Our Favorite Book Club Picks for Summer
Summer is also the perfect opportunity to explore new genres and themes in your reading group. With longer days and vacation time, members of your book club can tackle larger books or a more diverse range of literature. See some of our top picks for this season that are sure to spark lively conversations and create unforgettable memories.
Historical Fiction
If you're a fan of historical fiction, then these recommendations are must-reads for your book club. Discuss books with in-depth historical details and complex characters, making them a perfect choice for a historical fiction book club. The rich descriptions of the settings will transport readers back in time, offering a vivid picture of the era. Plus - it makes for a great theme night with coordinating food, wine, and tablescape decor!
Sonata in Wax
by Edward Hamlin
An exciting debut novel from award-winning writer and musician Edward Hamlin. The mystery of a lost masterpiece composed during the first world war unfolds in past and present. Two timelines, one hundred years apart, slowly converge as the lost sonata is revealed. The sonata is a work of genius that will transform music producer Ben Weil's life, if it doesn't destroy it first.
As the Great War rages, a French pianist sits down to play a breathtakingly original sonata--a piece so strange and inspired that it could change the course of classical music. The moment is captured on wax cylinders, the recording medium of the day. But in the tumult of war the fragile cylinders vanish, and with them the identity of the brilliant composer and the virtuoso pianist.
A century later, five timeworn wax cylinders land on the desk of Ben Weil, a revered classical music producer. From the moment he first plays them in his Chicago studio, Ben knows he's in the presence of genius. The dazzling piece is years ahead of its time, more Coltrane than Debussy--how could it be?
Brought low by a painful divorce, Ben throws himself into unlocking the sonata's mysteries. But when a renowned pianist stumbles upon the work and takes credit for unearthing it, he's swept into a lie that could shatter his reputation and his private life at a stroke. Somehow Ben must find a way to tell the truth--a dangerous quest that will lead him not only to the sonata's surprising origins, but to his own.
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Stranger from Across the Sea
by Regina McBride
As a teenager, Violet O'Halloran spent a summer at a Catholic boarding school in Northern Ireland, emptied of all other students but one: Indira Sharma, a blind girl from India with an extraordinary story. The beautiful but ultimately catastrophic friendship that formed between the two girls would go on to haunt Violet for years.
A decade later, Violet meets an Irishman, Emmett Fitzroy, at a party in New York City and is swept into an intense romance that brings her back to Ireland. While there, she unearths the stunning answers to mysteries left unresolved when Indira vanished from her life.
Set in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles, Stranger from Across the Sea explores place, displacement, and exile and the ways in which the personal and the political are inseparable. At its heart, this is a story about a passionate friendship between two singular young women, one that transcends the limits of time and distance.
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Enlightenment
by Sarah Perry
"Like A.S. Byatt's Possession, Enlightenment is a baroque, genre-bending novel of ideas, ghosts and hidden histories. A richly layered epic....a heartfelt paean to the consolations of the sublime, where religion and science meet." -- Telegraph
"Read it, then read it again. This is a book full of unexpected wonders." -- Literary Review
From the author of The Essex Serpent, a dazzling novel of love and astronomy told over the course of twenty years through the lives of two improbable best friends.
Thomas Hart and Grace Macaulay have lived all their lives in the small Essex town of Aldleigh. Though separated in age by three decades, the pair are kindred spirits--torn between their commitment to religion and their desire to explore the world beyond their small Baptist community.
It is two romantic relationships that will rend their friendship, and in the wake of this rupture, Thomas develops an obsession with a vanished nineteenth-century astronomer said to haunt a nearby manor, and Grace flees Aldleigh entirely for London. Over the course of twenty years, by coincidence and design, Thomas and Grace will find their lives brought back into orbit as the mystery of the vanished astronomer unfolds into a devastating tale of love and scientific pursuit. Thomas and Grace will ask themselves what it means to love and be loved, what is fixed and what is mutable, how much of our fate is predestined and written in the stars, and whether they can find their way back to each other.
A thrillingly ambitious novel of friendship, faith, and unrequited love, rich in symmetry and symbolism, Enlightenment is a shimmering wonder of a book and Sarah Perry's finest work to date.
