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 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Mental Health, Relationships: Friendship, Identity: Femininity, Values/Ideas: Equality
Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, History: World, Mental Illness
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Society: Class, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family
Tags Historical Fiction, Gender / Feminism, Great Depression, History: World
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Gender, Identity: Indigenous, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Birth, Natural World: Animals, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Society: Class, Society: Colonialism, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Gender / Feminism
Publication year 2007
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Family
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Irish Literature
The Gathering by Anne Enright is a novel about family history, grief, and the ways we learn to live with our pasts. Published in 2007, The Gathering was awarded the prestigious Man Booker Prize. The Gathering is Anne Enright’s fourth novel. Enright is the author of seven novels and is a major figure in contemporary Irish literature. This guide is based on the following 2007 Black Cat edition of The Gathering.Content Warning: This guide summarizes... Read The Gathering Summary
Publication year 2015
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Masculinity, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Relationships: Marriage
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Addiction / Substance Abuse, Modern Classic Fiction
Paula Hawkins wrote The Girl on the Train over the course of six months in 2014. Hawkins, an Oxford-educated journalist and writer, drew on her experience as a reporter in London to structure the novel and describe its locations. Drawing immediate comparisons to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, The Girl on the Train had similar performance, debuting at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list in 2015, and remaining there for 13 consecutive weeks... Read The Girl On The Train Summary
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed
Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Psychological Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World
Publication year 2010
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Coming of Age
Tags Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Drama / Tragedy, Race / Racism, Crime / Legal, Addiction / Substance Abuse, Depression / Suicide, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky is Heidi Durrow’s debut novel. Published in 2010 by Oneworld Publications, the novel won the PEN/Bellweather Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, an award that recognizes work by a previously unpublished author that explores a social issue. The Girl Who Fell from the Sky explores the impact of racism and loss on a young girl whose mother is a White woman from Denmark and whose father is a Black... Read The Girl Who Fell From The Sky Summary
Publication year 2015
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Tags Politics / Government, Korean Literature, Asian Literature, History: World, Biography
The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story, is Hyeonseo Lee’s 2015 autobiography. Lee leaves North Korea shortly before her eighteenth birthday. She does not intend to defect. She has received a lifetime of propaganda and truly believes her country is the best in the world. She is simply a curious child who wanted to see China, and intends to return to North Korea within days. Once in China, however, she is exposed... Read The Girl with Seven Names Summary
Publication year 2005
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Relationships: Family, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Scandinavian Literature, Gender / Feminism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Modern Classic Fiction
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an international bestseller by writer and journalist Stieg Larsson. The crime thriller was published in Sweden shortly after his death in 2005 with the original Swedish title, Män som hatar kvinnor, or Men Who Hate Women. The book won the 2006 Glass Key Award for best crime novel in its native Sweden, and after the English translation was released it received the 2008 Boeke Prize (South Africa), Crime... Read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Society: Class, Identity: Femininity
Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Realistic Fiction, Gender / Feminism, Class, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Poverty, African Literature, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family
Tags Historical Fiction, History: World, Romance
The Giver of Stars (2019) by JoJo Moyes is a work of women’s fiction that can also be categorized as historical fiction. Not long after its publication, The Giver of Stars became embroiled in controversy when another author, Kim Michele Richardson, noted similarities between her book about the WPA Pack Horse Librarians, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, and Moyes’s novel. Moyes is the bestselling author of Me Before You, and The Giver of Stars... Read The Giver of Stars Summary
Publication year 2005
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos
Tags American Literature, Education, Education, Biography, Classic Fiction
The Glass Castle is a nonfiction memoir published by American journalist Jeannette Walls. Published in 2005, book chronicles Walls and her three siblings’ nomadic and impoverished upbringing by their severely maladjusted parents. In recounting her childhood, Walls explores themes like Letting Go of Childhood Illusions, The Struggle to Understand a Parent’s Poor Choices, The Destructiveness of Codependent Relationships, and The Connection Between Poverty and Abuse.A critical and popular success, The Glass Castle remained on the... Read The Glass Castle Summary
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Relationships: Marriage, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Siblings, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Femininity, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Diversity, Grief / Death, Mental Illness, Parenting, Relationships, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Friendship, Society: Class, Relationships: Family
Tags Historical Fiction, British Literature, WWII / World War II, History: World, Romance
Publication year 1994
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Society: Colonialism, Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality
Tags Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Relationships, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Fantasy
The Grass Dancer (1994) is the debut novel by Susan Power, an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. This young adult novel is part of the magical realism genre. Using a nonlinear structure and overlapping narratives, Power slowly pieces together a story that links generations of Sioux families together in a complex and powerful way. The following material was gathered using a first edition copy of the text.Plot SummaryThe Prologue begins with Harley... Read The Grass Dancer Summary
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Historical Fiction, Romance
The Great Alone (2017) by prolific author Kristin Hannah, known for Firefly Lane (2008), The Nightingale (2015), and The Women (2024), tells the story of Leni Allbright’s coming of age in Alaska. The narrative encompasses Leni’s arrival, departure, and eventual return as an adult to the small town of Kaneq. The novel begins when Leni is 13 and her father decides to move the family to Alaska. Ernt Allbright, a Vietnam veteran who suffers post-traumatic... Read The Great Alone Summary
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Race, Society: Colonialism, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Historical Fiction
Publication year 2008
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Society: War, Relationships: Friendship
Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, WWII / World War II, Military / War, History: World
Written in epistolary form, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a historical novel set during the German Occupation of the English Channel Islands during World War II (WWII). The novel was co-written by Mary Ann Shaffer, an editor, librarian, and bookshop clerk, and her niece, Annie Barrows, author of the Ivy and Bean children’s books series. Shaffer began writing the novel, but when she was diagnosed with cancer she requested Barrows’s help... Read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Summary
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Mortality & Death
Tags LGBTQ, Humor, Realistic Fiction, Grief / Death, Parenting, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance