Is there any greater joy as a woman of a certain age than finding yourself a book club to share some incredible books? Book clubs are basically just organized shit-talking on fictional characters that are more clockably dramatic than (most) people are in real life. Unlike any viciously problematic villains running around the real world, there’s something so satisfying about watching the rise, fall, and snap back of a betch in a book who finds herself in a serious pickle she needs 300 pages to solve. So, all that to say, the books presented for a book club’s consideration are precious. Kind of like trying to suggest the primo apps and zerts for the table; the selection needs to be a crowd-pleaser and a bit of a gag to really hit the sweet spot.
So, I locked in to do the legwork to blow your next literary lady gang away! Here are the best books to read for a book club, coming from a well-read gossip.
Best Books For Book Clubs: Good Books To Suggest To Your Reading Group
The Rules of Fortune
This book has a ridiculous amount of winning elements: freaky family drama, rich people problems at Martha’s Vineyard, and super-sized daddy issues. Not to mention, it’s a polite 304 pages! Plus, a big added bonus for the Bravo girlies: the book is penned by Danielle Prescod, the acclaimed NYT best-selling author who happens to be the sister of Summer House cutie Gabby! The Rules of Fortune is Danielle’s first novel.
Bad Summer People
This book is a beach read, but like, way better. The tight-lipped family friends who summer away from the city in a fictional town on Fire Island are harboring some big little lies. By the end, somebody goes overboard, never to return, and the winding roads of this coastal mystery will have your book club pushing back your elderly bedtimes to stay up chatting.
My Husband
If your book club’s favorite accessories are wine, cheese, and a side of relationship chaos, Maud Ventura’s My Husband is for you. The artistic hit, originally written in French, is a gorgeous yet still easy read. The tension is loaded into every poetic page (and the wild twist at the end), which will have your book club begging for more.
The Wedding People
Finally, a wedding that doesn’t require spending hundreds of dollars on travel, gifts, and cookie-cutter dresses! With weddings being a part-time job for basically all women over 20, The Wedding People is the perfect discussion-worthy familiar territory for the members of your book club. Phoebe Stone’s irreverent rom-com journey through 24 chapters of laughter and real shit (and when I say real shit, I mean some real real shit) is totally worth the read.
The Catch
The new novel by Yrsa Daley-Ward is already winning heaps of praise, so it’s a lovely choice for any book club that enjoys amplifying diverse voices (which should be all of them, TBH!). The Catch is about two estranged sisters in London who fear they may be victims of a con when a woman claiming to be their mom comes back into their lives. Soooo, sorta kinda like A Simple Favor but without the whimsical fake murders? This one is for sure an entertaining but heartfelt take on motherhood and sisterhood that your girl group will love unpacking page by page.
From Here to the Great Unknown
Nonfiction baddies need love, too!! That’s where Lisa Marie’s co-written memoir with her daughter Riley Keogh (the granddaughter of Elvis) comes in. The Oprah Book Club pick gives an unfiltered look at Lisa Marie’s fascinating life as the daughter of the King, and trust me, when it comes to Elvis, the lore always goes absolutely off the charts.
