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    The Best Books for Book Clubs

    Home » Fun » The Best Books for Book Clubs

    Published: Jan 24, 2025 · Modified: Apr 7, 2025 by Sarah · This post may contain affiliate links · 3 Comments

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    You will love this list of great book club books - all tried and tested. All thought-provoking books that make for interesting conversations.

    four fiction books laying on top of open book pages

    Whether you've always loved reading or you're just trying something new, a book club is a great way to connect and make friends.

    We love getting together with our friends to have interesting conversations, laugh, and learn together. The hardest part of book club is choosing the books.

    With our combined 25 YEARS of experience in book clubs, we're sharing our picks for TRIED AND TESTED great book club books. We have personally read every single one.

    Our book club lists are sorted into categories and we'll tell you a little bit about why we loved each one without giving too much away.

    Table of contents

    • How We Read and Listen to Books
    • Fiction
      • Historical Fiction
      • Historical | World War II
      • Mystery and Thriller
      • Modern Fiction
      • Classic Books for Book Clubs
      • Fantasy
      • Romance
    • Non-Fiction Book Club Books
      • Self-Improvement
      • Sociology
      • Memoirs
      • True Crime Books for Book Club
    • Snack Ideas for Book Club

    This post contains affiliate links.

    How We Read and Listen to Books

    While we love to hold books in our hands and turn the pages, in this current stage of life, we often turn to audiobooks!

    We take advantage of our local libraries for ebooks and audiobooks through the Libby app.

    Everand
    We use Everand a lot. It's a subscription for ebooks and audiobooks, with thousands of titles included. Their selection is great! There is no limit on how many books you can read or listen to, and you pay just one monthly fee.
    Try Everand with a 30-Day Trial
    Everand website for audiobooks with book covers in columns, color coordinated.
    Libby app logo and iphone screen with audiobook covers on it.
    Libby App for Libraries (FREE)
    Libby is the best way to read ebooks and audiobooks from your public library. You can load multiple library cards into the app too, so you can browse and borrow from multiple libraries all in one app.
    Get the Libby App
    Audible 📚🎧
    We both have subscriptions to Audible which we LOVE - there are so many great performances to be heard and exclusive books you can't hear anywhere else.
    Get a Free Audiobook with 30-Day Trial 📚🎧
    Audible logo and iphone screen with audiobook covers on it.
    Spotify art illustration of a person with headphones on surrounded by clouds.
    Spotify Premium Audiobooks
    Spotify has audiobooks now, and their selection is good! I find a lot of new releases that have longer waits at the library. If you have Spotify Premium, it now includes 15 hours of audiobook listening time per month. You can also buy 'top-ups' if you want to add more listening time on top of that.
    Find Audiobooks on Spotify

    We both have different ways of tracking what books we've read. Jessica has a book log that she keeps in her library, Sarah uses Goodreads.

    Disclaimer about Good Book Club Books:

    While we do love it when a book we read is PG, many of the books that we love and think are worth reading, are not squeaky clean. Since everyone's standards for content are different, you'll need to do your own research as to whether a book is going to be clean enough for you.

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    Fiction

    Historical Fiction

    Historical fiction is such a cool genre. In my book group we have decided to seek out historical fiction about cultures, countries, and conflicts that we know little about. Below are some of the most eye-opening and beautifully written stories about people we didn't learn about in school. (Never stop learning!)

