10 Interesting Books for Book Clubs

I’ve been choosing books for book clubs for many years, and it is so much fun! Book clubs are a great way to engage with literature, meet new people, and explore different perspectives on the world. However, with so many books, it can be challenging to pick the right book that will both captivate and challenge your book club members. In this blog post, I will share some perfect books for book clubs. I hope you’ll enjoy them all!

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10 Interesting Books for Book Clubs

Books for Book Clubs

Vladimir – Julia May Jonas

Vladimir – Julia May Jonas

A perfect choice among books for book clubs. When I was a child, I loved old men, and I could tell that they also loved me.

And so we meet our deliciously incisive narrator: a popular English professor whose husband, a charismatic professor at the same small liberal arts college, is under investigation for his inappropriate relationships with his former students. The couple have long had a mutual understanding when it comes to their extramarital pursuits, but with these new allegations, life has become far less comfortable for them both.

And when our unnamed narrator becomes increasingly infatuated with Vladimir, a celebrated, married young novelist who’s just arrived on campus, their tinder-box world comes dangerously close to exploding.

Julia May Jonas takes us into charged territory, where the restrictions of morality bump up against the impulses of the human heart. Darkly funny and moving, Vladimir maps the personal and political minefield of our current moment, exposing the messy contradictions of power and desire. One of my faves among books for book clubs.

The Garden of Evening Mists – Tan Twan Eng

The Garden of Evening Mists – Tan Twan Eng

One of my faves among books for book clubs. Teoh Yun Ling was seventeen years old when she first heard about Aritomo and the garden. But a war would come to Malaya, and a decade pass before she would travel to see him. A man of extraordinary skill and reputation, Aritomo was once the gardener for the Emperor of Japan, and now Yun Ling needs him.

She needs him to help her build a memorial to her beloved sister, killed at the hands of the Japanese. She wants to learn everything Aritomo can teach her, and do her sister proud, but to do so she must also begin a journey into her own past, a past inextricably linked with the secrets of her troubled country.

A story of art, war, love and memory, The Garden of Evening Mists captures a dark moment in history with richness, power and incredible beauty. An exceptional choice among books for book clubs.

The Light and the Dark

The Light and the Dark – Mikhail Shishkin

A good choice for the more literary clubs among books for book clubs. Fate sends two star-crossed lovers, Sasha and Volodenka, on two separate journeys across space and time. Sasha finds herself as a young woman in a time not far from the present day. Volodenka finds himself as a young soldier in a horrific conflict at the turn of the twentieth century.

Yet, despite their cosmic schism, their letters still reach one another; as he helps her to come to terms with life and she helps him to come to terms with death.

Half male, half female; half exploration of the physical and the immediate, half meditation on the intangible and the infinite, The Light and the Dark is a literary feat as balanced and beautiful as it is prodigious and profound. An exceptional read among books for book clubs.

Ocean Sea - Alessandro Baricco

Ocean Sea – Alessandro Baricco

A handful of disparate lives converge at a remote seaside inn: a lovelorn professor, a renowned painter, an inscrutable seductress – and a beautiful young girl, fatally ill, brought to the sea by a desperate father’s last hope. An intricate web of destinies and associations begins to reveal itself, but it is not until the arrival of a mysterious sailor called Adams that the truth in all its dreamlike beauty and cruelty becomes clear.

Alternately playful and profoundly serious, Baricco’s novel surges with the hypnotic power of the ocean sea. One of my fave writers among books for book clubs.

A Sunday in Ville-d'Avray - Dominique Barbéris

A Sunday in Ville-d’Avray – Dominique Barbéris

An unputdownable one among books for book clubs. It’s a Sunday in early September and a woman leaves muggy Paris to visit her sister in the western suburbs of the city. Ville-d’Avray is less than an hour away, but it seems like another world with its secluded streets and set-back houses.

The sisters’ relationship is ambiguous. the woman’s visits to Ville-d’Avray tend to leave her discomfited; for all Claire Marie’s seeming provincial passivity, she knows exactly how to get under her sister’s skin.

As they settle into the torpor of the afternoon, Claire Marie describes a curious encounter from her past. Sundays are when she thinks about life – whether she expected something more from it, and whether she is still waiting for it to begin.

Sharply observed and wryly funny, A Sunday in Ville-d’Avray is a haunting novel about half-shared truths and desires that can never fully be expressed. A must-read among books for book clubs.

One Italian Summer - Rebecca Serle

One Italian Summer – Rebecca Serle

An interesting and fun choice among books for book clubs. When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mum, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, the mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: two weeks in Positano, the magical town where Carol spent the summer before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.

But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and – of course – delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.

And then Carol appears, healthy and sun-tanned… and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how – all she can focus on is that somehow, impossibly, she has her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman who came before.

But can we ever truly know our parents? Soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue—a good one among books for book clubs.

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield

A cosy read among books for book clubs. Angelfield House stands abandoned and forgotten.

