her family immigrated to New York City, she received a scholarship to a top Manhattan private school, and eventually she landed a successful career. But the Shahani family’s struggles equally define these years, especially when her old-world shopkeeper father inadvertently launders money for the Cali drug cartel. This immigrant story presents a look at a controversial topic that is not as black-and-white as some might think, which makes for a thought-provoking dialogue. Discussion questions are  here .

Birdgirl: Looking to the Skies in Search of a Better Future

By mya-rose craig.

From Mya-Rose Craig, the renowned birder and environmentalist who stands at the forefront of a new generation of environmental activists, Birdgirl combines science writing with advocacy and a touching tale of family love. Craig’s nature memoir interweaves her passion for bird-watching with the story of her mother’s mental health crisis, beautifully capturing the planet’s fragile grandeur while championing her mother’s journey and highlighting the restorative power of the natural world. Both thought-provoking and inspiring, Birdgirl is a deeply felt narrative about finding your calling and all the help you need along the way.

Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs

By jennifer finney boylan.

From  New York Times  bestseller and human rights activist Jennifer Finney Boylan comes her newest memoir  Good Boy,  showing how a young boy became a middle-aged woman—accompanied at seven crucial moments of growth and transformation by seven memorable dogs. Boylan contemplates her past in ways that prompt you to consider your own transformative times. An ode to dogs, identity, and finding love, the perfect thought-provoking read to share with friends or family.

When Harry Met Minnie

By martha teichner.

Calling all animal lovers: Grab your furry friend and plenty of tissues, and settle in for this touching memoir about love, loss, and soul-warming companionship. When Emmy Award–winning news correspondent Martha Teichner is asked if she’d consider adopting a dog in need, she happily agrees — after all, Harry, the dog in question, is a bull terrier, just like her dog, Minnie. The two canines quickly hit it off; they’re natural companions. And yet, a friendship also blossoms between Martha and Harry’s owner, Carole, a woman who’s dying of cancer caused by exposure to toxins from 9/11. When Harry Met Minnie is a modern-day fairy tale rich with chance encounters, fated friendships, and a bustling New York City backdrop. It’s also a stirring memoir about camaraderie, and how the souls that we meet, both human and canine, leave a lasting impression on our lives.

By LaDoris Hazzard Cordell

What do you do when the system you believe in is flawed? According to Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell, you get in there and you fix it. In this eye-opening new memoir , Judge Cordell, the first African American woman to sit on the Superior Court of Northern California, offers an insider’s look at America’s criminal justice system , celebrating its strengths, highlighting its weaknesses, and tracing paths to more equitable judicial methods. Judge Cordell is well aware of the legal system’s shortcomings: shaky plea bargains, unchecked racial biases in law enforcement, and the troubling shift from rehabilitation to punishment are but a few of the weighty issues she tackles here. Nevertheless, Cordell is prepared to put in the work for positive change. In Her Honor, Cordell invites us into her chambers and shares her remarkable journey through the halls of justice, all while maintaining her conviction that the system can work — if we work on it.

Between the World and Me

By ta-nehisi coates.

In a letter to his 15-year-old son, Coates seeks to teach one important lesson: how to be a black man in America. He recounts his rough childhood, the importance of black history, and the moment he learns that education and wealth can’t protect you from racism if you’re black. Coates doesn’t put much faith in the American Dream; instead he urges his son to build strong community ties and surround himself with the love he finds there. Discussion questions are  here .

Heavy: An American Memoir

By kiese laymon.

Laymon pulls no punches when describing the abuse he suffered as a child. He places blame squarely in two places: his mother, and America’s institutional racism and sexism. His mother’s strict insistence on good grades, his obesity, and his career struggles are the stressors that lead to him writing. In doing so, he uncovers generations of family abuse and condemns those who did nothing to stop it. It’s a harrowing but important read. Discussion questions are here .

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

By j.d. vance.

Growing up in a family of rust-belt have-nots has left Vance with some clear opinions on why some people make it in America and others don’t — specifically within the white working class. He shines a harsh light on the psychology of a region that champions the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” maxim, while simultaneously dishing out plenty of blame for their inability to do so. Discussion questions are  here .

Happiness: The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After

By heather harpham.

Harpham is thrilled by her new relationship with Brian until she gets pregnant … and Brian balks, leaving her alone and disillusioned. New-mom joy turns into a nightmare when baby Gracie grows suddenly, gravely ill. Brian returns, commits to helping Harpham and Gracie, and their relationship slowly resuscitates. How this fragile family grows strong is almost unbelievable, yet it’s true … and it has a happy ending. Discussion questions are  here .

The Light Years

By chris rush.

In the late 60s, at age 12, Rush is introduced to psychedelic drugs. From that moment, the counterculture of hippies and nomads becomes his family. Once a colorful decade of peace and love, the years soon dissolve into the 70s’ raw and violent hedonism. Rush survives his quest for meaning —– but just barely. Discussion questions are  here .

By Elie Wiesel

Wiesel’s Nobel-prize-winning memoir is more than just the story of his years as a prisoner at the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps. It’s also a study of faith, and how it gets redefined in the face of one of the worst crimes against humanity in modern history. Even if you’re among the millions who have read  Night , this story is worth a re-read at different points in your life. Discussion questions are  here .

By Michelle Obama

Obama is the first to admit that she would never have predicted her journey from Chicago’s working-class South Side to the White House. Her memoir is a fascinating peek behind a heavily-guarded curtain—from her concerns about how the Presidency affected her marriage and family, to the closing moments of her tenure as First Lady. These stories are riveting, and her honesty has made  Becoming  a book club favorite. Discussion questions are  here .

By Tara Westover

Education — the 13 or so years most Americans receive — was never a given for Westover. Raised in a remote survivalist camp in Idaho, her parents considered the public school system to be a waste of time. So when Westover ran away and started school at age 17, she had a lot to learn. And she did, eventually working her way into Harvard and Cambridge universities. After her incredible escape and global adventures, can she ever go home again? Discussion questions are  here .

The Year of Magical Thinking

By joan didion.

Magical thinking is how Didion describes the mental gymnastics required of her during the most challenging year of her life. Her daughter falls ill and is placed in a medically induced coma, and shortly thereafter her husband suddenly dies of a heart attack. Both of these events send her spiraling into a world of medical journals and existential crises, all beautifully and miraculously captured in this memoir.  Discussion questions are  here .

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Solider

By ishmael beah.

When he was 13 years old, Beah was recruited as a child soldier in Sierra Leone’s government army. As he’s asked to perform increasingly violent acts, he shuts down emotionally. Childhood is reduced to a past dream; the war an inescapable nightmare … until one day, he’s shown the way out. Written at age 25, Beah’s story is shocking but so important to witness. Discussion questions are  here .

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive

By stephanie land.

Being single and pregnant, Land learns, has an immediate impact on your ability to make a living. Working as a maid keeps her small family fed and clothed, and along the way she discovers surprising lessons about the upper class and what it means to be their servant. Discussion questions are  here .

Before Night Falls: A Memoir

By reinaldo arenas.

Arenas escapes poverty in rural Cuba to become one of the country’s most popular writers in exile. His rise to fame is treacherous, though. Once outed as a gay man, his writing is banned, he’s sent to prison, and he eventually flees his homeland. In New York, he faces the ultimate fight for his life: AIDS.  Before Night Falls  is considered his deathbed memoir.

First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers

By loung ung.

In 1975, Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge ended five-year-old Ung’s childhood as she knew it. Her father worked in government, which put them all in immediate danger. Indeed, as the family attempted to escape Phnom Penh, they were separated. Two years later, Ung is a child soldier and her siblings are struggling to survive in various labor camps. Their sudden uprooting and slow, uncertain reunion makes for an intense read. Discussion questions are  here .

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Blog – Posted on Friday, Apr 02

The 35 best book club books to get you talking in 2024.

It seems that everybody and their dog has a book club these days. But whether you’re a seasoned old-timer, or you started up an online book club in 2020, you’re probably facing the same question: “What should we read next”?

When decision fatigue sets in, picking the next group read can be the hardest part of the process. But fear not, because we’re here to help. Whether you’re looking for cutting-edge releases new for 2021 or classic recommendations, we’ve selected 35 of the very best book club books sure to spark conversation. So get that coffee brewing and have your page tabs handy, because we’re ready to dive in.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the number of great book club books out there, you can also take our 30-second quiz below to narrow it down quickly and get a personalized book recommendation for your club 😉

Which book club book should you read next?

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2021 releases your book club will lap up

If your book club prides itself on being on top of the latest literary releases, we’ve got you covered. Here are 12 book club books we think you’ll love that are new in 2021. Pencil them into your TBR and you’ll be set for the rest of the year.

1. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

In this year’s most anticipated sci-fi release , Booker-winner Kazuo Ishiguro returns with gusto and sensitivity to the theme of personhood and what it means to be human — his bread and butter. Klara is a humanoid robot built to be an “Artificial Friend”. When chosen as a companion for a gravely ill 14-year old, Klara is confronted by aspects of the human condition to which she’d previously been naïve: love, loneliness, and mortality. Tackling major questions regarding AI and the ethics of technology, Klara and the Sun is fuel for a fascinating book club discussion.

2. Girl A by Abigail Dean

Is there a member of your book club who, despite their best efforts, never gets around to finishing the book? (And hey, no judgement! We all have busy lives!). Well, fear not: we have the answer. Abigail Dean’s debut novel Girl A is a gripping thriller guaranteed to get even the most sluggish reader racing to the end . The novel follows Lex, the titular Girl A, who escapes her abusive home — dubbed the “house of horrors” by the media — and tries to put the past behind her. But when Lex’s mother dies in prison, leaving the house to her and her siblings, it becomes apparent that she can’t outrun her past. An unflinching look at the aftermath of trauma, Girl A is one of those much-hyped book club books that your own club is guaranteed to devour.

3. Fake Accounts by Lauren Oyler

Of Fake Accounts , Zadie Smith wrote: “This novel made me want to retire from contemporary reality. I loved it.” And we couldn’t agree more. A cutting-edge look at internet culture, social media, and the malleability of identity in the modern age, Fake Accounts is a challenging but timely debut from author Lauren Oyler. The narrator, an unnamed young woman, is snooping through her boyfriend’s phone on the night of Donald Trump’s inauguration when she makes a startling discovery: he’s a notorious online conspiracy theorist. A series of incredible revelations leads the narrator to Berlin, where the story is only just beginning. Oyler clearly has her finger on the pulse of 2020s culture, and the stark truths in Fake Accounts are sure to spark heated debate among your reading group. 

4. Aquarium by Yaara Shehori

The Ackermans live in a world of their own, entirely by choice. Father Alex, mother Anna, and daughters Lili and Dori are all deaf — avoiding “the hearing” at all costs. Instead, they live an alternative lifestyle, only observing outsiders from afar. But when an earth-shattering secret is revealed, the family unit is torn apart, and the girls are forced to navigate the world of the hearing alone. A beautiful exploration of love and sisterhood, Aquarium raises fascinating questions about the nature of disability and identity.

5. Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor

If you’re looking for a palate cleanser after a string of dense novels, you could do far worse than Filthy Animals. A series of interlinked vignettes from critically acclaimed author Brandon Taylor, Filthy Animals provides a snapshot of life in the American Midwest from a number of perspectives, including a young woman fighting cancer, a young man navigating an open relationship, and a group of teenagers whose tensions reach boiling point. Your book club will delight in untangling this complex web of relationships, and the breadth of stories guarantees there’ll be something for everyone.

6. Outlawed by Anna North

Ada’s running out of time. In a frontier town where women who can’t have children are hanged for witchcraft, she’s still not pregnant — and quickly approaching her first wedding anniversary. As panic sets in, Ada realizes her hometown is no longer safe, so she goes on the run. She joins up with the notorious Hole in the Wall Gang,  a group of female and non-binary outlaws who dream of setting up a safe haven for women on the frontier — but the risks they’ll have to take to get there are steep. Unlike anything your book club has read before, this wild wild Western piece of feminist fiction is a little bit True Grit , a little bit The Handmaid’s Tale , and a whole lot of adventure.

7. How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones

In Cherie Jones’ much-hyped debut novel, a murder brings two very different couples crashing into each other’s orbits . Set on Barbados, this thriller shatters our conceptions of the island paradise and exposes the dark underbelly lurking beneath even the most picturesque communities. We follow two women: pregnant hairdresser Lala, trapped in a violent marriage, and the wealthy Mira, who has left her life of luxury in London and returned home to Baxter’s Beach. When Lala knocks on Mira’s front door late at night, in labor and alone, what unfurls is as brutal as it is shocking. A searing study of class and crime, there’s no chance you’ll put this book club book down before the final page.

8. One of the Good Ones by Maika and Maritza Moulite

When teenage activist Kezi is tragically killed after a social justice rally, the public outrage is overwhelming. Her sisters Happi and Genny, while dealing with their own grief, must also reckon with an unexpected outcome: their brilliant, but ultimately very human sister’s elevation as an infallible martyr. As the public stamps Kezi’s memory with the label “one of the good ones”, her sisters struggle to reconcile the real-life Kezi with the angelic figure she’s become. They confront uncomfortable questions about legacy, fallibility, and who “deserves” to be mourned — and by implication, who doesn’t. Deeply timely and edifying, One of the Good Ones is a certified must-read by a powerhouse sister duo.

10. Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion

Another great option for any book club facing novel fatigue, fans of the essay form will be delighted to hear that 2021 is bringing a whole new arrangement of writings by the incomparable Joan Didion. This timeless collection of pieces — spanning the breadth of her career — tackles insecurity, femininity, and the wider culture. A colorful array of characters and situations populate the pages of this carefully curated anthology, meaning you’ll be spoiled for choice when it comes to talking points.

11. With Teeth: A Novel by Kristen Arnett

 Sammie is losing her grip on life. Her troubled son has become increasingly threatening and she’s started to resent her absent wife. As tensions reach boiling point, she’s forced to reckon with her own failings as she attempts to figure out where things went wrong. Peppered with surprising moments of dry humor despite the challenging subject matter, Kristen Arnett’s latest novel is a profoundly honest examination of family dynamics and the trials and tribulations of parenthood.

12. A Pho Love Story by Loan Le

It’s a tale as old as time: young lovers from feuding families are forced to battle against the odds to make their star-crossed romance work. But Loan Le’s 21st-century reimagining has a (not so) secret ingredient — a whole lot of noodle soup. Bao and Linh’s families run rival Vietnamese restaurants, so when a romance sparks between them, they’ll need to decide what they’re willing to risk to follow their hearts’ desire. A nourishing, savory rom-com that’s guaranteed to delight, this debut novel is the heaping portion of comfort your book club has been craving. (Noodle soup for the soul, anyone?)

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Evergreen classics for book club books

If you’re not in the mood for a new release and want to go for some tried-and-true reads, here are some we’ve hand-selected for their ability to spark conversation. These much-discussed volumes range from the oldest of the old (we’re talking 800BC ) to hyped recent releases that your book club may have missed and we think are worth circling back round to.

13. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

If you still haven’t picked up this cult classic, it’s definitely time to suggest The Secret History to the group. A heady, atmospheric mystery that spawned an entire subculture (“dark academia”, anyone?), The Secret History is a coming-of-age novel like no other. Following a group of classics students at an elite college, the story details their gradual unraveling — a downward spiral that ends with a death amongst their ranks. As you’ll know if you’ve ever met one of the novel’s devoted fanbase, it’s a book people simply cannot stop talking about  — perfect book club fodder.

14. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

More than 200 years after its release, the questions raised by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein remain as pressing as ever. Considering its enduring relevance in popular culture, you probably know the plot already, so we won’t bore you; but suffice to say, this seminal story about a scientist creating a sentient creature still holds up today. Frankenstein will have your book group up until the wee hours discussing issues of personhood, humanity, and the ethics of science —not least because this horror classic will leave you more than a little spooked. 

16. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

There’s a certain amount of snobbery around including YA and children’s literature within a book club reading list. However, even the most sceptical reader will find their preconceptions challenged by Mark Haddon’s superlative coming-of-age mystery novel. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime follows Christopher, a boy with autism who investigates the mysterious death of his neighbor’s pet dog, only to stumble across a number of unexpected and uncomfortable truths about his family. Raising important discussions about identity, and providing insight into both the challenges and possibilities of neurodivergence, The Curious Incident is deeply thoughtful YA. Moral of the story: don’t think kidlit can’t be serious!

17 . Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

A word of warning: this 2020 Booker winner isn’t an easy one to stomach. The heartbreaking tale of Shuggie, a working class boy in Thatcher-era Glasgow, is relentlessly harrowing, touching on themes of addiction, abuse, sexual assault, and suicide. This brutal examination of a toxic mother-son bond shocked readers and critics, yet captured something universal in its authentic depiction of family life in impossible circumstances. If your club is looking for a critically acclaimed read that tackles serious topics, Shuggie is an important recent release to get under your belt.

18. The Odyssey by Homer

Ancient Greek literature might sound dry, but there’s a reason readers have been attracted to The Odyssey’s siren song for millenia. The story of Odysseus’ voyage home to his faithful wife Penelope is a foundational text — one that you’ll find echoes of in many of your favorite modern titles. So if you want to dig down into literary history, or have a greater appreciation for some of your modern picks by way of better understanding their ancient allusions, treat your book club to this blast from the past. 

19. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Some people love it, some people hate it, and some people call it “the intellectual equivalent of Kraft macaroni and cheese” (and by “some people” we mean Stephen King). Wherever you land, it’s undeniable that Dan Brown’s blockbusting bestseller The Da Vinci Code is divisive enough to get conversation flowing. This art-historical thriller follows a twisting tale of murder and code-cracking, steeped in art history and religion, and it’s literally impossible to have nothing to say about it — for better or worse.

20. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

Your book club might usually stick to literary fiction, but if you want a well-rounded diet, you shouldn’t neglect genre fiction! For those in the market for a healthy helping of sci-fi , you might want to start with HG Wells’ 1897 classic, War of the Worlds . Beyond the surface-level plot, which chronicles the traumatic arrival of Martians on Earth, you’ll find deftly crafted social commentary, exploring the devastating effects of colonialism in allegorical terms. Careful reading and close examination are rewarded here, making it a book club staple.

21. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

The great book club books often pose one overarching question and challenges its reader to discern an answer. In the case of Girl, Woman, Other, that question is clear : What does it mean to be a girl, a woman, or a gender-nonconforming person in Black Britain? This breathtaking portrait of twelve female and nonbinary people across the African diaspora is as vividly realized as it is absorbing. Evaristo’s mastery in the field of the short story ensures  every section is a self-contained gem, each following one of our twelve leads, whose intersecting lives cross lines of class and identity. As beautiful as it is important, if you haven’t read it already you’ll want to pick this one up sooner rather than later.

22. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

For a stylish slice of historical fiction, Markus Zusak’s Book Thief is a go-to choice for many book clubs. Covering broad thematic ground, this WWII novel tells the story of Liesel, a young girl coming of age in Nazi Germany. Perhaps best-known for being a book narrated by Death, this might sound a little out there for some readers. But far from being bleak or gimmicky, the beautiful prose and moments of joy make this expertly executed and unique narrative perspective a delight to analyze.

23. My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead

If there’s one thing book lovers love reading about, it’s book lovers. For those who want to get a little self-indulgent, My Life in Middlemarch is a beautiful reflection on the importance of reading that bookworms are guaranteed to enjoy. Part memoir, part ode to literature, author Rebecca Mead leads us through the story of her life-long, evolving relationship with George Eliot’s Middlemarch (another book club classic, if you don’t mind your books running long). An ideal pick if your club’s motivation is flagging and you need a reminder of the life changing magic of a good book.

24. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

While we might instinctively resist the books we’ve always been told to read, sometimes, there’s a reason the classics are classics. As brilliant as it is controversial ( it’s the eighth most banned book in American libraries ), The Lord of the Flies is shocking, visceral, and a guaranteed conversation starter. A tale about a group of boys left to their own devices on a desert island, and their ensuing struggle to find order among chaos, Golding’s book is a brutal look at humanity, community, and civilization. It’s a staple for any book club due to the timelessness of its themes, but be warned: it isn’t for the faint of heart.

25. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

If you had to pick between saving the man you love's life, or preserving your sister's freedom, which would you choose? Or, to put it another way, is blood thicker than water when actual blood is involved? Okinyan Braithwaite's searingly tense yet darkly humorous debut novel asks this among many other questions: not least, where the line between comedy and horror lies. One of our picks for must-read books by black authors , My Sister, the Serial Killer will produce heated debate and nervous giggles in equal parts .

26 . Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Released to incessant buzz in 2019, Fleishman is in Trouble tells the story of an acrimonious divorce, a forty-something man navigating the world of online dating, and a sudden disappearance. The tale of Fleishman and his ex-wife’s vanishing act has a lot to say about 21st-century marriage and the anxieties that underpin middle-class life, meaning there’s every chance it’ll hit a little close to home for some readers (in a way only a truly incisive book can). But if you can wince through the pain, you won’t be disappointed by this blisteringly funny, yet fiercely moving, page-turner that stealthily packs a powerful feminist punch. 

27. Animal Farm by George Orwell

It might seem to have become the reserve of high school English classes over time, but there’s still a lot to unpack in George Orwell’s 1945 novella. This allegorical tale of political power, democracy, and communism — all explored through the lens of farm animals — is an enduring statement that never fails to leave us reeling, and therefore a guaranteed big hitter for any discussion group. Even if your knowledge of WWII and the era of Stalin is a little rustier than you’d like, Orwell’s prose is so sharp, compelling, and clear that you can’t fail to hear something of what he’s saying in Animal Farm — and feel a little blinded by its brightness. Packed with wit and humor, this is a book for everyone.

28. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Another book that explores literature’s power to transport and transform us, The Midnight Library makes poignant fodder for the kind of avid readers that make up a book club. The premise is an intriguing one: imagine you could retrace every fork in the road over the course of your life, and lead any of the lives you might have lived if you’d made different choices. What would you change? Well, reading the books that stock the shelves of the Midnight Library allows you to do just that. A delightful dose of magical realism, The Midnight Library posits questions about regret and fate that won’t fail to get you reminiscing.

29. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

Sometimes, the best book discussions are thinly veiled arguments. If you want to throw a cat among the pigeons, suggest this Harper Lee’s deeply controversial first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird to your book club . Divisive among casual readers as it has among critics and literary historians, this book offers an unexpected divergence from the civil rights classic we are more familiar with. It’ll spark interesting discussions around authorship, ownership, and how much a book can belong to its readers. And hey, if you’re happy to do a double bill, why not read both Watchman and Mockingbird — the comparison between the two is where the debate really heats up.

30. Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

If you’re looking to broaden your genre horizons, why not give narrative nonfiction books a try? Lisa Taddeo’s breathtaking Three Women is a great way to dip your toes into the waters of creative journalism. Following the true stories of (surprise, surprise) three women, Taddeo chronicles their sexual and emotional lives in stunning detail. A complex snapshot of the internal worlds and sexuality of American women in the 21st century, this book will challenge your preconceptions of what nonfiction should look like.

31. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Aldous Huxley’s classic masterpiece is an uncanny prediction of a future that arrived far quicker than he expected. Reading this 1932 novel only gets more rewarding as the decades pass, and we’re able to read with one foot firmly in the present, spotting the eerie parallels between Huxley’s speculative future and our own modern world. A prescient and brilliant work of dystopian sci-fi, Brave New World is a must-read — so why not kill two birds with one stone, and tick off a book club read and one of the books you should read before you die in one go?

32 . The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Another SFF classic that sparks fascinating discussion, Philip Pullman’s fantasy series is so thematically rich that the fantastical elements are just the cherry on top — although, talking polar bears and shape-shifting daemons are quite the cherry. For those who enjoy drawing out parallels between fiction and the real world, Pullman’s presentation of an alternative Oxford touches astutely upon religious and political power in a world far closer to our own than initial impressions might suggest, creating ample room for debate and analysis as a group.

33. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

He's undeniably one of the most influential authors of all time, but the deeply idiosyncratic Haruki Murakami's work is deeply challenging, and usually provokes either an ecstatically positive, or strongly negative reaction. His sparse style is divisive, and his often bizarre narrative structures are deliberately posing a riddle to his readers. Kafka on the Shore is our recommended starting point for this extraordinary author : it's one you’ll want to talk out the second you’re finished with it, so it’s best to rope a whole book club into doing it with you.

34 . Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel by Celeste Ng

Celeste Ng’s gripping 2017 psychological thriller explores unnervingly familiar territory for most readers. This domestic drama details the anxieties of a mother, and the dangers of hanging on to your children too tightly, drawing relatable concerns out to their most extreme conclusions. Also bringing important conversations about race and class to the table, Ng’s second novel became a book club classic immediately upon launch. If you skipped it the first time around, it’s well worth circling back to.

35. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

Children’s books may seem like a thing of your literary past, but don’t forget that there’s often more than meets the eye in some of your childhood favorites. One classic that’s well worth revisiting is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe : CS Lewis’ biblical allegory may have gone over your head when you were a kid, but it’s a masterpiece of symbolism that you’ll appreciate on a whole new level as an adult. Plus, it gets extra points for nostalgia, making it a surefire crowd-pleaser at any book club night. 

Hungry for more recommended reads? Check out our list of the 115 best books of all time .

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The Complete List of All 105 Books in Oprah’s Book Club

More than two decades’ worth of celebrated titles.

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Long Island, by Colm Tóibín

In his 11th novel, Tóibín returns to the characters from his bestselling book Brooklyn , which was adapted into a widely acclaimed film starring Saoirse Ronan. But don’t worry; no prior reading is necessary to dive into this totally singular story.

Decades after immigrating to America from Ireland, Eilis Lacey has made a life for herself on Long Island with her husband, Tony, their two children, and his large extended Italian American family. But that life shatters in an instant when a stranger shows up on her doorstep and informs her that Tony has gotten his wife pregnant…and that he plans on leaving the baby on Eilis’s doorstep. As Oprah puts it, this is a novel about a woman’s reckoning with “infidelity, with long-lost love, with secrets, and the universal struggle we all have to figure out where we truly belong.”

