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 Poet X

by Elizabeth Acevedo

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction

Themes Music, Shame & Pride

Tags Music, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance, LGBTQ+

Elizabeth Acevedo’s award-winning 2018 young adult novel, The Poet X, brings to life the inner world of protagonist Xiomara Batista. Xiomara is 15 years old, and from her bedroom in Harlem, she writes poetry in order to put on the page all the feelings and ideas she cannot seem to be able to say out loud. Xiomara resigns herself to writing in her notebook and sharing her thoughts with only a few trusted individuals until... Read The Poet X Summary

The Power

by Naomi Alderman

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Gender Identity, Future, Femininity

Tags Gender & Feminism, Science & Nature, Politics & Government, Science Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Fantasy

Influenced by the dystopian futuristic vision of Margaret Atwood’s landmark 1985 feminist work The Handmaid’s Tale, Naomi Alderman’s 2016 novel The Power fuses genre elements of speculative fiction with the traditional historical novel. Part allegory, part satire, the novel depicts a near-contemporary world in which women move into positions of real power through an inexplicable genetic anomaly: they develop an extra braid of muscle along their collarbones that enables them to shoot devastating jolts of... Read The Power Summary

The Princess Bride

by William Goldman

Publication year 1973

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Art, Beauty, Joy

Tags Fantasy, Romance, Humor, Fairy Tale & Folklore, Action & Adventure, Classic Fiction

The Princess Bride is a 1973 adventure novel by American author and screenwriter William Goldman. It uses a unique framing narrative to tell two interwoven stories and claims to be a retelling of an older novel (one that does not actually exist). The Princess Bride was adapted into a film in 1987. Critics regard the film as one of the greatest cinematic accomplishments of all time, and it appears on numerous “best of” lists, including... Read The Princess Bride Summary

The Promise

by Damon Galgut

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Justice, Colonialism

Tags Dramatic Literature, Historical Fiction, History: African , Social Justice, Race & Racism, African Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, World History

... Read The Promise Summary

The Red Tent

by Anita Diamant

Publication year 1997

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Femininity, Mothers, Love, Grief, Self Discovery

Tags Historical Fiction, Gender & Feminism, Religion & Spirituality, Jewish Literature, Love & Sexuality, Women`s Studies, World History

The Red Tent (1997) is an adult historical novel by Jewish American author Anita Diamant. It describes the life of Dinah, daughter of Jacob, who appears in the biblical Book of Genesis. While her mention in the Bible only concerns her abduction by a Canaanite man and her brothers’ act of atrocity in response, Diamant imagines a full life for Dinah—including a childhood raised by several mothers, her first marriage, and life in Egypt, where... Read The Red Tent Summary

The Rent Collector

by Camron Wright

Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes The Past, Good & Evil

Tags Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, World History, Historical Fiction

Camron Wright’s The Rent Collector, originally published in 1990, tells the story of Sang Ly, a 29-year-old Cambodian woman who lives at the edge of Cambodia’s infamous dump, Stung Meanchey, with her husband, Ki Lim, and her 16-month-old son, Nisay. The fiction novel addresses such themes as the power of story, the influence of the past, the importance of education, and the balance of good and evil.Sang and Ki work as pickers in the dump... Read The Rent Collector Summary

The Rosie Project

by Graeme Simsion

Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fathers

Tags Romance, Modern Classic Fiction, Humor

Graeme Simsion is an Australian author and playwright who previously worked in the information systems industry. The Rosie Project, originally written as a screenplay, is the first in the Don Tillman trilogy. The novel explores the romantic and comedic errors of protagonist Don Tillman, a man implied (and confirmed on the author’s webpage) to have undiagnosed autism, as he looks for a wife. Set in Melbourne, Australia, and New York City, the novel is told... Read The Rosie Project Summary