It was once home to the March family: fascinating, manipulative Isabelle; brutal, dangerous Charlie; and the wild, untamed twins, Emmeline and Adeline. But the house hides a chilling secret which strikes at the very heart of each of them, tearing their lives apart…

Now Margaret Lea is investigating Angelfield’s past, and its mysterious connection to the enigmatic writer Vida Winter. Vida’s history is mesmering – a tale of ghosts, governesses, and gothic strangeness. But as Margaret succumbs to the power of her storytelling, two parallel stories begin to unfold…

What has Angelfield been hiding? What is the secret that strikes at the heart of Margaret’s own, troubled life? And can both women ever confront the ghosts that haunt them…? A beautiful story among books for book clubs.

A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles

A Gentleman in Moscow – Amor Towles

On 21 June 1922, Count Alexander Rostov – recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt – is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol.

Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely. But instead of his usual suite, he must now live in an attic room while Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval.

Can a life without luxury be the richest of all? One of my faves among books for book clubs.

Red Crosses - Sasha Filipenko

Red Crosses – Sasha Filipenko

A thought-provoking read among books for book clubs. Tatiana Alexeyevna is 90 years old and she’s losing her memory. To find her way in her Soviet-era apartment block, she resorts to painting red crosses on the doors leading back to her apartment. But she still remembers the past in vivid detail.

Alexander, a young man whose life has been brutally torn in two, would like nothing better than to forget the tragic events that have brought him to Minsk. When he moves into the flat next door to Tatiana’s, he’s cornered by the loquacious old lady. Reluctant at first, he’s soon drawn into Tatiana’s life story – one told urgently, before her memories of the Russian 20th century and its horrors are wiped out.

The two forge an unlikely friendship, a pact against forgetting giving rise to a new sense of hope in the future. Deeply moving, with flashes of humour, Red Crosses is a shining narrative in the tradition of the great Russian novel. A gem among books for book clubs.

The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale – Kristin Hannah

Soon to be a major motion picture, The Nightingale is a multi-million copy bestseller worldwide and is a must-read among books for book clubs. It is a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and women’s endurance.

This story is about what it was like to be a woman during World War II when women’s stories were all too often forgotten or overlooked . . . Vianne and Isabelle Mauriac are two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals and passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path towards survival, love and freedom in war-torn France—a popular one among books for book clubs.

Check out my other lists about books!

  1. 10 Uplifting Books
  2. Great Novels by Poets
  3. Feel-Good Cozy Mystery Series
  4. Summer Books – 20 Sexy Novels
  5. Autumn Books – 20 Cozy Novels
  6. Winter Books- 20 Atmospheric Novels
  7. Spring Books – 20 Lovely Novels
  8. 20 Captivating Gothic Books
  9. Japanese Books Under 200 Pages
  10. 20 Best Campus and Academic Novels
  11. 25 Intriguing Dark Academia Books
  12. 20 Literary Romance Novels
  13. 20 Best Food Culture and Food History Books
  14. Comforting Food Memoirs
  15. Top 5 Haiku Books
  16. 15 Best Eco-fiction Novels
  17. Perfect Christmas Books
  18. 20 Best Turkish Books
  19. Standalone Fantasy Books
  20. Fantasy Book Series
  21. Novels Based on Mythology and Legends
  22. Tarot Books to Learn From
  23. Books About Astrology
  24. Books for Book Clubs
  25. Magical Realism Books
  26. Mindfulness Books
  27. Captivating Reincarnation Books
  28. Remarkable Break-Up Novels
  29. Books for Travel Lovers
  30. Brilliant Mythology Books
  1. Books Set in Museums
  2. Books Set in Hotels
  3. Books Set on Islands
  4. Books Set in Forests
  5. Novels Set in Ancient Egypt
  6. Novels Set in Bookshops
  7. Novels Set in Libraries
  8. Books Set in the English Countryside
  9. Books Set in Edinburgh
  10. Books Set in Oxford
  11. Books Set in Istanbul
  12. Books Set in Rome
  13. Books Set in Portugal
  14. Books Set in Egypt
  15. Books Set in Greece
  16. Books Set in Mexico
  17. Books Set in South Africa
  18. Books Set in New York
  1. Novels Under 100 Pages
  2. Novels Under 150 Pages
  3. Novels Under 200 Pages
  4. Novels About Older Woman, Younger Man Relationships
  5. Novels About Fortune Telling
  6. Novels About Translators and Interpreters
  7. Novels About Books
  8. Best Books About Books
  9. Novels About Vincent Van Gogh
  10. Novels About Leonardo da Vinci
  11. Novels About Marriage
  12. Novels About Food
  13. Novels About Writers
  14. Novels About Music
  15. Books About Witches
  16. Books About Divorce
  17. Novels About Ernest Hemingway
  18. Best Books About Birds
  19. Best Books About Walking
  20. Best Books About Tea
  21. Books on Social Issues and Identity
  22. Novels About Scents & Perfume
  23. Exciting Thriller Novels of All Time
  24. Books on Art and Creativity
  25. Mind-Expanding Philosophy Books
  26. Historical Fiction Novels
  27. Beautiful Poetry Collections

Are there any books for book clubs you’d like to add to this list? Would you please share in the comments section below?

2 Comments

So while I’m sure these are wonderful books, where are my African American books in the ones featured?

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