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 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Midlife, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Drama / Tragedy, Irish Literature, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2006

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Historical Fiction, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Gender / Feminism, History: World

The Birth House is a work of historical fiction written by Canadian novelist Ami McKay and published in 2009. The book was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and won three Libris Awards from the Canadian Booksellers Association. The story takes place in the early 20th century during World War I and is set primarily in Scots Bay, a small shipbuilding community in Nova Scotia, Canada. While she is originally from Indiana, McKay... Read The Birth House Summary


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Gender, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger


Publication year 1970

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family

Tags American Literature, Existentialism, Race / Racism, Education, Education, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction

The Bluest Eye is the first novel of Nobel-Prize winning writer Toni Morrison. It was published in 1970. Set in Lorain, Ohio in 1941, the novel traces how Pecola Breedlove, the dark-skinned daughter of a poor African American family, came to be pregnant with her father's child and lost her sanity after the baby died.Morrison prefaces the novel with a Foreword in which she explains several of her choices in writing the novel. The novel... Read The Bluest Eye Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Magical Realism, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Fantasy, Modern Classic Fiction, Mental Illness


Publication year 2016

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Friendship, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Self Help, Religion / Spirituality, Philosophy, Psychology, Inspirational, Psychology, Philosophy

In The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, co-authors Douglas Abrams, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu share their discussion on the nature of joy and the methods to achieve it in the face of adversity. Originally published in 2016, this work falls within the genre of spiritual and self-help literature. The Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, and Archbishop Tutu, a leader in the fight against... Read The Book of Joy Summary


Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Gender, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Life/Time: Coming of Age

Tags Historical Fiction, Religion / Spirituality, Gender / Feminism, History: World


Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Relationships: Mothers, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Family

Tags Historical Fiction, Military / War, American Civil War, History: World


Publication year 2007

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Music

Tags Historical Fiction, History: World

Aminata Diallo, from the village of Bayo, in western Africa, is the daughter of Mamadu, a jeweler, and Sira, a midwife. At the age of eleven, she is kidnapped after watching her parents murdered and her village burned. She is captured by African slave traders, who sell her to white slave traders. She and the other captives are marched in a coffle, a line of prisoners chained together, on a harrowing three-month journey to the... Read The Book of Negroes Summary


Publication year 1988

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Literature, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Identity: Disability

Tags Historical Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Love

Tags Romance, Historical Fiction, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict

Tags Historical Fiction, Auto/Biographical Fiction, Religion / Spirituality, Jewish Literature, History: World


Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Equality, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt

Tags Historical Fiction, Gender / Feminism, Southern Literature, History: World, Romance

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a historical novel by American author Kim Michele Richardson. Published in 2019, the book takes place in the Kentucky hills during the Great Depression in 1936. In its depiction of prejudice and community in 1930s Kentucky, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek touches upon themes including the distrust of authority, the random and dangerous nature of prejudice, the power of community, and the importance of caring.Content Warning: The... Read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek Summary


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Family, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Place, Life/Time: Coming of Age

Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Race / Racism, Gender / Feminism, Southern Literature, History: World


Publication year 2013

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Relationships: Teams

Tags History: U.S., History: European, Sports, WWII / World War II, History: World, Biography

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics is a work of narrative nonfiction written by Daniel James Brown and published in 2013. Brown is known for his nonfiction works, including The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride (2009) and Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II (2021). The Boys in the Boat... Read The Boys in the Boat Summary


Publication year 2007

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Masculinity, Life/Time: Coming of Age

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a 2007 novel by the Dominican American author Junot Díaz. Its title character is a young overweight Dominican American man obsessed with fantasy novels, superhero comics, and tabletop role-playing games. Using Spanish neologisms, magical realism, and references to late-20th-century nerd culture, Díaz weaves a multigenerational family saga chronicling life under the murderous Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo and the subsequent Dominican diaspora to the United States. Widely praised... Read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Summary


Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: Aging, Relationships: Friendship, Life/Time: The Past, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Relationships: Family

Tags Historical Fiction, British Literature, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2011

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Historical Fiction, Immigration / Refugee, Class, History: U.S., Race / Racism, American Literature, WWII / World War II, Asian Literature, History: World, Japanese Literature

Julie Otsuka is a Japanese American writer who was born in 1962 in Palo Alto, California. Both The Buddha in the Attic (2011) and her 2002 novel, When the Emperor was Divine, portray the Japanese American experience of internment camps following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The subject is close to Otsuka’s heart; the FBI arrested her grandfather on suspicion of being an enemy spy, while her mother, uncle, and grandmother were... Read The Buddha in the Attic Summary


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Relationships: Friendship, Life/Time: The Past

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, History: Asian, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Friendship

Tags LGBTQ, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Humor