Top Ten Books To Read With A Book Club
I’ve never been in an official Book Club – the English Literature Department started one when I was at school, but it sadly only lasted for the duration of one book… Recently though, Stefani, Brandie and I accidentally started an on-line Book Club of sorts for when we do joint-reads and reviews, more on this to follow! 😀 To me, books to read with a Book Club should be engaging, possibly controversial and should encourage debate, so these are my top ten picks!
1. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: This book is full of twists and turns, and has two very unlike-able main characters, which I think would make for some seriously interesting discussions. It’s a book I adore-to-hate, it evoked strong feelings in me, and it’s my favourite Flynn book to-date.
2. We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver: I don’t think it’s possible to create a Book Club list and not include this read. It’s dark. It’s disturbing. It will make you question nature vs. nurture like you never have before.
3. Room by Emma Donoghue: A book that deals with a dark subject (kidnapping and sexual abuse) from the point-of-view of an innocent 5-year-old child. A very brave, different and unique take that will open the floor to all sorts of conversations.
4. Before I Go by Colleen Oakley: A 2015 debut that would make for a very emotional and difficult Book Club read, I think, but one that would be very worthwhile. It will make you think about mortality, about the frailty of the human condition, and about love. Bring wine. Bring Kleenex. (Check out my interview with the author and enter to win a hardback copy! 😉 )
5. Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas: I could be cheating with this one. Slightly. But if a Book Club were open to Fantasy reads I think this could be so interesting – the detail in these stories, the world-building and the relationships, would all lend themselves to some seriously in-depth conversations and speculations!
6. The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer: Book Club reads work well when they focus on a particular issue of significance. This mental health read should provoke some very interesting conversations, and may offer an insight into schizophrenia from the sufferer’s point of view (also, written by a mental health nurse, so we’re assuming there’s some factual relevance here).
7. Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman: A fantastic YA read that I reread and adored as an adult. This book flips the tables of racism and explores a world where white people are persecuted and people of colour are in power. A very powerful book that is sure to stay with you.
8. Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson: I LOVED this book when I first read it – I think this would make a fantastic Book Club read as there is just so much to discuss and explore! The mystery, the thrills, the psychological mind-meld!!
9. Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover: I can’t write a list and not include a CoHo book. It just isn’t possible. I haven’t read enough of her back catalogue to know yet if another book would be better suited to a Book Club (perhaps the Never Never series because of the suspense and mystery element?), but with Maybe Someday having its own soundtrack, this read could be a lighter alternative to the dark and heavy books on my list!
10. Anything by Jodi Picoult: Jodi Picoult books are what I refer to as “issues” books – she is one of my top authors and my go-to for a read that will revolve around a moral/ethical dilemma, dealing with an illness, or an emotional/relationship-based social commentary read.
Have you read any of my picks? Do you think they’d make great reads for a Book Club? What have you picked today? Link me up or let me know in the comments!
Confessions of a Book Geek 
I imagine all book discussions/book groups when reading Gone Girl would have gone completely off the wall!
LikeLike
Haha – probably. I read it when it first came out and pushed it on people so I’d have someone to talk to about it! R x
LikeLike
I loved Room, it’s such a great book. I got Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue the other day, which was pretty funny… It was a Blind Date With a Book, so it was wrapped up in brown paper with just key points about it written on it. I picked it up, and was wandering around the shop with it, looking for Slammerkin and said to my friend how I would have bought it if they had it…. lo and behold, got home and there it is!
I thought about adding Gone Girl to my list too, I’m not sure why I didn’t! It’s definitely a great book for discussions.
LikeLike
I haven’t heard of that one, but what a great coincidence! I think I picked up another Donoghue book there for like £2 the other day… hold on… Yea I did, I got The Sealed Letter. I haven’t read anything else by her, but I’m curious to see what else she writes about and how varied her style is. I’ve heard of these blind dates too and think they sound brilliant! R x
LikeLike
They are, I’ve been really lucky with mine!
I picked Slammerkin up ages ago and thought it sounded really interesting… I can’t exactly remember what it was about but it looks to be right up my alley!
LikeLike
LOVE this list. My work book club read Gone Girl and it makes for a very interesting discussion! I agree that Before I Go and Maybe Someday would be good books to discuss.
I loved Before I Go to Sleep!
LikeLike
Thanks! 😀 You have a work book club?! That’s cool. Maybe Someday was thrown in as my guilty book club pleasure, because while I doubt it would create much in the way of serious debate, it would certainly liven things up a little! I read Before I Go To Sleep so long ago now, I’d like to do a reread, but I remember loving it. Still haven’t seen the movie either… R x
LikeLiked by 1 person
We Need to Talk About Kevin would definitely be a good one to discuss. I think we’d all leave a little more disturbed than we already are, but I’d love to read that with a group. Also, Throne of Glass – yes!
My TTT!