    The Vanishing Half
    Brit Bennett
    Inseparable teenaged twins from a small, Southern Black community run away and end up on very different paths. Many years later, one sister lives in the same Southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for White, and her White husband knows nothing of her past. Brit Bennett wrote a story that is an emotional family drama and an exploration of the American history of passing.
    Get The Book
    The Island of Sea Women
    Lisa See
    Set on the Korean island of Jeju, this novel tells a story about two women living in a culture where women are the breadwinners engaging in dangerous physical work as sea divers. Their friendship is tested through a period of Japanese colonialism, followed by World War II, the Korean War, and its aftermath.
    Get The Book
    Book cover art for 'The Island of Sea Women' by Lisa See.
    The Chosen
    Chaim Potok
    Unlikely friends Reuven and Danny exist in different worlds even though they've lived just blocks from each other for their entire lives. As the two get to know each other they find that they aren't as different as they seem.
    The Chosen is a beautiful and powerful coming-of-age story.
    Get The Book
    A Woman is No Man
    Etaf Rum
    Three generations of Palestinian-American women living in Brooklyn are torn between individual desire and the strict mores of Arab culture in this heart-wrenching story of love, intrigue, courage, and betrayal that will resonate with women from all backgrounds.
    Get The Book
    The Chosen
    Chaim Potok
    Unlikely friends Reuven and Danny exist in different worlds even though they've lived just blocks from each other for their entire lives. As the two get to know each other they find that they aren't as different as they seem.
    The Chosen is a beautiful and powerful coming-of-age story.
    Get The Book
    The Giver of Stars
    JoJo Moyes
    If you are an avid reader you will love this book, because it demonstrates the power books have to save lives and bring people together. It is moving, gripping, fun, interesting, romantic, and inspiring all in turns.
    Get The Book
    Book cover art for 'The Giver of Stars' by JoJo Moyes.
    Book cover art for 'The Downstairs Girl' by Stacy Lee.
    The Downstairs Girl
    Stacy Lee
    During the day, Jo is a ladies' maid to a wealthy man in Atlanta, and at night she writes for the newspaper as "Dear Miss Sweetie" answering an advice column. She is funny and endearing, so it's no wonder when the column takes off, only nobody knows who's writing it. She decides to use the popular column to question a few of the powers that be and it takes her down a dangerous and unforgettable journey.
    Get The Book
    These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901, Arizona Territories
    Nancy E. Turner
    These words belong to Sarah Prine, a woman who forges a full and remarkable life in a harsh, unfamiliar frontier. She records her life as she goes from childhood to determined young adult to loving mother - sharing the turbulent events, both happy and tragic, that molded her. This book, inspired by the author's family memoirs, is painful and beautiful.
    Get The Book
    The Kite Runner
    Khaled Hosseini
    Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of its monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable and beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara - a shunned ethnic minority. 
    Get The Book
    Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
    Beth Hoffman
    Twelve-year-old CeeCee is in trouble. For years she’s been the caretaker for her mother, Camille— the crown-wearing, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town. Though it’s 1967 and they live in Ohio, Camille believes it’s 1951 and she’s just been crowned the Vidalia Onion Queen of Georgia.
    Get The Book

    Historical | World War II

    World War II has its very own section here. There is so much written about this war and a lot of it is worth exploring. The Holocaust is an event that should never be forgotten, and reading accounts from victims of the war is a way to learn, for those of us who had no direct experience with it.

    All The Light We Cannot See
    Anthony Doerr
    A French girl who is blind, and a German boy's paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.
    Get The Book
    digital book cover 'all the light we cannot see' by anthony doerr
    Between Shades of Gray book cover - woman's eyelashes with snow on them
    Between Shades of Gray
    Ruta Sepetys
    A story of Lina, a 15-year old Lithuanian refugee under Stalin's reign during World War II. She uses her talent as an artist to try to bring her family back together and maintain the will to survive.
    Get The Book
    The Nightingale
    Kristin Hannah
    The Nightingale tells the story of two sisters in Nazi-occupied France.
    The book is written from the points-of-view of two sisters whose circumstances, personalities, and reactions to the war are very different from each other.
    Get The Book
    The Nightingale digital cover - the Eiffel tower and a yellow nightingale silhouette with flowers
    We Were the Lucky Ones
    Georgia Hunter
    This book was inspired by the true story of a Jewish family from Poland. The family becomes separated at the beginning of World War II, and are all pushed to different parts of the world in their struggle to survive, and hopefully, be reunited again.
    Get The Book
    The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
    Mary Ann Shafer and Annie Barrows
    This story is just delightful. A writer from London begins a correspondence with the members of a book club on the Isle of Guernsey, a small island in the British Channel, that had been occupied by Nazis during the war.
    Get The Book
    Cover art for the book "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
    Cover art for the book "Beneath a Scarlet Sky" by Mark Sullivan.
    Beneath a Scarlet Sky
    Mark Sullivan
    Based on the true story of a young Italian war hero, this book is not only riveting but enlightening as well. When Pino Lella becomes a personal driver for one of Hitler's highest-ranking officials he is in the perfect position to spy for his country - risking everything.
    Get The Book
    The Light Between Oceans
    M.L. Stedman
    The Light Between Oceans is a beautiful novel about isolation and courage in the face of enormous loss. It gets into your heart stealthily, until you stop hoping the characters will make different choices and find you can only watch, transfixed, as every conceivable choice becomes an impossible one.
    Get The Book
    Book cover for 'The Light Between Oceans' a dark lighthouse with a a blue starry background
    Digital cover for The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
    The Book Thief
    Markus Zusak
    A beautiful and moving story of a young foster girl in Nazi Germany -- and the narrator of this book is Death.
    The fact that the story is told from 'Death's' perspective artfully emphasizes the mortality of every character in the story - especially at such a devastating time in the world's history.
    Get The Book
    Secrets of a Charmed Life
    Susan Messner
    A story about two young sisters during WWII and how their lives are torn apart and put back together. As told by one of the sisters to a modern-day journalist writing about the war. 
    Get The Book
    'Secrets of a Charmed Life' by Susan Meissner.
    Code Name Hélène
    Ariel Lawhon
    This book is based on the thrilling real-life story of socialite spy Nancy Wake, the astonishing woman who killed a Nazi with her bare hands and went on to become one of the most decorated women in WWII.
    Get The Book

