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 Yacoubian Building

by Alaa Al Aswany

Publication year 2002

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Middle Eastern Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, African Literature

Published in 2002 in its original Arabic edition, The Yacoubian Building is a novel by Egyptian author Alaa Al Aswany. It tells the story of life in Cairo through several interwoven narratives. The edition used in this guide was translated by Humphrey Davies.Plot SummaryThe Yacoubian Building is set in Cairo around 1990, the time of the Gulf War. It follows the stories of several characters who live in the Yacoubian Building, a once-luxurious building that... Read The Yacoubian Building Summary

The Yellow House

by Sarah M. Broom

Publication year 2019

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Community, Memory

Tags Race & Racism, US History, Social Class, World History, Biography

The Yellow House is a nonfiction memoir published in 2019 by the American author Sarah M. Broom. In a narrative centered around her childhood home, “The Yellow House,” Broom chronicles the history of New Orleans through three generations of her family. The Yellow House won the 2019 National Book Award for Nonfiction and the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize for best debut book.Plot SummaryIn 1961, Broom's mother, Ivory Mae, becomes a widow at the... Read The Yellow House Summary

This Bridge Called My Back

by Cherrie Moraga, ed., Gloria Anzaldua, ed.

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Gender Identity, Race, Social Class

Tags Gender & Feminism, Creative Nonfiction, Race & Racism, Social Justice, Women`s Studies

This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa, is a feminist literary collection of essays, prose, poems, and transcripts on the experiences of women of color and Third World women, in a mainly United States context. While many of the contributors may have been lesser-known beforehand, this anthology has become a foundational text in feminist theory. Originally published in 1981, it set precedence by delving... Read This Bridge Called My Back Summary

This Is How It Always Is

by Laurie Frankel

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, LGBTQ+

This Is How It Always Is, a novel by Laurie Frankel, was published in 2017. It was a New York Times best seller, one of People magazine’s Top 10 Books of 2017, and a Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick. Other works by this author include One Two Three and Family Family.Plot SummaryDr. Rosie Walsh is pregnant with her fifth son, Claude. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her writer husband, Penn Adams... Read This Is How It Always Is Summary

Three Women

by Lisa Taddeo

Publication year 2019

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Femininity, Sexual Identity, Masculinity

Tags Love & Sexuality, Gender & Feminism, Trauma & Abuse, Women`s Studies, Modern Classic Fiction, Biography

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Through Black Spruce

by Joseph Boyden

Publication year 2008

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family

Tags Historical Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Canadian Literature

Through Black Spruce, published in 2008, is Canadian author Joseph Boyden’s second novel. His first, Three Day Road (2005), is a work of historical fiction based on the life of Xavier Bird. Through Black Spruce focuses on Xavier’s son, Will Bird, and his granddaughter, Annie Bird. Boyden uses storytelling as a narrative framework to share the Bird family’s story. Annie and Will narrate alternating chapters, telling stories about their past year as the reader also... Read Through Black Spruce Summary

Tinkers

by Paul Harding

Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Memory, Aging, Death, Family

Tags Psychological Fiction, Historical Fiction, Relationships, Grief & Death, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction

Tinkers (2009) is Paul Harding’s debut novel. It delves into the life of a dying man, George Washington Crosby, as he reflects on his past and his family history. The narrative weaves together George’s memories with stories from his father’s life, and it explores the themes of mortality, memory, and the interconnectedness of generations. The novel, which is considered literary fiction, won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 2010 PEN/ Robert W. Bingham... Read Tinkers Summary

Tin Man

by Sarah Winman

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fear, Love, Memory, Regret, Sexual Identity, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Death, The Past

Tags LGBTQ+, Romance, Historical Fiction

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Tom Lake

by Ann Patchett

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Love, Coming of Age, Literature, Memory, The Past, Plants, Place

Tags Realistic Fiction, American Literature, Agriculture, Arts & Culture, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance

... Read Tom Lake Summary