Opinion please – What’s the best part of a memorable book club meeting? The wine served or the book discussion generated? Be honest. A glass, or two, of a good wine may get a discussion flowing, but for me, a successful meeting comes down to how many different comments and viewpoints surfaced.

Thanks to many members of a variety of book clubs who completed a recent survey I fielded I’ve assembled a listing of 100 titles which these readers identified as having prompted the most discussion within their group. Some are recent releases and best sellers, others are older classics. Some are based in the US, others are from around the globe. There’s a variety of genres, from historical and literary fiction, to memoirs and biographies, to non-fiction and young adult. Only two authors appear more than once:  Kristin Hannah and Kate DiCamillo.

If you’re looking for suggestions for your club, or your own personal TBR pile, each title is linked to Amazon to read fuller reviews. Feel free to bookmark this page, share this list out to your entire group, or copy and paste the listing into your own handy word document. And, check out other tips for book clubs here: Book Clubs.

CODE for notations after titles:

* Starred titles are ones I’ve read on my own or with my group. Happy to share my thoughts on any of them. Leave a comment below. 

HAPPY READING!

Most Mentioned Title:  Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens*

While I enjoyed Crawdads, I’m a bit surprised it captured the most mentioned title. Apparently it’s being made into a movie, too. Always a good idea to read a book first and then see how well the adaption turns out. My book club has enjoyed several movie nights for favorite books. I also found many similarities between Crawdads and The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (see below). Some spoilers in my notes on the parallels here: Parallel Lines.

Second Most Mentioned Title:  American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins*

Controversy always spurs conversation and American Dirt provides plenty. I sat in on a Zoom author chat with Jeanine and am glad I did. She provided a personal perspective on the controversary which never came through in the press. More info on the Zoom chat and why I give Dirt five stars, here:  Bookmarked: Reviews Q2 2020

Tied for Third, Fourth, and Fifth Place:

• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls*  
• The Huntress by Kate Quinn
• The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah*

Following titles were all mentioned twice and are listed alphabetically:

• Americanah by Chimamandi Ngozi Adichie
• Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera
• The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede*
• The Dutch House by Ann Patchett* (highly recommend the Audible version)
• Educated by Tara Westover*
• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman*
• The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah* (see other blog post noted above) 
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas*
• The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh*  – Fun tip from a book club on this one: We had everyone bring their favorite flower and we placed them around the food.
• A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman*
• Moloka’i by Alan Brennert*
• Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross*
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier* 
• Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

On overload yet? But, wait! There’s MORE!!!

Each of the next seventy-nine titles were mentioned once and are listed alphabetically. Which ones, based on the title alone, intrigues you to click and learn more? I mean, c’mon — Fruit of the Drunken Tree? Out Stealing Horses? I’m intrigued by those titles. Comment below. (I’m still struggling with a title for Eliza’s story. Titles are so important!)

• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr*
• An American Marriage by Tayari Jones*
• Aspara Engine by Bishakh Som
• Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo*
• Becoming by Michelle Obama (Audible version comes highly recommended)
• Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate*
• Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain
• Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
• The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by Desmond Tutu and Dalai Lama
• The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson*
• Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
• The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Dr. Edith Eva Eger
• Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
• Devil in the White City by Erik Larson*
• The Dinner by Herman Koch
• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
• The Farm by Tom Rob Smith
• Flight of the Sparrow by Amy Belding Brown
• Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
• The Girl from the Train by Irma Joubert
• The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes
• The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt*
• The Gown by Jennifer Robson*
• The Guernesy Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer*  
• The Handmaid and the Carpenter by Elizabeth Berg
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett*
• The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
• Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford*
• How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot*
• Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea
• The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd*
• Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann*
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini*
• Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
• Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
• Little Bee by Chris Cleave*
• Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng*
• Loving Frank by Nancy Horan*

WHEW!!! Half way through this list — 40 more great ones to go. So far, how many have you and/or your book club read? Comment below and share which ones prompted great discussions for your group.

• The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyen Joukhadar
• Martha’s Vineyard – Isle of Dreams by Susan Branch
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
• Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
• Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner*  
• My Abandonment by Peter Rock
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• Not Even My Name by Thea Halo
• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout*
• Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
• One Big Damn Puzzler by John Harding
• One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus*
• Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
• The Paris Orphan by Natasha Lester*
• The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum
• People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks*
• The Quiet Don: The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino by Matt Birkbeck
• The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
• Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles
• Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
• The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey*
• The Space Between Us by Thrifty Umrigar
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
• Still Alice by Lisa Genova
• This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee*
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith* 
• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
• The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen*
• A Well Behaved Woman by Therese Anne Fowler*
• When a Crocodile Eats the Sun by Peter Godwin
• The Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah*
• The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone
• The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell 
• Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim* 

I hope you find this list useful and your book club has many more great meetings filled with discussion, drink, and friendship. Don’t see a favorite a title on this list you recall was a great discussion for your group? I’m keeping the survey open to gather more titles and will update this list again when there’s another fifty more new ones mentioned.

Five Minute SURVEY – add your favorites to the list. 

And tell me – which one(s) are you going to suggest to your group?  Share and comment below. Happy Reading!

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