The Many Lives of Mama Love, by Lara Love Hardin

In this memoir of “lying, stealing, writing, and healing,” Lara Love Hardin recounts how opioid addiction destroyed her quiet suburban life—and how she built something stronger out of the rubble. From the outside, Hardin’s life looked perfect. She had a two-story home in a California cul-de-sac, four beautiful children, a small business—“a pet cemetery, of all things”—and a handsome husband. But behind the scenes, she was drowning. Her worsening opioid addiction had taken her from prescription painkillers to heroin, from selling her own belongings to stealing her neighbors’ credit cards. Hardin is eventually charged with 32 felonies. The end of her life as a soccer mom marks the beginning of a new life: one built on accountability, forgiveness,vulnerability, growth, and reinvention. After jail, Hardin became a renowned ghostwriter, collaborating with celebrated doctors, spiritual leaders, and activists on their books. She even coauthored Anthony Ray Hinton’s memoir, The Sun Does Shine , which was an Oprah’s Book Club selection in 2018. Oprah described selecting Hardin’s own memoir for the club as a “full-circle moment.”

Let Us Descend, by Jesmyn Ward

Let Us Descend tells the story of Annis a young, enslaved woman, separated from her mother and sold South. Traveling from the Carolina rice fields to the New Orleans slave markets to a Louisiana sugar plantation, Annis uncovers a hidden world of ancestral wisdom and spiritual forces, handed down by her African maternal line.

Jesmyn Ward is the author of three previous novels—two of which have won the National Book Award. She is the only woman and the only Black author to have received such an honor. “A fan of her writing for years,” Oprah has read all of Ward’s books and calls her newest offering, Let Us Descend , “a vital work for our culture.”

Wellness , by Nathan Hill

Oprah’s 102nd Book Club pick is a hilarious and tender exploration of love, marriage, life hacks, technology, and how to reconcile the people we once were with the strangers we inevitably, eventually, become. Jack and Elizabeth meet as starry-eyed college students deeply enmeshed in the ’90s Chicago grunge scene and—quickly—in a whirlwind romance. Two decades later, their world and their relationship have transformed; their lives are now governed by the responsibilities of parenthood, the tyranny of self-optimization, and the planning of their suburban “forever home.” Traversing time and geography, we follow Jack and Elizabeth as they confront the mind-warping power of Facebook algorithms, the legacy of childhood trauma, the marital law of a vindictive HOA, and some all-too-relatable marital strife.

As Oprah insists, this book will take you for “an incredible ride.” Buckle up!

The Covenant of Water , by Abraham Verghese

Inspired by his great-grandmother, who, as a child, married a widower, Verghese introduces the fictional Big Ammachi, matriarch of a Christian family in Kerala, India. We follow three generations from 1900 to 1977, through mysterious drownings, afflictions, colonialism, and independence. This epic tale soars with lyricism and tension, transporting you across time and continents. So clear your schedule and immerse yourself in this instant classic, which Verghese, a physician, wrote while simultaneously working as a professor of medicine at Stanford University.

Oprah says, “It is one of the best books I have read in my entire life, and I have been reading since I was 3!”

Hello Beautiful , by Ann Napolitano

What Oprah said about her 100th pick: “I’m telling you, once you start, you won’t want it to end…and be prepared for tears.”

Written in homage to the classic Little Women, Hello Beautiful follows the story of the four Padovano sisters, who live in Pilsen, a working-class neighborhood of Chicago. The girls’ close-knit, rambunctious family is forever changed when the eldest, Julia, marries a young man with a tragic past that threatens their future together.

Bittersweet , by Susan Cain

“This book has the power to transform the way you see your life and even the world,” Oprah says. “I have started to look at my own life in the world differently.”

Bittersweet , by Susan Cain, is a nonfiction title that explores how we deal with sadness. Not by denying it. Not by surrendering to it. But by acknowledging it. Even if, at times, it seems self-defeating because: We’re all supposed to be happy, right? Or at least try to be happy?

Demon Copperhead , by Barbara Kingsolver

Oprah says, “I t’s an absolutely riveting read.” Demon Copperhead re-envisions the Charles Dickens classic David Copperfield , setting it in modern-day Appalachia. Kingsolver was inspired while on a visit to Dickens’s seaside English retreat and actually started writing Demon Copperhead at Dickens's own desk. It’s Kingsolver’s 17th novel in some three decades, and in writing it, Kingsolver says she wanted to counter some of the condescension and downright snobbery directed at the region in which she was born and still lives, a region whose people, she believes, have been exploited for generations, most recently by pharmaceutical companies who targeted Appalachian residents and created the current opioid crisis.

That Bird Has My Wings , by Jarvis Jay Masters

Masters has been incarcerated in California’s San Quentin State Prison for the past 41 years. Oprah read the book shortly after it was first published by HarperOne, in 2009, and it left a strong impression: “His story, of a young boy victimized by addiction, poverty, violence, the foster care system, and later the justice system, profoundly touched me then, and still does today,” said Oprah.

HarperOne has reissued the book, which contains a foreword by spiritual teacher Pema Chödrön, who has long championed Masters’s cause.

Masters had this to say about the selection of his book for Oprah’s Book Club:

“I turned 60 this year, having entered San Quentin at the age 19. I wrote That Bird Has My Wings while in solitary confinement, isolated and alone,” he says. “My greatest hope at that time was that a few young people would read my story and learn from my mistakes. Thanks to Ms. Winfrey and her book club, my story will be introduced to a national audience. It is my greatest hope that their lives will be the better for it, and I am forever grateful for the honor and the opportunity that Oprah has afforded me.”

Nightcrawling, by Leila Mottley

Mottley, who is about to be 20, began her astonishing debut novel when she was just 16. It has received raves from such luminaries as Dave Eggers, Kiese Laymon, and this one from James McBride: “Leila Mottley has an extraordinary gift. She writes with the humility and sparkle of a child, but with the skill and deft touch of a wizened, seasoned storyteller.”

Finding Me , by Viola Davis

In her powerful and empowering memoir, the first Black actor to earn the so-called “Triple Crown of Acting”—an Oscar, a Tony, and an Emmy—details her rise from poverty and other trauma to emerge as an iconic American artist. Through revisiting her childhood and all its pain, she was able to finally answer the question that had long haunted her: How did I claw my way out? About the pick, Oprah had this to say: “There are so many lessons to be learned from this breathtaking memoir about triumphing over adversity and trauma. Viola Davis leaves it all on the page—from her beginnings in South Carolina as the fifth of six children born in a sharecropper’s shack to acclaim as an actor, producer, and philanthropist. I was so moved by this book that I just had to share it with our entire OBC audience.”

Penguin Life The Way of Integrity by Martha Beck

The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self , which was published last spring, was a New York Times bestseller and the first offering under Maria Shriver’s book imprint, The Open Field/Viking.

On her 94th pick,Oprah said: “As we all navigate this watershed moment in our collective history, The Way of Integrity provides a road map on the journey to truth and authenticity. Her latest work is filled with aha moments and practical exercises that can guide us as we seek enlightenment.”

Bewilderment, by Richard Powers

Richard Powers’s intimate novel is about astrobiologist Theo Byrne, who is raising his 9-year-old son after his wife's death. It is tender and timely, drawing readers into existential questions about the place of humans in the world.

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

Epic doesn't begin to describe this tour-de-force of a novel, which touches on family, legacy, identity, and America's tangled roots. Ailey, our protagonist, is the second of three girls. Ailey grows up visiting her mom's family in a small town in Georgia, and becomes curious about her roots—who does she descend from? Her first-person narration is a coming-of-age story meets history. But Jeffers also incorporates a sweeping narrative about Ailey’s ancestors, who she tries to know and understand through the years.

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The Sweetness of Water, by Nathan Harris

Set in the fictional town of Old Ox, Georgia, at the very end of the Civil War, Harris’s powerful first novel centers on brothers Prentiss and Landry, who are at last leaving the plantation where they’ve spent their entire lives, and grappling with what will come next. “As I read this masterful novel,” Oprah said , “I kept thinking—this young 29-year-old is a first-time author, so how did he do this ?” She continued, “As the best writers can do, Nathan takes us back in time, and helps us to feel we are right there with Prentiss and Landry as they get their first taste of freedom. I rooted for them, and feared for them, too.”

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Gilead , by Marilynne Robinson

For the first time in the history of the Book Club, Oprah chose four books by the same author at once: the Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead , Home , Lila , and Jack by Marilynne Robinson. Together, these sublime novels form a quadrilogy of sorts, all of which takes place in the fictional Iowa town of Gilead. “ Marilynne Robinson is one of our greatest living authors,” Oprah said, “and in the Gilead novels she’s written a quartet of masterpieces . The more closely I read them, the more I find to appreciate, and the more they show the way in seeing the beauty in the ordinary.”

Home , by Marilynne Robinson

Home is a continuation of Gilead, the meaning of family and the secrets that surround them. Robinson had this to say in response to the news of her books being chosen: “Oprah Winfrey is a singular voice in this country and in the world. It is wonderful and amazing that my books will have the kind of attention only she could bring to them.”

