Book Club Recommendations

Book Club Recommendations

Book Club Recommendations

Some times my book club considers it challenging to find thoughtful, discussable books. Does your book club face that dilemma?

Often after finishing a book, I think: This would make a great book club selection. Usually, I base this opinion on the discussion possibilities and thoughtful themes or relevant issues.

See this post I wrote all about starting and organizing a book club.

Here’s a FREE Book Club Kit for West With Giraffes which includes discussion questions.

If it would be helpful, here’s a list of books I’ve read that I can confidently recommend for my book club or yours (most suggestions are made with women in mind). The list is also heavily weighted toward historical fiction because I spend most of my reading hours in this genre. I hope you find this list a useful resource in choosing your next read!

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

Grouped by Star Rating (in no particular order) and by Genre (Titles are links to my reviews):

Historical Fiction

Go as a River by Shelley Read 5 Stars

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See 5 Stars

West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge 5 Stars (Book Club Kit here)

The Last Lifeboat by Hazel Gaynor 5 Stars

The Girl From Guernica by Karen Robards 5+ Stars

The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin 5 Stars

The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray 4.5 Stars

The Winter Orphans by Kristin Beck 5 Stars

The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews 5 Stars

The Thread Collectors by Shaunna Edwards and Alyson Richman 5 Stars

The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer 5 Stars

Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe 5 Stars (own voices)

Our Last Days in Barcelona by Chanel Cleeton 4.5-5 Stars

A Hundred Crickets Singing by Cathy Gohlke 5 Stars

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys (YA crossover) 5 Stars

Three Words For Goodbye by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb 5 Stars

Radar Girls by Sara Ackerman 5 Stars

That Summer in Berlin by Lecia Cornwall 4.5 Stars

FireKeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley 4.5-5 Stars

Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi 4.5-5 Stars

The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel 4.5-5 Stars

The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton 4.5-5 Stars

The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer 5 Stars

The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray 5 Stars (4.5)

Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly 5 Stars (4.5)

Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan 5 Stars (4.5)

The Downstairs Girl (YA) by Stacey Lee 4.5-5 Stars

The Invisible Woman by Erika Robuck 5 Stars

The Girl From the Channel Islands by Jenny Lecoat 5 Stars

The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner 5 Stars

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel 5 Stars (4.5)

The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton 5 Stars (4.5)

The Last Train to London by Meg Waite Clayton 5 Stars (4.5)

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri 5 Stars (4.5)

Ribbons of Scarlet by Kate Quinn et al. 5 Stars

The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai 5 Stars (4.5)

The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali 5 Stars (4.5)

Lovely War by Julie Berry 5 Stars (4.5)

Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain (light histfic/mystery) 5 Stars (4.5)

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys (YA) 5 Stars

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek 5+ Stars

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd 5+ Stars

The Gown by Jennifer Robson 5 Stars

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi 5 Stars

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom 5 Stars

Beantown Girls by Jane Healey 5 Stars

The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter by Hazel Gaynor 5 Stars

The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar 5 Stars

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys 5 Stars

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer (and Netflix movie) 5 Stars

News of the World by Paulette Jiles 5 Stars (plus the movie)

America’s First Daughter or My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray (both) 5 Stars

Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor 5 Stars

We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter 5 Stars

From Sand and Ash by Amy Harmon 5 Stars

The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe 5 Stars

Paper Hearts by Meg Wiviott 5 Stars

The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom 5 Stars

Learning to See by Elise Hooper 5 Stars

Paper Hearts by Meg Wiviott (YA free verse) 5 Stars

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (plus the movie) 5 Stars

*     *     *

Any of the Wartime Bookshop series (Christmas at the Wartime Bookshop here) by Lesley Eames (all) 4-4.5 Stars

Ladies of the Lake by Cathy Gohlke 4 Stars

The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry 4 Stars

Daughters of Nantucket by Julie Gerstenblatt 4 Stars

The Maid of Ballymacool by Jennifer Deibel 4.5 Stars

A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice by Rebecca Connolly 4.5 Stars

The Forgotten Cottage by Courtney Ellis 4.5 Stars

The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin 4.5 Stars

The Codebreaker’s Secret by Sara Ackerman 4.5 Stars

When We Had Wings by Lawhon, McMorris, Meissner 4 Stars

The Last Dress From Paris by Jade Beer 4 Stars

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan 4.5 Stars

The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson 4.5 Stars

Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner 4.5 Stars

Yours Cheerfully by A.J. Pearce 4 Stars

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Murray 4.5 Stars

The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry 4 Stars

The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan 4 Stars

The Woman With the Blue Star by Pam Jenoff 4 Stars

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys 4.5 Stars

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles 4 Stars

The Chanel Sisters by Judithe Little 4 Stars

Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis 4 Stars

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner 4 Stars

The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate 4 Stars

The Things we Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer 4 Stars

The Women of the Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell 4 Stars

The Medallion by Cathy Gohlke 4 Stars

If You Want to Make God Laugh 4 Stars

The Huntress by Kate Quinn 4 Stars

Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon 4 Stars

Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon 4.5 Stars

Hum If You Don’t Know the Words by Bianca Marais 4.5 Stars

Lady Clementine by Marie Benedict 4 Stars

Woman 99 by Greer Mccallister 4 Stars

We Hope For Better Things by Erin Bartels 4 Stars

Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris 4 Stars

The Wartime Sisters by Lynda Cohen Loigman 4 Stars

Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan 4 Stars

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff 4 Stars

The Lieutenant’s Nurse or Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers or Red Sky Over Hawaii  by Sara Ackerman (each) 4 Stars

