20 Best Books For Discussion (2023 Update)

Usa today bestseller#1 globe and mail historical fiction bestsellerreese witherspoon book club summer reading pick! one of amazon's best books of june! one of goodreads' best books of june! a summer book pick from good housekeeping, parade, library journal, goodreads, liz and lisa, and bookbubin an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author kate quinn, two women–a female spy recruited to the real-life alice network in france during world war i and an unconventional american socialite searching for her cousin in 1947–are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption. 1947. in the chaotic aftermath of world war ii, american college girl charlie st. clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. she's also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin rose, who disappeared in nazi-occupied france during the war, might still be alive. so when charlie's parents banish her to europe to have her "little problem" taken care of, charlie breaks free and heads to london, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.1915. a year into the great war, eve gardiner burns to join the fight against the germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she's recruited to work as a spy. sent into enemy-occupied france, she's trained by the mesmerizing lili, the "queen of spies," who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy's nose. thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the alice network, eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling london house. until a young american barges in uttering a name eve hasn't heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth…no matter where it leads." both funny and heartbreaking, this epic journey of two courageous women is an unforgettable tale of little-known wartime glory and sacrifice. quinn knocks it out of the park with this spectacular book!"–stephanie dray, new york times bestselling author of america's first daughter

#1 new york times bestseller – oprah’s book club pick – “an instant american classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the american century thus far.”—dwight garner, the new york times – the pulitzer prize–winning, bestselling author of the warmth of other suns examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped america and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions. – named the #1 nonfiction book of the year by time, one of the ten best books of the year by people – the washington post – publishers weekly and one of the best books of the year by the new york times book review – o: the oprah magazine – npr – bloomberg – christian science monitor – new york post – the new york public library – fortune – smithsonian magazine – marie claire – town & country – slate – library journal – kirkus reviews – library the hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. it is about power—which groups have it and which do not.” in this brilliant book, isabel wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in america as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how america today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. linking the caste systems of america, india, and nazi germany, wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. using riveting stories about people—including martin luther king, jr., baseball’s satchel paige, a single father and his toddler son, wilkerson herself, and many others—she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. she documents how the nazis studied the racial systems in america to plan their outcasting of the jews; she discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against; she writes about the surprising health costs of caste, in depression and life expectancy, and the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics. finally, she points forward to ways america can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity. – beautifully written, original, and revealing, caste: the origins of our discontents is an eye-opening story of people and history, and a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of american life today.

Long-listed for the 2023 andrew carnegie medal for excellence in fictiona new york times book review editors’ choicea magnificent, beguiling tale winding from the postwar rural provinces to paris, from an english boarding school to the quiet pennsylvania home where a woman can live without her past, the book of goose is a story of disturbing intimacy and obsession, of exploitation and strength of will, by the celebrated author yiyun li.fabienne is dead. her childhood best friend, agnès, receives the news in america, far from the french countryside where the two girls were raised—the place that fabienne helped agnès escape ten years ago. now agnès is free to tell her story. as children in a war-ravaged backwater town, they’d built a private world, invisible to everyone but themselves—until fabienne hatched the plan that would change everything, launching agnès on an epic trajectory through fame, fortune, and terrible loss.

Over 90 percent of couples experience some level of tension around money. so many books try to fix the surface problems, such as how to budget and what to prioritize when it comes to finances, but the issues go much deeper than just a simple spreadsheet.how do men and women view money differently? what do most couples fight about? how can they get on the same page? thriving in love and money is based on original research that gets to the heart of these issues. this discussion kit that accompanies the book includes a 6-session dvd led by shaunti and jeff, as well as a discussion guide filled with questions and prompts that will help you think through your own underlying attitudes about money. but it doesn't stop at just understanding your partner; this curriculum will give you practical steps toward coming together as a couple around money.