Lila , by Marilynne Robinson

From a life of poverty, Lila enters the town of Gilead, where she meets John Ames, a minister. Plagued by her past, Lila and Ames try to forge a new path.

Jack , by Marilynne Robinson

When Oprah picked up a copy of Jack . The story—of the forbidden love between a down-on-his-luck white man and the prim and proper Black woman who’s come to occupy his mind and heart—is set in the mid-20th century. Yet it's a timeless tale of deep connection despite circumstance, of frailty, of familial bonds, of inequality, and of what it means to be human.

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, by Isabel Wilkerson

“Of all the books I’ve chosen for book club over the decades, there isn’t another that is more essential a read than this one,” Oprah said of Isabel Wilkerson's 500-page tome, which reveals the existence of a caste system in the United States. In the stunningly illuminating book, Wilkerson draws parallels between the United States, India, and the horrors of the Third Reich. “It explains why we are where we are in terms of racial injustice and inequality,” Oprah elaborated.

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The Ultimate List of Book Club Discussion Questions for Fiction and Non-Fiction

Updated: Jan 10, 2024

Zoe Epstein

Have you ever found yourself in a lackluster book club where the discussion feels forced or superficial? If so, you’re not alone. At Bookclubs, we know meaningful conversation is instrumental to a rewarding book club experience. That's why we provide an online platform for discovering new books and organizing your club's meetings and discussions.

Our ultimate list of book club questions is designed to reinvigorate your book conversations , whether you’re already in a book club or looking to start one. With questions tailored to fiction and nonfiction works across genres, we aim to help you uncover deeper insights, connect with your fellow members on a more personal level, and simply get people talking.

So dive into our hand-picked discussion questions below, and when you're ready to take your book club to the next level, organize your next meeting and manage your club membership with Bookclubs.com or the Bookclubs app . From scheduling meetings and polling members , to tracking books and facilitating discussion with ready-made book club questions , we have all the tools you need to focus on the joy of reading together.

Jump ahead to the table of contents , or scroll down to find:

• Part I: Book club questions for any and all books
• Part II: Fiction book club questions by genre
• Part III: Nonfiction book club questions by genre 

This is an extensive list of book club questions, so pick and choose the ones that suit your book and your group best. You can also modify them or add your own questions as you see fit. The important thing is to have fun and enjoy the book and the conversation.

Additional resources:

• If you’re looking for book club questions for a specific book, the best place to start is Bookclubs'  Book Club Discussion Guide center , which has tailored guides for hundreds of titles.    
• Feeling overwhelmed by all the questions in this post? We’ve highlighted our  top 12 favorite questions for any book .   
• Want help with more than just discussion questions?  Bookclubs has you covered with free tools to manage club membership, schedule meetings, choose books, and more.  With Bookclubs’  app  or website, you can poll members about meeting times or book choices, get automated calendar invites and meeting reminders, and track what your club has read, is currently reading, or wants to read next.  Get your club set up on Bookclubs today !

Table of Contents

Part I: Book club questions for any book

General book club questions

• Questions about the author
• Questions about the writing style
• Questions about the book’s themes

Part II: Fiction book club questions

• General fiction
• Thriller and Horror
• Historical Fiction
• Science Fiction

Part III: Nonfiction book club questions

• General Nonfiction
• Self-help / Personal Development

Bonus Content:

• Printable book club questions PDF
• Discussion Guide Center (tailored book club questions for hundreds of books)
• Discussion questions specific to banned books
• Tips for running any book club discussion
• How to run an online book club discussion

Ready to dive into some amazing book club discussions? Let’s get started with our ultimate book club question guide!

Book club questions for any book

• Would you recommend this book to someone?  Why or why not (or with what caveats)?
• What kind of reader would most enjoy this book? 
• How much did you know about this book before picking it up? What surprised you the most about the book?
• How thought-provoking did you find the book?  Did the book change your opinion about anything, or did you learn something new from it? If so, what? 
• How did the book make you feel? Did it evoke any emotions? Make you laugh, cry, or cringe?
• How, if at all, did this book relate to your own life?  Did it evoke any memories or create any connections for you?
• Did you highlight or bookmark any passages from the book? Did you have a favorite quote or quotes? If so, share which and why?
• What were some of your favorite scenes from the book? Why did they stand out to you?
• What was the most challenging or difficult part of the book for you to read or understand? How did you overcome it?
• How would you adapt this book into a movie? Who would you cast in the leading roles?
• If there was one thing about the book you could have improved, what would it be?
• Rate this book on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest.  Why did you give the book the rating you did?  Did any part of this book club discussion change your rating from what it would have been directly after finishing the book? 

General book club questions – Author

• Who is the author and what is their background or experience in relation to the book?
• Why do you think the author wrote this book and what was their purpose or goal?
• How much do you think the author’s personal views or biases influenced the book and how do you feel about that?
• How does this book compare to other books by the same author or in the same genre?
• If you could ask the author one question about this book, what would it be?

General book club questions – Writing style

• Did you find the author’s writing style easy to read or hard to read? How long did it take you to get into the book? 
• How did the author use language, tone, structure, imagery, dialogue, etc. to tell the story and create an effect on the reader?
• Did the author use any literary devices, techniques, or styles to enhance their writing, and to what effect?
• Discuss the author’s use of symbols, metaphors, or imagery to convey their ideas or emotions.
• What did you like or dislike about the author’s writing style and why?
• How did the author’s writing style enhance or detract from the story or the message of the book?
• How would you describe the author’s writing style in a few words?
• Did the author’s style and voice suit the genre and tone of the book?

General book club questions – Themes:

• What were the main themes or messages of the book and how did they relate to the story?
• How did the book make you think or feel about a certain topic or issue?
• What did you learn from the book or what did it teach you about yourself or others?
• How did the book challenge or change your perspective or opinion on something?
• How relevant or relatable are the themes or messages of the book to your own life, or to society today?

Book club discussion questions for fiction

General fiction book club questions.

• Who was your favorite character and why?
• Which character did you find the most complex or intriguing and why?
• How did the main character(s) change or grow throughout the story?
• How did the secondary characters impact or influence the main character(s) or story?
• Which character did you relate to or empathize with the most and why?
• Which character did you dislike or disagree with the most and why?
• Are there any characters you wish you could have given advice to? What would you tell them?
• What do you think happens to the characters after the novel concludes?
• How did the author create conflict and tension in the book? What was the main conflict or problem in the story and how was it resolved?
• How did the author keep you interested or surprised throughout the story?
• What was the most memorable or shocking scene or twist in the story and why?
• What was the most satisfying or disappointing part of the story and why?
• How did you feel about the ending? Was it satisfying or did you want more?

Mystery book club questions

• Were you surprised by who ended up being the person who committed the crime?  If you guessed who did it, what clues did you notice that made you suspect them?  If you were surprised, who did you think it was going to be instead?  What was the biggest red herring that threw you off track?
• How did the author introduce the main mystery or crime in the book? Did it grab your attention and make you curious right from the beginning?
• How did the author create suspense and intrigue throughout the book? What techniques did they use to keep you engaged and guessing?
• Did you find that the clues and evidence presented in the book made sense and fit together? If not, what stuck out for you?
• How did the author develop the main character(s), especially the detective or sleuth? Did you like them or find them interesting? Did they have any quirks or habits that made them memorable?
• How did the book end? Were you satisfied with the solution or reveal of the mystery or crime? Did it make sense and tie up all the loose ends?
• How did the author explore themes such as justice, truth, deception, or morality?

Thriller and horror book club discussion questions

• How did the setting and atmosphere of the book affect the mood and tone of the story? Did it create a sense of danger, mystery, dread or unease?
• How did the author generate suspense and tension throughout the book? How did they initially draw you in?  What techniques did they use to keep you hooked and on edge?
• Did the author surprise or shock you with twists and turns in the plot? Did you see them coming or were you caught off guard?  
• What did you think of the main character?  Did they make any decisions that you didn’t agree with in response to the conflict of the novel?
• Most thriller or horror stories have a villain.  How did the author portray them?  Did you understand their motives or methods? Did they have any redeeming qualities or human emotions?
• How did the author use different perspectives or narrators to tell the story? Did it add to the complexity or confusion of the plot? Did it reveal any secrets or clues that you missed before?
• How did the author balance the action and/or violence with the psychological and emotional aspects of the story? 
• How did the author explore themes such as justice, morality, revenge, loyalty, or survival?
• If there was a supernatural element to the story, what was its purpose?  Was it merely to advance to the plot or was it a metaphor for something else?
• Were you satisfied with the book’s outcome or did you have any questions or doubts left unanswered?

Historical fiction book club questions

• How did the author blend historical facts and fiction in this book? Did you find the book accurate and authentic?
• How did the author portray the historical setting and period of this book? Did you learn anything new or interesting about the time and place of the story?
• Did the author use any historical sources or references in this book? Did you find them helpful and credible?
• Did this book challenge or change your perspective on any historical events or figures? Did it make you want to learn more about them?
• How did this book relate to your own life experiences or interests in the present day? 
• If you could travel back in time to the historical setting and period of this book, what would you do or see?

