Ready to start planning your book club selections for 2026? We’re here to help. These books have all been published in hardcover or paperback within the last year (or will be soon), and we’ve paired almost all of them with handy discussion guides—either from the publisher or written by our reviewers—for your convenience. Most have been featured on BookBrowse in reviews or as the subject of online discussions, and we’ve included our own comments below, along with links to the discussions, which we hope will inspire you in your own. Whether you’re looking for a contemporary narrative or a historical one, a reflective bit of character fiction or a family saga, we have you covered. Happy reading in the year ahead!
Please note that discussions may contain spoilers.
The Best Contemporary Fiction for Book Clubs in 2026
Atmosphere: A Love Story
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Hardcover Jun 2025. 352 pages
Published by Ballantine Books
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six comes an epic new novel set against the backdrop of the 1980s Space Shuttle program about the extraordinary lengths we go to live and love beyond our limits.
Why we recommend it: A fictional dive into a particular moment in time, an adventure, a love story, and more, Atmosphere checks all the boxes for a fulfilling book group selection.
The Correspondent: A Novel
by Virginia Evans
Apr 2025. 304 pages
Published by Crown
Discover the word-of-mouth hit hailed by Ann Patchett as “a cause for celebration”—an intimate novel about the transformative power of the written word and the beauty of slowing down to reconnect with the people we love.
Why we recommend it: A book lover’s book featuring letters from the main character to the likes of Joan Didion and Ann Patchett, The Correspondent is sure to capture the hearts of book groups with its quiet charm.
Flashlight: A Novel
by Susan Choi
Hardcover Jun 2025. 464 pages
Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux
A novel tracing a father’s disappearance across time, nations, and memory, from the author of Trust Exercise.
Why we recommend it: BookBrowse reviewer Elisabeth Cook writes, “Flashlight will appeal to book clubs for discussion and to readers who like big, sprawling works of literary and historical fiction that weave global events with personal minutiae…It offers a world to get lost in and a deep historical consciousness.”
Long Island Compromise: A Novel
by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Paperback May 2025. 464 pages
Published by Random House Trade Paperbacks
An exhilarating novel about one American family, the dark moment that shatters their suburban paradise, and the wild legacy of trauma and inheritance, from the New York Times bestselling author of Fleishman Is in Trouble.
Why we recommend it: Book clubs will find much to discuss in what reviewer Letitia Asare describes as “a funny, immersive, well-written character exploration covering decades that shows how unexamined trauma can create damage within a family that wealth can’t save them from.”
My Friends: A Novel
by Fredrik Backman
Hardcover May 2025. 448 pages
Published by Atria Books
#1 New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger’s life twenty-five years later.
Why we recommend it: Backman’s novel is just the kind of transportative, reflective story that many book groups make a point of seeking out. “In reading My Friends, readers may relive their own summers, when all they did was hang out with their friends and get into innocent trouble” (Kim Kovacs).
The Names: A Novel
by Florence Knapp
Hardcover May 2025. 336 pages
Published by Pamela Dorman Books
The extraordinary novel that asks: Can a name change the course of a life?
Why we recommend it: Reviewer Kim Kovacs notes, “I was awed by the author’s technical prowess in creating such a unique, captivating novel, and surprised at how much I thoroughly enjoyed the plot and the characters…I think that it would spark some great book group discussions.”
People Like Us: A Novel
by Jason Mott
Hardcover Aug 2025. 288 pages
Published by Dutton
The riveting new novel by the author of the 2021 National Book Award winner and bestseller Hell of a Book.
Why we recommend it: In its reflections on American racism and gun violence, People Like Us illuminates our current political moment with prose that is honest, generous, and wholehearted, paving the way for significant and genuine discussion.
Tell Me Everything: A Novel
by Elizabeth Strout
Paperback Aug 2025. 352 pages
Published by Random House Trade Paperbacks
From Pulitzer Prize–winning author Elizabeth Strout comes a hopeful, healing novel about new friendships, old loves, and the very human desire to leave a mark on the world.
Why we recommend it: Elizabeth Strout’s latest installment in her Amgash series hardly needs a recommendation for book clubs, but it’s worth pointing out that Tell Me Everything can both be read as a standalone and appreciated for how it weaves together threads from her previous work.
The River Is Waiting: A Novel
by Wally Lamb
May 2025. 432 pages
Published by Simon & Schuster
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of two Oprah Book Club Picks—She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True—Wally Lamb comes the propulsive story of a young father who, after an unbearable tragedy, reckons with the possibility of atonement for the unforgivable.
Why we recommend it: This latest work from Oprah Book Club favorite Wally Lamb explores age-old questions of guilt and forgiveness in a story of human frailty and tragedy.