#1 new york times bestseller – a shocking discovery on a honeymoon in paradise changes the lives of a picture-perfect couple in this taut psychological thriller debut–for readers of ruth ware, paula hawkins, and shari lapena. "a psychological thriller that captivated me from page one. what unfolds makes for a wild, page-turning ride it's the perfect beach read "–reese witherspoon (reese's book club x hello sunshine book pick) named one of the best books of the year by glamour and newsweek – finalist for the itw thriller award if you could make one simple choice that would change your life forever, would you? erin is a documentary filmmaker on the brink of a professional breakthrough, mark a handsome investment banker with big plans. passionately in love, they embark on a dream honeymoon to the tropical island of bora bora, where they enjoy the sun, the sand, and each other. then, while scuba diving in the crystal blue sea, they find something in the water. . . . could the life of your dreams be the stuff of nightmares? suddenly the newlyweds must make a dangerous choice: to speak out or to protect their secret. after all, if no one else knows, who would be hurt? their decision will trigger a devastating chain of events. . . . have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave? wonder no longer. catherine steadman's enthralling voice shines throughout this spellbinding debut novel. praise for something in the water "superbly written, clever and gripping."–b. paris, new york times bestselling author of behind closed doors "deliciously dramatic."–entertainment weekly "thrilling . . . the perfect beach read."–popsugar "a dark glittering gem of a thriller."–kirkus reviews (starred review) "arresting . . . deftly paced, elegantly chilly . . . catherine] steadman brings . . . wit, timing and intelligence to this novel. . . . something in the water is a proper page-turner."–the new york times

Instant new york times bestseller from #1 new york times bestselling author karen kingsbury comes a brand-new baxter family novel about a beloved high school principal who starts a bible study to improve the lives of his struggling students, only to become the national focus of a controversial lawsuit.hamilton high principal wendell quinn is tired of the violence, drug abuse, teen pregnancies, and low expectations at his indianapolis school. a single father of four, quinn is a christian and a family man. he wants to see change in his community, so he starts a voluntary after-school bible study and prayer program. he knows he is risking his job by leading the program, but the high turnout at every meeting encourages him. a year later, violence and gang activity are down, test scores are up, and drug use and teen pregnancy have plummeted. the program is clearly working—until one parent calls the press. now quinn faces a lawsuit that could ruin everything. with a storm of national attention and criticism, quinn is at a crossroads—he must choose whether to cave in and shut down the program or stand up for himself and his students. the battle comes with a high cost, and quinn wants just one attorney on his side for this fight: luke baxter. in this moment is an inspiring, relevant story about the nuances of religious freedom and how a group of determined people just might restore the meaning of faith in today’s culture.

From #1 new york times bestselling author karen kingsbury comes a heartwarming story about childhood friends, broken lives, and a long ago promise that just might offer the hope of love for today.from #1 new york times bestselling author karen kingsbury comes a heartwarming story about childhood friends, broken lives, and a long-ago promise that just might offer the hope of love for today. the day before a teenage ellie moved from georgia to california, she and her best friend nolan sat beneath the spanish moss of an ancient oak tree where they wrote letters to each other and buried them in a rusty old metal box. the plan was to return eleven years later, dig the box up, and read the letters. but now, as that date approaches, much has changed. ellie has abandoned the faith she grew up with, her days consumed with loving her little girl and trying to make ends meet. sometimes she watches tv to catch a glimpse of her old friend nolan, now an nba star, whose faith is known by the entire nation. but few know that nolan’s own personal tragedies have fueled both his faith and athletic drive. despite his success, nolan is isolated and lonely, plagued by a void in his heart that has remained since that night beneath the old oak tree with ellie. for both ellie and nolan, the coming date is more than just a childhood promise. it’s the chance to make sense of it all—the chance to find out if it’s ever too late to find love again. karen kingsbury weaves a moving tale of heart-wrenching loss, the power of faith, and the wounds that only a forever kind of love can heal. she delves deeply into a theme that resonates within us all: hope lives for those willing to take a chance.