Romance book club questions

• Was the romance believable to you? Why or why not?
• How did you feel about the main couple’s chemistry and compatibility? Did you root for them or not?
• What did you think of the main conflict or obstacle that kept the couple apart? Was it realistic or contrived?
• How did the setting and time period of the novel affect the romance? Did it add to the atmosphere or create challenges for the characters?
• How did the author balance the romance with other elements such as humor, suspense, drama, or social commentary?
• How did the secondary characters contribute to the story and the romance? Did you have a favorite or least favorite side character?
• What do you think happens to the main couple after the novel ends?
• How did the novel explore themes such as love, trust, communication, family, identity, or sexuality?
• How did you like the level of heat in the novel?

Fantasy book club questions

• How did the author create the fantasy world in the book? Did they provide any maps, glossaries, or appendices to help you understand it?
• Did the main characters have any special abilities or powers that made them unique or powerful?  If so, are these powers or abilities that you’d like to have?  Why or why not?  What would you do with these abilities?
• How did the author present the magic system in the book? Did they do a good job of explaining how it works and what its rules and limitations are? Did it make sense and fit with the story?
• How did the author portray any other races or creatures in the book? If so, what did you think of their culture or history? 
• How did the author use the setting and atmosphere of the book to enhance the fantasy and mood of the story? 
• How did the author explore themes such as heroism, destiny, loyalty, or morality?

Sci-fi book club questions

• How did the author create the science fiction world or scenario in the book? 
• Did the author use any scientific or technological concepts or theories to support their imagination?
• Did you find the world or scenario they created plausible?  Why or why not?  
• Contrast the science fiction world with our actual world.  Would you want to live in the world the author built?  
• What does the world of the book say about our actual world, if anything? Is it optimistic about a potential future or cautionary?
• How do the book’s characters react to the science fiction world or scenario they experience? How does it compare to how you would react if placed in this situation or world?
• Did the main characters have any special skills or abilities that made them fit or stand out in the science fiction world or scenario?

Book club discussion questions for non-fiction

General non-fiction book club questions.

• How would you describe the book in one sentence? What is the main point or purpose of the book?
• What are some of the questions or criticisms you have about the book? How would you challenge or debate the author’s claims or arguments?
• How did the book change your opinion or perspective on the topic? Did it confirm or contradict any of your assumptions or expectations?
• What was the most memorable or impactful story, anecdote, or example in the book? Why did it stand out to you?
• What was the most surprising or shocking thing you learned from the book? How did it make you feel?
• How did the author engage and persuade you as a reader in the book? 
• How did the author’s choice of how to frame and organize the book impact its effectiveness for you?
• How did the author address any counter arguments or criticisms in the book? Did they acknowledge any limitations, gaps, or biases in their research or writing?  Did you find their arguments convincing?
• What are some of the ethical, moral, or social implications of the book? How does it challenge or support your values or beliefs?
• Did the book inspire you to take action, change your behavior, or think differently about something?
• What are some of the limitations or biases of the book? How does it reflect the author’s background, perspective, or agenda?

Memoir book club questions

• Did the author use a chronological, thematic, or episodic structure to tell their life story in the book, and how did this choice enhance their narrative?
• How did the author develop their voice and personality in the book? Did you like them or find them interesting? Did they have any humor, honesty, or insight that made them memorable or relatable?
• How did the author create interest and engagement in the book? What were the main events or turning points that shaped their life story? How did they capture your attention and curiosity?
• Did the author surprise you with any revelations or discoveries in the book? Did you learn anything new or unexpected about them or their life experiences?
• How did the author portray the other people in their life in the book? What was their influence or impact on the author’s life choices or outcomes?
• How did the author explore topics such as identity, family, relationships, career, or spirituality?
• How did the book end? Were you satisfied with the conclusion or reflection of the author’s life journey? 
• How did the author’s story make you reflect on your own life and experiences?
• Why do you think the author wanted to tell their story? What do you think is the main thing they wanted you to come away from reading the book with?  
• Did you find the author to be a reliable narrator of their own history? Why or why not?

Biography book club questions

• How did the author research and write the biography of the subject? Did they use any sources, interviews, or documents to support their facts and claims?  Did you trust that they are an authoritative source on the subject?
• How did the author portray the subject’s personality and character in the book? Did you like them or find them interesting? Did they have any strengths, weaknesses, or quirks that made them unique or influential?
• How did the author present the main achievements or contributions of the subject in the book? What made them noteworthy as the subject of a book? Did they make a lasting impact or legacy in their field or society?
• How did the author create interest and engagement in the book? What were the main events or challenges that shaped the subject’s life story? How did they capture your attention and curiosity?
• How much did you know about the subject of the book before reading?  Did you learn anything new or surprising about them?
• How did the author use the setting and context of the book to enhance the subject’s life story and perspective? Did the author succeed in creating a sense of time, place, or culture?
• How did the book end? Were you satisfied with the summary or evaluation of the subject’s life journey? Did it inspire you or challenge you in any way?

Self-help / personal development book club questions

• What was the main message or lesson of this book? Did you find it inspiring and motivating?
• How did this book relate to your own life experiences or interests? Did it inspire you to take any action or make any changes in your life?
• How do you plan to implement what you learned from this book in your daily life? What are some specific steps or strategies that you will use?
• What was the most useful or valuable advice or tip that you learned from this book? 
• How credible and reliable do you think this book is as a source of guidance and support on its topic or issue? What sources or references did the author cite that add to its credibility? 
• What questions do you still have after reading this book? What would you like to learn more about?
• What piece of advice from this book do you think will be most difficult for you to apply? Why? 
• Was there any guidance or advice in this book that you disagreed with?

Book club questions PDF

Looking for printable book club discussion questions to bring with you to book club?  To download a free, printable, PDF version of this ultimate list of 124 book club questions, click here .  

Book club questions for specific books

Bookclubs' Book Club Discussion Guide center  has reading guides for hundreds of titles.  Check back often as we add new discussion guides every week.  If we don’t have a discussion guide for your upcoming book yet, request it to get notified when one is added, and to help us prioritize which guides to create!

Looking for more on how to run a book club discussion?

Coming prepared with good discussion questions is only the first step to a great book club conversation.  Bookclubs also has all the club organizing tools you’ll need to keep your book club running smoothly. 

• Automated Meeting Scheduling & Reminders: The meeting syncs with your calendar and all members receive meeting reminders so whether you’re meeting virtually or in-person, you’re keeping book club on the calendar!
• Interactive Polls: Avoid those lengthy email chains with our interactive polls for book selection, choosing your next meeting time, and more.
• Message Boards & 1:1 Direct Messages: Share your latest book banter with direct messaging features and club message boards.
• Digital Shelving: Keep track of what your club (or you) has read and wants to read next. See in an instant what your club is reading this month, view your past reads in one place, and recommend books to each other – so you always have options for what to read next!
• Grow Your Club: Looking to connect with readers outside your personal circle? Open your club to the public and find new members in your hometown or across the globe.

Say hello to a better book club experience today and  create your club on Bookclubs .

Create your profile, start and join a book club, track your reading, and more.

Tiffyni Pate

May 02, 2024 - 1 month

How long does it take for a discussion guide to be created once requested?

Cristina Felix

Feb 05, 2024 - 4 months

Where do we ask oddly specific yet vague questions like “What’s a good fantasy romance where the main character falls in love with a side character instead of the obvious prince”?

Zoe E. (Bookclubs)

Sep 26, 2023 - 1 year

Hi Valerie, for specific books, visit www.bookclubs.com/discussion-guides. We have questions for hundreds of the most popular book club books.

Valerie Giglio

Aug 19, 2023 - 1 year

Do you have specific questions for a specific book?

50 Great Book Club Discussion Questions For Any Book

Teresa Preston

Since 2008, Teresa Preston has been blogging about all the books she reads at Shelf Love . She supports her book habit by working as a magazine editor at a professional association in the Washington, DC, area, which is (in)conveniently located just a few steps from a used bookstore. When she’s not reading or editing, she’s likely to be attending theatre, practicing yoga, watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer again, or doting on her toothless orange cat, Anya. Twitter: @teresareads

View All posts by Teresa Preston

I’ve been in a lot of book clubs, and I know it’s not always easy to get a conversation going on a book. I’ve found that the best book club discussion questions are ones that are open-ended and that get people to share their personal opinions. If you’re ready to start a book club , here are 50 of the best book club questions, for fiction and nonfiction alike. Find a printable list to bring to your meeting here !

How did I create this list of book club discussion questions? 

Simply put, I’ve assembled a list of the kinds of questions that are likely to get people talking. Most of these are non-specific and designed to work for any book. Although, of course, some will work better than others for particular books).