And They Called It Camelot by Stephanie Marie Thornton 4 Stars

A Fall of Marigolds or As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner (both) 4 Stars

The Secret Keeper or The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (both) 4 Stars

The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi 4 Stars

The Orphan’s Tale by Pam Jenoff 4 Stars

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See 4 Stars

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See 4 Stars

The Baker’s Secret by Stephen P. Kiernan 4 Stars

Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan 4 Stars

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate 4 Stars

The Beautiful Strangers or The Way of Beauty by Camille Di Maio (both) 4 Stars

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford 4 Stars

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 4 Stars

The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah 4 Stars 

Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini 4 Stars


Literary Fiction

Go as a River by Shelley Read 5 Stars

An Enemy Like Me by Teri M. Brown 5 Stars

Maureen (Harold Fry #3) by Rachel Joyce 5 Stars

Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout 4 Stars

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson 5 Stars

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell 4.5 Stars

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi 5 Stars

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Kreuger 5 Stars

The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall 5+ Stars

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane 5 Stars

Virgil Wander (5 stars) or Peace Like a River (4 Stars) by Leif Enger


Light Women’s Fiction

Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews 4 Stars

The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan 4 Stars

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center 4 Stars

Liz’s Road Trip by Bernadette Marie 4 Stars

What Would Jane Austen Do? by Linda Corbett 4 Stars

A Little Ray of Sunshine by Kristan Higgins 4 Stars

Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan 4 Stars

Mermaid Beach by Sheila Roberts (Moonlight Harbor Series) 4 Stars

Jane & Edward by Melodie Edwards 4 Stars (Jane Eyre modern reimagining)

Mermaid Beach and the Moonlight Harbor Series by Sheila Roberts 4 Stars

The Christmas Castle in Scotland by Julie Caplin 4 Stars

Christmas at the Borrow a Bookshop by Kiley Dunbar 4 Stars

Once Upon a December by Amy E. Reichert 4 Stars

The Matchmaker’s Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman 4 Stars

The Wedding Veil by Kristy Woodson Harvey 4 Stars

Kit McBride Gets a Wife by Amy Barry 4.5 Stars

The Lost Ticket by Freya Sampson 4 Stars

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center 4 Stars

 Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan 4 Stars

Adult Assembly Required by Abbi Waxman 4 Stars

Spring Tides at the Starfish Cafe by Jennifer Redland 4 Stars

Arborview by Karen Guzman 4.5 Stars

The Unlikely Yarn of the Dragon Lady by Sharon J. Mondragon (Christian Fiction) 4 Stars

Yours Cheerfully by A.J. Pearce 4 Stars

Our Italian Summer by Jennifer Probst 4 Stars

Wait For It by Jenn McKinlay 3.5-4 Stars

People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry 4 Stars

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley 4.5-5 Stars

Miss Cecily’s Recipes For Exceptional Ladies 4 Stars

The Great Escape From Woodlands Nursing Home by Joanna Nell 4.5-5 Stars

The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons 4.5 Stars

Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce 4 Stars

The Book of CarolSue by Lynne Hugo 4 Stars

The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay 4.5 Stars

What You Wish For by Katherine Center 4 Stars

This Won’t End Well by Camille Pagán 4 Stars

The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae by Stephanie Butland 4 Stars

Meet Me in Monaco (romantic histfic) by H. Gaynor and H. Webb 4 Stars

Glory Road by Lauren K. Denton 4 Stars

How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry 4 Stars

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal 4 Stars

*     *     *

The Bookseller’s Promise by Beth Wiseman 3.5-4 Stars

The Holley Sisters of Thornthwaite “Vicarage” Series by Kate Hewitt 3.5-4 Stars

The House Swap by Jo Lovett 3.5 Stars

Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey 3-3.5 Stars

Talk Bookish To Me by Kate Bromley 3.5 Stars

Lost, Found, & Forever by Victoria Schade  3 Stars

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren 3.5 Stars

The Switch by Beth O’Leary 3.5 Stars

The Amish Newcomer by Patrice Lewis 3.5 (rounded to 4) Stars

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center 3 Stars

The Late Bloomers’ Club by Louise Miller 3 Stars

The Summer House by Lauren K Denton 3.5 Stars


General Fiction

No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister 5 Stars

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman 5 Stars (4.5)