Harper lee's classic novel of a lawyer in the deep south defending a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. one of the best-loved stories of all time, to kill a mockingbird has earned many distinctions since its original publication in 1960. it won the pulitzer prize, has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than thirty million copies worldwide, and been made into an enormously popular movie. most recently, librarians across the country gave the book the highest of honors by voting it the best novel of the twentieth century.

New york times best seller – winner of the goodreads choice award – the award-winning, best-selling author of station eleven and the glass hotel returns with a novel of art, time travel, love, and plague that takes the reader from vancouver island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon five hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and space. – one of the best books of the year: the new york times, npr, good – reads “one of [mandel’s] finest novels and one of her most satisfying forays into the arena of speculative fiction yet.” —the new york times – edwin st. andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. he enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal—an experience that shocks him to his core. two centuries later a famous writer named olive llewellyn is on a book tour. she’s traveling all over earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers, and artificial beauty. within the text of olive’s best-selling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him. when gaspery-jacques roberts, a detective in the black-skied night city, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the north american wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: the exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages earth, and a childhood friend from the night city who, like gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe. – a virtuoso performance that is as human and tender as it is intellectually playful, sea of tranquility is a novel of time travel and metaphysics that precisely captures the reality of our current moment.

#1 new york times bestseller – now a major motion picture directed by steven spielberg. “enchanting . . . willy wonka meets the matrix.”—usa today – “as one adventure leads expertly to the next, time simply evaporates.”—entertainment weekly a world at stake. a quest for the ultimate prize. are you ready? in the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. the only time wade watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the oasis, a vast virtual world where most of humanity spends their days. when the eccentric creator of the oasis dies, he leaves behind a series of fiendish puzzles, based on his obsession with the pop culture of decades past. whoever is first to solve them will inherit his vast fortune—and control of the oasis itself. then wade cracks the first clue. suddenly he’s beset by rivals who’ll kill to take this prize. the race is on—and the only way to survive is to win. named one of the best books of the year by entertainment weekly – san francisco chronicle – village voice – chicago sun-times – io9 – the av club “delightful . . . the grown-up’s harry potter.”—huffpost “an addictive read . . . part intergalactic scavenger hunt, part romance, and all heart.”—cnn “a most excellent ride . . . cline stuffs his novel with a cornucopia of pop culture, as if to wink to the reader.”—boston globe “ridiculously fun and large-hearted . . . cline is that rare writer who can translate his own dorky enthusiasms into prose that’s both hilarious and compassionate.”—npr “[a] fantastic page-turner . . . starts out like a simple bit of fun and winds up feeling like a rich and plausible picture of future friendships in a world not too distant from our own.”—io9

A new york times 100 notable books of 2019 selection from #1 new york times bestselling author stephen king, the most riveting and unforgettable story of kids confronting evil since it.in the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban minneapolis, intruders silently murder luke ellis’s parents and load him into a black suv. the operation takes less than two minutes. luke will wake up at the institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there’s no window. and outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents—telekinesis and telepathy—who got to this place the same way luke did: kalisha, nick, george, iris, and ten-year-old avery dixon. they are all in front half. others, luke learns, graduated to back half, “like the roach motel,” kalisha says. in this most sinister of institutions, the director, mrs. sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. there are no scruples here. if you go along, you get tokens for the vending machines. if you don’t, punishment is brutal. as each new victim disappears to back half, luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. but no one has ever escaped from the institute. as psychically terrifying as firestarter, and with the spectacular kid power of it, the institute is stephen king’s gut-wrenchingly dramatic story of good vs. evil in a world where the good guys don’t always win.