LikeLike
We Need To Talk About Kevin was the one book we did in the school book club lol I was always thankful that we had a teacher who would introduce us to this type of literature in our (late) teens – it was refreshing! I’m SO glad to hear you say yes to Throne of Glass!! Have your started Crown of Midnight yet?? You definitely need to get your hands on The Assassin’s Blade bind-up too! R x
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve got The Assassin’s Blade checked out from the library. I was going to read SO much this weekend (that, Maybe Someday, Crown of Midnight, The Darkest Part of the Forest…) but then I had an allergic reaction to a cat one day and a horrible headache the next (which returned yesterday) so I couldn’t read. :(( Hopefully I’ll finish Maybe Someday at work today. 🙂 Pros of working in a library. Lol.
LikeLike
Awww. It saddens me that you’re allergic to cats! Lol are you feeling better now? Definitely read TAB, it gives you a LOT of background that makes the rest of the series make more sense, and the novellas are just as well written as the main stories. I’m also SO jealous that you can read at work, why didn’t I think of that when making career choices??? Lol R x
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am feeling better. Raced through half of Maybe Someday last night. Decided to put it down (a REALLY tough decision) because if I didn’t, I would’ve stayed up until I finished it and I can’t do that during the week!
LikeLike
I started it the other day, and read a lot of it last night, I wanted to try and finish it but I was up at ridiculous o’clock today (6am lol) and as it was 12am when I had about 80 pages left I had to put it down, but I’m excited to finish it tonight, and get a FULL Twitter run down on your thoughts! I’m doing a reread review on the blog as part of my reread challenge! R x
LikeLiked by 1 person
All these books are new to me but I do love the covers and by the sound of it, they really seem interesting.
My Top Ten Tuesday!
LikeLike
Thanks, Christine! R x
LikeLike
I loved Malorie Blackman’s ‘Noughts & Crosses’, it’s an amazing book! Also, ‘The Shock Of The fall’ is next on my list and I’m VERY excited about it!
Check out my TTT!
Katrina @ Chased By My Imagination
LikeLike
Noughts and Crosses is a firm favourite of mine. I hope you enjoy The Shock of the Fall, it was very different, but I thought it was good! R x
LikeLike
Great List! Check out my Top Ten Tuesday! http://bookbabble.weebly.com/blog/top-ten-tuesday
LikeLike
I haven’t read any of your picks, although I do definitely want to read Throne of Glass. I’m not sure if I would ever really love a book club. Maybe an online one, like you started. Maybe. 🙂
LikeLike
None of them?! Aw, I love Throne of Glass so, so much! I don’t know how I feel about actual book clubs either… I’ve discovered one local to me, but I don’t know about joining up… The perks of the online one we’ve started is that it isn’t really a set book club, it’s more a place for us to gather thoughts for joint reviews because we’ve discovered we love doing them so much! I’m such a mood reader, I don’t know if I could follow set reads every month. R x
LikeLike
I haven’t read Noughts and Crosses yet but I’m eager to see how the flipped race dynamics work. I almost put this on my book club wish list but I decided to stick with books I’ve already read. Gone Girl would be a great pick too!
LikeLike
I stuck with books I’ve read today too, though I know there are lots on my TBR that book clubs love to read! I loved Noughts and Crosses, the whole series is worth reading, but book 1 has always been my favourite. R x
LikeLike
Some good choices for your book club here, if you’re going for books that will generate discussion and are at times controversial Gone Girl, Room and We Need to Talk About Kevin are definitely going to do that. I like how you have a slight mix of books on here as well.
I love your choices, there are a couple on here I’m definitely going to have to get reading.
LikeLike
Thanks, Becky! I tried as much as possible to include books that offer different viewpoints or generate polarised opinion in people because I find discussions about them more entertaining and informative!! Now to find that book club to push the books on them… Lol R x
LikeLike
Debate sparking books are a big hit today and I agree they are great for the purpose of a book club – it’s always good when people get heated over a book, it always becomes a great conversation. We had a few of those in school but rarely, usually those reads were too boring. But when a debate blossomed, we never managed to wrap it up in an hour and I always enjoyed those 🙂
Good picks!
LikeLike
I love when that happens, especially when the people who get really involved aren’t usually big readers, because it shows just how powerful a great book can be! R x
LikeLike
Gone Girl is on a couple of different lists! I still need to read it and Throne of Glass. I own both of them, but they’ve been buried in my TBR for a while.
LikeLike
It’s such a good book, and Throne of Glass is immense! Definitely one of my favourite books!! Unbury them! Lol R x
LikeLiked by 1 person
I plan to!!
LikeLike
The Throne of Glass series is fab. For some reason I just didn’t enjoy Maybe Someday as much as CoHo’s other books
LikeLike
I’ve only read two so far, so I can’t really say which is my ultimate favourite yet… well, 3 if you count Never Never Part 1… R x
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Books To Read With A Book Club – Top Ten Bloggers I Give My Love To – Top Ten 2014 Releases I Didn’t Get […]
LikeLike