    Mystery and Thriller

    Cover art for book 'Happiness Falls' by Angie Kim.
    Happiness Falls
    Angie Kim
    Mia isn't initially concerned when her dad doesn't return from a walk with her brother - until it becomes clear that he is missing. The only witness is Eugene, her younger brother who has a rare genetic condition and cannot speak. Mia's family goes to remarkable lengths to try to understand each other better as they search for answers about her father's disappearance.
    Get The Book
    Fire Keeper's Daughter
    Angeline Boulley
    After 18-year-old Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, she reluctantly goes undercover, using her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe medicine to find the truth. The author Angeline Boulley seamlessly integrates Native American history and culture into this compelling story of love, family, and belonging.
    Get The Book
    Book cover art for 'Fire Keeper's Daughter' by Angeline Boulley.
    Book cover art for 'The God of the Woods' by Liz Moore.
    The God of the Woods
    Liz Moore
    When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide
    Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.
    Get The Book
    The It Girl
    Ruth Ware
    April was the first person Hannah Jones met at Oxford. Vivacious, bright, occasionally vicious, and the ultimate It girl, she quickly pulled Hannah into her dazzling orbit. Together, they found a group of friends during their first term, all quickly devoted to each other and inseparable. By the end of the year, April was dead.
    Get The Book
    Book cover art for 'The It Girl' by Ruth Ware.
    Book cover art for 'Rock Paper Scissors' by Alice Feeney.
    Rock Paper Scissors
    Alice Feeney
    When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Things have been wrong with them for a long time. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends, family, or even his own wife.
    Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.
    Get The Book
    Watch Me Disappear
    Janelle Brown
    It’s been a year since Billie Flanagan — a Berkeley mom with an enviable life — went on a solo hike and vanished from the trail. Her body was never found, just a shattered cell phone and a solitary hiking boot. Her husband and teenage daughter have been coping with her death the best they can. They start unearthing secrets from Billie’s past that bring into question everything they thought they understood about her.
    Get The Book
    Cover art for the book 'Yellowface' by R.F. Kuang.
    Yellowface
    R.F. Kuang
    June Hayward is an aspiring author overshadowed by her more successful friend, Athena Liu. June steals Athena's unfinished novel after her friend's tragic death. June rebrands herself as Juniper Song and rises to fame with the book’s success. In her desperation to protect her secret, she realizes just how far she’s willing to go to claim what she believes she deserves.
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    None of This is True
    Lisa Jewell
    Alix, a true crime podcaster, meets Josie, a woman who says she has an interesting life story to share. As they conduct interviews for her podcast, Alix finds herself drawn into Josie's unsettling world. Soon Alix realizes she's become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her family's safety at risk.
    Get The Book
    Cover art for 'None of This is True' by Lisa Jewell.
    The Silent Patient
    Alex Michaelides
    Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, Alicia shoots him five times, and then never speaks another word.
    Get The Book
    The Thirteenth Tale
    Diane Setterfield
    The Thirteenth Tale is a story for book lovers, through and through. It's about a reclusive author who decides to finally share the true story of her life with a young journalist. It has mystery, intrigue, plot twists and turns, and ties everything neatly together at the end, while still giving you plenty to think and talk about.
    Get The Book
    Digital book cover for 'The Thirteenth Tale' -old books in deep red and green colors
    Book cover art for 'Invisible' by James Patterson and David Ellis.
    Invisible
    James Patterson and David Ellis
    Everyone thinks Emmy Dockery is crazy. Obsessed with finding the link between hundreds of unsolved cases, Emmy has taken leave from her job as an FBI researcher. Now all she has are the newspaper clippings that wallpaper her bedroom, and her recurring nightmares of an all-consuming fire.
    Get The Book