#1 new york times bestsellera reese witherspoon book club pick“beautifully written and incredibly funny, eleanor oliphant is completely fine is about the importance of friendship and human connection. meet eleanor oliphant: she struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with mummy. but everything changes when eleanor meets raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic it guy from her office. when she and raymond together save sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kinds of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. and it is raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one.soon to be a major motion picture produced by reese witherspoon, eleanor oliphant is completely fine is the smart, warm, and uplifting story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes. . . the only way to survive is to open your heart.

Now a major motion picture from director luca guadagnino, starring armie hammer and timothée chalamet, and written by three-time oscar – tm nominee james ivory – the basis of the oscar-winning best adapted screenplay – a new york times bestseller – a usa today bestseller a los angeles times bestseller – a vulture book club pick an instant classic and one of the great love stories of our time – andre aciman's call me by your name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents’ cliffside mansion on the italian riviera. each is unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, when, during the restless summer weeks, unrelenting currents of obsession, fascination, and desire intensify their passion and test the charged ground between them. recklessly, the two verge toward the one thing both fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. it is an instant classic and one of the great love stories of our time. – winner of the lambda literary award for fiction – a new york times notable book of the year – a publishers weekly and the washington post best book of the year – a new york magazine "future canon" selection – a chicago tribune and seattle times (michael upchurch's) favorite favorite book of the year

"…a hauntingly atmospheric love letter to the first mobile library in kentucky and the fierce, brave packhorse librarians who wove their way from shack to shack dispensing literacy, hope, and — just as importantly — a compassionate human connection."–sara gruen, author of water for elephantsthe hardscrabble folks of troublesome creek have to scrap for everything–everything except books, that is. thanks to roosevelt's kentucky pack horse library project, troublesome's got its very own traveling librarian, cussy mary carter.cussy's not only a book woman, however, she's also the last of her kind, her skin a shade of blue unlike most anyone else. not everyone is keen on cussy's family or the library project, and a blue is often blamed for any whiff of trouble. if cussy wants to bring the joy of books to the hill folks, she's going to have to confront prejudice as old as the appalachias and suspicion as deep as the holler.inspired by the true blue-skinned people of kentucky and the brave and dedicated kentucky pack horse library service of the 1930s, the book woman of troublesome creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one woman's belief that books can carry us anywhere–even back home. additional praise for the book woman of troublesome creek: "a unique story about appalachia and the healing power of the written word."–kirkus "a timeless and significant tale about poverty, intolerance and how books can bring hope and light to even the darkest pocket of history."–karen abbott, new york times bestselling author of liar temptress soldier spy"emotionally resonant and unforgettable, the book woman of troublesome creek is a lush love letter to the redemptive power of books."–joshilyn jackson, new york times and usa today bestselling author of the almost sisters

#1 new york times bestseller, named by the times as one of "6 books to help understand trump's win" and soon to be a major-motion picture directed by ron howard "you will not read a more important book about america this year."—the economist "a riveting book."—the wall street journal"essential reading."—david brooks, new york timeshillbilly elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class americans. the disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for more than forty years, has been reported with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.the vance family story begins hopefully in postwar america. d.’s grandparents were “dirt poor and in love,” and moved north from kentucky’s appalachia region to ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. they raised a middle-class family, and eventually one of their grandchildren would graduate from yale law school, a conventional marker of success in achieving generational upward mobility. with piercing honesty, vance shows how he himself still carries around the demons of his chaotic family history.a deeply moving memoir, with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures, hillbilly elegy is the story of how upward mobility really feels. and it is an urgent and troubling meditation on the loss of the american dream for a large segment of this country.

