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27 Best Book Club Suggestions Guaranteed to Start a Heated Discussion in 2025
Looking for 2025 book club suggestion? Check out this list of 27 discussion-worthy book club reads. These are some of the incredible books I read in 2024 that should be on your book club reading list. You will love this list of uplifting, funny and exciting book club book books with plenty of topics to discuss. The list features gripping historical fiction, and even some great novels from under-the-radar authors. Also check out 15 general book club questions for any book to get more discussion prompts.
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Best Book Club Books for Discussion 2025
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

The Housemaid unfolds as the protagonist takes a job with the wealthy Winchester family, believing it’s her chance to start over. However, beneath the surface of their picture-perfect life lie dark secrets that quickly make her new role anything but ordinary. This was an addictive thriller I loved reading. If you are looking for a fast-paced book club suggestion with unpredictable plot, this is great book. Also check out 29 Book Club Questions For The Housemaid by Freida McFadden.
Welcome to the family, Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own…
Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.
I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.
I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.
But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.
They don’t know what I’m capable of…
An unbelievably twisty read that will have you glued to the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves The Woman in the Window, The Wife Between Us and The Girl on the Train won’t be able to put this down!
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An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

An American Marriage is probably one of the most suggested books for book clubs. This realistic writing about married lives is going to be a great book for book club. If you’re looking for something thought-provoking, emotional, and heavy suggestions for book club reading lists.
Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined.
Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn’t commit. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding. As Roy’s time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy’s conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together.
This stirring love story is a profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control. An American Marriage is a masterpiece of storytelling, an intimate look deep into the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward with hope and pain into the future.
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Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Demon Copperhead is a modern reimagining of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield. Set in the rugged mountains of southern Appalachia, it tells the raw and gripping story of a boy born into poverty, raised by a teen mother, and forced to navigate a world full of hardships, from foster care and child labor to addiction and heartbreak. This was one of the best books I have read as a book blogger. Your book club members will love Kingsolver’s powerful and engaging writing.
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.
Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens’ anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can’t imagine leaving behind.
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Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Homegoing is a heart-wrenching story of colonization that follows almost eight generations. The book club members have a lot to talk about this multigenerational family drama. Also, it’s so hard to believe that this is Yaa Gyasi’s debut novel.
Effia and Esi are born to the same mother but in different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. They never knew each other’s existence. The eldest, Effia, gets married to a white man and lives in the grand Cape Coast Castle. Meanwhile, Esi, along with several others, is a captive in the slave dungeon of the same castle, ready to be shipped away to the United States.
The story then takes us to the descendants of respective sisters. As the novel features numerous perspectives, we get to see the lives of slaves in America and how it affected the people in Ghana. How the Fante and Asante nations struggle to come in terms with slave trade. Esi’s family go through horrible life in plantations. And subsequently we learn about after-effects of the Civil War, the abolishment of slavery, and The Great Depression.
As this multi generation family saga progresses, we get to explore a gripping narrative with unforgettable characters. A brilliant debut novel with a powerful view on the history of slavery.
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Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Kindred is a clever blend of slave memoir, fantasy, and historical fiction. This 2004 release of Octavia E. Butler is must-read book club reads for 2025.
The first science fiction written by a black woman, Kindred has become a cornerstone of black American literature.
This combination of slave memoir, fantasy, and historical fiction is a novel of rich literary complexity. Having just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana, an African-American woman, is suddenly and inexplicably wrenched through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning white boy there, she finds herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in time to save her life.
During numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man, she realizes the challenge she’s been given.
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The Bermondsey Bookshop by Mary Gibson

Set in 1920s London, The Bermondsey Bookshop is the powerful story of Kate Goss, a factory worker struggling against poverty, hunger, and a cruel family. After losing her mother in a tragic accident and being abandoned by her father, Kate is left to fend for herself. Inspired by the real Bermondsey Bookshop, this gripping and uplifting novel is a testament to resilience and the transformative power of books. This is also fabulous book club for anyone who loves historical fictions set in England.
Set in 1920s London, this is the inspiring story of Kate Goss’s struggle against poverty, hunger, and cruel family secrets. Her mother died in a fall, her father has vanished without a trace, and now her aunt and cousins treat her viciously.
In a freezing, vermin-infested Garrett, factory girl Kate has only her own brave spirit and dreams of finding her father to keep her going. She has barely enough money to feed herself, or to pay the rent. The factory where she works begins to lay off people and it isn’t long before she has fallen into the hands of the violent local money-lender.
That is until an unexpected opportunity comes her way – a job cleaning a most unusual bookshop, where anyone, from factory workers to dockers, can learn to read and then buy books cheaply.
A new world opens up, but with it come new dangers, too. Based on the true story of the Bermondsey Bookshop, this is the most inspiring and gripping novel Mary Gibson has yet written.
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The Hate You Gave by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give is a powerful and thought-provoking novel that explores race, identity, and social justice. Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter is caught between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the elite suburban prep school she attends. Her life takes a devastating turn when she witnesses her unarmed childhood friend, Khalil, fatally shot by a police officer. This gripping story is not only timely but also deeply human.
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
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The Dutch House by Anne Patchett