    Modern Fiction

    Cover art for book 'Demon Copperhead' by Barbara Kingsolver.
    Demon Copperhead
    Barbara Kingsolver
    Demon Copperhead is a boy born to a single teenaged mother with no assets beyond his sharp wit and a fierce talent for survival. Demon braves foster care, child labor, athletic success, addiction, found family, and disastrous love.
    Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damage to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Barbara Kingsolver transposed this classic Victorian novel to the modern American South.
    Get The Book
    The Hate U Give
    Angie Thomas
    A 16-year-old sees her childhood best friend fatally shot by a police officer. This is a heartbreaking story, it's fiction inspired by stories we see too often on the news. It provoked a lot of good conversation and thought.
    Get The Book
    Book cover art for 'The Hate U Give' by Angie Thomas.
    Digital book cover of 'What Alice Forgot' - a light blue background with dandelion seeds flying
    What Alice Forgot
    Liane Moriarty
    When Alice falls at the gym and hits her head, she forgets the last ten years of her life. She wakes up thinking she is 29, a happy newlywed, poor, and a dreamer. She soon discovers that she and her husband got everything they had ever dreamed of yet ended up miserable.
    Get The Book
    The Measure
    Nikki Erlick
    On the same morning, every person on every continent receives the same box. In an instant, the world is thrust into a collective frenzy. Where did these boxes come from? What do they mean? Now, everyone faces the same shocking choice:
    Do they want to know how long they’ll live?
    If so, what will they do with that knowledge?
    Get The Book
    Book cover art for 'The Measure' by Nikki Erlick.
    Remarkably Bright Creatures
    Shelby Van Pelt
    This charming, witty story of friendship, grief, and hope follows a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.
    Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.
    This is one of my favorite books EVER, and if you like audiobooks at all I recommend listening to this one.
    Get The Book
    Remarkably Bright Creatures
    Shelby Van Pelt
    This charming, witty story of friendship, grief, and hope follows a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.
    Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.
    This is one of my favorite books EVER, and if you like audiobooks at all I recommend listening to this one.
    Get The Book
    The Midnight Library
    Matt Haig
    In this story, there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with thousands of other books for the other lives you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
    Get The Book
    Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting
    Clare Pooley
    Every day Iona Iverson, a stylish, opinionated magazine advice columnist, rides the train to work with her dog, Lulu. Every day she sees the same people, whom she knows only by nickname: Impossibly-Pretty-Bookworm and Mr-Too-Good-to-Be-True. Of course, they never speak. Seasoned commuters never do.
    Get The Book
    Book cover art for 'The Echo of Old Books' by Barbara Davis.
    The Echo of Old Books
    Barbara Davis
    Rare-book dealer Ashlyn Greer’s affinity for books extends beyond the intoxicating scent of old paper, ink, and leather. She can feel the echoes of the books’ previous owners—an emotional fingerprint only she can read. When Ashlyn discovers a pair of beautifully bound volumes that appear to have never been published, her gift quickly becomes an obsession. Not only is each inscribed with a startling incrimination, but the authors, Hemi and Belle, tell conflicting sides of a tragic romance.
    Get The Book
    Sylvia's Second Act
    Hillary Yablon
    Her husband’s cheating on her. She hates Boca. Sylvia is mad and she isn’t going to take it anymore. When her head stops spinning, she realizes that actually, this isn’t what she wants anymore anyway. She’s moving back north, to the city of her dreams—with her best friend, Evie, in tow.
    Get The Book
    Book cover art for 'Sylvia's Second Act' by Hillary Yablon.
    Cover art for the book 'One to Watch' by Kate Stayman London.
    One to Watch
    Kate Stayman London
    If you watch The Bachelor, this is a MUST-READ. Bea is a plus-sized fashion blogger who openly critiques the fictional reality show "Main Squeeze" for only casting small body types. She then is cast as the first plus-sized lead. This book draws attention to real and important issues while still being witty, fun, and fast-paced.
    Get The Book
    The Wedding People
    Alison Espach
    Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, without luggage, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Shenanigans ensue. This story is absurd, funny, and tender.
    Get The Book
    Book cover art for 'The Wedding People' by Alison Espach.
    Book cover art for 'Far from the Tree' by Robin Benway.
    Far From the Tree
    Robin Benway
    Being the middle child has its ups and downs.
    But for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family.
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    Beartown
    Fredrik Backman
    The junior ice hockey team is the heart and soul of Beartown. Everyone in town is counting on them, which is a lot of pressure. During the excitement of the semifinal game, a young girl is assaulted, and the whole town is thrown into chaos. People start blaming each other, and like ripples in water, the effects spread, impacting everyone in Beartown.
    Get The Book

    Classic Books for Book Clubs

    We all know there's *something* about classic books, they are only classics if they stand the test of time. These stories say a lot about what it means to be human. Even though our knowledge, beliefs, and lifestyles have changed over time, the challenges people face, the questions we ask, and the values we care about are often the same as those explored by writers from long ago.