Thrilling Suspense
Looking for a good adrenaline rush? A thriller book club is the perfect choice. For this summer, consider reading When We Were Silent by Fiona McPhillips. The book's suspenseful nature is sure to keep your meetings filled with tension and excitement as you discuss each twist and turn.
When We Were Silent
by Fiona McPhillips
"Tense and unsettling. . . The reality is even more shocking than we imagined."--New York Times Book Review
"Suspenseful and beautifully written" --The Guardian
An outsider threatens to expose the secrets at an elite private school in this suspenseful debut novel for readers of My Dark Vanessa and Dare Me
Louise Manson is the newest student at Highfield Manor, Dublin's most exclusive private school. It seems nearly perfect: the high arched window alcoves and tall granite pillars, the overspill of lilac at the front gate and the immaculate playing fields, the giggling students, the dusty, oak-lined library, and the dark, festering secret she has come to expose.
At first, Lou's working-class status makes her the consummate outsider, though all that changes when she is befriended by the beautiful and wealthy Shauna Power. But Lou finds out that even Shauna is caught up in Highfield's web, and her time there ends with a lifeless body sprawled at her feet.
Thirty years later, Lou has rebuilt her life after the harrowing events of the so-called "Highfield Affair," when she gets a shocking phone call. Ronan Power, Shauna's brother, is a high-profile lawyer bringing a lawsuit against the school. And he needs Lou to testify.
Now with a daughter and career to protect, the last thing Lou wants is for Highfield Manor to be back in her life. But to finally free herself and others, she has to confront her past, go to battle once more, and discover, for once and for all, what really happened at Highfield. Powerful and compelling, When We Were Silent is an unputdownable, thrilling story of exploitation, privilege, and retribution.
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One of Our Kind
by Nicola Yoon
A hotly-anticipated and endlessly provocative new thriller of race and privilege set in an all-Black gated community from #1 New York Times best-selling author Nicola Yoon - "Brilliant...Your book club will be discussing this one for DAYS."--Jodi Picoult
Jasmyn and King Williams move their family to the planned Black utopia of Liberty, California hoping to find a community of like-minded people, a place where their growing family can thrive. King settles in at once, embracing the Liberty ethos, including the luxe wellness center at the top of the hill, which proves to be the heart of the community. But Jasmyn struggles to find her place. She expected to find liberals and social justice activists striving for racial equality, but Liberty residents seem more focused on booking spa treatments and ignoring the world's troubles.
Jasmyn's only friends in the community are equally perplexed and frustrated by most residents' outlook. Then Jasmyn discovers a terrible secret about Liberty and its founders. Frustration turns to dread as their loved ones start embracing the Liberty way of life.
Will the truth destroy her world in ways she never could have imagined?
Thrilling with insightful social commentary, One of Our Kind explores the ways in which freedom is complicated by the presumptions we make about ourselves and each other.
The Main Character
by Jaclyn Goldis
"Rollicking good fun." --The Wall Street Journal
A bestselling thriller author arranges a luxury train trip that is not what it appears to be in this electrifying modern homage to Agatha Christie that is filled with "rich, complex characters, taut prose, and twists and turns that keep those pages turning as the plot thickens" (Lisa Barr, New York Times bestselling author).
Reclusive author Ginevra Ex is famous for her unusual approach to crafting her bestselling thrillers: she hires real people and conducts intensive interviews, then fictionalizes them. Her latest main character, Rory, is thrilled when Ginevra presents her with an extravagant bonus--a lavish trip along Italy's Mediterranean coast on the famed, newly renovated Orient Express. But when Rory boards the train, she's stunned to discover that her brother, her best friend, and even her ex-fiancé are passengers, as well. All invited by Ginevra, all hiding secrets.
With each stop, from Cinque Terre to Rome to Positano, it becomes increasingly clear that Ginevra has masterminded the ultimate real life twisty plot with Rory as her main character. And as Ginevra's deceptions mount, and the lies and machinations of Rory's travel companions pile up, Rory begins to fear that her trip will culminate like one of Ginevra's books: with a murder or two. In the opulent compartments of the iconic train, Rory must untangle the shocking reasons why Ginevra wanted them all aboard--and to what deadly end.