Salt Bones: A Novel
by Jennifer Givhan
Jul 2025. 384 pages
Published by Mulholland
Three women in one twisted family race for answers in this “stunning” mystery set in the Mexicali borderlands that “breathes new life into the myth of Persephone and Demeter” (Ana Reyes, author of The House in the Pines) and “beautifully explores the dark complexities of mother-daughter relationships” (Erin E. Adams, author of Jackal).
Why we recommend it: Book clubs who enjoy stories of complicated family relationships with a strong sense of place will find a lot to love here.
The Seven O’Clock Club
by Amelia Ireland
Apr 2025. 368 pages
Published by Berkley Books
Four strangers are brought together to participate in an experimental treatment designed to heal broken hearts in this surprising and heartfelt debut novel from author Amelia Ireland.
Why we recommend it: Our First Impressions readers have heaped praise on this book for its unexpected turns, and recommend it for book clubs.
We Solve Murders: A Novel
by Richard Osman
Paperback May 2025. 400 pages
Published by Penguin Books
Solving murders. It’s a family business.
Why we recommend it: Book clubbers looking for a memorable, complex book to discuss that’s also “the perfect escape” (Kim Kovacs) will find just that in We Solve Murders.
The Best Historical Novels for Book Clubs in 2026
Amity: A Novel
by Nathan Harris
Hardcover Sep 2025. 320 pages
Published by Little Brown & Company
A gripping story about a brother and sister, emancipated from slavery but still searching for true freedom, and their odyssey across the deserts of Mexico to finally reunite, all while escaping a former master still intent on their bondage.
Why we recommend it: “The novel is superb historical fiction,” and “its themes surrounding agency and responsibility ensure it’s a great choice for book group discussions” (Kim Kovacs).
Becoming Madam Secretary
by Stephanie Dray
Paperback Mar 2025. 544 pages
Published by Berkley Books
New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray returns with a captivating and dramatic new novel about an American heroine, Frances Perkins.
Why we recommend it: Our First Impressions reviewers and book club members were wowed by Dray’s portrayal of this extraordinary real-life figure.
Broken Country (Reese’s Book Club)
by Clare Leslie Hall
Mar 2025. 320 pages
Published by Simon & Schuster
A love triangle unearths dangerous, deadly secrets from the past in this thrilling tale perfect for fans of The Paper Palace and Where the Crawdads Sing.
Why we recommend it: Our book club members found this to be a compelling read with its mystery, love story, and interesting themes and concepts to discuss.
The Covenant of Water
by Abraham Verghese
Paperback May 2025. 768 pages
Published by Hachette Books
Winner: BookBrowse Fiction Award 2023
From the New York Times–bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala, South India, and following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret.
Why we recommend it: This “massive story with numerous enigmatic and vividly drawn characters” (Peggy Kurkowski) and BookBrowse Award Winner is now out in paperback and will probably remain a book club staple for many years to come.
Crooks
by Lou Berney
Sep 2025. 384 pages
Published by William Morrow
From award-winning author Lou Berney comes an electrifying new novel that follows a uniquely American crime family on an unforgettable journey across four decades.
Why we recommend it: Following the decades-long journey of an American crime family, Crooks offers intricate character work and a lot of thematic material for book clubs to dig into.
Daughters of Shandong
by Eve J. Chung
Paperback May 2025. 400 pages
Published by Berkley Books
A propulsive, extraordinary novel about a mother and her daughters’ harrowing escape to Taiwan as the Communist revolution sweeps through China, by debut author Eve J. Chung, based on her family story.
Why we recommend it: This work of riveting historical fiction comes highly recommended from our First Impressions readers and book club participants.
Enlightenment: A Novel
by Sarah Perry
Paperback Jun 2025. 384 pages
Published by Mariner Books
A dazzling new work of literary fiction from the author of The Essex Serpent, a story of love and astronomy told over the course of twenty years through the lives of two improbable best friends.
Why we recommend it: Now out in paperback, this introspective and philosophical work of 19th-century-inspired fiction is worth a look for book clubs interested in immersive writing powered by big ideas.
Happy Land
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Hardcover Apr 2025. 368 pages
Published by Berkley Books
A woman learns the incredible story of a real-life American Kingdom—and her family’s ties to it—in this enthralling novel from the New York Times bestselling, NAACP Image Award-winning author of Take My Hand.
Why we recommend it: An incredible fictional homage to an example of “hidden history,” this story of a kingdom in the Carolinas built by freed Black people in the Reconstruction era is an obvious book club pick.