Winner of the pulitzer prize from the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning anthony doerr, the beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant new york times bestseller about a blind french girl and a german boy whose paths collide in occupied france as both try to survive the devastation of world war ii. marie-laure lives with her father in paris near the museum of natural history, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. when she is six, marie-laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. when she is twelve, the nazis occupy paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of saint-malo, where marie-laure's reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. with them they carry what might be the museum's most valuable and dangerous jewel. in a mining town in germany, the orphan werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for hitler youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. more and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into saint-malo, where his story and marie-laure's converge. doerr's "stunning sense of physical detail and gorgeous metaphors" (san francisco chronicle) are dazzling. deftly interweaving the lives of marie-laure and werner, he illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

Winner of the orange prize * oprah's book club pick * national book award finalist glory boughton has returned to gilead to care for her dying father. soon her brother, jack–the prodigal son of the family, gone for twenty years–comes home too, looking for refuge and trying to make peace with a past littered with torment and pain. a troubled boy from childhood, an alcoholic who cannot hold a job, jack is one of the great characters in recent literature. he is perpetually at odds with his surroundings and with his traditionalist father, though he remains reverend boughton's most beloved child. brilliant, beguiling, lovable and wayward, jack forges an intense new bond with glory and engages painfully with john ames, his godfather and namesake. home is a moving and healing book about families, family secrets and the passing of the generations, about love and death and faith. it is arguably marilynne robinson's greatest work, an unforgettable embodiment of the deepest and most universal emotions.

A new york times bestseller. in the tradition of speak, this extraordinary debut novel “is a poignant book that realistically looks at the lasting effects of trauma on love, relationships, and life” (school library journal, starred review). eden was always good at being good. starting high school didn’t change who she was. but the night her brother’s best friend rapes her, eden’s world capsizes. what was once simple, is now complex. what eden once loved—who she once loved—she now hates. what she thought she knew to be true, is now lies. nothing makes sense anymore, and she knows she’s supposed to tell someone what happened but she can’t. so she buries it instead. and she buries the way she used to be. told in four parts—freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year—this provocative debut reveals the deep cuts of trauma. but it also demonstrates one young woman’s strength as she navigates the disappointment and unbearable pains of adolescence, of first love and first heartbreak, of friendships broken and rebuilt, all while learning to embrace the power of survival she never knew she had hidden within her heart.

The richard and judy book club pickthe sunday times bestsellera bbc radio 4 book of the weekchosen as a 2018 summer read by the sunday times, financial times, daily telegraph, the times and the mail on sunday'revelatory' guardian'a miracle' telegraph'a landmark book' financial timesbrave, illuminating and inspiring, somebody i used to know gets to the very heart of what it means to be human.what do you lose when you lose your memories? what do you value when this loss reframes how you've lived, and how you will live in the future? how do you conceive of love when you can no longer recognise those who are supposed to mean the most to you? when she was diagnosed with dementia at the age of fifty-eight, wendy mitchell was confronted with the most profound questions about life and identity. all at once, she had to say goodbye to the woman she used to be. her demanding career in the nhs, her ability to drive, cook and run – the various shades of her independence – were suddenly gone.philosophical, profoundly moving, insightful and ultimately full of hope, somebody i used to know is both a heart-rending tribute to the woman wendy once was, and a brave affirmation of the woman dementia has seen her become.

From rupi kaur, the #1 new york times bestselling author of milk and honey comes her long-awaited second collection of poetry. a vibrant and transcendent journey about growth and healing. ancestry and honoring ones roots. expatriation and rising up to find a home within yourself. divided into five chapters and illustrated by kaur, the sun and her flowers is a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. a celebration of love in all its forms. about the author: rupi kaur is a #1 new york times bestselling author and illustrator of two collections of poetry. she started drawing at the age of five when her mother handed her a paintbrush and saiddraw your heart out. rupi views her life as an exploration of that artistic journey. after completing her degree in rhetoric and professional writing, she published her first collection of poems, milk and honey, in 2015, which quickly became an international bestseller. it graced the new york times bestseller list for over a year, selling over 1.5 million copies. milk and honey has been translated into over 23 languages. her long-awaited untitled second collection continues her exploration with themes of love, loss, trauma, healing, and femininity. along with writing and illustrating, rupi has performed her poetry across the world. her photography and art direction are warmly embraced and her poetry and prose are breaking international boundaries.