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 Relationships: Family

Tags Historical Fiction, Survival Fiction, WWII / World War II, Russian Literature, Military / War, History: World


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Gender, Life/Time: The Past, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

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


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Relationships: Mothers

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Romance


Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: The Past, Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Historical Fiction, Arts / Culture, Mystery / Crime Fiction, History: World

In Part 1, thieves steal At the Edge of a Wood—assumed to be the only surviving work of 17th-century painter Sara de Vos—from the apartment of Martijn “Marty” de Groot during a fundraiser for orphans. Marty does not discover the theft until months later because the thieves replace the original painting with a forgery created by Eleanor “Ellie” Shipley, an Australian doctoral student studying art history at Columbia University. Smith tells the story of how... Read The Last Painting of Sara De Vos Summary


Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Femininity, Identity: Race, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Relationships: Marriage, Society: Colonialism, Society: Immigration, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags American Literature, History: World, Historical Fiction


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Relationships: Marriage, Emotions/Behavior: Memory

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Relationships, Grief / Death, Love / Sexuality, Modernism, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal

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


Publication year 2008

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Relationships: Family

Tags Mythology, Immigration / Refugee, History: Asian, Poverty, History: World, Biography

The Latehomecomer, a memoir by Kao Kalia Yang, was published in 2008. It won the Minnesota Book Award and was a finalist for the PEN USA Literary Award for Nonfiction. Yang was born in Thailand’s Ban Vinai Refugee Camp in 1980 and immigrated to St. Paul, Minnesota when she was six years old. She is a graduate of Carleton College and Columbia University and co-founder of Words Wanted, an organization committed to helping immigrants with... Read The Latehomecomer Summary


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Femininity, Identity: Gender, Identity: Race, Society: Immigration

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Historical Fiction, Asian Literature


Publication year 2006

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Relationships: Friendship

Tags Religion / Spirituality, History: Middle Eastern, Immigration / Refugee, Military / War, History: World, Biography, Politics / Government

The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East is a biography and work of historical nonfiction written by Sandy Tolan and published in 2006. Against the backdrop of the first Arab-Israeli War’s 50th anniversary, American journalist Sandy Tolan traveled to the Middle East to research his assignment. Through the biography, Tolan aims to highlight how two families on opposite sides of the conflict—the Khairis and the Eshkenazis—are connected on... Read The Lemon Tree Summary


Publication year 1995

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory

Tags Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Mental Illness, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Southern Literature, Biography

The Liars’ Club is a memoir by Mary Karr and was first published in 1995. It won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for nonfiction and was a New York Times bestseller.The subject of the memoir is Karr’s turbulent childhood. Karr and her older sister Lecia grew up in Leechfield, Texas and lived briefly in Colorado. Their father was a World War II veteran who worked at an oil refinery and came from a modest Texan background... Read The Liars' Club Summary


Publication year 2018

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Values/Ideas: Literature

Tags History: U.S., Crime / Legal, Mystery / Crime Fiction, History: World

Susan Orlean, longtime staff writer at The New Yorker and best-selling author of The Orchid Thief, returned to narrative nonfiction with The Library Book (2018). Through the story of the Los Angeles Central Library, Orlean provides a history of libraries, examining what we stand to lose as the world’s base of knowledge transitions into the digital realm. Orlean received a Goodreads Choice Awards nomination for Best Nonfiction and a place on Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine... Read The Library Book Summary


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Disability, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Mothers, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Fame, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Play: Drama, Animals, History: World, Drama / Tragedy


Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Teams

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

In The Life We Bury, author Allen Eskens combines literary fiction and suspense to tell the tale of the mystery surrounding a young girl’s murder. The book is set in Eskens’ native Minnesota in the year 2010. However, its events center around the 30-year-old murder of a young girl, Crystal Marie Hagan, which took place in 1980. Told from the first-person perspective of Joe Talbert, a 21-year-old college student at the University of Minnesota, the... Read The Life We Bury Summary


Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Values/Ideas: Fate

Tags Historical Fiction, History: World, Drama / Tragedy, Romance

The Light Between Oceans is Australian writer M.L. Stedman’s debut novel, published in 2012 by Random House Australia. Categorized as historical fiction, the novel won various accolades, such as the Indie Book Awards Book of the Year in 2013. A film adaptation of The Light Between Oceans was released four years after the novel’s publication in 2016. All citations in this guide are based on the 2012 Scribner edition, accessed via Scribd.com.Plot SummaryIn 1918, after... Read The Light Between Oceans Summary


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Natural World: Climate, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Society: Community, Emotions/Behavior: Grief

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Climate Change, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: War, Relationships: Marriage, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt

Tags Romance, History: U.S., Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Relationships: Siblings, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Fathers, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger

Tags Historical Fiction, Incarceration, Mental Illness, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Class, History: World, Action / Adventure


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage

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