Harlem Rhapsody
by Victoria Christopher Murray
Feb 2025. 400 pages
Published by Berkley Books
The extraordinary story of Jessie Redmon Fauset whose exhilarating world of friends, rivals, and passions all combined to create the magic that was the Harlem Renaissance, written by Victoria Christopher Murray, New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Personal Librarian.
Why we recommend it: Our First Impressions reviewers loved learning about the Harlem Renaissance-era writer and editor Jessie Redmon Fauset in this intriguingly drawn historical novel from Victoria Christopher Murray.
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store: A Novel
by James McBride
Paperback Jul 2025. 432 pages
Published by Riverhead Books
From James McBride, author of the bestselling Oprah’s Book Club pick Deacon King Kong and the National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird, a novel about small-town secrets and the people who keep them.
Why we recommend it: McBride tells a heartwarming story of a diverse marginalized community in the 1930s that “culminates in a near perfect ending” (Abby Edgecumbe).
I Am You
by Victoria Redel
Hardcover Sep 2025. 304 pages
Published by SJP Lit
A “captivating” lesbian romance set in the “wonderfully atmospheric” art world of 1600s Amsterdam (Sarah Jessica Parker, SJP Lit).
Why we recommend it: Based on the life of a real-world historical painter, Redel’s imaginative work explores art, gender, relationships, and identity in depth.
In Our Midst
by Nancy Jensen
Paperback Jan 2025. 360 pages
Published by Dzanc Books
Drawing upon a long-suppressed episode in American history, when thousands of German immigrants were rounded up and interned following the attack on Pearl Harbor, In Our Midst tells the story of one family’s fight to cling to the ideals of freedom and opportunity that brought them to America.
Why we recommend it: Our book club members found Jensen’s book enlightening, and appreciated how the author presents the novel’s events alongside other examples of historical discrimination and injustice.
James: A Novel
by Percival Everett
Paperback Apr 21, 2026. 320 pages
Published by Vintage
A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view. From the “literary icon” (Oprah Daily) and Pulitzer Prize Finalist whose novel Erasure is the basis for Cord Jefferson’s critically acclaimed film American Fiction.
Why we recommend it: Another title that really doesn’t need a recommendation (as both a Pulitzer and National Book Award winner), James will be out in paperback next spring—a good enough reason as any to add it to your list of books to discuss if you haven’t already.
The Lilac People
by Milo Todd
Apr 2025. 320 pages
Published by Counterpoint Press
For readers of All the Light We Cannot See and In Memoriam, a moving and deeply humane story about a trans man who must relinquish the freedoms of prewar Berlin to survive first the Nazis then the Allies while protecting the ones he loves.
Why we recommend it: A lot of readers and book clubs are familiar with the extensive pile of World War II fiction out there, but less familiar with how LGBTQ+ people and trans people in particular were affected at the time. Our book club members appreciated learning about this aspect of history and found Todd’s novel powerful, timely, and well-developed.
The Lion Women of Tehran
by Marjan Kamali
Paperback Jul 2025. 336 pages
Published by Gallery Books
From the nationally bestselling author of the “powerful, heartbreaking” (Shelf Awareness) The Stationery Shop, a heartfelt, epic new novel of friendship, betrayal, and redemption set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran.
Why we recommend it: With its focus on a friendship between two girls during formative events of contemporary Iranian history, The Lion Women of Tehran presents opportunities for discussion around both personal and political topics.
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern: A Novel
by Lynda Cohen Loigman
Paperback Aug 2025. 320 pages
Published by St. Martin’s Griffin
It’s never too late for new beginnings.
Why we recommend it: This “lovely little confection of a novel” (Kim Kovacs) that made the BookBrowse Top 20 last year is perfect for book clubs seeking a lighter selection.
Mercy
by Joan Silber
Sep 2025. 256 pages
Published by Counterpoint Press
The rich and nuanced story of a moment of fear and abandonment that reverberates across decades and changes the course of many lives, by beloved PEN/Faulkner and National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author Joan Silber.
Why we recommend it: Silber’s novel raises difficult moral questions that easily lend themselves to the start of a great book club conversation.
One of Us: A Novel
by Dan Chaon
Hardcover Sep 2025. 288 pages
Published by Henry Holt and Company
A playfully macabre and utterly thrilling tale about orphaned twins on the run from their murderous uncle who find refuge in a bizarre traveling carnival, from a master of literary horror.
Why we recommend it: Chaon builds a rich atmosphere around a particular time in history. Reviewer Erin Lyndal Martin writes, “Chaon has the perfect touch, ensuring the sideshow performers are fully developed characters. I cared about them from the start.”
The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl
by Bart Yates
Paperback Jun 2025. 240 pages
Published by A John Scognamiglio Book
Both sweeping and exquisitely intimate, award-winning author Bart Yates blends historical fact and fiction in a surprising, thought-provoking saga spanning 12 significant days across nearly 100 years in the life of a single man, beginning in 1920s Utah.
Why we recommend it: Our First Impressions reviewers found Yates’ novel poignant and its unusual structure affecting.
The Women: A Novel
by Kristin Hannah
Hardcover Feb 2025. 480 pages
Published by Pan Macmillan
From master storyteller Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds, comes the story of a turbulent, transformative era in America: the 1960s.
Why we recommend it: Kristin Hannah is a popular name among book clubs, and this historical novel has already generated plenty of conversation. According to reviewer Jordan Lynch, “The Women vividly describes the horrors of war and the beauty of friendship and forgiveness while honoring the women whose service in Vietnam has been largely ignored.”
Women’s Hotel: A Novel
by Daniel M. Lavery
Paperback Sep 2025. 272 pages
Published by HarperVia
From the New York Times bestselling author and advice columnist, a poignant and funny debut novel about the residents of a women’s hotel in 1960s New York City.
Why we recommend it: Entertaining but also impactful, Women’s Hotel offers “satirical commentary on a time before second-wave feminism and other liberation struggles really took root in the collective consciousness” (Lisa Butts). Interested book groups can now pair this charming novel with its holiday-themed sequel, Christmas at the Women’s Hotel.
The Best Speculative Novels for Book Clubs in 2026
The Book of Doors: A Novel
by Gareth Brown
Feb 2024. 416 pages
Published by William Morrow
A debut novel full of magic, adventure, and romance, The Book of Doors opens up a thrilling world of contemporary fantasy for readers of The Midnight Library, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, The Night Circus, and any modern story that mixes the wonder of the unknown with just a tinge of darkness.
Why we recommend it: This acclaimed bookish fantasy should appeal to clubs that like a dash of magic in their literary brew.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
by Victoria E. Schwab
Hardcover Jun 2025. 544 pages
Published by Tor Books
From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger.
Why we recommend it: V. E. Schwab includes many elements book clubs find appealing—historical fiction spanning multiple timelines, complex female characters—in her ambitious latest.
The Magician of Tiger Castle
by Louis Sachar
Hardcover Aug 2025. 320 pages
Published by Ace Books
The beloved author of Holes presents his first adult novel, a modern fantasy classic of forbidden love, a crumbling kingdom, and the unexpected magic all around us.
Why we recommend it: Sachar’s first novel for adults will be an amusing treat for clubs looking for something on the quirky side.
Playground: A Novel
by Richard Powers
Paperback Sep 2025. 400 pages
Published by W.W. Norton & Company
A magisterial new novel from the Pulitzer Prize–winning and New York Times best-selling author of The Overstory and Bewilderment.
Why we recommend it: Playground explores “diverse themes such as friendships gained and lost; humanity’s impact on the planet, especially its oceans; neocolonialism; sexism in the sciences; the development and future of artificial intelligence; and many others…Powers’ genius is his ability to form a cohesive and absorbing narrative from what at first seems to be a disorienting, unrelated mishmash of ideas” (Kim Kovacs).
The Best Nonfiction Books for Book Clubs in 2026
Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
by Sarah Wynn-Williams
Hardcover Mar 2025. 400 pages
Published by Flatiron Books
An explosive memoir charting one woman’s career at the heart of one of the most influential companies on the planet, Careless People gives you a front-row seat to Facebook, the decisions that have shaped world events in recent decades, and the people who made them.
Why we recommend it: Careless People provides numerous discussion opportunities for book clubs interested in nonfiction on recent, topical issues, all from a personal insider perspective.
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
by David Grann
Paperback Feb 2025. 432 pages
Published by Vintage
Winner: BookBrowse Nonfiction Award 2023
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events on The Wager, showing that it was not only the captain and crew who ended up on trial, but the very idea of empire.
Why we recommend it: This book was popular with our First Impressions reviewers, generated fruitful discussions between our book club members, and should be perfect for groups fond of adventure stories and maritime history.
The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook
by Hampton Sides
Paperback May 2025. 432 pages
Published by Vintage
From New York Times bestselling author Hampton Sides, an epic account of the most momentous voyage of the Age of Exploration, which culminated in Captain James Cook’s death in Hawaii, and left a complex and controversial legacy still debated to this day
In July 1776 Cook left England on his final—and fatal—voyage. It’s this tale of exploration and tragedy that Hampton Sides relays in his nonfiction account, The Wide Wide Sea.
Why we recommend it: Groups who just can’t get enough maritime history (we know you’re out there) should check out this account of Captain James Cook’s final voyage that made our 2024 Top 20. For extra fun, supplement it with our “beyond the book” article on the history of grog.