I’ve also included a few questions that are meant for specific types of books, like fiction or nonfiction. Just pick and choose the discussion questions that work best for you and your book group, and get the conversation going! Bring the printable questions along for help.

General Book Club Discussion Questions

1. What did you like best about this book?

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2. What did you like least about this book?

3. What other books did this remind you of?

4. Which characters in the book did you like best?

5. Which characters did you like least?

6. If you were making a movie of this book, who would you cast?

7. Share a favorite quote from the book. Why did this quote stand out?

8. What other books by this author have you read? How did they compare to this book?

9. Would you read another book by this author? Why or why not?

10. What feelings did this book evoke for you?

11. What did you think of the book’s length? If it’s too long, what would you cut? If too short, what would you add?

12. What songs does this book make you think of? Create a book group playlist together!

13. If you got the chance to ask the author of this book one question, what would it be?

14. Which character in the book would you most like to meet?

15. Which places in the book would you most like to visit?

16. What do you think of the book’s title? How does it relate to the book’s contents? What other title might you choose?

17. What do you think of the book’s cover? How well does it convey what the book is about? If the book has been published with different covers, which one do you like best?

18. What do you think the author’s purpose was in writing this book? What ideas was he or she trying to get across?

19. How original and unique was this book?

20. If you could hear this same story from another person’s point of view, who would you choose?

21. What artist would you choose to illustrate this book? What kinds of illustrations would you include?

22. Had you heard about the book before starting it? Do you think it was overhyped or should be celebrated more?

Book Club Discussion Questions for Fiction

23. Did this book seem realistic?

24. How well do you think the author built the world in the book?

25. Did the characters seem believable to you? Did they remind you of anyone?

26. Did the book’s pace seem too fast/too slow/just right?

27. If you were to write fanfic about this book, what kind of story would you want to tell?

28. Was the pacing— beginning, middle, and end— done well?

29. Which other character would have made an interesting protagonist?

30. Did the characters’ motives seem reasonable or a little far-fetched?

31. Sometimes books start off strong, but have endings that fall a little flat. Then there are books that are a little hard to get into at first, but are enjoyable after a while. How did you find this one?

32. If there were any twists or big reveals, how believable were they?

33. How did the setting progress the story?

34. Was there symbolism present? If so, what did you think of the message the author was trying to convey?

Book Club Questions for Nonfiction

35. What did you already know about this book’s subject before you read this book?

36. What new things did you learn?36. What questions do you still have?

38. What else have you read on this topic, and would you recommend these books to others?

39. What do you think about the author’s research? Was it easy to see where the author got his or her information? Were the sources credible?

40. Conveying research in a way that’s understandable and enjoyable to read for non-experts can be a challenge. How well do you feel the author did this? What do you think of their writing style?

Discussion Questions for Memoir

41. What aspects of the author’s story could you most relate to?

42. How honest do you think the author was being?

43. What gaps do you wish the author had filled in? Were there points where you thought he shared too much?

44. Think about the other people in the book besides the author. How would you feel to have been depicted in this way?

45. Why do you think the author chose to tell this story?

Book Club Discussion Questions for Short Story and Essay Collections

46. Which short story/essay did you like best?

47. Which short story/essay did you like least?

48. What similarities do these stories share? How do they tie together?

49. Do you think any of the stories could be expanded into a full-length book?

50. There have been many popular films that have been adapted from short stories. Which of these do you think would be well adapted into a show or movie?

Printable Book Club Questions

Download all of these in an easy book club printable here .

For more book club help, check out puntastic and fun book club names , some of the best book club books for 2022 , and how to start a book club .

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Shonda Rhimes Has a Book Club — These are the Best Books on the List

Plot twist: We love it as much as Oprah’s Book Club.

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An accomplished storyteller, Rhimes brings her literary prowess to the other side of the page through her Shondaland Book Club , selecting top titles that are worthy of your time. While her version of a book club isn’t quite the same membership format as other celeb book clubs, she and her team regularly feature in-depth reviews of her favorite books on her site, Shondaland .

From meaningful memoirs to gripping works of fiction, each curated pick reflects Rhimes' commitment to quality work. Her entire list of books is impressive, but we’ve rounded up the ten best from Shonda Rhimes’ book club. Get ready to discover thought-provoking stories that encompass various genres and cultures.

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Audible 'Better Living Through Birding' by Christian Cooper

Christian Cooper made headlines during the early months of the pandemic in 2020 when he was featured in a viral video in Central Park. Since then, he’s emerged as a unique voice in the literary world. In "Better Living Through Birding: A Naturalist's Guide," he takes readers on a journey into the world of birds, exploring their habitats, behaviors, and the impact they have on our lives. Filled with personal anecdotes and practical tips, this book celebrates the joy and wonder of bird watching while inspiring a deeper connection with nature.

More: The Best Books from Oprah’s Book Club

Audible 'Burn It Down' by Maureen Ryan

Maureen Ryan’s “Burn it Down” is an exploration of the systemic issues in the film industry. A topic dear to Shonda Rhimes’ heart, it makes sense that this one landed on the Shondaland book club list. Ryan delves into topics like racism, sexism, and power dynamics, highlighting the voices of marginalized communities and urging for transformative change. This insightful book challenges Hollywood's status quo, offering a rallying cry for inclusivity and equality.

Riverhead Books Holding Pattern by Jenny Xie

In "Holding Pattern: A Novel," Jenny Xie combines heart and humor as she tells the story of a young woman who is navigating between cultures. Touching on both personal and societal expectations, this novel explores themes of identity, belonging, and the search for meaning. It’s a hopeful novel about immigration and belonging, mother-daughter relationships, and the many ways we learn to hold each other.

Crown When the World Didn't End by Guinevere Turner

"When the World Didn't End: A Memoir" is Caroline Kaufman’s brave and honest exploration of life following her upbringing in a cult. Within the pages of this book, selected by the team at Shondaland, Kaufman shares her personal journey with self-discovery and healing. The book offers a compassionate and relatable voice that reminds us of the power of resilience and the possibility of finding light in the darkest moments.

PublicAffairs Self-Made by Tara Isabella Burton

Another great book highlighted by Shonda Rhimes through her Shondaland book club, “Self-Made,” is an exploration into the curation of the self. The book looks at personalities in Western civilization, from Leonardo Da Vinci to Kim Kardashian. It features a mix of case studies along with historical context, providing a fascinating look at how the personal brand came to be.

Catapult Notes on Her Color by Jennifer Neal

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Get Lifted Books Rosewater by Liv Little

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Audible Why Fathers Cry at Night by Kwame Alexander

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Need a book club book? These unforgettable titles are sure to spark discussion and debate

Books that make everyone happy make for boring book clubs. 

Discussions wrap up quickly when stories don’t invite readers to reflect. If we all interpret the story in the exact same way, relate to the exact same character, come to the same simple conclusion, well, there’s just not much to say. 

Even with books we all love, there’s only so much fan-girling that can be done. 

So I’m always looking for the books that spark conversation, and, to paraphrase Leonard Cohen, I’ve found that cracks let opinions in. I want flawed books and authors that experiment. I want books that tell new stories, or old stories in new ways. I want books that send readers down rabbit holes.

Here are books, new and old, that should lead to rousing discussions. 

Check out: USA TODAY's weekly Best-selling Booklist

Need more inspiration USA TODAY's Best-selling booklist

'Wandering Stars'

By Tommy Orange (Knopf, 336 pp.)This follow-up to his acclaimed debut, There There , takes readers through three generations of a Native family, from a survivor of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 to a family grappling with the opioid epidemic of modern America. 

'The Wives'

By Simone Gorrindo (Gallery/Scout Press, 416 pp.)When her husband joins the Army, Gorrindo leaves New York City and a publishing job for Columbus, Georgia, and a writing room of her own. This is a marriage memoir, but also an intimate look at the ways women support each other, the way community is needed, built, and maintained. 

'Real Americans'

By Rachel Khong (Knopf, 416pp)Told in three parts, this story of family and class considers the American dream and the limits — and ethics — of scientific discovery. How far should we go to protect our children? 

'The Cemetery of Untold Stories'

By Julia Alvarez (Algonquin, 256 pp.)The central premise here — a graveyard for unfinished books — is delicious and sets off a novel full of people remembering and revising their own stories. 

'The Fetishist'

By Katherine Min (G.P. Putnman's Sons, 304 pp.)Darkly funny and tender, the story begins with a grieving and angry young woman seeking revenge on the man who caused her mother’s death. Things go awry, memories are uncovered, and the result is an unconventional love story and an excellent look at making art. 

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

By Shannon Chakraborty (Harper-Voyager, 496 pp.)

A 40-year-old single mother, former pirate with a bum knee, is pulled out for a final great adventure. This rollicking fantasy is based on the story of Sinbad the Sailor and is a heist story on the high seas.

'Small Mercies'

By Dennis Lehane (Harper, 320 pp.)Boston is burning up in the summer of 1974 as schools are about to be desegregated. A girl goes missing, and a desperate mother starts asking questions that could set everything on fire. 

