Books to Read With Your Book Club to Stay in the Know
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If your book club members like to keep up with the current conversation, the books below are a mix of the most talked-about, most anticipated, and consistently best-selling books of all time, available in book clubs of all types. One of them is a groundbreaking book by a budding author who is the first nonverbal person with autism to graduate from UCLA with an English degree.
Others include Tayari Jones’ latest story about two girls growing up without a mother, Xochitl Gonzalez’s historical fiction that tells a story of Brooklyn in the early aughts, Roxane Gay’s book club book of the time saying “it’s a perfect novel,” and more.
relatives By Tayari Jones
No doubt you’ve seen it in our monthly book club round-up, and with good reason. Jones is one of our current literary giants, and this story of two motherless black girls growing up in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, but with very different life trajectories, is sure to become a modern classic.
last night in brooklyn By Xochitl Gonzalez
Putting aside my uneasiness that a historical novel could be set in 2007, this is a fantastic meditation on a very special moment in Brooklyn history. The neighborhood where the main character Alicia lives is Fort Greene. She finds happiness and possibility in all-night parties hosted by her neighbor La Garza. Neither Alicia nor her friends realize that the coolness of Fort Greene is about to affect the neighborhood. Alicia and her friends and family try to find their way in NYC, before the construction of Barclays Center, and at the height of Brooklyn’s affordability. -Julia Rittenberg
Continue below for the most popular books for your book club for All Access members.
reporter by Virginia Evans
it could happen right here Book Club Book of the Year, even though it came out last year. An adaptation already exists starring Jane Fonda. It is a historical novel featuring a 73-year-old heroine who writes letters to understand herself and the world. But then one day he receives a letter that makes him confront a dark moment from his past.
Roxane Gay said, “This is a perfect novel, very satisfying and beautifully conceived and written. Ten out of ten, no notes.” Which compelled me to immediately add it to my TBR.
best offer wins By Marisa Kashino
Margo Miyake now wants the next step in her life: a perfect home and having a child with her husband. When she hears about a house that will soon be on the market, she thinks it’s perfectly natural to befriend the couple with the hopes of selling the house before they list it. Problem? The couple finds out what she is doing and “unfriends” her. While Margo’s husband feels ashamed, she does not. Instead, she focuses on revenge… -Jamie Canaves
tied up by woody brown
This book is questionable for several reasons. For one, it was written by a man who was diagnosed with severe autism in childhood, and whom doctors said would never be able to speak or even acquire language. For two people, it highlights a community that isn’t often thought about. It is a sympathetic and often humorous look at the lives of the attendants and staff of a dismal adult daycare center for disabled people in LA.
On one hand, I’m glad to see a novel that focuses on people with autism, written by a person with autism, and not filled with the same clichéd stereotypes.
London Falling: A Mysterious Death and One Family’s Search for the Truth in the Gilded City By Patrick Raden Keefe
In 2019, MI6 captured a video of a young man appearing to jump into the River Thames and die by suicide. His parents are devastated. Their son never seemed depressed or suicidal, but as they take a closer look at his life, they begin to realize that they barely knew their son. -Centre Winchester
If you and your book club want to change things up a bit, you can also keep up with our podcastWhere our CEO and Chief of Staff review all the latest bookish things.