The Dutch House narrates the complicated life of the siblings: Danny and Maeve in the Dutch house. Relationships, forgiveness, childhood, wealth, marriage. This book has got many complicated themes to discuss. This is one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to. Tom Hanks is an amazing narrator, which makes it perfect for book clubs
Cyril Conroy, a self-made real estate magnate, bought Dutch house in 1946 to surprise his wife. However, Elna hardly had any interest in the luxury mansion. Soon after she leaves the husband and two children, to help the poor in India. The children, Maeve and Danny ,grew up in the Dutch house. And it’s the young Maeve who raises her brother, with the help of the housekeeper and the cook. However, when their father remarries things begin to worsen. Andrea, their step-mother loved the rich lifestyle. The unique charms of the Dutch House captivated her. After Cyril’s death, Andrea starts to show her true colours. Danny and Maeve are exiled from the house without any money. All they have is one another. Yet, they start a tradition of reminiscing about their childhood. They do so by secretly parking on the street, outside the Dutch house. They try hard to recollect the memories of their parents and the Dutch house itself. It’s during these times both siblings release their care and warmth towards each other.
The book narrates the complicated life of the siblings: Danny and Maeve in the Dutch house. Relationships, forgiveness, childhood, wealth, marriage. This book has got many complicated themes to discuss. Tom Hanks’s excellent narration makes ‘The Dutch House’ one of the best audiobooks for book clubs.
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Dear Mrs. Bird by A .J Pearce

If you’re looking for a delightful book to read for a book club then A .J Pearce’s debut novel Dear Mrs. Bird is a great choice. Narrated in the horrific background of world war, Dear Mrs Bird is really engaging and disxcuiion-worthy book.
Emmeline Lake and her best friend Bunty are doing their bit for the war effort and trying to stay cheerful, despite the German planes making their nightly raids.
Emmy dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent, and when she spots a job advertisement in the newspaper she seizes her chance; but after a rather unfortunate misunderstanding, she finds herself typing letters for the formidable Henrietta Bird, renowned advice columnist of Woman’s Friend magazine. Mrs. Bird is very clear: letters containing any Unpleasantness must go straight into the bin.
But as Emmy reads the desperate pleas from women who many have Gone Too Far with the wrong man, or can’t bear to let their children be evacuated, she begins to secretly write back to the readers who have poured out their troubles.
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The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

The Miniaturist is a haunting and atmospheric tale set in 1686 Amsterdam. It follows eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman who begins her new life as the wife of wealthy merchant Johannes Brandt. Despite the opulent home she moves into, Nella is met with coldness and secrets.Her husband is kind but distant, and his sister Marin is stern and unwelcoming. The Miniaturist is the perfect historical fiction pick with a strong female lead that your book club will love. The themes of power, identity, and destiny are definitely worth discussing!
On a brisk autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office–leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marin. But Nella’s world changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish her gift, Nella engages the services of a miniaturist–an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways . . .Johannes’ gift helps Nella to pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand–and fear–the escalating dangers that await them all. In this repressively pious society where gold is worshipped second only to God, to be different is a threat to the moral fabric of society, and not even a man as rich as Johannes is safe. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation . . . or the architect of their destruction.
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Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

Nothing to See Here is an uplifting book about dysfunctional families and relationships! The book is filled with humor and satire. I highly recommend the audiobook version because audiobook narrator Marin Ireland has done phenomenal job. This is also a short book club book that’s easy to finish and perfect for meaningful discussions.
Lillian and Madison were unlikely roommates and yet inseparable friends at their elite boarding school. But then Lillian had to leave the school unexpectedly in the wake of a scandal and they’ve barely spoken since.
Until now, when Lillian gets a letter from Madison pleading for her help. Madison’s twin stepkids are moving in with her family and she wants Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there’s a catch: the twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated, flames igniting from their skin in a startling but beautiful way. Lillian is convinced Madison is pulling her leg, but it’s the truth. Thinking of her dead-end life at home, the life that has consistently disappointed her, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose.
Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other—and stay cool—while also staying out of the way of Madison’s buttoned-up politician husband. Surprised by her own ingenuity yet unused to the intense feelings of protectiveness she feels for them, Lillian ultimately begins to accept that she needs these strange children as much as they need her—urgently and fiercely. Couldn’t this be the start of the amazing life she’d always hoped for?
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Room by Emma Donoghue

