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.

Dear Edward

by Ann Napolitano

Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Birth, Family

Tags Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano was published in 2020. It is the story of a 12-year-old boy who is the lone survivor of a plane crash that kills 191 others, including his family. As Edward struggles to cope with the tragedy, letters from others affected by the crash spark a journey of healing and self-discovery. Although the novel is fiction, it was inspired by true events. Ann Napolitano is a resident of New York City... Read Dear Edward Summary

Defending Jacob

by William Landay

Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Nature Versus Nurture

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense

Defending Jacob is a 2012 crime novel by William Landay. The main character is Andy Barber, a Massachusetts assistant district attorney, who finds his personal and professional life thrown into turmoil when his son, Jacob Barber, is accused of murdering his classmate Ben Rifkin. Andy, a resident of Newton, Massachusetts, narrates the events of the 2007 murder and trial alongside the transcripts of a 2008 grand jury investigation whose subject remains unstated until the final... Read Defending Jacob Summary

Dinners With Ruth

by Nina Totenberg

Publication year 2022

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Friendship, Gender Identity, Equality, Politics & Government

Tags Leadership, Crime & Law, Women`s Studies, Gender & Feminism, World History, Politics & Government, Biography

... Read Dinners With Ruth Summary

Dirt Music

by Tim Winton

Publication year 2001

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Grief, Family, Environment, Loneliness, Love, Midlife, Music

Tags Romance, Dramatic Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, World History

... Read Dirt Music Summary

Disappearing Earth

by Julia Phillips

Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Horror & Suspense, Russian Literature, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

Disappearing Earth (2019) is a debut novel by Julia Phillips published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York, a division of Penguin Random House. This cross-genre novel combines elements of Mystery, Thriller, Women’s Fiction, and Literary Fiction. In 2019, it was a National Book Award finalist for fiction, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, and a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. New York Times Book Review named... Read Disappearing Earth Summary

Disgrace

by J. M. Coetzee

Publication year 1999

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Forgiveness, Self Discovery, Colonialism, New Age

Tags African Literature, Trauma & Abuse, Race & Racism, Modern Classic Fiction, World History, Classic Fiction

Disgrace (1999) is a novel by South African author J. M. Coetzee. It follows a white South African professor of English as he navigates the changing world of post-apartheid South Africa. Disgrace won the Booker Prize after its publication in 1999 and, four years later, Coetzee was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 2008, the novel was adapted into a movie starring John Malkovich and Jessica Haines. This guide uses the 1999 Secker &... Read Disgrace Summary

Eating Animals

by Jonathan Safran Foer

Publication year 2009

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Environment

Tags Food, Philosophy, Animals, Health, Science & Nature, Philosophy

Eating Animals is a nonfiction book written by Jonathan Safran Foer and published originally in 2009. Foer is an accomplished novelist, and Eating Animals is his first foray into long-form nonfiction writing. The book fits into a genre of criticism of the food industry, specifically factory farming and animal welfare. Eating Animals is a New York Times bestseller, though it met with mixed reviews regarding both the content and style of Foer’s writing. In 2018... Read Eating Animals Summary

Educated

by Tara Westover

Publication year 2018

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Trust & Doubt, Memory, Fathers, Family

Tags Education, Poverty, Biography, Religion & Spirituality

Tara Westover’s 2018 memoir, Educated, tells the story of her journey to obtain an education. Westover is the youngest of seven children who grew up in the mountains of southwest Idaho in a radical Mormon family in the late 1980s and 1990s. From an early age, Westover knew that her family was not like other families because hers did not send the children to school, did not visit doctors’ offices or hospitals, and was not... Read Educated Summary

Either/Or

by Elif Batuman

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Literature, Language, Sexual Identity, Coming of Age

Tags Coming of Age, Love & Sexuality, Women`s Studies, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction

... Read Either/Or Summary

Elatsoe

by Darcie Little Badger

Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Justice, Revenge, Grief, Indigenous Identity, Family

Tags Fantasy, Mystery & Crime Fiction, LGBTQ+, Magical Realism, Action & Adventure, Grief & Death, Race & Racism, Religion & Spirituality

... Read Elatsoe Summary