    The Screwtape Letters
    C.S. Lewis
    The Screwtape Letters is the story of a young devil, Wormwood, who is being coached by his uncle Screwtape on how to lead humans down to hell without them suspecting. Brilliantly told and incredibly thought-provoking.
    I don't think anyone could read this book and argue that C.S. Lewis was not a genius. A definite masterwork in my opinion!
    Get The Book
    Persuasion
    Jane Austen
    Anne Elliot is woman of quiet charm and deep feelings. Eight years before our story begins, she is happily betrothed to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but she breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that the match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret.
    Get The Book
    Frankenstein
    Mary Shelley
    Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, is one of the earliest examples of science fiction. Victor Frankenstein creates a monster beyond his control, setting into motion a long and tragic chain of events. It is a painful story about what responsibility one has for a creature they bring to life. I think it should be required reading!
    Get The Book
    Book cover art for Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
    Jane Eyre
    Charlotte Brontë
    This book follows an orphan named Jane, who is told by everyone that she is unremarkable, to becoming a governess at Thornfield Hall where she meets the mysterious Mr. Rochester. Jane struggles for independence, finds love, and tries to stay true to her beliefs.
    Charlotte Brontë wrote this when she was a girl herself, just 15 years old. She told a brilliant story that questioned the challenges women had to endure during the Victorian era.
    Get The Book
    The Awakening
    Kate Chopin
    This classic novel, published in 1899 and subsequently banned, paints a picture of Southern society and culture through the lens of a woman who feels trapped in a cage of social norms. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in early feminist literature.
    Get The Book
    Book cover art for 'The Awakening' by Kate Chopin.
    As a Man Thinketh
    James Allen
    Originally published in 1903, James Allen’s As a Man Thinketh has stated “A man is literally what he thinks.”
    Allen explains that our character, identity, ability, and success are all determined by the thoughts in our minds. Instead of finding ourselves victims of the world, there exists within each of us the ability to shape and define our own destinies.
    Get The Book
    Middlemarch
    George Eliot
    Middlemarch is a classic novel set in the 1830s that weaves together the stories of Dorothea Brooke, who marries a scholar but quickly regrets it, and Fred Vincy, who faces challenges in love and money. Their lives intertwine with other characters in a tale of politics, tragedy, romance, and comedy.
    Get The Book
    Book cover art for Middlemarch by George Eliot.
    The Giver
    Lois Lowry
    The Giver, the 1994 Newbery Medal winner, has become one of the most influential novels of our time. The story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. 
    Get The Book

    Fantasy

    Book cover art for "Fourth Wing" by Rebecca Yarros.
    Fourth Wing
    Rebecca Yarros
    Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail has been ordered to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.
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    The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
    V.E. Schwab
    In 1714, a young woman named Addie LaRue makes a deal to live forever, but the catch is that no one she meets will remember her. This curse leads her on an incredible journey through centuries. After almost 300 years of being forgotten, she meets a young man in a bookstore, and he remembers her name.
    Get The Book
    Book cover art for Circe by Madeline Miller.
    Circe
    Madeline Miller
    Circe, the daughter of Helios the sun God, discovers she has a unique power: witchcraft. After angering the gods, Zeus banishes her to an island, where she masters her witchcraft, tames wild beasts, and meets legendary figures from mythology. It's an epic of family rivalry, love, and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man's world.
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    My Lady Jane
    Not much is known about the real Lady Jane Grey, who was King Edward VI’s successor for just nine days. Three witty authors decided to give Lady Jane a proper story, and it is smart, hilarious, and a lot more fun than the true story.
    This book is great for fans of The Princess Bride. I laughed out loud throughout the whole book, and my book club unanimously gave it five stars! 
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    Cover art for the book 'My Lady Jane' by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meados and Brodi Ashton.
    Scythe
    Neal Shusterman
    Two teens must learn the "art of killing" in this new award-winning series.
    A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: Humanity has conquered all those things and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life - and they are commanded to do so in order to keep the size of the population under control.
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    One Dark Window
    Rachel Gillig
    A dark, lushly gothic fantasy about a maiden who must unleash the monster within to save her kingdom. But the monster in her head isn't the only threat lurking.
    Get The Book
    Book cover art for 'one dark window' by Rachel Gillig.

    Romance

    Romance is so much fun to read. Some of it is good clean fun, and a lot of it is *spicy.* This list has books from all over the spectrum. Whether romance is right for you and your book club, and how much spice you're all comfortable with? That's up to you to decide as a group!