Room is told through the eyes of five-year-old Jack. To Jack, Room is everything, his entire world. It’s where he was born, where he and his Ma eat, sleep, play, and learn. Jack sees Room as a place of wonder, full of small joys and the comfort of routine. But for Ma, Room is a prison where she’s been held captive for seven years since she was nineteen.
To five-year-old Jack, Room is the world . . . It’s where he was born. It’s where he and Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. There are endless wonders that let loose Jack’s imagination—the snake under Bed that he constructs out of eggshells; the imaginary world projected through TV; the coziness of Wardrobe beneath Ma’s clothes, where she tucks him in safely at night, in case Old Nick comes.
Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it’s the prison where she’s been held since she was nineteen—for seven long years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in that eleven-by-eleven-foot space.
But Jack’s curiosity is building alongside Ma’s own desperation, and she knows that Room cannot contain either indefinitely . . .Told in the inventive, funny, and poignant voice of Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience—and a powerful story of a mother and son whose love lets them survive the impossible.
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The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

The Four Winds is a sweeping and emotional story of love, resilience, and survival set against the backdrop of the Great Depression. Elsa Martinelli, born into a wealthy but unkind family. Her life takes a dramatic turn when she becomes pregnant after a romance with Rafe Martinelli, the son of a local farmer. This powerful novel captures the hardships of the Dust Bowl era and the unbreakable strength of a mother fighting to provide for her family.
Elsa Martinelli was born into a wealthy family. But her parents considered her to be too old and unappealing for a prosperous marriage. However, much to her parents’ dismay, Elsa gets pregnant as a result of her romantic affair with Rafe Martinelli, son of a local farmer. As her family abandons her and she is forced to live with Martinellis, at their farm.
Once Elsa gives birth, the initial indifference between her and Rafe’s parents goes away, they eventually accept her as a daughter. Elsa embraces her life on the farm. Despite the hard labour, she feels warm and content.
By 1933, Texas is hit by a severe drought. Millions of acres of farmland, including the Martinellis’, are drying up. Massive dust storms cover everything in grit and dust. As drought and dust storms hit the region almost every day, farmers have no choice but to leave their beloved land and travel to the west.
And just like others, Elsa prepares herself to head to California, in search of a better life for her family and herself.
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The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

The Storyteller is a remarkable historical fiction novel that any book club will appreciate. Set against the backdrop of the Holocaust. This thought-provoking novel has many themes for discussion. It also one of the captivating World war 2 novel for any reading group.
Sage Singer is a baker. She works through the night, preparing the day’s breads and pastries, trying to escape a reality of loneliness, bad memories, and the shadow of her mother’s death.
When Josef Weber, an elderly man in Sage’s grief support group, begins stopping by the bakery, they strike up an unlikely friendship. Despite their differences, they see in each other the hidden scars that others can’t, and they become companions. Everything changes on the day that Josef confesses a long-buried and shameful secret—one that nobody else in town would ever suspect—and asks Sage for an extraordinary favor. If she says yes, she faces not only moral repercussions but potentially legal ones as well. With her own identity suddenly challenged, and the integrity of the closest friend she’s ever had clouded, Sage begins to question the assumptions and expectations she’s made about her life and her family.
When does a moral choice become a moral imperative? And where does one draw the line between punishment and justice, forgiveness and mercy?
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The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

The Keeper of Lost Things is a heartwarming and beautifully woven story of love, loss, and redemption. Anthony Peardew, a collector of lost objects, has spent decades rescuing misplaced items in an attempt to atone for the keepsake he lost on the day his fiancée, Therese, died. As his life nears its end, he entrusts his house and his mission of reuniting these treasures with their owners to his unsuspecting assistant, Laura. This feel-good novel is a memorable book club suggestion.
Anthony Peardew is the keeper of lost things. Forty years ago, he carelessly lost a keepsake from his beloved fiancée, Therese. That very same day, she died unexpectedly. Brokenhearted, Anthony sought consolation in rescuing lost objects—the things others have dropped, misplaced, or accidentally left behind—and writing stories about them. Now, in the twilight of his life, Anthony worries that he has not fully discharged his duty to reconcile all the lost things with their owners.
As the end nears, he bequeaths his secret life’s mission to his unsuspecting assistant, Laura, leaving her his house and all its lost treasures, including an irritable ghost. Recovering from a bad divorce, Laura, in some ways, is one of Anthony’s lost things. But when the lonely woman moves into his mansion, her life begins to change. She finds a new friend in the neighbor’s quirky daughter, Sunshine, and a welcome distraction in Freddy, the rugged gardener. As the dark cloud engulfing her lifts, Laura, accompanied by her new companions, sets out to realize Anthony’s last wish: reuniting his cherished lost objects with their owners.
Long ago, Eunice found a trinket on the London pavement and kept it through the years. Now, with her own end drawing near, she has lost something precious—a tragic twist of fate that forces her to break a promise she once made. As the Keeper of Lost Objects, Laura holds the key to Anthony and Eunice’s redemption. But can she unlock the past and make the connections that will lay their spirits to rest?
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American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

