I’m struggling with this myself a bit, but I recently made my book club vote on their favorite titles we’ve discussed over the last couple of years and the stand-out winners were The Wedding People by Alison Espach, Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, and All The Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker! Guess they’re popular titles for a reason.
We're also doing Everything is Tuberculosis! I have heard so many good things about it. We read The Guncle this year and it was so well received. I hope your club members like it!
Heard a couple of my members were also The Gilded Age (HBO) fans, so we're reading Anderson Cooper's "Astor". Maybe see if there are any common shows you all like and find a book that is related/like it!
In January we're reading The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Harnett and our genre club is reading Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle.
Some other highlights are The Lincoln Moon by Michael Price Nelson, Nobody Wants Your Shit by Messie Condo, Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews, Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey, and The Daughter of Auschwitz by Tova Friedman.
The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie for January since the 50th anniversary of her death is next month. There's others, but can't remember off the top of my head.
The Ballad of Jaquotte Delahaye by Briony Cameron - historical pirate fiction
Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia Butler - short story anthology
Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum by Antonia Hylton
Scream With Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism, 1968-1980 by Eleanor Johnson
???
I try not to pick too far out because then I inevitably get in a mood where all books are bad and I've never wanted to read anything, actually 😂 Sometimes I get lucky and get a patron suggestion too.
Great list! I take patron suggestions, add some books with a lot of buzz, then let them vote. Finally my list today - it's mostly light-hearted fiction, with a few exceptions.
Here's my lists for the first half of next year! I have to get around 12+ copies for each group, so that's my main concern when selecting & not picking books that are too popular and buzzy:
Mystery Book Club: An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena, Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer, The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz (highly recommend the first book in this series too: The Word is Murder), The Long Call by Ann Cleeves, The Author's Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White, and Northwoods by Amy Pease
Afternoon Book Club (reads all genres, but mostly fiction): The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal, This Tender Land by William Kent Kruger, Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, Burn by Peter Heller (highly recommend The River by him for a discussion as well), and James by Percival Everett.
One we read this year for the afternoon group that had a fantastic discussion was The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka. It's a short book, but there's a ton to think about and it had my whole group sharing their own experiences. Also Yellowface by R.F. Kuang was an interesting one to discuss too.
I want to do Shagduk because it's a cult classic and because the protagonist is a librarian but it's not a book for everybody. But I want to offer something off the beaten path. Will probably just do it and not look back.
First book of the year is
The Secret of Life: Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, Francis Crick, and the Discovery of DNA's Double Helix by Dr. Howard Markel.
Thank you!
The Names by Florence Knapp
Thank you!
I’m struggling with this myself a bit, but I recently made my book club vote on their favorite titles we’ve discussed over the last couple of years and the stand-out winners were The Wedding People by Alison Espach, Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, and All The Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker! Guess they’re popular titles for a reason.
Oh that's so funny! I have The Wedding People and Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow on my list for my group to vote on! Thank you!
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
The Martian by Andy Weir
The Doorman by Chris Pavone
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
Thank you!
Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
Sadie by Courtney Summers
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Cultish by Amanda Montell
A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
Allow Me to Introduce Myself by Onyi Nwabineli
Crossings by Ben Goldfarb
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Why We Click by Kate Murphy
Everything is Tuberculosis is such a strong choice!
I tried to get my group to read Allow Me to Introduce Myself but it didn’t get the votes. I hope it’s so fun.
We're also doing Everything is Tuberculosis! I have heard so many good things about it. We read The Guncle this year and it was so well received. I hope your club members like it!
My book club really liked Cultish!
Thank you!
We are sticking with prize winners, past and present (Pulitzer, National Book Award, Booker, etc.)
Thank you!
You're welcome!
January The Bear and the Nightingale February Plague of Doves March Running with Sherman
Thank you!
Heard a couple of my members were also The Gilded Age (HBO) fans, so we're reading Anderson Cooper's "Astor". Maybe see if there are any common shows you all like and find a book that is related/like it!
Very cool, thank you!
The Forest Brims Over by Maru Ayase
Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine
How high we go in the dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
Let the dead bury thier dead by Randall Kenan
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Wifedom by Anna Funder
The Benevolent Society of Ill-mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman
What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
The audio book for Vera Wong is hilarious!
I love Vera Wong so much
Thank you! I've got my eye on a couple of those and I'll look into the rest!
How high we go in the dark is amazing.
Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez is our community read this year
Thank you! We read that title this year and it was a hit.
In January we're reading The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Harnett and our genre club is reading Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle.
Some other highlights are The Lincoln Moon by Michael Price Nelson, Nobody Wants Your Shit by Messie Condo, Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews, Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey, and The Daughter of Auschwitz by Tova Friedman.
Great titles, thank you!
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub
Where Coyotes Howl by Sandra Dallas
Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant by Curtis Chin
Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose
Two by Two by Nicholas Sparks
The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson
Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb
These are fantastic, thank you!
Dinner with King Tut — Sam Kean
Gods of the Upper Air — Charles King
Daughters of Shandong — Eve J Chung
The Briar Club — Kate Quinn
Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert — Bob the Drag Queen
We just read Kala by Colin Walsh this month and holy shit, it was so beautiful
Oh! And our 2026 Banned Book is Slaughterhouse-Five!
Perfect! Thank you!
Poisonwood Bible
Matrix by Groff
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Curious Incident of the Dog..
The Power by Alderman
Under the Banner of Heaven by Krakuer
Thank you!
We read both fiction and nonfiction about nature, climate, and the environment:
Thank you, fantastic list!
I don't know what age group you're going for, but I'm reading Sanity & Tallulah with my fourth graders next month.
Marsha the Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline
The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie for January since the 50th anniversary of her death is next month. There's others, but can't remember off the top of my head.
So far I've landed on:
The Ballad of Jaquotte Delahaye by Briony Cameron - historical pirate fiction
Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia Butler - short story anthology
Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum by Antonia Hylton
Scream With Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism, 1968-1980 by Eleanor Johnson
???
I try not to pick too far out because then I inevitably get in a mood where all books are bad and I've never wanted to read anything, actually 😂 Sometimes I get lucky and get a patron suggestion too.
Great list! I take patron suggestions, add some books with a lot of buzz, then let them vote. Finally my list today - it's mostly light-hearted fiction, with a few exceptions.
Here's my lists for the first half of next year! I have to get around 12+ copies for each group, so that's my main concern when selecting & not picking books that are too popular and buzzy:
Mystery Book Club: An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena, Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer, The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz (highly recommend the first book in this series too: The Word is Murder), The Long Call by Ann Cleeves, The Author's Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White, and Northwoods by Amy Pease
Afternoon Book Club (reads all genres, but mostly fiction): The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal, This Tender Land by William Kent Kruger, Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, Burn by Peter Heller (highly recommend The River by him for a discussion as well), and James by Percival Everett.
One we read this year for the afternoon group that had a fantastic discussion was The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka. It's a short book, but there's a ton to think about and it had my whole group sharing their own experiences. Also Yellowface by R.F. Kuang was an interesting one to discuss too.
Oooh I love this list!!
I run a queer book club (all selections must be queer in some way). We’re starting the year with “A Psalm for the Wild Built” by Becky Chambers.
Love it!
I want to do Shagduk because it's a cult classic and because the protagonist is a librarian but it's not a book for everybody. But I want to offer something off the beaten path. Will probably just do it and not look back.