Books for Book Groups

Books that will get the group talking about reading.

The Romance Reader by Pearl Abraham

Brick Lane by Monica Ali

Book of Illusions by Paul Auster

A Long Way Gone by Ismael Beah (nonfiction—men’s read)

Talk Before Sleep by Elizabeth Berg

The Effects of Light by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian

The Cloud Atlas by Liam Callanan

Hottentot Venus by Barbara Chase-Riboud

Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

Blue Italian by Rita Ciresi

Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros

What Girls Learn by Karen Cook

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

A Song for the Asking by Steve Gannon

The Bee Season by Myra Goldberg

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

A Painted House by John Grisham

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-time by Mark Haddon

The Sirens of Baghdad by Yasmina Khadra

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (nonfiction)

Elvis is Titanic by Ian Klaus

Crashing Through by Robert Kurson (nonfiction—men’s read)

The Girls by Lori Lansens

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

Charity Girl by Michael Lowenthal

Truth and Consequences by Alison Lurie

Cancer Vixen by Marissa A. Marchetta (nonfiction graphic novel)

Charming Billy by Alice McDermott

The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty

Cage of Stars by Jacquelyn Mitchard

The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon

The Rest of Her Life by Laura Moriarty

Hidden Kitchens: Stories, Recipes, and More From NPR's The Kitchen Sisters by Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

A Blessed Event by Jean Reynolds Page

Getting Mother's Body by Suzan-Lori Parks

Bel-Canto by Ann Patchett

The Friendship Crisis by Marla Paul (nonfiction)

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

American Shaolin by Matthew Polly (nonfiction—men’s read)

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah (good introduction to urban literature)

Factory of Cunning by Phillippa Stockley

The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Everything Changes by Jonathan Tropper

Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama

Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman (nonfiction—men’s read)

Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell

Compiled by Kaite Mediatore Stover, Head of Readers’ Services, Kansas City Public Library.