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Hello
Looking for the perfect books for your book club to read this year and into 2016? Look no further!
In December last year we published the first half of our Top Reads for Book Clubs in 2015 list, covering books that had published (or were due to publish) in paperback from late 2014 to early 2015.
Now, here is part 2 - with the very best book club reads from Spring to Fall 2015. All books are available in paperback and ebook. All received 5 star reviews from BookBrowse, and almost all have reading guides.
Please do share this with your book club friends! Of course, these aren't just for book clubs, they make great reading for all who enjoy well written books that provoke good conversation, and tell you things about this wonderful world of ours you didn't before!
We've broken the recommendations into 8 sections:
Enjoy!
Davina, BookBrowse Editor
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Moral Dilemmas
 | The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham
Paperback May 2015. 272 pages. Published by Picador
Life is fraught with plenty of morally grey areas. No revelation here. But what's especially intriguing in this veteran author's novel is the way it is tenderly explored as the characters struggle with work, relationships and illness. Set in contemporary New York, the struggles laid bare here are ones that most of us will recognize.
More info & reading guide |
 | The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber
Paperback Jun 2015. 480 pages. Published by Hogarth Books
Truly out of this world in more ways than one, this novel is fraught with moral dilemmas such as what is owed to the ones whom you love, and what constitutes the definition of loyalty. Set against the backdrop of a planet that is rapidly coming apart at the seams, this compelling story makes for transportive reading.
More info & reading guide |
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 | Eyrie by Tim Winton
Paperback Jun 2015. 432 pages. Published by Picador
A disillusioned environmentalist, Tom Keely is barely hanging on to his life when his past meets up with him in unexpected ways. A lesson in how even the best intentions can lead us awry, Australia's revered novelist reminds us that one has to keep from drowning before being able to rescue others.
More info & reading guide |
 | The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
Paperback Jul 28, 2015. 384 pages. Published by Minotaur Books
Chief Inspector Gamache is a house favorite. And here are plenty of reasons why. Good ol' Gamache is looking forward to the retired life at last when he discovers that his sleuthing past won't let go as quickly. When his neighbor Clara Morrow requests a very special favor, he is morally obliged to go on a quest to retrieve what she has lost, a journey that will have lasting effects.
More info |
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Historic Fiction Set in the USA
 | The Promise by Ann Weisgarber
Paperback May 2015. 320 pages. Published by Skyhorse Publishing
Nearing the tenth anniversary of Katrina, it is noteworthy to remember yet another devastating hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900 and left around 10,000 dead. This novel set against that raging force of nature focuses on one family unit and effectively shows that sometimes the most violent storms can be fueled by strong undercurrents from within.
More info including reading guide |
 | The High Divide by Lin Enger
Paperback May 2015. 368 pages. Published by Algonquin Books
Almost everyone loves a good quest and this readable Western dishes up three. Set against the wide open country of Montana and Minnesota, this engaging pass at the Great American Novel works in weighty themes such as family, loyalty and remorse through the eyes of the Pope family looking to make things right in the aftermath of the American Civil War.
More info including reading guide |
 | The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Paperback May 2015. 384 pages. Published by Penguin Books
The oppressive institution of slavery transforms the lives of two remarkable women, one black, the other white, as they work the parameters of societal mores and try to craft them into relevant rules in their own lives. A cast of vibrant characters leaps out of the page and brings a dark slice of American history to focus in rich technicolor.
More info including reading guide |
 | The Invention of Exile: A Novel by Vanessa Manko
Paperback Jul 2015. 304 pages. Published by Penguin Books
This story of a Russian immigrant trying to keep the American Dream alive despite overwhelming odds will strike a chord with all readers for its embrace of universal values such as love, family, hope and hard work. The undercurrents of xenophobia which so easily mark "the other" as ready targets for hate, add gravitas to this brilliant debut.
More info including reading guide |
 | The Hollow Ground: A Novel by Natalie S. Harnett
Paperback Aug 25, 2015. 336 pages. Published by Thomas Dunne Books
Pennsylvania coal country glows red hot in this deeply affecting debut about an Irish American family with old secrets buried deep, trying to reinvent their lives despite the stifling weight of the past. The rich mineral seams belie the crushing poverty that permeates this all-American milieu.
More info including reading guide |
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The Chinese American Experience
 | Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Paperback May 2015. 304 pages. Published by Penguin Books
This moving debut about mixed-race marriages (and offspring) and the weight of parental expectations might well be a primer for today's "modern family." Centered on the death of a Chinese American teenager, Celeste Ng touchingly writes about the often yawning gap between seemingly close-knit family members.
More info & reading guide |
 | For Today I Am a Boy by Kim Fu
Paperback March 2015. 256 Pages. Published by Mariner Books
It is difficult to live the life you were meant to live especially when your father, having sired multiple daughters, sees you as the one son who will live up to his ideals of masculinity. This is the existential dilemma that Peter Huang must struggle with as he faces up to his identity and overcomes many challenges, before he can truly break free.
