This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
If your book club members love keeping abreast of the current conversation, the books below are a mix of the buzziest, most anticipated, and consistently bestselling books out now that have popped up in all manner of book clubs. Among them is a groundbreaking book by a debut author who is the first nonverbal person with autism to graduate from UCLA with an English degree.
The others include the latest by Tayari Jones that follows two girls who grow up without mothers, historical fiction by Xochitl Gonzalez that tells a tale of Brooklyn in the early aughts, the book club book of the moment that Roxane Gay said is “This is a perfect novel,” and more.
Kin by Tayari Jones
You’ve no doubt seen this in one of our monthly book club round-ups, and for good reason. Jones is one of our current literary giants, and this story of two motherless Black girls raised in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, but with very different life trajectories, is sure to become a modern-day classic.
Last Night in Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez
Putting aside my discomfort that a historical novel can be set in 2007, this is a fantastic meditation on a very particular moment in Brooklyn history. The neighborhood where the main character, Alicia, lives is Fort Greene. She finds joy and possibility in the all-night parties thrown by her neighbor La Garza. Neither Alicia nor her friends realize that the coolness of Fort Greene is going to upend the neighborhood. Before the construction of the Barclays Center, and right at the tipping point of Brooklyn becoming expensive, Alicia and her friends and family try to find their way in NYC. —Julia Rittenberg
All access members continue below for more of the most talked-about books for your book club.
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
This one right here may very well be the book club book of the year, even though it came out last year. There’s already an adaptation of it starring Jane Fonda in the works. It’s an epistolary novel that stars a 73-year-old protagonist who writes letters to understand herself and the world. But then one day she gets a letter that makes her confront a dark time in her past.
Roxane Gay said, “This is a perfect novel, so satisfying and beautifully conceived and written. Ten out of ten, no notes.” Which made me instantly add it to my TBR.
Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino
Margo Miyake wants the next step in her life now: the perfect house and to have a baby with her husband. When she hears about a house that will soon go on the market, she thinks it’s totally natural to befriend the couple with the hopes of getting them to sell to her before listing the house. The problem? The couple figures out what she’s up to and “unfriends” her. While Margo’s husband is ashamed, she is not. Instead, she sets her sights on revenge… —Jamie Canaves
Upward Bound by Woody Brown
This book is dope for many reasons. For one, it was written by a person who was diagnosed with severe autism as a toddler, and who doctors said would never be able to speak or even process language. For two, it highlights a community that is often not thought of. It’s an empathetic and often humorous look at the lives of the attendants and employees of a depressing adult daycare center for people with disabilities in LA.
As an aside, I’m glad to see a novel that centers people with autism that is written by a person with autism and doesn’t feature the same tired stereotypes.
London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe
In 2019, MI6 caught a video of a young man jumping into the River Thames and appearing to die by suicide. His parents are devastated. Their son never seemed depressed or suicidal, but as they look more into his life, they begin to realize that they barely knew their son at all. —Kendra Winchester
If you and your book club want to switch things up a bit, you can also stay in the know with our podcast, where our CEO and Head of Staff review all the latest bookish things.