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.

History of Wolves

by Emily Fridlund

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Coming of Age

Tags Modern Classic Fiction

Emily Fridlund’s 2017 debut novel, History of Wolves, blends the genres of thriller and bildungsroman to tell the story of a teen’s coming of age through the life altering events that follow her taking up a babysitting position for her new neighbors. The novel, a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, examines guilt, trauma, obsession, and the responsibility of the onlooker through the emotionally evasive protagonist as she attempts to navigate the adult world. This... Read History of Wolves Summary

Home Fire

by Kamila Shamsie

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Loyalty & Betrayal, Family

Tags Modern Classic Fiction

Home Fire (2017) is the seventh novel by contemporary British writer Kamila Shamsie. The same year, Home Fire was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize; in 2018, it won the Women’s Prize for Fiction and was shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. This study guide refers to the 2017 Riverhead Books Edition.Other works by this author include Best of Friends, Burnt Shadows, and Broken Verses.Plot SummaryShamsie’s Home Fire is a 21st-century adaptation... Read Home Fire Summary

Homegoing

by Yaa Gyasi

Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family

Tags Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Race & Racism, Modern Classic Fiction, World History

Homegoing is a historical fiction novel by Yaa Gyasi, a Ghanaian-American novelist born in 1989. Homegoing was published in 2016 and was awarded the 2017 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award, the 2016 John Leonard Prize for outstanding debut novel, and the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 award in 2016. Written in the tradition of Alex Haley’s Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1976), Gyasi tells the story of one 18th-century Akan family, tracking it across... Read Homegoing Summary

Homo Deus

by Yuval Noah Harari

Publication year 2015

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Science & Technology, Environment, Future, Appearance & Reality

Tags Science & Nature, World History, Philosophy, Anthropology, Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Politics & Government

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (2015) is a work of popular science by Israeli writer, professor, and futurist Yuval Noah Harari. Published in multiple languages, it is a continuation of the work of Harari’s previous book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. While Sapiens contextualized the advents of modernity within humans’ evolutionary legacy, Homo Deus speculates about what lies in wait for humanity in the distant future. Harari grounds his discussion in an... Read Homo Deus Summary

Honor

by Thrity Umrigar

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Hope, Love, Loyalty & Betrayal, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Grief, Hate & Anger, Memory, Shame & Pride, Femininity, Family, Self Discovery, Social Class, Colonialism, Community, Justice, Safety & Danger

Tags Historical Fiction

... Read Honor Summary

Horse

by Geraldine Brooks

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Art, Animals, The Past

Tags Historical Fiction, Animals, Race & Racism, American Civil War, Sports, World History, Arts & Culture

... Read Horse Summary

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

by Jamie Ford

Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fathers, Loyalty & Betrayal, Music

Tags World War II, Historical Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Military & War, World History, Romance

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford is a historical novel published in 2009. The story follows Henry Lee at two pivotal stages in his life—in 1942, when he is a 12-year-old with a crush on a Japanese girl, and in 1986, when he is recently widowed. The book, Ford’s debut novel, spent 130 weeks atop the New York Times Best-Seller List and won the 2010 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature... Read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Summary

Hot Milk

by Deborah Levy

Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Mothers, Daughters & Sons, Sexual Identity, Mental Health, Self Discovery

Tags LGBTQ+, Health

Hot Milk (2016) is a novel written by South African and British author Deborah Levy. It follows Sofia Papastergiadis, who has been caring for her mother, Rose, through Rose’s hypochondria-driven illnesses. Sofia and Rose go to Almeria, Spain, to seek treatment from Dr. Gomez. While there, Sofia must confront her mother’s dependency on her and question what she wants in her own life. Levy explores themes of The Struggle for Independence, The Complexities of Sexual... Read Hot Milk Summary

House of Sand and Fog

by Andre Dubus III

Publication year 1999

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Guilt

Tags Horror & Suspense, Modern Classic Fiction, Dramatic Literature

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III, originally published in 1999, is a crime novel concerning a dispute over the ownership of a house in the Bay Area beach town of Corona, California. Told primarily through the dueling perspectives of a recovered addict and Iranian exile, the novel interrogates the nature of American identity and the integrity of social relationships. House of Sand and Fog has earned numerous recognitions: It was selected for... Read House of Sand and Fog Summary

Humankind

by Rutger Bregman

Publication year 2019

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Community, Politics & Government, Good & Evil

Tags World History, Psychology, Philosophy, Politics & Government, Sociology, Anthropology, Dutch Literature, Anthropology, Science & Nature, Psychology, Philosophy

... Read Humankind Summary

I Cheerfully Refuse

by Leif Enger

Publication year 2024

Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Grief, Hate & Anger, Hope, Love, Memory, Revenge, Death, Future, Climate, Environment, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Economics, Nation, Politics & Government, Equality, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Music, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt

Tags Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction

... Read I Cheerfully Refuse Summary