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin 5 Stars

The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister 5 Stars

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane 5 Stars

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 5 Stars

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce 5 Stars

Beartown by Fredrik Backman 5 Stars

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman 5 Stars

Castle of Water by Duane Hucklebridge 5 Stars

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (plus the movie) 5 Stars

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng 5 Stars

The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce 5 Stars

The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom 5 Stars

The Lost For Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland 5 Stars

*     *     *

Little Wing by Freya North 4.5 Stars

A Brighter Flame by Christine Nolfi 4.5 Stars

Sugar and Salt by Susan Wiggs 4 Stars

The Night of Many Endings by Melissa Payne 4.5 Stars

The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson 4 Stars

The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman by Julietta Henderson 4 Stars

The Story of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg 4 Stars

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth 4 Stars

Under the Magnolias by T.I. Lowe 4 Stars (Christian fiction)

Hard Cider by Barbara Stark-Nemon 4 Stars

Eden by Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg 4 Stars

The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick 4 Stars

Meet Me At the Museum by Anne Youngson 4 Stars

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery (classic) 4 Stars

The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood 4 Stars

Still Alice by Lisa Genova (plus the movie) 4 Stars

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin 4 Stars

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah 4 Stars

The Cactus by Sarah Haywood 4 Stars

The Secret of Clouds by Alyson Richman 4 Stars

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo (YA) 4.5 Stars

This Won’t End Well by Camille Pagan 4 Stars


Mystery

The Late Mrs. Willoughby by Claudia Gray 4 Stars

Symphony of Secrets and Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb 4.5 Stars

Exiles (Falk #3) by Jane Harper 4.5 Stars

Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain 5 Stars (4.5)

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman 4 Stars

The Dry, Force of Nature, or The Survivors by Jane Harper (all) 4 Stars

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim 4 Stars

Searching For Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok 4 Stars

The Vanished Bride 4 Stars

Mrs. England by Stacey Halls 4 Stars


Science Fiction

Project Hail Mary (audio version!) by Andy Weir 4.5-5 Stars

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker 4 Stars

The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain 4 Stars


Diverse Reads

Symphony of Secrets and Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb 4.5 Stars

Ghost Boys (MG/YA) by Jewell Parker Rhodes 5 Stars

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson 5 Stars

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi 5 Stars

The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Daré 5 Stars

The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali 5 Stars (4.5)

A Place For Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza 5+ Stars

The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar 5 Stars

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas 5 Stars

*     *     *

Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin 4 Stars

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson 4 Stars

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann 4 Stars

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones 4 Stars

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray 4 Stars

Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda 4 Stars

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson 4 Stars

With the fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo 4 Stars


Non Fiction

And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle by Jon Meacham 5 Stars

Finding Me by Viola Davis 5 Stars

An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield 5 Stars

The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff 5 Stars

You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why it Matters by Kate Murphy 4 Stars

Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting by Lisa Genova 4 Stars

Atomic Habits by James Clear 4 Stars

The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker 4 Stars

Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny 4 Stars

Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee 4 Stars

Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin 4 Stars

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson 4 Stars

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann 4 Stars

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain 4.5 Stars

The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore 4 Stars


Memoir

America, A Redemption Story by Tim Scott 4.5 Stars

Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown 4.5-5 Stars

Finding Me by Viola Davis 5 Stars

The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Dr. Edith Eva Eger 5 Stars

Finding Chika by Mitch Albom 5 Stars

The Girl With Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee 5 Stars

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb 5 Stars (memoir, self help)

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (plus the movie) 5 Stars
(this is actually biography but I think of it as memoir because the author interviewed Louis Zamporini)

In Pieces by Sally Field 5 Stars

*     *     *

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson 4 Stars

Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story by Jewel 4 Stars

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn 4 Stars

Tell Me More by Kelly Corrigan 4 Stars

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah 4 Stars

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance 4 Stars

Educated by Tara Westover 4 Stars

Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin 4 Stars

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (plus the movie) 4.5 Stars


Thriller/Suspense

I rarely read thrillers or suspense, so I have only a few titles to offer in suspense and they are on the very MILD end of the spectrum.

The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton 4 Stars

 The River by Peter Heller 4.5 Stars

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth 4 Stars

The Huntress and The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn (histfic/thriller/suspense) 4 Stars each

The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner (histfic/suspense) 5 Stars

Christmas Themed Women’s Fiction

Once Upon a December by Amy E. Reichert (closed door romance) 4 Stars

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren (moderately open door romance) 4 Stars

Christmas at the Borrow a Bookshop by Kiley Dunbar 4 Stars (review coming soon)

New Traditions by Deborah King 4 Stars

All I Want For Christmas is the Girl Next Door by Chelsea Bobulski (sweet and innocent YA romance) 4 Stars



Let’s Discuss!

Do you have a book we can add to this list? What has been your favorite book that your book club has discussed? Please let me know if you choose a book from this list for your book club and how it was received.



Happy Reading Book Buddies!

“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke

“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes

“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection! Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text



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