    The Last Love Note
    Emma Grey
    Kate is a bit of a mess. Two years after losing her young husband Cameron, she’s grieving, solo parenting, working like mad at her university fundraising job, always dropping the ball—and yet clinging to her sense of humor.
    The Last Love Note will make you laugh, cry, and renew your faith in the resilience of the human heart—and in love itself.
    This is a FANTASTIC romance with depth.
    Get The Book
    Cover art for 'The Last Love Note' by Emma Grey.
    Ready or Not
    Cara Bastone
    "A truly heartwarming, funny, and real story. Come for the dog bar, stay for the special, slow-burn romcom.”—Abby Jimenez, New York Times bestselling author
    Get The Book
    Part of Your World
    Abby Jimenez
    After a wild bet, gourmet grilled-cheese sandwich, and a cuddle with a baby goat, Alexis Montgomery has had her world turned upside down. The cause: Daniel Grant, a ridiculously cute carpenter who’s as casual as they come—the complete opposite of city-girl Alexis. And yet their chemistry is undeniable.
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    Cover art for book 'Part of Your World' by Abby Jimenez.
    Book cover art for 'Nora Goes Off Script' by Annabel Monaghan.
    Nora Goes Off Script
    Annabel Monaghan
    When a romance channel screenwriter's too-good-to work husband leaves her and their two kids, Nora turns her marriage’s collapse into cash and writes the best script of her life. No one is more surprised than her when it’s picked up for the big screen
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    Evvie Drake Starts Over
    Linda Holmes
    "Everything a romantic comedy should be: witty, relatable, and a little complicated." (People)
    We absolutely LOVE this heartfelt novel about the unlikely relationship between a young woman who’s lost her husband and a Major League pitcher who’s lost his game.
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    Ghosted
    Rosie Walsh
    When Sarah and Eddie fall in love it seems as though her life has finally begun. And it's mutual: It's as though Eddie has been waiting for her, too. When Eddie leaves for a vacation and promises to call from the airport, she has no cause to doubt him. But he doesn't call. She knows something's happened - there must be an explanation.
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    This Summer Will Be Different
    Carley Fortune
    Each year, Lucy escapes to Prince Edward Island for a big breath of coastal air, fresh oysters, and crisp vinho verde with her best friend, Bridget. Every visit begins with a long walk on the beach beneath soaring red cliffs and a golden sun. And every visit, Lucy promises herself she won’t wind up with Felix. Again.
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    Book cover art for 'This Summer Will Be Different' by Carley Fortune.
    Book cover art for Mrs. Nash's Ashes by Sarah Adler.
    Mrs. Nash's Ashes
    Sarah Adler
    A starry-eyed romantic, a cynical writer, and (the ashes of) an elderly woman take the road trip of a lifetime that just might upend everything they believe about true love.
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    Lovelight Farms
    B.K. Borison
    Hallmark movie meets Romance novel!
    Lovelight Farms is a romantic comedy featuring a handsome freckled data analyst, a messy, optimistic Christmas tree farm owner, and a small town with the best hazelnut lattes on the East coast.
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    Non-Fiction Book Club Books

    Self-Improvement

    All self-help books are not created equal, but I can promise you that each of the books listed below has something valuable to offer. Self-improvement books are great for book club discussions because they encourage friends to share their thoughts and personal experiences about the ideas in the books.

    Book cover art for 'I think you're wrong but I'm listening' by Beth Silvers and Sarah Stewart Holland.
    I Think You're Wrong, But I'm Listening
    Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers
    Sarah and Beth came together to have political conversations as friends with VERY different political views. They have mastered doing so with grace. In this book they share their ideas on how we can learn to do this too - and why it's so important.
    My book club had a great discussion around this and I think it should be at the top of everyone's reading list.
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    More Than a Body
    Dr. Lexie Kite and Dr. Lindsay Kite
    This book goes beyond “body positivity” to help you develop body image resilience - all while cutting through the empty promises sold by media, advertisers, and the beauty and weight-loss industries.
    The authors, Dr. Lindsay Kite and Dr. Lexie Kite, are body image researchers and twin sisters! who have spent the past twenty years on research about body image.
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    Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
    Daring Greatly
    Brené Brown
    I don't think I ever really knew myself completely until I read this book.
    Brené Brown writes what she's learned from solid research and kitchen table story-telling. It will empower you to live a real, vulnerable, and daring life- and help you give grace to those around you- especially those who matter most.
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    The Power of Fun
    Catherine Price
    What the author calls "True Fun" - the blend of play, connection, and flow - things that most adults are not making a priority of - can bring the fulfillment we all crave.
    Drawing on research and personal experience, she says "True Fun" leads to greater happiness, productivity, health, and community. She gives ideas for how to bring more True Fun into our lives without feeling overwhelmed.
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    Cover Art for the book 'The Path Made Clear' compiled by Oprah Winfrey
    The Path Made Clear
    Oprah Winfrey
    This is a compilation and edit of many of the most important interviews Oprah's hosted, it's full of insight on how to find meaning in and make the most of your one precious life. Enlightened and spiritual, this book is just the uplift we need these days.
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    Think Like a Monk
    Jay Shetty
    Jay Shetty distills the timeless wisdom he learned as a monk into practical steps anyone can take every day to live a less anxious, more meaningful life.
    Get The Book
    Cover art for 'Think Like a Monk' by Jay Shetty.
    Cover art for 'The Book of Joy' by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
    The Book of Joy
    His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu
    Two great spiritual masters share their hard-won wisdom about living with joy even in the face of adversity.
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    French Kids Eat Everything
    Karen Le Billon
    At once a memoir, a cookbook, a how-to handbook, and a delightful exploration of how the French manage to feed children without endless battles and struggles with pickiness, French Kids Eat Everything features recipes, practical tips, and 10 easy-to-follow rules for raising happy and healthy young eaters.
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    Book cover art for French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon
    Book cover art for 'Untamed' by Glennon Doyle.
    Untamed
    Glennon Doyle
    There is a voice of longing inside each woman. We strive so mightily to be good: good partners, daughters, mothers, employees, and friends. We hope all this striving will make us feel alive. Instead, it leaves us feeling weary, stuck, overwhelmed, and underwhelmed. We look at our lives and wonder: Wasn’t it all supposed to be more beautiful than this?
    Glennon Doyle explores the joy and peace we discover when we stop striving to meet others’ expectations and start trusting the voice deep within us.
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    Sociology

