Publication year 2013
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Power & Greed, Gender Identity, Siblings, Social Class
Tags Historical Fiction, Poverty, Social Justice, Health, Modern Classic Fiction, World History, Dramatic Literature
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.
Necessary Lies
News of the World
Next Year In Havana
Night at the Fiestas
Nightbitch
Nightcrawling
Nightwatching
Nine Parts of Desire
No Great Mischief
Nomadland
Notes on an Execution
Nothing to See Here
Not Quite Dead Yet
No Two Persons
Of Women and Salt
Olive Kitteridge
Once There Were Wolves
Once We Were Brothers
One Amazing Thing
One Italian Summer
Publication year 2013
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Power & Greed, Gender Identity, Siblings, Social Class
Tags Historical Fiction, Poverty, Social Justice, Health, Modern Classic Fiction, World History, Dramatic Literature
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Memory
Tags Western, Historical Fiction, World History, Action & Adventure
Paulette Jiles’s novel, News of the World, tells the tale of 72-year-old Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd and 10-year-old Johanna Leonberger's journey from Wichita, Texas to Castroville, Texas in 1870, and how that journey would forever and drastically change the course of each of their lives.The story begins in Wichita, Texas, in the early spring of 1870, with Captain Kidd hanging posters advertising his reading of the news. He travels the state reading newspapers to people... Read News of the World Summary
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, World History, Historical Fiction, Romance
Next Year in Havana is a novel by Chanel Cleeton, a Cuban-American writer of contemporary romance and historical fiction. The book was the July 2018 selection for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club and a New York Times bestseller. The novel alternates between 2017, when Cuban-American writer Marisol Ferrera goes to Cuba to scatter the ashes of her grandmother Elisa (Perez) Ferrera, and 1958-1959, when Elisa falls in love with a revolutionary. This guide is based on... Read Next Year In Havana Summary
Publication year 2015
Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction
Themes Forgiveness, Femininity, Race, Coming of Age, Place, Family, Colonialism, Religion & Spirituality
Tags Latin American Literature, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction
Night at the Fiestas is a 2015 story collection by New Mexican author Kirstin Valdez Quade. The collection won the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Award, and after its publication, Valdez Quade was recognized as a “Top 5 Writer Under 35” by the National Book Foundation. In 2021, Valdez Quade revised one of the stories, “The Five Wounds” into an award-winning novel of the same title, establishing herself as an important new voice in... Read Night at the Fiestas Summary
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Community
Tags Magical Realism, Satirical Literature, Horror & Suspense, Fantasy, Gender & Feminism, Relationships, Women`s Studies, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Justice, Siblings, Family, Race, Social Class, Friendship
Tags Race & Racism, Poverty, LGBTQ+, Black Lives Matter, Trauma & Abuse, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Fear, Grief, Femininity, Mental Health, Death, Animals, Place, Family, Safety & Danger
Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction
Publication year 1994
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Religion & Spirituality, Politics & Government, Femininity, Gender Identity, Marriage, Community
Tags Religion & Spirituality, Gender & Feminism, Politics & Government, Sociology, Women`s Studies, World History, Travel Literature
Publication year 1999
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family
Tags Mythology, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Canadian Literature
No Great Mischief is a 1999 bildungsroman by Canadian novelist Alistair MacLeod. The story begins with Alexander MacDonald, a successful Canadian orthodontist, driving to Toronto to visit his brother, Calum. He searches for his brother’s apartment through the city’s seedier districts and eventually finds the right place. Calum is an alcoholic, one of many people left behind by the modern world. They speak together in English and Gaelic, reminiscing about their family. As Calum becomes... Read No Great Mischief Summary
Publication year 2017
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Social Class, Community, Globalization
Tags Travel Literature, Sociology, Poverty, Social Class, American Literature, Business & Economics, World History, Politics & Government
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Apathy, Justice, Good & Evil, Nature Versus Nurture
Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Power & Greed, Politics & Government, Friendship
Tags Humor, Magical Realism, Parenting, Modern Classic Fiction, Fantasy
Nothing to See Here is a 2019 novel by New York Times best-selling author and short story writer Kevin Wilson. The novel, which is set in Tennessee, includes a dedication to fellow Tennessean writer Ann Patchett. This is not Wilson’s first work about unusual characters and their families. He achieved success with his first novel, The Family Fang, and another called Perfect Little World. In these works, Wilson developed the prototype for the unique brand... Read Nothing to See Here Summary
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Death, Family, Friendship, Self Discovery, Truth & Lies
Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Hope, Perseverance, Love, Coming of Age, Death, Marriage, Self Discovery, Literature
Tags Psychological Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Relationships, Arts & Culture, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Race, Immigration, Mothers, Family
Tags Historical Fiction, Immigration & Refugeeism, Gender & Feminism, Race & Racism, Trauma & Abuse, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, World History
Publication year 2008
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Death, Grief, Family
Tags Modern Classic Fiction
Published in 2008, Olive Kitteridge is an unconventional novel by Elizabeth Strout that interlinks 13 tales about the people of Crosby, Maine. The novel is a collection of short stories tied together by the unifying element of titular character Olive Kitteridge. The novel won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and HBO created a mini-series of the book in 2014. Because of its construction, Strout’s novel is less about its plot than it is about... Read Olive Kitteridge Summary
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Environment, Siblings, Safety & Danger, Animals, Family
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Animals, Trauma & Abuse, Science & Nature, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2010
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Good & Evil
Tags World War II, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Military & War, World History, Historical Fiction
Once We Were Brothers is a Jewish historical fiction novel and legal thriller published in 2013 by the American author and attorney Ronald H. Balson. A finalist for the Harper Lee Award for Legal Fiction, the book tells the story of two young men on opposite sides of the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland. It is the first entry in Balson’s Liam Taggart and Catherine Lockhart book series.Plot SummaryThe book is divided into three parts. Part... Read Once We Were Brothers Summary
Publication year 2009
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Fate
Tags Psychological Fiction, Natural Disaster, Modern Classic Fiction, Asian Literature, Indian Literature, Arts & Culture
Published in 2010, novelist and poet Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s One Amazing Thing tells the story of nine people from diverse backgrounds who become trapped inside the visa office of the Indian Consulate after a major earthquake hits. As they wait for help to arrive, each person takes a turn telling a story from their own life, often revealing feelings or tales previously unshared. Told in third-person perspective from the point of view of each character... Read One Amazing Thing Summary
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Mothers, Daughters & Sons, Self Discovery, Grief, Love, Death
Tags Romance, Magical Realism, Travel Literature, Italian Literature, Modern Classic Fiction