Top 2025 Books to Add to Your 2026 Book Club List

Looking for the best books of 2025 for your 2026 book club list? These powerful 2025 book releases are packed with big emotions, layered characters, and discussion-worthy themes. I’ve included sweeping historical fictions to tense thrillers and literary family dramas, these are the books that will give you many real conversations and keep everyone turning pages.

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Best Book Club Books 2026

Homeseeking by Karissa Chen

Homeseeking is an emotional historical fiction novel about one couple separated by war and time. We follow Haiwen and Suchi, childhood sweethearts from Shanghai whose love is torn apart when Haiwen secretly joins the army in 1947. His decision forces them onto different paths across Hong Kong, Taiwan, New York, and California. Sixty years later, they unexpectedly reunite in Los Angeles. The novel moves between past and present, showing how memory, migration, and sacrifice shape a lifetime. It is a sweeping story about love that endures, the cost of survival, and what it truly means to find home. It’s also one of the unforgettable historical fiction for your book club.

Discussion Questions for Homeseeking

If you were Suchi, could you forgive Haiwen after sixty years?

Do you believe one decision can define an entire life?

Is home more about a place or a person in this story?

How does war quietly destroy personal dreams?

Why does Suchi survive by refusing to look back?

Is Haiwen romantic or selfish in his choice?

Can love survive long silence without contact?

How does migration change identity over time?

What does aging add to a reunion like this?

Are second chances a gift or a burden?

How does memory shape the way Haiwen sees the past?

Why do some people live in nostalgia while others move forward?

Does sacrifice always equal love?

What moment in the story would be hardest for you emotionally?

After everything, do you think they truly find home?

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The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan

The Three Lives of Cate Kay is a contemporary novel about a bestselling author who has built her career on a lie. The world knows Cate Kay as a literary superstar behind a blockbuster trilogy, but Cate Kay is not her real name. After a tragic event in her youth, she reinvents herself and spends years hiding behind new identities. Fame brings success, but not peace. When a shocking revelation forces her to confront her past, she must decide whether returning home is the only way to finally become whole. It’s also one of my favorite audiobooks of 2025. It is one of the discussion-worthy pick from Reese Witherspoon book club 2025.

Discussion Questions for The Three Lives of Cate Kay

Why do you think Cate chooses reinvention instead of confession?

Can success ever replace emotional healing?

How does guilt shape her adult life?

Do you think she is brave or afraid?

Is it possible to truly start over?

How does fame make hiding easier and harder?

What role does friendship play in her story?

When does ambition turn into escape?

Would you reveal your true identity if you were her?

How does trauma affect the way she loves?

Does she owe the public the truth?

What does “coming home” mean for Cate?

Can you outrun your past?

What do you think she fears most?

Does confession always bring freedom?

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Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

Broken Country is an emotional love story with the tension of a thriller set in a quiet village where the past refuses to stay buried. Beth is happily married to her kind husband Frank, but when her former teenage love Gabriel returns to town, old feelings rise again. A simple gunshot sets off a chain of events that pulls grief, jealousy, and long-hidden secrets back into the light. As Beth is forced to confront the woman she used to be and the woman she is now, the story moves between past and present toward explosive consequences. It is a novel about first love, loyalty, loss, and impossible choices. Also read 51 Book Club Questions And Snack Ideas for Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

Discussion Questions for Broken Country

Is first love ever truly over?

Why does Gabriel’s return shake Beth so deeply?

How does grief affect the choices Beth makes?

Is loyalty more important than passion?

What makes small towns amplify secrets?

Do you sympathize more with Beth or Frank?

Can loving two people at different times both be real?

How does the past quietly shape the present?

When does nostalgia become dangerous?

What would you have done in Beth’s place?

Is Gabriel a second chance or a step backward?

How does loss change the way Beth sees love?

Can a marriage survive emotional betrayal?

Does the story feel more romantic or tragic to you?

What does the title Broken Country mean in relation to Beth’s life?