American Dirt follows Lydia Quixano Pérez, a bookstore owner in Acapulco, whose life is shattered when her journalist husband publishes an exposé on Javier, the charming yet ruthless leader of a powerful drug cartel. This novel is explores timely and thought-provoking themes like migration, family, resilience, and the human cost of survival
Lydia Quixano Pérez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable.
Even though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with a few books he would like to buy—two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city.
When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same. Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia—trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier’s reach doesn’t extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something.
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The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth

The Mother-in-Law is a gripping domestic thriller filled with twists, exploring complex family dynamics and the dangerous consequences of what’s left unsaid. From the moment Lucy met her mother-in-law, Diana, she knew they’d never be close. Diana was polite yet distant. She was a respected community figure and devoted matriarch. Ten years later, Diana is found dead, seemingly by suicide but the autopsy reveals suffocation, suggesting foul play. Soon Lucy uncovers hidden truths beneath Diana’s flawless facade.
From the moment Lucy met Diana, she was kept at arm’s length. Diana is exquisitely polite, but Lucy knows, even after marrying Oliver, that they’ll never have the closeness she’d been hoping for. But who could fault Diana? She was a pillar of the community, an advocate for social justice, the matriarch of a loving family. Lucy had wanted so much to please her new mother-in-law. That was ten years ago. Now, Diana has been found dead, leaving a suicide note. But the autopsy reveals evidence of suffocation. And everyone in the family is hiding something.
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None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

None of This Is True is a dark and riveting psychological thriller that follows Alix Summers, a successful true crime podcaster, who meets Josie Fair. She is someone with a seemingly peculiar and mysterious life. What starts as a random meeting evolves into a chilling partnership when Josie proposes herself as the subject of Alix’s next series. This thriller is perfect for fans of intense, character-driven mysteries. Check out 37 Book Club Questions For None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
Lisa Jewell returns with a scintillating new psychological thriller about a woman who finds herself the subject of her own popular true crime podcast.
Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins.
A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.
Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.
But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat.
Who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?
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City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert’s City of Girls narrates the engrossing life of Vivian in the NYC theater world in the 1940s. Grab this one for your next book club if you’re looking for a page-turner! I guarantee that this book going to be one of the best book club book suggestions.
In 1940, nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris was kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance. Her affluent parents send her to Manhattan to live with her Aunt Peg, who owns a flamboyant, crumbling midtown theater called the Lily Playhouse.
There Vivian is introduced to an entire cosmos of unconventional and charismatic characters, from the fun-chasing showgirls to a sexy male actor, a grand-dame actress, a lady-killer writer, and no-nonsense stage manager. But when Vivian makes a personal mistake that results in a professional scandal, it turns her new world upside down in ways that it will take her years to fully understand.
Ultimately, though, it leads her to a new understanding of the kind of life she craves-and the kind of freedom it takes to pursue it. It will also lead to the love of her life, a love that stands out from all the rest. Now ninety-five years old and telling her story, at last, Vivian recalls how the events of those years altered the course of her life – and the gusto and autonomy with which she approached it.
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The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus is a spellbinding story of magic, love, and rivalry. The mysterious Le Cirque des Rêves appears without warning. It’s black-and-white striped tents hiding extraordinary wonders. Open only at night, the circus becomes the stage for a life-or-death battle between two magicians, Celia and Marco. If you are looking for an immersive novel for your book club, this is a perfect book.
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas, tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements.
It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors.
Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which the only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.
True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.
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I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

I’m Glad My Mom Died is a raw, heartbreaking, and surprisingly humorous memoir about the struggles of being a child star. McCurdy takes us to her early years, sharing how her mother pushed her into acting to fulfill her own unachieved dreams. Also enforcing extreme “calorie restrictions,” and exerting control over every aspect of Jennette’s life. If your book club is looking for great memoirs or audiobooks narrated by authors, check out this book. Told with unflinching honesty and dark humor, I find this memoir deeply moving and inspiring. Also check out : 39 I’m Glad My Mom Died Book Club Questions & Snack Ideas.
A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life.
Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.
In I’m Glad My Mom Died , Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly , she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.
Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.
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The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland

The Lost for Words Bookshop is a heart-rending and compelling novel about Loveday Cardew who prefers books to people, with the first lines of her favorite novels tattooed on her skin. But her past hides a tragedy from fifteen years ago that she’s tried to forget. Now, working in a charming York bookshop, Loveday’s quiet life is disrupted when someone uncovers her secrets and begins sending her messages. If you are looking for some uplifting book club recommendation for 2025, check out this book.
Loveday Cardew prefers books to people. If you look closely, you might glimpse the first lines of the novels she loves most tattooed on her skin.
But there are things she’ll never show you. Fifteen years ago Loveday lost all she knew and loved in one unspeakable night. Now, she finds refuge in the unique little York bookshop where she works. Everything is about to change for Loveday. Someone knows about her past. Someone is trying to send her a message. And she can’t hide any longer.
Lost for Words is a compelling, irresistible and heart-rending novel, with the emotional intensity of The Shock of the Fall and all the charm of The Little Paris Bookshop and 84 Charing Cross Road.
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The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale is an inspirational historical fiction in the horrific environment of WWII. The novel beautifully explores themes of love, sacrifice, betrayal, and the resilience of the human spirit. It’s a story of courage in the face of unimaginable adversity. Check out full list of Kristin Hannah books in order.
In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent.
When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive. Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can…completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life and again to save others.
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Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

Ask Again, Yes explores struggle, forgiveness, and resilience! This novel surveys relationships and its utmost complexities. Because of these themes Ask Again, Yes becomes a must-read novel among other book club fiction recommendations. I also think this is an underrated book club book as it explores so many incredible topics for members to discuss.
A profoundly moving novel about two neighboring families in a suburban town, the bond between their children, a tragedy that reverberates over four decades, the daily intimacies of marriage, and the power of forgiveness.
Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, two rookie cops in the NYPD, live next door to each other outside the city. What happens behind closed doors in both houses—the loneliness of Francis’s wife, Lena, and the instability of Brian’s wife, Anne—sets the stage for the explosive events to come.
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All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

All the Light We Cannot See is a poignant and beautifully written novel set against the backdrop of World War II. The story follows two young characters—Marie-Laure, a blind French girl, and Werner Pfennig, a German orphan—whose lives are destined to intersect amidst the chaos of war. If you love gripping historical fiction book club books, this is a great choice.
Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.
From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War
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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a unique and deeply moving story about friendship, creativity, and the complexities of human connection. It follows Sam and Sadie, two childhood friends turned creative partners in the competitive world of video game design. This novel is a fantastic choice for a book club because it goes into so many rich themes: the nature of friendship, the sacrifices of creative pursuits, identity, and even how gaming can be a medium for connection and storytelling. Also check out : 23 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Book Club Questions & Snack Ideas
In this exhilarating novel, two friends—often in love, but never lovers—come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.
On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn’t heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won’t protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.
Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.
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The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

The Night She Disappeared is a gripping thriller that combines a cold case, family drama, and dark secrets. The story begins in 2017 when 19-year-old Tallulah goes on a date but she vanishes without a trace. Fast forward to 2019, when Sophie, the girlfriend of a newly hired head-teacher uncovers links back to the unsolved disappearance of Tallulah and unravels layers of secrets surrounding Dark Place. Your book club will love atmospheric tension and emotional depth. This is also great for anyone who loves bone-chilling thrillers. Check out: 27 The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell Book Club Questions
2017: 19 year old Tallulah is going out on a date, leaving her baby with her mother, Kim.
Kim watches her daughter leave and, as late evening turns into night, which turns into early morning, she waits for her return. And waits.
The next morning, Kim phones Tallulah’s friends who tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a party at a house in the nearby woods called Dark Place.
She never returns.
2019: Sophie is walking in the woods near the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started work as a head-teacher when she sees a note fixed to a tree.
‘DIG HERE’ . . .
A cold case, an abandoned mansion, family trauma and dark secrets lie at the heart of Lisa Jewell’s remarkable new novel.
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More Book Club Resources
4 Irresistibly Easy Desserts for Your Next Book Club Meeting
33 Book Club Snacks That Are Almost as Good as the Plot
Insanely Easy 5-Minute Treats for Your Book Club
13 Fun and Unique Book Club Ideas for Your Next Book
11 Refreshing Drink and Snack Pairings for Your Summer Book Club + Book Suggestions