    The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
    John Green
    In this fun and beautifully written collection of essays - John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet from the QWERTY keyboard and Halley's Comet to Penguins of Madagascar - on a five-star scale.
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    Book cover for 'Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism' by Amanda Montell.
    Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism
    Amanda Montell
    Cultish analyzes the social science of cult influence: how cultish groups from Jonestown and Scientology to SoulCycle and social media gurus use group-specific language as their greatest tool. This book is fun, and after reading it you may hear “cultish” language everywhere. It makes for a SUPER interesting discussion.
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    Outliers
    Malcolm Gladwell
    The author Malcolm Gladwell takes an in-depth look at the outliers - the most successful or most talented people in the world, and asks the question "what makes them different?" It's science, self-help, and entertainment all wrapped up in one book.
    As with all of Gladwell's books (and his very popular podcasts) it will make you think.
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    Book cover art for 'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell.
    Book cover art for 'How to be Perfect' the correct answer to every moral question" by Michael Schur.
    How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question
    Michael Schur
    Michael Schur, the creator of TV shows like The Good Place and Parks and Recreation, explores life's big moral questions. This book is more comedy than actual advice, but with sharp wit and insight, Schur explains concepts like deontology, utilitarianism, existentialism, ubuntu, and more, so I learned a lot more about philosophy than I knew before I read it.
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    Tiny Beautiful Things
    Cheryl Strayed
    For more than a decade, thousands of people have sought advice from Dear Sugar—the pseudonym of bestselling author Cheryl Strayed— through her online column. Tiny Beautiful Things collects the best of Dear Sugar in one volume, bringing her wisdom to many more readers. Rich with humor, insight, compassion—and absolute honesty—this book is a balm for everything life throws our way.
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    Memoirs