More info & online discussion |
 | China Dolls by Lisa See
Paperback Mar 2015. 416 pages. Published by Random House
Set on the eve of World War II in San Francisco's Chinatown, this story by veteran author Lisa See, shows that it takes more than skin color to forge a common bond between people. The three women featured in the story all share a common Chinese ancestry but their upbringings could not be more different. It is especially interesting to realize that for all the shades of grey that they see in themselves, the external world can be brutal in its washed-out perspectives on race and color.
More info & reading guide |
 | A Map of Betrayal by Ha Jin
Paperback Jul 2015. 304 pages. Published by Vintage
Gary Shang, the fractured protagonist of this moving tale, is caught between a rock and a hard place as he has to make difficult moral decisions about allegiance. Whom does he owe loyalty to: the China of his birth or the America of his adopted country? This twist on an immigrant's narrative, based on a true story, is heartbreakingly nuanced presenting no easy answers.
More info & reading guide |
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The Golden Years
 | Mimi Malloy, At Last! by Julia MacDonnell
Paperback Mar 2015. 288 pages. Published by Picador
If you're nodding at the phrase "At Last" this one's for you. You have tended to family, to children and spouse and it's time for yourself - at last! That's exactly how Mimi feels after raising six beautiful daughters. It's time for some "me" time. Even if a doctor might come bearing worrisome news, this is one spunky Irish American gal who won't go down without a fight.
More info & reading guide |
 | A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Paperback May 2015. 368 pages. Published by Atria Books.
If the trope of a cranky old man with a heart of gold might sound a tad formulaic, this one has more than enough heart to win you over. The colorful supporting characters who are lucky enough to be the Swedish curmudgeon's neighbors, give Ove a new lease on life by giving him reasons to celebrate every day. A heartwarming read.
More info & reading guide
Please join us to discuss Backman's latest:
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry |
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Florence Gordon by Brian Morton
Paperback Sep 1 2015. 320 pages. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
At 75. Florence Gordon doesn't believe in whitening her hair, or her teeth. She is "gloriously difficult" and is perfectly happy with life as it is in old age. In short, she's the kind of person that many of us (men included) would love to be, spunky, occasionally cantankerous sure, but also full of warm and considered convictions. A terrific read.
We'll be hosting a discussion starting Sept 1
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Historic Europe
 | Dark Aemilia: A Novel of Shakespeare's Dark Lady
by Sally O'Reilly
Paperback Jun 2015. 448 pages. Published by Picador
Imagine Shakespeare's London. Now throw in passion, some witchcraft. The Bard's muse, Aemilia Lanyer. You've got all the makings of a gripping and immensely readable tale that is full of the juiciest bits of historical fiction you can sink your teeth into. Mesmerizing.
More info & reading guide |
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Gutenberg's Apprentice by Alix Christie
Paperback Sep 8 2015. 416 pages. Published by Harper
New ways of doing business have almost invariably been seen as challenging the established order. Imagine the scribes who wrote the Bible being replaced by Gutenberg's printed copies. What sacrilege! The Catholic Church is among the many forces stacked squarely against this invention as the genius' apprentice must figure out where his allegiances truly lie in this absorbing novel.
More info
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Generational Sagas
 | Some Luck by Jane Smiley
Paperback Jul 2015. 416 pages. Published by Anchor Books
The first in a trilogy that is to span a transformative century in America, this story zeroes in on a small Iowa family farm and the many members of the Langdon family as they experience life from the aftermath of World War 1 through to the '50s, standing on the cusp of sweeping social change. A definitive slice of the all-American experience.
More info & reading guide |
 | We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas
Paperback Jun 2015. 640 pages. Published by Simon & Schuster
You've studied hard, you've married well, you have a loving family and even then your life can be derailed right off the tracks. Eileen Tumulty is a perfect example of a middle-class American woman in the mid-twentieth century, a woman who can sense the opening up of possibilities even as life constrains her eventually. A moving tale of an improbable and enduring marriage and a woman who bravely fields every obstacle thrown at her, this is a wise and precocious debut.
More info & reading guide |
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Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique
Paperback Jul 21, 2015. 416 pages. Riverhead Books
If the phrase "sweeping saga" brings to mind bloat and a book in need of strong editing, this one will change all that. Chronicling the history of the Virgin Islands through the fortunes of the Bradshaw family, this is a thought-provoking look at history and the slow erosion of place through the harshness of globalization.
More info & reading guide
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Sweetland: A Novel by Michael Crummey
Paperback Sept 7, 2015. 336 pages. Published by Liveright
What happens when the very terra firma under your feet is not very...well, firma anymore? When a remote island off the Newfoundland coast is under threat of being forsaken by the Canadian government, one brave man won't go down without a fight. Powerfully depicting our connections to place, Sweetland is a compelling look at the values we hold dear and will fight for against the forces of modernity.
More info
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