Top Ten Books I Think Would Make Great Book Club Picks
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I’ve never actually been in a book club before, so this is going to be me taking a wild stab at this list… And this is going to be me assuming that the book club members are somewhere around my age, or at least have the same general interests as me… Also, I’m only including stand-alone books because I don’t think a book club should start a series for its members (especially if they don’t plan on reading all of its books).
10. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
There are so many layers to this book! It’s one of the few books I remember enjoying having to read for class, and the first time I was taught to look beyond the story and into the themes.
9. 1984 by George Orwell
As much as I HATE this book (I have never come so close to giving up on a book and I actually threw it across the room at the end), it is great for discussion. Especially in today’s society where the idea that Big Brother is watching isn’t all that far-fetched.
8. The Giver by Lois Lowry
Okay, so officially this book has a sequel, but I haven’t read it so I’m not counting it as having a sequel. The ending would be a great discussion point for a book club, plus the actions of the town itself would make for fun discussion.
7. The Fault in our Stars by John Green
So, I haven’t actually read this book yet (I know, I know, bad nerdfighter), but I suspect the themes it contains would be great for discussion.
6. The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson
Sexuality is always a good topic, right?
5. Stolen by Lucy Christopher
This book is just going to go on all of the lists, okay. Seriously though, a book club could have a field day with this book as I’m sure there would be a variety of conflicting opinions on the ending.
4. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The themes in this book would be a great point of discussion, plus people could argue over what they think happened to the Handmaid.
3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Who doesn’t enjoy reading this book? Plus, you could totally have a couple movie days afterwards in which you swoon over the multiple incarnations of Darcy.
2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Um, duh.
1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
We all know this is in all the book clubs anyway.
coffeeandwizards 
I agree with most of your choices, and YAY for The Bermudez Triangle! But I feel like I should be steeling myself for all the mentions of The Help on people’s TTTs today.
It’s definitely an obvious one and will probably be everywhere.
Great list! I feel like my list had a few books I hated on there… mostly because even though I hated them I think they would be very interesting discussions. And, if anything, we could gripe about why we hated the books! 🙂
Yeah a well-written book that you hate generally generates pretty good discussion.
I agree, this is a great list! I didn’t think about 1984 or the Giver, now I wish I had. I remember when we read The Giver in school, I don’t recall a lot of discussion over it.
Beth ^_^
http://sweetbooksnstuff.blogspot.com/
Same. The only real discussion we had was about the ending.
Really, you don’t like 1984? That’s one of my favourite books. It’s the reason why I love dystopian novels (along with Brave New World and Farenheit 451 it’s given me very high standards for the dystopians I read).
The only books I’ve read on this list are 1984 and Pride and Prejudice. I need to rectify this (though granted, I do have almost all of the rest them on my TBR list). 🙂
It is my least favourite well-written book ever.
The only real MUST READS on this list are probably TFIOS and The Book Thief. The others are all really good, but I won’t have to unfriend you if you don’t read them 😛
Hahaha. Well, Aimee is all kinds of awesome because she is going to send me a signed copy of TFIOS. 🙂 As for The Book Thief I really should have read it by now, seeing as how Marcus Zusak is an Aussie. Though I’m thinking of doing an Aussie book challenge in winter so I’ll put it on the list for then. 🙂
It won’t let me reply to your other comment for some reason…
If you’re doing an Aussie book challenge you should check out Raw Blue by Kristy Eagar. I just saw a blog post about it and it sounds excellent. Though maybe it was just set in Australia…Now I can’t remember…
Ooh, thanks! *goes off to find*
I was thinking of doing the year-long Australian Women Writers challenge as well, but maybe I’ll just stick with Raw Blue for now.
And I just realised that comment didn’t make sense. It’s late and I’m tired, lol. Ignore me. 😉
Pride and Prejudice is a book that I only read in 2010 – and I can’t believe I waited that long, because I absolutely adored it.
I like your other choices for book club, though I haven’t read most of them yet. From what I hear, they’ll definitely inspire great discussions.
I just reread Pride and Prejudice for class. Every time I read it it gets better!
I love your list. The Giver is a great addition.
-FABR Steph@FiveAlarmBookReviews
My Top Ten…
Thanks. I almost didn’t put it because it has sequels, but ultimately decided for it.
The Giver is one of my ALL-TIME FAVORITES. Not a huge fan of Stolen (sort of ambivalent about it), but it would definitely be a great discussion book. Both The Help and John Green are everywhere today, but for good reason!
The Book Thief would have made my list too, but I thought it would be cheating since it actually WAS one of my book club books. Really, really amazing book. GREAT list! 🙂
WHAT? HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE STOLEN. I…WHAT?!
The Giver is in my top five favorite books and would definitely be a great book for discussion. There’s so many big ideas/issues in that book to talk about! Don’t read the sequels. I read them, and they aren’t very memorable or connected tightly to the original.
The Book Thief is lovely! I wish Marcus Zusak would come out with another book 😦
If you haven’t read his book “I Am the Messenger” it’s really good too!
Lauren @ Hughes Reviews
I haven’t read “I am the Messenger.” Honestly, I’m scared to because of the hurricane of emotions that was The Book Thief.
I agree with The Giver, Stolen, and Pride and Prejudice all making great book club picks. These books are excellent and naturally get the conversation rolling. The others are probably good, too, but I haven’t read them!
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Wow, The Bermudez Triangle is the only book on your list I’ve read! I have The Book Theif and TFIOS glaring at me on a shelf, but I haven’t been able to get to them. Your list looks great, though, I’ll have to check out Stolen.
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The Book Thief and Stolen are amazing! I have to get to TFIOS myself, and I’m really looking forward to it.
Right back at you 🙂
I completely agree about not using series for book club selections! Every book on your list is either high on my tbr list, or I already love it. Nice choices, I had The Giver as well (which is technically a series, but as it isn’t dependent on the other books, doesn’t count imho).
Yeah, that was my reasoning as well. Lauren H. said the sequels aren’t very good, which makes me wonder why they were written at all.
Okay, I NEED to move Book Thief higher onto my list! I bought it as part of the Buy 3 get 4th free deals at Chapters and never got around to it yet (as well as many other books I have.. lol)
I feel like I haven’t read 1984 yet, but I have it on my “read” list from way back when…. really don’t remember much of it tho..
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Michele | Top 10
You definitely need to read it! SO GOOD.
1984 is the whole “big brother is watching you” and everyone has to think however the government tells them to etc. I remember the basic plot and how much I did not enjoy reading it. XD
Still wondering what possessed George Orwell to write Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Probably the same thing that made him write Animal Farm.
I’ve got to read Stolen soon! Pretty much every other person I know sings it’s praises.
AND AND A Separate Peace because classics are the bomb diggity, and I just love classics, especially the newer ones. AND THEMES. NEVER FORGET THEMES.
Stolen broke something inside of me. It makes it really difficult to distinguish between good and bad.
THEMES ARE MY FAVOURITE