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 1998

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Marriage

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Romance, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction, Drama / Tragedy

The Pilot’s Wife, by Anita Shreve, was first published in 1998 by Little Brown, and was Oprah’s Book Club selection for March of 1999. Shreve, who died in 2018, was also the author of the bestselling novel, The Weight of Water, adapted into a film starring Sean Penn and Sarah Polley. Shreve’s work is known for its depth, interiority, and examination of women’s emotional lives. The Pilot’s Wife is the third novel of four in... Read The Pilot's Wife Summary


Publication year 2018

Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Music, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride

Tags Music, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance, LGBTQ

Elizabeth Acevedo’s award-winning 2018 young adult novel, The Poet X, brings to life the inner world of protagonist Xiomara Batista. Xiomara is 15 years old, and from her bedroom in Harlem, she writes poetry in order to put on the page all the feelings and ideas she cannot seem to be able to say out loud. Xiomara resigns herself to writing in her notebook and sharing her thoughts with only a few trusted individuals until... Read The Poet X Summary


Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Society: Class, Society: War, Society: Colonialism, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Military / War, Race / Racism, History: World


Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Gender, Life/Time: The Future, Identity: Femininity

Tags Gender / Feminism, Science / Nature, Politics / Government, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Fantasy

Influenced by the dystopian futuristic vision of Margaret Atwood’s landmark 1985 feminist work The Handmaid’s Tale, Naomi Alderman’s 2016 novel The Power fuses genre elements of speculative fiction with the traditional historical novel. Part allegory, part satire, the novel depicts a near-contemporary world in which women move into positions of real power through an inexplicable genetic anomaly: they develop an extra braid of muscle along their collarbones that enables them to shoot devastating jolts of... Read The Power Summary


Publication year 1973

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Emotions/Behavior: Joy

Tags Fantasy, Romance, Humor, Fairy Tale / Folklore, Action / Adventure, Classic Fiction

The Princess Bride is a 1973 adventure novel by American author and screenwriter William Goldman. It uses a unique framing narrative to tell two interwoven stories and claims to be a retelling of an older novel (one that does not actually exist). The Princess Bride was adapted into a film in 1987. Critics regard the film as one of the greatest cinematic accomplishments of all time, and it appears on numerous “best of” lists, including... Read The Princess Bride Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Society: Colonialism

Tags Drama / Tragedy, Historical Fiction, History: African , Social Justice, Race / Racism, African Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World


Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Fate, Identity: Femininity, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Historical Fiction, Drama / Tragedy, History: World, Grief / Death, Health / Medicine, Relationships, WWI / World War I, LGBTQ, Irish Literature


Publication year 2016

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: The Past

Tags Inspirational, History: World, Biography


Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Society: Community, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Grief

Tags Romance, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 1997

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Femininity, Relationships: Mothers, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Self Discovery

Tags Historical Fiction, Gender / Feminism, Religion / Spirituality, Jewish Literature, Love / Sexuality, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), History: World

The Red Tent (1997) is an adult historical novel by Jewish American author Anita Diamant. It describes the life of Dinah, daughter of Jacob, who appears in the biblical Book of Genesis. While her mention in the Bible only concerns her abduction by a Canaanite man and her brothers’ act of atrocity in response, Diamant imagines a full life for Dinah—including a childhood raised by several mothers, her first marriage, and life in Egypt, where... Read The Red Tent Summary


Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: The Past, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Historical Fiction

Camron Wright’s The Rent Collector, originally published in 1990, tells the story of Sang Ly, a 29-year-old Cambodian woman who lives at the edge of Cambodia’s infamous dump, Stung Meanchey, with her husband, Ki Lim, and her 16-month-old son, Nisay. The fiction novel addresses such themes as the power of story, the influence of the past, the importance of education, and the balance of good and evil.Sang and Ki work as pickers in the dump... Read The Rent Collector Summary


Publication year 2018

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Race, Society: Community, Society: Class

Tags Race / Racism, Social Justice, Class, Gender / Feminism, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), LGBTQ, Biography


Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Fathers

Tags Romance, Modern Classic Fiction, Humor

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion explores the romantic and comedic errors of a man with undiagnosed Asperger’s Syndrome, Don Tillson, as he looks for a wife. As a professor of genetics, Don lives an orderly, predictable life in a protected academic setting. Trouble ensues when he decides that he is ready to find his life’s partner. Set in Melbourne, Australia and New York City, the novel is told in the first person from Don’s... Read The Rosie Project Summary


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Identity: Sexuality

Tags Historical Fiction, Southern Literature, Great Depression, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Romance


Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Fathers

Tags Magical Realism, Fairy Tale / Folklore, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Parenting, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fantasy


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Mothers, Identity: Mental Health, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy, Parenting, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Society: Class, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Society: Community

Tags Historical Fiction, Health / Medicine, Roaring Twenties, History: World, Drama / Tragedy, Romance


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Society: Class, Emotions/Behavior: Love

Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, Grief / Death, History: World


Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Mothers

Tags British Literature, History: World, Historical Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Romance, WWI / World War I


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Self Discovery, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Society: Community, Society: Politics & Government, Society: Colonialism, Society: Economics, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

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