Happy first day of summer! It’s the perfect time to join a book club. Yes, yes, we say that all the time. But think about it: wine, a good book, stimulating book gab, and the sand between your toes. We’ve got the perfect books for your book club gatherings, whether you’re taking to the beach or escaping the heat indoors.
11 Book Club Picks Perfect for Summer
A lively, sexy, and thought-provoking novel, EROTIC STORIES FOR PUNJABI WIDOWS is the tale of a young woman who teaches a creative writing course for Sikh widows at a community college. But the class doesn't go as planned when one of Nikki's students shares a book of sexy stories, setting off a wave of unexpected events. Reese Witherspoon picked this novel for her book club and so should you.
Do you belong to a group of picky readers? No worries. This book has got it all: a hypnotic coming-of-age story, a complicated female friendship, gorgeous writing, and big questions about how we live our lives. About two girls who grew up together but are now growing apart and making dangerous decisions, THE BURNING GIRL is an instantly compelling novel.
If your book club hasn't yet had the pleasure of reading a Lisa Jewell novel, you're in for a real treat. THE HOUSE WE GREW UP IN is domestic drama at its best. The picture-perfect Bird family is upended when tragedy strikes one Easter weekend. Years later, something happens that beckons the adult children back to the house they grew up in, where they unearth the many secrets hidden within its nooks and crannies.
We can't stop talking about this book and neither will your book club. THE GREAT BELIEVERS is a dazzling new novel about a circle of artistic friends consumed by the AIDS epidemic in 1985 Chicago and the few survivors who reunite 30 years later in Paris. The two stories-past and present-intertwine and take us through the heartbreak of the 80s and the chaos of the modern world as these incredible characters seek out goodness. This is already one of our favorite books of the year.
Book clubs everywhere have been raving about this novel of two girls and the wild year that costs one of them her life. Fifteen-year-old Cat felt alone when she moved to a rural Michigan town. But then she met Marlena-her manic, beautiful, pill-popping neighbor-and was quickly drawn into her intoxicating, reckless lifestyle. Decades after Marlena's sudden death, Cat is still trying to move on, but the past keeping calling her back.
If your book club couldn't get enough of LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE, you're in luck. Jessica Knoll returns with a new novel about two sisters who join the cast of a reality TV series along with three other hyper-successful women. But no one ever expected the season to end in murder…A blisteringly paced thriller, THE FAVORITE SISTER explores the invisible barriers that prevent women from rising up the ranks in today's America and offers a scathing take on the relentless pressure to stay young, relevant, and salable.
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It can be challenging to find time to read and schedule a book club meeting amid all the summer activities, but you don't want to miss this stunning, slim novel. TIN MAN is the intimate, heartbreaking story of a working-class man and all the loves and small kindnesses that make a life. It's perfect for fans of A MAN CALLED OVE and A LITTLE LIFE.
Don't worry, we haven't forgotten the nonfiction book clubs. I'LL BE GONE IN THE DARK is the haunting true account of the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California during the 70s and 80s. And there's more-it's also the story of the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case, which was just recently solved in April 2018.
Tired of reading light summer novels and looking for something a little weightier this summer? Well, THE MINISTRY OF UTMOST HAPPINESS is a must read. It takes readers on an intimate journey through India and braids together the lives of three characters who have been broken by the world in which they live, and then rescued by acts of love and hope. This is a ravishing, deeply humane story.
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Eve Babitz's popular books keep popping up all over the place, and now we're bringing this one to book club. SEX AND RAGE is a novel about Jacaranda, a dreamy young girl moving between Los Angeles and New York as she tries to find purpose in life and a place in the world. This novel is haunting, alluring, and vibrant.
Jodi Picoult is a favorite of reading groups, and this new novel is one of her best ever. About a black nurse who is charged with a serious crime while caring for the baby of a white supremacist couple, GREAT SMALL THINGS features richly layered characters and a gripping moral dilemma that will make readers question what they know about privilege, power, and race.