    Book cover art for "Know My Name" by Chanel Miller.
    Know My Name
    Chanel Miller
    She was known to the world as Emily Doe when she stunned millions with a letter. Brock Turner had been sentenced to just six months in county jail after he was found sexually assaulting her on Stanford's campus.
    Her victim impact statement was posted online, where it instantly went viral - viewed by 11 million people within four days, it was translated globally and read on the floor of Congress; it inspired changes in California law and the recall of the judge in the case.
    Thousands wrote to say that she had given them the courage to share their own experiences of assault for the first time.
    Now, she reclaims her identity to tell her story of trauma, transcendence, and the power of words. 
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    Nothing to Envy
    Barbara Demick
    Nothing to Envy follows the lives of six North Korean citizens, sharing how each of them became disillusioned with their government as they realized that their country had betrayed them. It’s heartbreaking, eye-opening and fascinating. I think about this book more than any other I’ve read in the past few years.
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    Book cover art for 'Nothing to Envy' by Barbara Demick.
    Cover art for book 'Sure' I'll Join Your Cult' by Maria Bamford.
    Sure, I'll Join Your Cult
    Maria Bamford
    Maria Bamford is your favorite comedian's comedian. Her memoir is full of dark humor and laugh-out-loud stories about her mental health, what it means to keep going, and her quest to belong as a member of society (or any group she’s invited to) despite not being very good at it.
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    I'm Glad My Mom Died
    Jennette McCurdy
    A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir about Jennette's struggles as a former child actor and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother. After her mom passes away from cancer, Jennette starts down the path to recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she wants.
    Told with candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.
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    Cover art for book 'I'm Glad my Mom Died' by Jeanette McCurdy.
    Book cover art for 'Crying in H Mart' by Michelle Zauner.
    Crying in H Mart
    Michelle Zauner
    It was her mother's diagnosis of terminal cancer, when Michelle was 25, that forced a reckoning with her Korean-American identity and encouraged her to reclaim the gifts of food, language, and history her mother had given her. She writes beautifully about her grief and finding ways to keep her mother's memory close.
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    Educated
    Tara Westover
    Tara Westover was 17 had been raised by survivalists in rural Idaho, forbidden to visit doctors, and taught to distrust almost everyone.
    Tara's story was painful but offers more understanding for those who are not offered opportunities, education, and empowerment - privileges that are too often taken for granted. 
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    Book cover art for 'Educated' by Tara Westover.
    Cover art for book "Born a Crime" by Trevor Noah.
    Born a Crime
    Trevor Noah
    Trevor Noah details his life having been born in apartheid South Africa, where his birth to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother was illegal.
    He was kept mostly indoors for the first five years of his life, his mother having to take extreme measures to keep them both safe. It's a coming-of-age story and an eye-opening firsthand account of what life was like during and after the apartheid for him and his family.
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    The Girl with Seven Names
    Hyeonseo Lee
    A memoir from a North Korean defector, Hyeonseo Lee. She details her long, difficult, and dangerous path to freedom. After she finally made it to safety, she risked her life again to help her family escape, leading them through China and Laos. She is now an activist and speaks out against the North Korean regime.
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    Book cover art for 'The Girl with Seven Names' by Hyeonseo Lee.
    Book cover art for 'American Like Me' a collection of stories compiled by America Ferrera.
    American Like Me
    America Ferrera
    America Ferrera invited 31 of her friends, peers, and heroes to share their stories about life between cultures. We know them as celebrities and artists, however, they are also immigrants, children or grandchildren of immigrants, and Indigenous people. Each of them struggled to establish a sense of self, find belonging, and feel seen. And they call themselves American enthusiastically, reluctantly, or not at all.
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    Just Mercy
    Bryan Stevenson
    Bryan Stevenson is an attorney and activist focusing on injustices in the United States judicial system. His book alternates between documenting his efforts to overturn the wrongful conviction of a man who was given the death penalty (despite having a clear alibi) and his work on other cases, including children who receive life sentences and other poor or marginalized clients.
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    Book cover art for 'Brown Girl Dreaming' by Jacqueline Woodson.
    Brown Girl Dreaming
    Jacqueline Woodson
    This book was just beautifully written.
    Growing up in both South Carolina and New York, Jacqueline Woodson felt like she didn’t fully belong in either place. Through powerful poems, she describes what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s. Each story is full of emotion and gives you a look into her heart as a young girl trying to figure out where she fits in the world.
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    True Crime Books for Book Club

    Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
    John Carreyrou
    John Carreyrou of the New York Times takes you through the rise and fall of a multi-billion dollar biotech startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes. This story is so crazy it's hard to believe it really happened. The book is a page-turner and has now been adapted into multiple documentaries, podcasts, and an Emmy award-winning limited series.
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    Book cover art for 'Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup' by John Carreyrou.
    Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
    Patrick Radden Keefe
    This book is the saga of the Sackler family, known for their wealth, art collections, and massive donations to museums. The family was exposed when it was revealed that they knowingly fueled the opioid epidemic by marketing OxyContin as 'non-addictive' when it is anything but. The Sacklers lived extravagant lives full of legal battles, power struggles, and using their money to shape their image and crush anyone who stood in their way.
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    Snack Ideas for Book Club

    • Bruschetta Dip
    • Best Ever Bowtie Pasta Salad
    • Sweet and Salty Chex Mix
    • Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
    • Texas Sheet Cake
    • Golden Grahams S'more Bars

    We really hope you've found some books you're excited to add to your reading list. We'd love it if you'd leave us a comment letting us know which books you are reading!

    Books with white covers stacked and arranged on a white shelf

    How to Pick the Best Books for Book Club

    You will love this list of great book club books! All tried-and-tested, thought-provoking books that make for interesting conversations.
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    The Best Books for Book Clubs
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    1. Sharon C Braem

      January 24, 2025 at 11:36 am

      It would be so helpful if you could provide a printable list without all the descriptions, just the titles and author.
      Thanks

      Reply
      • Sarah

        January 24, 2025 at 2:12 pm

        That's a great idea! We'll see if we can make that happen soon.

        Reply
    2. Kristyn

      June 22, 2021 at 9:24 am

      Do you have a Bookstagram page on IG? I would love to follow if so! I’m @delightfullybooked

      https://www.instagram.com/delightfullybooked/

      Reply

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