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.

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Romance, Mental Illness

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is a 2017 comic novel about human connection. The title character, Eleanor Oliphant, narrates the story, introducing herself as an office worker with a solitary life in present-day Glasgow, Scotland. Eleanor spends her free time doing crosswords, listening to the radio, drinking vodka, and reading classic literature. She does not socialize with anyone, and her only family is a spiteful mother who calls from prison once a week. One night... Read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine Summary

Publication year 2001

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Nation, Language

Tags Humor, Science Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Fantasy

The entire story unravels on the island of Nollop, off the coast of North Carolina. Nollop is named after Nevin Nollop, a man who wrote a sentence containing all 26 letters of the alphabet: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” Because of his feat, Nollop’s statue is erected in town as a monument to the island’s namesake. Ella Minnow Pea, the main character, writes to her cousin, Tassie, announcing the first of... Read Ella Minnow Pea Summary

Publication year 2001

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Mothers, Fathers, Power & Greed, Social Class

Tags American Literature, Humor, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction

In Empire Falls, published in 2001, award-winning author Richard Russo focuses his sharp observations on family, faith, and hope for the future in small-town America, where the factories have left, the populations are dwindling, and the prospects are shrinking. Miles Roby almost got out of Empire Falls, but his mother’s illness brought him back a semester shy of graduating college. Now he runs the Empire Grill, a landmark that still anchors the dying town, and... Read Empire Falls Summary

Publication year 2005

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Family, Mothers, Immigration

Tags Politics & Government, Social Justice, US History, Immigration & Refugeeism, Education, Education, World History, Biography

Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother is a best-selling nonfiction book by Sonia Nazario, an American journalist best known for her work on social justice. Originally published in 2006, the book is based on Nazario’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Enrique’s Journey” series, which was written in six parts and published in The Los Angeles Times.The book, which has been published in eight languages and adapted for young adults in... Read Enrique's Journey Summary

Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Historical Fiction, Anthropology, Anthropology, World History, Romance

A New York Times Best Seller and winner of the 2014 Kirkus Prize for fiction, Lily King’s novel Euphoria is inspired by the life and fieldwork of eminent American anthropologist Margaret Mead. Specifically, King looked at the time in 1933 when Mead, the woman whom protagonist Nell Stone is based on, went to what was then known as the Territory of New Guinea with anthropologists Gregory Bateson and Reo Fortune. In the Acknowledgements at the... Read Euphoria Summary

Publication year 2021

Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction

Themes Immigration, Language, Community

Tags Immigration & Refugeeism, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction

Everything Inside (2019) is a short story collection by Haitian American author Edwidge Danticat. The eight stories in this collection, which focus primarily on the lives of Haitian people living across the Caribbean, are connected by their interest in loss and the search for identity. Like many of her characters, Danticat immigrated to the United States from Haiti at a young age; her love for Haiti and its history is evident throughout the collection, despite... Read Everything Inside Summary

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Globalization

Tags Military & War, Modern Classic Fiction, Magical Realism, Romance, Fantasy

Exit West is a work of political fiction by Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid, who also wrote The Reluctant Fundamentalist and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia. It was published in 2017 and was shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize.Exit West begins in an unnamed Middle Eastern city that is on the verge of war. It is already “swollen with refugees” (1). This is where Nadia and Saeed, the two main characters in... Read Exit West Summary

Publication year 2025

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Loneliness, Coming of Age, The Past, Appearance & Reality, Friendship, Self Discovery, Community, Wins & Losses, Trust & Doubt

Tags Romance, Sports, Contemporary Literature

Publication year 1996

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Shame & Pride, Truth & Lies, Religion & Spirituality, Music, Good & Evil, Self Discovery, Fathers, Childhood & Youth, Sexual Identity, Race, Fear

Tags Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+, Magical Realism, Coming of Age, Trauma & Abuse, Love & Sexuality, Music, Religion & Spirituality, Race & Racism, World History, Canadian Literature

Fall on Your Knees (1996), first-time novelist Ann-Marie MacDonald’s ambitious multigenerational family saga set in the early decades of the 20th century, moves from the bleak coastal towns of Canada’s Cape Breton Island to the bustling New York City of the Jazz Era. Recalling both the psychological richness of William Faulkner’s family sagas set in Yoknapatawpha County and the dark passions in the Gothic tales of Flannery O’Connor, Fall on Your Knees follows three very... Read Fall on your Knees Summary

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Femininity, Love, Memory, Mental Health, Race, Sexual Identity, Childhood & Youth, Death, Marriage, Mothers

Tags Magical Realism, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Modern Classic Fiction

Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Marriage, Love

Tags Romance, Modern Classic Fiction

Originally published in 2015, Fates and Furies is the third novel by Lauren Groff. The book dissects the twenty-four-year-long marriage between Lotto Satterwhite and Mathilde Yoder and incorporates many elements of Greek myths. The novel starts with their quickie marriage and jumps around in a disjointed timeline to chronicle everything from their childhoods before meeting one another in college to Mathilde’s decades as a widow after Lotto’s death. The majority of the events circle around... Read Fates and Furies Summary

Publication year 1996

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Masculinity, Community, Mental Health, Gender Identity

Tags Satirical Literature, Horror & Suspense, Mental Illness, Grief & Death, Mystery & Crime Fiction, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction

Fight Club (1996) is the debut novel of American author Chuck Palahniuk. Three years later, American filmmaker David Fincher directed the film adaptation starring Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden, Edward Norton as the Narrator, and Helena Bonham Carter as Marla Singer. This study guide uses the 2018 paperback edition published by W. W. Norton & Co.Fight Club is a contemporary work of literary fiction that contends with masculinity, materialism, consumer culture, and modern disillusionment. Inspired... Read Fight Club Summary

Publication year 2022

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Perseverance, Forgiveness, Love, Shame & Pride, Family, Siblings, Self Discovery, Art, Justice

Tags Inspirational, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Bullying, Love & Sexuality, Poverty, Race & Racism, Trauma & Abuse, Gender & Feminism, Biography