Browse our selection of the best books to read this summer with your book club!
The Bookshop by the Bay by Pamela Kelley
"A wonderful multi-generational story about mothers, daughters, and friendship set in a quaint seaside town on Cape Cod. If you love talk of bookstores, delicious food and coffee shops, this one is for you!" —Rachel Hanna, author of the South Carolina Sunsets series
The Island Villa by Sarah Morgan
"The perfect summer novel—sharp, smart and so much fun!" —Viola Shipman, USA TODAY bestselling author
A messy family drama and a steamy little romance unfold under the Mediterranean sun for the perfect summer escape… Celebrated romance author Catherine Swift has topped the bestseller lists for decades, though her personal story hasn’t been quite so successful. Three failed marriages have left her relationship with her daughters strained, but that’s about to be rectified. Engaged yet again, Catherine is counting on this wedding to be what finally brings them together as a family, and she’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.
I, Julian by Claire Gilbert
The stunning retelling of Julian of Norwich's story, the first woman to write a book in the English language. Battling grief, plague, the church and societal expectations, Julian finds freedom in faith, transcribing her visions and meditations for generations to come.
Sugar and Salt by Susan Wiggs
Jerome Sugar runs his grandma’s bakery in San Francisco. When the restaurant that shares his commercial kitchen loses its tenant, a newcomer moves in: Margot Salton, a barbecue master from Texas. Margot isn’t exactly on the run, but she needs a fresh start. She’s pulled herself up by her fingernails to recover from trauma, and her dream has been to open a restaurant somewhere far, far from Texas. Margot is drawn to Jerome. But just as she starts to relax into a happy new future, Margot’s past in Texas comes back to haunt her…
The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell
The Golden Spoon is a darkly beguiling locked-room mystery where someone turns up dead on the set of TV’s hottest baking competition—perfect for fans of Nita Prose, Richard Osman, and Anthony Horowitz.
When production for the tenth season of the hit cooking competition Bake Week begins at the gothic estate of the show’s host and founder, celebrity chef Betsy Martin, everything seems normal. The six contestants are eager to prove their culinary talents over the course of five days, while Betsy struggles for control of the show with her new co-host, the brash and unpredictable Archie Morris. But as the baking competition gets under way, things begin to go awry. At first, it’s merely sabotage—sugar replaced with salt, a burner turned to high—but then someone shows up dead and suddenly everyone’s a suspect.
The Wife App by Carolyn Mackler
It starts as a joke during a tipsy night out, as Lauren, Madeline, and Sophie rail against everything wives do for free. Let’s build an app that monetizes the mental load. And maybe get revenge on our exes in the process? Soon, the Wife App is born, and before long, it’s the fastest growing start-up in New York City. But then life intervenes. Love intervenes. Ex-husbands intervene. And the consequences are bigger than anything Lauren, Madeline, or Sophie could have expected. With THE WIFE APP, Carolyn Mackler marks her debut into adult fiction with a hilarious rollercoaster ride of revenge and redemption that is at once a send-up of modern marriage and a celebration of female friendship and love in all forms.
Excavations by Kate Myers
“Laugh out loud funny and an ode to feminist triumph. Dazzling Greek island setting, four intriguing women, and a shady mystery come together for an irresistible read. Don’t miss this one.” —Liv Constantine, bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish, a Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick.
Four mismatched women on an archaeological dig in Greece must face their own futures when they discover a strange artifact on a remote mountain. It’s a piece of ancient history that definitely shouldn’t exist and spells huge trouble for the head excavator in charge - a man they'd all like to see taken down. The archaeologists, Elise, Kara, Z and Patty all find themselves digging here together, but they couldn’t be farther apart. One's about to call off a wedding, one's utterly clueless in love, and to unravel the truth here, these dirt-crusted colleagues will have to become what they’ve avoided for years—friends.
What Remains by Wendy Walker
Detective Elise Sutton is drawn to cold cases. Each crime is a puzzle to solve, pulled from the past. Elise looks for cracks in the surface and has become an expert on how murderers slip up and give themselves away. She has dedicated her life to creating a sense of order, at work with her ex-marine partner; at home with her husband and two young daughters; and within, battling her own demons. Elise has everything under control, until one afternoon, when she walks into a department store and is forced to make a terrible choice: to save one life, she will have to take another.
The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer
What’s the point of giving someone a beautiful death if you can’t give yourself a beautiful life?
From the day she watched her kindergarten teacher drop dead during a dramatic telling of Peter Rabbit, Clover Brooks has felt a stronger connection with the dying than she has with the living. After the beloved grandfather who raised her dies alone while she is traveling, Clover becomes a death doula in New York City, dedicating her life to ushering people peacefully through their end-of-life process.
Wandering Souls by Cecil Pin
Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2023
“A deeply humane and genre-defying work of love and uncompromising hope.” ―Ocean Vuong, author of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous and Time Is a Mother
There are the goodbyes and then the fishing out of the bodies―everything in between is speculation.
After the last American troops leave Vietnam, siblings Anh, Minh, and Thanh journey to Hong Kong with the promise that their parents and younger siblings will soon follow. But when tragedy strikes, the three children are left orphaned, and sixteen-year-old Anh becomes the caretaker for her two younger brothers overnight.
Girl with a Knife by James T. Hogg
An epic historical fiction novel of love and revenge, in the vein of Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth, debut author James T. Hogg’s Girl with a Knife: Assault features a compelling heroine who must fight for justice and vengeance in ever dangerous 1600's Colonial New England. Readers will become thoroughly invested in these compelling characters, richly portrayed by author Hogg. Much like J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Girl with a Knife was originally a story Hogg would tell his daughters. He created a world where girls and women of all cultures are equal, or even superior, to the male characters around them, in books that will appeal to women and men of all ages.
Identity by Nora Roberts
The #1 New York Times-bestselling author's terrifying new thriller about one man's ice-cold malice, and one woman's fight to reclaim her life.
Former Army brat Morgan Albright has finally planted roots in a friendly neighborhood near Baltimore. Her friend and roommate Nina helps her make the mortgage payments, as does Morgan's job as a bartender. But after she and Nina host their first dinner party―attended by Luke, the flirtatious IT guy who'd been chatting her up at the bar―her carefully built world is shattered. The back door glass is broken, cash and jewelry are missing, her car is gone, and Nina lies dead on the floor.
Soon, a horrific truth emerges: It was Morgan who let the monster in. "Luke" is actually a cold-hearted con artist named Gavin who targets a particular type of woman, steals her assets and identity, and then commits his ultimate goal: murder.
What the FBI tells Morgan is beyond chilling. Nina wasn't his type. Morgan is. Nina was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. And Morgan's nightmare is just beginning. Soon she has no choice but to flee to her mother's home in Vermont. While she struggles to build something new, she meets another man, Miles Jameson. He isn't flashy or flirtatious, and his family business has deep roots in town. But Gavin is still out there hunting new victims, and he hasn't forgotten the one who got away.
These book picks are a combination of titles chosen by the Bookclubs editorial staff, and the top titles recommended for book clubs by our publishing sponsors, including Blackstone Publishing, Canary Street Press, Hachette, Simon and Schuster, Booktrix and St. Martin's Press. If you buy books through links on this page, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
Looking for more book club book recs? Check out our lists of the most popular book club books
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