The perfect read for fans of Ruth Ware, Lucy Foley, and Paula Hawkins, The Main Character mixes "the family drama of Knives Out with the locked room atmosphere of Murder on the Orient Express and the resulting cocktail is like an Aperol spritz on a hot summer's day: perfect" (Katy Hays, New York Times bestselling author).
Literary Fiction Picks
A book club might choose a literary fiction book for its rich character development, intricate storytelling, and deeper exploration of themes and emotions. Literary fiction often offers a more profound reading experience that can lead to engaging discussions and insights into human nature and society.
The Berry Pickers
by Amanda Peters
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
2023 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize Winner
Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
A four-year-old Mi'kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a mystery that will haunt the survivors, unravel a family, and remain unsolved for nearly fifty years
"A stunning debut about love, race, brutality, and the balm of forgiveness." --People, A Best New Book
July 1962. A Mi'kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family's youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister's disappearance for years to come.
In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren't telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.
For readers of The Vanishing Half and Woman of Light, this showstopping debut by a vibrant new voice in fiction is a riveting novel about the search for truth, the shadow of trauma, and the persistence of love across time.
"A harrowing tale of Indigenous family separation . . . [Peters] excels in writing characters for whom we can't help rooting . . . With The Berry Pickers, Peters takes on the monumental task of giving witness to people who suffered through racist attempts of erasure like her Mi'kmaw ancestors." --The New York Times Book Review
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Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books
by Kirsten Miller
"Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books is shaping up to be this summer's Big Read. Kirsten Miller has that rare ability to take a serious subject and make it very, very funny. I enjoyed this novel and you will too."--James Patterson
The provocative and hilarious summer read that will have book lovers cheering and everyone talking! Kirsten Miller, author of The Change, brings us a bracing, wildly entertaining satire about a small Southern town, a pitched battle over banned books, and a little lending library that changes everything.
Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books--none of which she's actually read. To replace the "pornographic" books she's challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she's sure the town's readers need.
What Lula doesn't know is that a local troublemaker has stolen her wholesome books, removed their dust jackets, and restocked Lula's library with banned books: literary classics, gay romances, Black history, witchy spell books, Judy Blume novels, and more. One by one, neighbors who borrow books from Lula Dean's library find their lives changed in unexpected ways. Finally, one of Lula Dean's enemies discovers the library and decides to turn the tables on her, just as Lula and Beverly are running against each other to replace the town's disgraced mayor.
That's when all the townspeople who've been borrowing from Lula's library begin to reveal themselves. That's when the showdown that's been brewing between Beverly and Lula will roil the whole town...and change it forever.
Malas
by Marcela Fuentes
A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK
"A vivacious, page-turning novel of rebellion and rebirth." --Xochitl Gonzalez, New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming and Anita de Monte Laughs Last
A story full of passion and revenge, following one family living on the Texas Mexico border and a curse that reverberates across generations--"Fuentes has achieved something rare and indelible with this story of complex women." (Erika L. Sánchez)
In 1951, a mysterious old woman confronts Pilar Aguirre in the small border town of La Cienega, Texas. The old woman is sure Pilar stole her husband and, in a heated outburst, lays a curse on Pilar and her family.
More than forty years later, Lulu Muñoz is dodging chaos at every turn: her troubled father's moods, his rules, her secret life as singer in a punk band, but most of all her upcoming quinceañera. When her beloved grandmother passes away, Lulu finds herself drawn to the glamorous stranger who crashed the funeral and who lives alone and shunned on the edge of town.
Their unexpected kinship picks at the secrets of Lulu's family's past. As the quinceañera looms--and we move between these two strong, irascible female voices--one woman must make peace with the past, and one girl pushes to embrace her future.
Rich with cinematic details--from dusty rodeos to the excitement of a Selena concert and the comfort of conjunto ballads played at family gatherings--this memorable debut is a love letter to the Tejano culture and community that sustain both of these women as they discover what family means.
