Popular Book Club Picks

Searching for study guides on books selected by some of the nation's top book clubs, curated by Oprah, Reese Witherspoon, the PBS NewsHour, the New York Times, and the American Library Association? Look no further. This collection covers critically-acclaimed classics like Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez to contemporary, buzzworthy novels like Girl, Woman, Other. We hope this compilation of study guides provides your own book club with lively discussion topics and keen insights.

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Race, Identity: Mental Health, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Race / Racism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Relationships: Friendship, Society: Immigration, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance

Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 1997

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Tags Sociology, Poverty, Southern Literature, History: World, Biography

This book is a memoir written by a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, Rick Bragg, who works for the New York Times. It describes the author’s childhood in rural Alabama,   the middle child of three brothers raised by an almost-always single mother in conditions of extreme poverty. His father was a veteran of the Korean War and an alcoholic, who abandoned his family for long periods of time.The book is dedicated “To my Momma and my brothers.” The author grows... Read All Over but the Shoutin' Summary


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge

Tags Historical Fiction, Holocaust, Drama / Tragedy, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, WWII / World War II, Military / War, History: World


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: The Future, Natural World: Place, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction


Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Family

Tags Romance, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Drama / Tragedy, Historical Fiction, Mental Illness

Bryn Greenwood’s novel All the Ugly and Wonderful Things (2016) acknowledges and inverts the features of fairy tales and romance novels to depict a relationship that challenges accepted social values and questions the definition of love itself. Sunk in the depravity and degradation of her father’s drug-dealing lifestyle, eight-year-old Wavy finds her only solace in a questionable attachment to Kellen, a 24-year-old man who is also isolated and longing for some scrap of beauty in... Read All the Ugly and Wonderful Things Summary


Publication year 2013

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Fate, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Society: Community, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Hope

Tags Poverty, Parenting, Indian Literature, Biography

A Long Way Home is a 2013 memoir by Saroo Brierley, an Indian-born author who was accidentally separated from his biological family at the age of five and adopted by an Australian couple. The memoir traces Saroo’s remarkable journey from India to Australia and back again 25 years later. The book inspired the 2016 film Lion and became a New York Times Best Seller after the film’s release. This guide refers to the 2015 edition published... Read A Long Way Home Summary


Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Guilt

Tags Humor, Modern Classic Fiction

A Man Called Ove (2012), by Swedish author Fredrik Backman (Anxious People, Beartown), tells the darkly humorous story of Ove, a 59-year-old Swedish man struggling to find purpose in his life. When the book opens, Ove’s wife Sonja has recently died. After losing his job, Ove plans to kill himself. Ove seems at odds with the world, constantly angry at the people around him and getting into altercations with shop workers, neighbors, and even other... Read A Man Called Ove Summary


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: The Past

Tags British Literature, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Humor


Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Religion / Spirituality

In 2012, Ayad Akhtar wrote the novel American Dervish, a coming-of-age story about a Pakistani-American boy in 1980s Milwaukee. Akhtar, a Pakistani-American writer and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, explores love of God and love of others through the prisms of religion, family, and romantic love in this novel. This guide refers to the hardcover first edition. Plot SummaryThe Prologue introduces narrator Hayat Shah, a college student whose mother’s best friend Mina has just died of cancer. The... Read American Dervish Summary


Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction

Book Details & Major ThemesPublished in 2020, American Dirt is a work of fiction by Jeanine Cummins, whose other works include A Rip in Heaven, The Crooked Branch, and The Outside Boy. The controversial, cross-genre novel combines elements of a commercial thriller, literary fiction, suspense, and romance. The title refers to the land comprising the geopolitical entity that is the United States of America, and to the contempt undocumented migrants face both before and after... Read American Dirt Summary


Publication year 2001

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: Immigration, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Life/Time: Mortality & Death

Tags Fantasy, Mythology, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

American Gods is a 2001 fantasy novel by English author Neil Gaiman. Blending folklore, mythology, religion, and American culture, the novel brings together gods from disparate cultures and times as they reckon with an existential threat. The novel has been adapted for television, and Gaiman has expanded the American Gods universe with indirect sequels such as Anansi Boys. The book won critical acclaim and many awards, including the 2002 Nebula and Hugo awards, two of... Read American Gods Summary


Publication year 2018

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Incarceration, Social Justice, Journalism, Race / Racism, American Literature, Post-War Era, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Sociology, History: World, Politics / Government


Publication year 1991

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: Economics, Society: Class

Tags Satire, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Drama / Tragedy, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Mystery / Crime Fiction, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction

American Psycho is a 1991 novel by American author Bret Easton Ellis. Set in 1980s New York, the novel follows the life of a wealthy young stockbroker, the novel’s narrator, Patrick Bateman. Surrounded by a world of vapid commercialism and empty excess, Bateman begins acting on his psychopathic thoughts and impulses. His disturbance begins in his imagination. However, it quickly bleeds over into reality with Bateman committing more and more horrific murders, fueled by drug... Read American Psycho Summary


Publication year 2017

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Society: Politics & Government, Natural World: Animals

Tags Science / Nature, Animals, Journalism, Politics / Government


Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags History: U.S., History: World, Historical Fiction, Romance

Published in 2016, America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie is the fictionalized biography of Thomas Jefferson’s eldest daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph, known to her family as Patsy. Based on true events, the novel tells the story of Patsy and her relationship with her father, one of America’s Founding Fathers and earliest presidents.In 1826, shortly after Jefferson’s death, Patsy begins the arduous task of sorting through her father’s papers—burning some and editing others... Read America's First Daughter Summary


Publication year 2019

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Race, Identity: Gender, Society: Colonialism

Tags Race / Racism, Social Justice, Mental Illness, Colonialism / Postcolonialism, Gender / Feminism


Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Fathers

Tags Race / Racism, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance

On its publication in 2018, An American Marriage received critical acclaim for its examination of the complex dynamic of contemporary relationships and its timely exploration of black identity in 21st century America. Tayari Jones, a professor of creative writing at Emory University in Atlanta, published three earlier novels, but it was An American Marriage that catapulted her to international acclaim. The book was a selection for Oprah Winfrey’s book club, a New York Times best-seller... Read An American Marriage Summary


Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family

Tags Historical Fiction, Middle Eastern Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Drama / Tragedy

The third novel by Khaled Hosseini, And the Mountains Echoed, is a work of historical fiction that examines the factors that lead to and reverberate from one action: a poor family sells their youngest daughter to a wealthy couple in Kabul. Set in Afghanistan, the novel spans over fifty 50 years and four generations. Hosseini includes several narrative voices, rather than just the story’s main family. The multiple narrators provide several different angles into the... Read And the Mountains Echoed Summary


Publication year 1939

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: The Past, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Identity: Gender, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Femininity, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy, Society: Colonialism

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Modernism, Classic Fiction

Published in 1939, And Then There Were None is a mystery novel by Agatha Christie, best-selling novelist of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. With over 100 million copies sold, And Then There Were None is the world’s best-selling crime novel as well as one of the best-selling books of all time. It has had more adaptations than any other work by Agatha Christie, including television programs, films, radio broadcasts, and most... Read And Then There Were None Summary