Fiction book club books should span genres to include the interests of your whole club. Some fiction can change your life. However, with so many diverse tastes and millions of options, it can be difficult to choose the next book your book club should read.
Therefore, we compiled these 5 recommendations to get your book club started on something new. By narrowing the field but keeping the options diverse, we hope to give every book club the chance to explore new worlds and enjoy new discussions.
Sea Wife by Amity Gaige
Sea Wife is for book clubs that want to compel their members to keep turning pages on your seat’s edge. In Gaige’s story, what seems like an adventure turns into a disaster when a couple takes their 2 kids to a new life on the South American coast.
What makes the book so intriguing, however, is not actually the natural elements but the emotional ones. The couple in the book had marital problems before it began. The disaster kindles their dynamic into a blistering commentary on how parents and spouses treat each other in the modern-day.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The Vanishing Half is a study in racial inequity. It takes fiction to a level of timeliness sure to intrigue politically-minded book clubs. In this book, two twins live separate lives, one as a black woman in Louisiana and the other passing themselves as white in California.
The book is inciteful, problematic, commentating, and interesting. This is therefore a great choice for book clubs that love debate.
A Separation Katie Kitamura
For a spicy tale of relationship intrigue crossed with a whodunnit, A Separation should fit the bill. This dark tale of a troubled marriage focuses on thoughts and moving images rather than just a plot full of events and action. The narrator adds a somber wit to the proceedings as a woman looking for her estranged husband in Greece.
As she looks for him, she learns more about him (and their marriage) than she bargained for. This is an edge-of-your-seat entry to any book club.
Based on a True Story by Delphine de Vigan
Based on a True Story made the rounds as a bestseller in France before hitting the states. This fictional memoir details a female writer’s destructive relationships with potent wit. While fictional, readers may be interested to discuss evident similarities between the character’s plight and the author herself.
This book is sure to keep you emotionally tense throughout, never shying away from the dark truths of toxic female friendships.
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
For book clubs that like real intrigue, Brain on Fire is a fascinating true story. It chronicles a reporter’s journey into a state of mental madness and the lengths she had to go to find herself again afterward. While still a medical mystery, Cahalan’s struggle remains a testament to willpower in the face of the unknown darkness lurking just inside our minds.
The Takeaway for Book Clubs
Fiction book club books should be diverse and interesting. Some prefer to read true stories while others want fictional intrigue. Either way, the above list offers varied choices so that any book club can find what they’re looking for.