Publication year 2019
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Animals, Plants, Family
Tags Animals, Science & Nature, Biography
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.
The Honey Bus
The House Across the Lake
The House of Broken Angels
The House of Eve
The Husbands
The Husbands
The Husband's Secret
The Idiot
The Illegal
The Immortalists
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Indigo Girl
The Inheritance of Loss
The Invention of Wings
The Island of Missing Trees
The Island of Sea Women
The Jade Peony
The Japanese Lover
The Jasmine Throne
The Judge's List
Publication year 2019
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Animals, Plants, Family
Tags Animals, Science & Nature, Biography
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Action & Adventure, Modern Classic Fiction, Religion & Spirituality
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Death, Family
Tags Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction
The House of Broken Angels (2018) is work of contemporary literary fiction by Luis Alberto Urrea. The book was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Urrea has received a number of awards for his novels and non-fiction, including a Lannan Literary Award, an Edgar Award, and a Pulitzer Prize for his book The Devil’s Highway. Plot SummaryThe House of Broken Angels takes place in San Diego over the course of two days... Read The House of Broken Angels Summary
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Safety & Danger, Power & Greed, Education, Mothers, Marriage, Social Class, Sexual Identity, Race, Femininity, Shame & Pride, Regret, Love
Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, Race & Racism, World History
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, Regret, Gender Identity, Friendship, Marriage
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Magical Realism, Romance, Fantasy
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Marriage, Guilt, Gender Identity, Equality
Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Gender & Feminism, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2013
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Grief, Marriage, Mothers
Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Liane Moriarty’s novel The Husband’s Secret was published in 2013. It is classified as a thriller, though it could also be classified as women’s fiction because of its focus on women’s life experiences and relationships. Moriarty is perhaps best known for her novels Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, both of which have been adapted for television. Moriarty's other well-known works include The Chaperone (2012), Truly Madly Guilty (2016), and Apples Never Fall (2021)... Read The Husband's Secret Summary
Publication year 1869
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Religion & Spirituality, Social Class, Good & Evil
Tags Classic Fiction, World History, Historical Fiction, Philosophy, Russian Literature, Philosophy
The Idiot is a novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky, first published in 1868-69. The story focuses on the titular character, a good-natured, destitute aristocrat named Prince Myshkin. The novel has been adapted many times for film, theatre, television, and radio. This guide is written using an eBook version of the 2003 Vintage edition, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Plot SummaryPrince Lev Myshkin is a young man from one of Russia's oldest, most... Read The Idiot Summary
Publication year 2015
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Horror & Suspense, Modern Classic Fiction, Canadian Literature
Canadian author Lawrence Hill published The Illegal in 2015. This fast-paced fictional political thriller, which focuses on a young undocumented marathon runner, uses multiple perspectives and irony to question what it really means to be a citizen, exploring themes of Race, Privilege, and Power, Legality Versus Justice, and The Power of Marginalized Voices. Hill is a noted contributor to the fiction and nonfiction genres, particularly for his exploration of issues related to race. The Illegal furthers... Read The Illegal Summary
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Fate
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy
The Immortalists is a 2018 New York Times bestselling novel by Chloe Benjamin. In the Prologue, the four Gold children, Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon, visit a Romani fortuneteller named Bruna Costello. Bruna predicts when each of the children will die. The novel’s four parts describe each sibling’s path through life, and, in the end, three of them—Simon, Klara, and Daniel—all die exactly when Bruna predicted.Simon Gold moves to San Francisco after the death of... Read The Immortalists Summary
Publication year 2010
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Tags US History, Health, Science & Nature, World History, Biography
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is a non-fiction book that tells the story of Lacks and her HeLa cells, or the immortal cell line that doctors retrieved from her cervical cancer cells. Crown Publishing Group published the book in 2010, and it won a National Academies Communication Award the following year. This guide refers to the Crown 2010 first edition. Henrietta Lacks was a black American woman who died of cancer... Read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Summary
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Gender Identity, Race, Family, Social Class, Colonialism, Justice
Tags US History, Southern Literature, World History, Historical Fiction, Romance
Publication year 2005
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Hate & Anger
Tags Asian Literature, Indian Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Asian Literature, Historical Fiction
The Inheritance of Loss, a 2006 book by Kiran Desai, explores immigration, identity, and relationships on both the interpersonal and international scale. Spanning India, England, and the United States, the novel details the conflict between traditional Indian ways of life and the shiny opulence of Western nations. The book won several awards, including the Man Booker Prize in 2006 and the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award in 2007. Desai wrote the book in the... Read The Inheritance of Loss Summary
Publication year 2014
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Friendship
Tags Historical Fiction, World History
A historical novel, The Invention of Wings (2014), by Sue Monk Kidd, traces the intersecting lives of the abolitionist sisters, Sarah and Angelina Grimké, and Sarah’s slave, Hetty Handful Grimké. Spanning 35 years and set primarily in Charleston, South Carolina in the 1800s, the novel begins on Sarah’s 11th birthday, when Handful is given to her as a birthday present. It ends when Sarah helps Handful and her sister, Sky, escape slavery, and Sarah fulfills... Read The Invention of Wings Summary
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Grief, Love, Memory, Race, Nation, The Past, Animals, Family, Plants, Safety & Danger
Tags Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Romance, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Food, Trauma & Abuse, European History, World History, Immigration & Refugeeism, LGBTQ+, Love & Sexuality, Military & War, Politics & Government, Science & Nature, Race & Racism, Relationships, Religion & Spirituality, Grief & Death, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes The Past, Friendship, Forgiveness, Hate & Anger
Tags Historical Fiction, Korean War, Post-War Era, Korean Literature, Asian Literature, Military & War, Asian Literature, World History
The Island of Sea Woman (March 2019) is the most recent title by New York Times bestselling author Lisa See. It is classified in the categories of Historical Asian Fiction and Asian American Literature. Many of See’s books discuss the Chinese immigrant experience in America; her paternal great-grandfather was Chinese, and this family history has had a great influence on her historical fiction. See’s books have been published in 39 languages, and she has been... Read The Island of Sea Women Summary
Publication year 1995
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Historical Fiction, Asian Literature, World History, Chinese Literature, Canadian Literature
The Jade Peony is a 1995 novel by Wayson Choy. The book is divided into three parts, each with a distinct narrator. Each narrator is a child belonging to a Chinese-Canadian family; the novel is set during the escalation of World War II. The book follows each of these characters in a fully developed plot arc. Together, the parts form a tapestry that provides the reader with an incisive and insightful emotional, historical, and sociological... Read The Jade Peony Summary
Publication year 2015
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, Memory, Race, Sexual Identity, Aging, Death, Social Class, Immigration, Art
Tags Romance, Historical Fiction, World War II, Modern Classic Fiction, World History
The Japanese Lover is Isabel Allende’s 18th novel. Like most of Allende’s work, it falls under the genres of magical realism and historical fiction. The novel was originally published in 2015, the year after Allende was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In addition to the overarching focus on romance and love, the novel addresses issues relating to World War II (WWII), Japanese American incarceration during the 1940s, racism, homophobia, and the struggles of aging... Read The Japanese Lover Summary
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Siblings, Colonialism, Politics & Government, Power & Greed
Tags Fantasy, LGBTQ+, Romance
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Justice, Good & Evil, Politics & Government
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Crime & Law