'Transcendent Kingdom'

By Yaa Gyasi (Vintage, 304 pp.)Gifty is a scientist shaped by religion. In the wake of her brother’s death and as she cares for her mother, she grapples with faith and tries to uncover the science of addiction. 

'A Fever in The Heartland'

By Timothy Egan (Viking, 432 pp.)Here’s history you likely did not get in school: the true story of the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the Midwest. Although it’s nonfiction, sometimes this feels like a horror novel. (If you like the idea of narrative history, you also might consider the work of Candice Millard, Tiya Miles, David Grann, or Erik Larson.)

'The Woman in Me'

By Britney Spears (Gallery Books, 288 pp.)Celebrity memoirs are excellent book club picks because they invite conversation about pop culture. Other ones to consider: Leslie F*cking Jones, Leslie Jones; Open Book , Jessica Simpson; I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy; The Storyteller , Dave Grohl 

'Mrs. Dalloway'

By Virginia Woolf (Penguin Classics, 240 pp.)Revisiting classics, particularly slim ones, is always a good idea for a book group if only because they’re easily available in many formats. Set in London between the wars, this novel and its themes of choice and memory remain remarkably relevant. 

More: 10 memoirs you'll want to read from Ashley C. Ford, Roxane Gay, Javier Zamora and more

'A Wrinkle in Time'

By Madeleine L’Engle (Ariel Books, 256 pp.)Another underrated book club choice: classic children’s books. Do we still think the story matters? Why does this story speak to children? What is it saying about our culture? It doesn’t have to be this one, though L’Engle’s time travelers are fun to revisit. Other contenders: The Westing Game, Charlotte’s Web, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; or Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret ?

Hillary Copsey is the book advisor at The Mercantile Library in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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Elaine May wasn’t involved with her biography. That didn’t stop this author from telling the comedy icon’s complex story

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Miss May Does Not Exist

By Carrie Courogen St. Martin’s Press: 400 pages, $30 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org , whose fees support independent bookstores

Elaine May is one of the key architects of American comedy; an alumna of the influential Kennedy-era underground scene in Chicago that gave us the O.G. “Saturday Night Live” cast and film director Mike Nichols. Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon have name-checked May as a comedy hero. And yet, despite seven decades as a filmmaker, actor and screenwriter whose movies are entrenched in the Hollywood canon, May is that rarity: a film legend who has opted out of public life. We know the work, but not the creator.

The director of the classic 1972 comedy “The Heartbreak Kid,” with writing credits on Warren Beatty’s films “Heaven Can Wait” and “Reds” as well as Nichols’ “Primary Colors” and “The Birdcage,” May has no need to explain herself or her art; you won’t find TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz gently coaxing chirpy anecdotes from May any time soon. She is not, in short, a prime candidate for a full-dress biography, yet somehow Carrie Courogen has pulled it off.

Courogen’s “Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood’s Hidden Genius” is a minor miracle. Despite the big shrug off by her subject, who doesn’t do interviews, Courogen has produced the definitive book about May’s life and career. This, despite getting nothing from her subject save for breadcrumb trails that went cold, leads that dissolved into thin air.

It certainly wasn’t for lack of trying. Courogen, a journalist and visual content director based in New York, reached out countless times to May’s “people,” a small clutch of confidants that keep a tight lid on 92-year-old May’s hermetic world.

“Elaine doesn’t have a publicist or a gatekeeper of any kind,” says Courogen over lunch at Cafe Cluny near her apartment in Manhattan’s West Village. “I had several conversations with her close friend Julian Schlossberg that gave the impression of being helpful, but it turned out to be stories I had heard before. Then he would tell me to circle back in six months. Or that he would help me fact-check stuff I had heard from other people.”

If May’s willful invisibility seems out of character for someone in showbiz, it makes sense within the context of her career, which has toggled between big-budget features and behind-the-scenes work as a script doctor, for which she has consistently refused on-screen credit. “She has kept herself in the shadows as a choice, yet I kept looking around and seeing work that is so clearly indebted to Elaine,” says Courogen. “She’s done so much, yet no one knows much about her at all.”

We do know this much: Without May, there is no Nichols, or at least the Oscar winner who became a Hollywood titan. The two met in Chicago in the late ‘50s, where Nichols was trying to gain purchase as an actor. May excoriated Nichols for his performance in a local production of August Strindberg’s “Miss Julie” (according to Courogen’s book, Nichols remembers May “breathing hostilely” during his performance). After a cooling-off period, the two bumped into each other again and found, to their surprise and delight, that they shared a love of verbal sparring via lacerating, relentless wit. The two paired up as Nichols and May, and it changed comedy forever.

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“There are people who simply belong together, and Elaine and Mike were two such people,” says Courogen, whose book traces the pair’s ongoing working relationship, which lasted until Nichols’ death in 2014. “They really trusted each other. Mike always said, ‘I can only improvise with her.’ He knew that she always made him better.”

As a standup comedy act, Nichols and May erased boundaries between traditional gender roles. The “setup-punch” paradigm was eliminated; so too was the unwritten comedy law that paired the mansplainer with the clueless female foil. Rather, it was the thrust-and-parry of the pair, their gently barbed, whipsmart badinage, that made Nichols and May so revolutionary, their routines about sexual politics and social mores riding a knife’s edge.

Nichols and May became stars with national TV appearances and a series of bestselling comedy albums. After their split in 1961, both took full advantage of their celebrity currency to pursue careers as filmmakers. But while the ambitious Nichols was adept at gaming the Hollywood labyrinth, dutifully learning his craft and winning an Oscar for his second film, “The Graduate,” May took a radically different tack. Having been reared in the experimental, freeform theater of Chicago’s Compass Players, May wanted to transfer that unpredictable energy to her film sets. May went over budget on her first film, “A New Leaf,” alienating her crew with endless takes and delays as a result of her rudimentary knowledge of film production (Courogen points out that she mistook a light for a camera). But she elicited great performances from her cast, which included a cranky Walter Matthau. When Paramount recut the film, May tried to get it shelved. But “A New Leaf” was finally released and it made money. Almost despite herself, May had directed a hit.

May’s next film, “The Heartbreak Kid,” adapted from a Neil Simon hit and co-starring her daughter Jeannie Berlin, is a beautifully calibrated and funny social critique wrapped in concertina wire. The squirmy comedy of manners introduced May’s discovery, Charles Grodin, to the world. May makes the story her own, losing Simon’s penchant for shtick and leaning on her actors for emotional ballast. “I think it’s her best film,” says Courogen, “which is interesting because she didn’t write it, yet she put her stamp on it.”

Still, May continued to disregard the rule that penalizes those directors who take budgets lightly. 1976’s “Mikey and Nicky,” a bleak gangster buddy film, was plagued by cost overruns and a lumpy plot. “It’s the one film of Elaine’s I never return to,” says Courogen. “Ishtar,” a 1987 comedy about a pair of hapless aging songwriters (Dustin Hoffman and Beatty) who chase their fortunes in the Middle East and wind up embroiled in a political scandal, was one of the conspicuous flops of the era, a very expensive shaggy dog story. May went whole hog with the budget. When the director approached songwriter Paul Williams to write a couple of songs for the film, the studio flew him to the Morocco set, where he slept in the desert to soak up the atmosphere. May repeatedly rejected Williams’ ideas; all told, Williams wrote more than 50 songs for the film, only a few of which saw daylight.

“Ishtar” has stubbornly clung to its reputation as a very expensive disaster; the title became a talk-show punchline and May never directed another Hollywood film. But did May deserve all the blame? As Courogen points out, it was Beatty who refused to learn his lines, which resulted in massive production delays. May was a chronic over-shooter, but so was Beatty, who burned 2.5 million-plus feet of film for his historical 1981 epic, “Reds,” which May co-wrote. As Courogen points out, male directors fail upward all the time; female directors have no such margin of error to work with.

“I think the first act of ‘Ishtar’ is perfection,” says Courogen. “It’s the one Elaine film I watch the most. She gets great performances out of her actors. That’s what she cared about, not whether they were losing light in the desert. Her attitude was, ‘It’s not my money, I don’t give a s—.’ That didn’t exactly endear her to the studios.”

It is May’s unerring instinct for locating the emotional core of a story, of “breaking the spine” of problematic scripts, that has endeared her to directors desperate to resuscitate dead writing on the page. May refused to accept formal credit for her rewrites, and thus became that rarest of creatives, gleefully anonymous in a town where grown adults would kill for their name above the title. “She wanted to have some control over how she was being perceived,” says Courogen. “If the movie worked, it would go around town that Elaine saved it. If it didn’t work, she wouldn’t be the fall guy.”

Courogen has no expectations that May will somehow emerge from her apartment on the Upper West Side to shake her hand for a job well done. It doesn’t matter: She has produced a fascinating, three-dimensional portrait of a brilliant, complicated artist who has somehow stuck to her guns and gotten away with it.

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