Book Club RomComs for Summer
Romantic comedies can be a great choice for a book club pick this summer as it offers a light-hearted and entertaining read that can provide a refreshing break from heavier genres. Romantic comedies often focus on themes of love, relationships, and personal growth in a humorous and engaging way, making them ideal for discussions and creating a fun atmosphere within the book club. Additionally, the feel-good nature of romantic comedies can uplift spirits and bring a sense of joy to the reading experience, making it a perfect choice for a summer book club pick.
Just Some Stupid Love Story
by Katelyn Doyle
Featuring bright purple sprayed edges!
For fans of Emily Henry, a debut about a rom-com screenwriter who doesn't believe in love and a divorce attorney who does, forced together at their high school reunion fifteen years after their breakup
Molly Marks writes Hollywood rom-coms for a living--which is how she knows "romance" is a racket. The one and only time she was naive enough to fall in love was with her high school boyfriend, Seth--who she ghosted on the eve of graduation and hasn't seen in fifteen years.
Seth Rubinstein believes in love, the grand, fated kind, despite his job as, well...one of Chicago's most successful divorce attorneys. Over the last decade, he's sought "the one" in countless bad dates and rushed relationships. He knows his soulmate is out there. But so far, no one can compare to Molly Marks, the first girl who broke his heart.
When Molly's friends drag her to Florida for their fifteenth high school reunion, it is poetic justice that she's forced to sit with Seth. Too many martinis and a drunken hookup later, they decide to make a bet: whoever can predict the fate of five couples before the next reunion must declare that the other is right about true love. The catch? The fifth couple is the two of them.
Molly assures Seth they are a tale of timeless heartbreak. Seth promises she'll end up hopelessly in love with him. She thinks he's delusional. He has five years to prove her wrong.
Wickedly funny, sexy, and brimming with laughs and heart like the best romantic comedies, Just Some Stupid Love Story is for everyone who believes in soulmates--even if they would never admit it.
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A Novel Love Story
by Ashley Poston
A professor of literature finds herself caught up in a work of fiction...literally, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Year Slip and The Dead Romantics.
Eileen Merriweather loves to get lost in a good happily-ever-after. The fictional kind, anyway. Because at least imaginary men don't leave you at the altar. She feels safe in a book. At home. Which might be why she's so set on going her annual book club retreat this year--she needs good friends, cheap wine, and grand romantic gestures--no matter what.
But when her car unexpectedly breaks down on the way, she finds herself stranded in a quaint town that feels like it's right out of a novel...
Because it is.
This place can't be real, and yet... she's here, in Eloraton, the town of her favorite romance series, where the candy store's honey taffy is always sweet, the local bar's burgers are always a little burnt, and rain always comes in the afternoon. It feels like home. It's perfect--and perfectly frozen, trapped in the late author's last unfinished story.
Elsy is sure that's why she must be here: to help bring the town to its storybook ending.
Except there is a character in Eloraton that she can't place--a grumpy bookstore owner with mint-green eyes, an irritatingly sexy mouth and impeccable taste in novels. And he does not want her finishing this book.
Which is a problem because Elsy is beginning to think the town's happily-ever-after might just be intertwined with her own.
The Paradise Problem
by Christina Lauren
Christina Lauren, the instant New York Times bestselling and "reigning romance queens" (PopSugar), returns with a delicious new romance between the buttoned-up heir of a grocery chain and his free-spirited artist ex as they fake their relationship in order to receive a massive inheritance.
Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam "West" Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she'd signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.
Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There's just one catch.
Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather's will, Liam won't see a penny until he's been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he's in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he's afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents--his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.
But in the presence of his family, Liam's fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.
Conclusion
Book clubs are a great way to connect with friends, discover new books, and engage in interesting discussions. This summer, consider trying out one of these book club ideas to make the most out of your reading experience. From thrilling mysteries to heartwarming fiction, there's something for everyone in these book club picks.
The diverse selection of genres and themes ensures that every book club can find a book that suits its interests. Whether you're looking to be whisked away to another time, swept up in a whirlwind romance, the options are plentiful. Embrace the joy of summer reading and let these books bring new ideas and conversations into your book club's gatherings.