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Too Soon by Betty Shamieh

Too S oon is a layered family drama about love, ambition, and generational expectations. Arabella, a struggling New York theater director, is offered a bold directing opportunity in the West Bank while her grandmother Zoya tries to arrange a match for her with a Palestinian American doctor. As Arabella navigates romantic tension between two very different men, the novel also explores the past loves and regrets of the women before her. Through Zoya and Naya’s stories, the book examines arranged marriage, sacrifice, rebellion, and identity across generations. This multi generational family drama is a great pick for women book club.

Discussion Questions for Too Soon

How do family expectations shape Arabella’s choices?

What does the title Too Soon suggest about love and timing?

Is Arabella searching for love or validation?

How does generational trauma appear in the novel?

Can tradition and independence coexist?

Do you think Zoya is protective or controlling?

How does ambition complicate romance?

What patterns repeat across the women’s lives?

Is arranged marriage always limiting?

How does identity shift between cultures?

Does Arabella romanticize certain relationships?

What role does art play in her self-discovery?

When is it too soon to make a life decision?

Can you break free from family patterns?

What does “settling old scores” really mean here?

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The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb

The River Is Waiting is a powerful emotional drama about guilt, addiction, and redemption. Corby Ledbetter’s life unravels after job loss, addiction, and one tragic mistake that tears his family apart. Sentenced to prison, he must confront the damage he has caused while navigating the brutality and unexpected kindness inside the system. Through friendships, books, and his mother’s unwavering belief in him, Corby slowly begins to seek forgiveness and meaning. It is a story about accountability, mercy, and whether love can survive the worst mistakes. This is a must-read books from 2025.

Discussion Questions for The River Is Waiting

Can one terrible mistake define a person forever?

How does addiction shape Corby’s downfall?

What does prison reveal about human nature?

Is redemption always possible?

How does guilt transform him?

What role does his mother’s faith play?

Do you believe Emily could forgive him?

How does fatherhood influence his growth?

What does mercy look like in this story?

Are we more than our worst actions?

How does confinement change perspective?

What moment shows real change in Corby?

Can healing happen without forgiveness?

Does the system punish or reform him?

What does the title symbolize in his journey?

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Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson

Not Quite Dead Yet is a fast-paced mystery- thriller about a woman racing against her own death. Jet Mason, heir to a wealthy Vermont family, is violently attacked on Halloween night and told she will die within seven days from a fatal aneurysm. Refusing a risky surgery, she decides to spend her final week solving her own attempted murder. As suspicion falls on family, friends, and old relationships, Jet begins to see her life differently. With her childhood friend Billy at her side, she is determined to uncover the truth before time runs out. It is a gripping story about secrets, urgency, and unfinished lives. This is one of the most popular thrillers of 2025.

Discussion Questions for Not Quite Dead Yet

Would you risk everything to know the truth if you had one week left?

How does facing death change Jet’s perspective?

Who benefits most from her death?

Does wealth protect or isolate her?

Why does she refuse surgery?

How does urgency sharpen her thinking?

What role does Billy play in her final days?

Does she discover more about others or herself?

How does privilege affect the investigation?

What unfinished parts of her life stand out most?

Can solving her case bring peace?

How does fear shift family dynamics?

Is revenge or closure driving her?

What does the title suggest about fate?

If you had seven days left, what would you prioritize?

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A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar

A Guardian and a Thief is a tense near-future novel set in a climate-ravaged Kolkata where survival depends on impossible choices. Ma is preparing to leave India with her young daughter and father after finally securing visas to America. But when her purse containing the immigration documents is stolen, her fragile escape plan collapses. The story unfolds over one week, following Ma’s desperate search while also revealing the perspective of Boomba, the thief driven by hunger and love for his own family. As food shortages worsen and chaos grows, both families fight to protect their children. It is a powerful story about climate crisis, migration, and how far parents will go for hope. If you want to talk about strong female characters, this is a great pick.

Discussion Questions for A Guardian and a Thief

How does climate disaster shape every choice in the novel?

Do you sympathize more with Ma or Boomba?

When does survival justify crime?

How does desperation blur moral lines?

What does immigration represent in this story?

How far would you go to protect your child?

Is Boomba villain or victim?

How does poverty drive the plot forward?

What does hope look like in a collapsing city?

How does the setting increase tension?

Can two families both be right?