TOP BOOKS
Most popular books of all time
- 1.
Where the Crawdads Sing
Summary: A #1 New York Times Best Seller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
- 2.
Educated: A Memoir
Summary: A #1 New York Times Bestseller, Educated is an unforgettable memoir about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University.
- 3.
The Vanishing Half: A Novel
Summary: "The Vanishing Half" by Brit Bennett is one of the most talked about books of the year -- a stunning page-turner about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds: one black, and one white. It’s a powerful story about family, compassion, identity and roots.
- 4.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel
Summary: Smart, warm, uplifting, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes; The only way to survive is to open your heart.
- 5.
Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel
Summary: Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood – and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.
- 6.
The Silent Patient
Summary: Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. She is a famous painter and her husband, Gabriel, an in-demand fashion photographer. Until one evening, when Gabriel returns home late from work and Alicia shoots him five times in the face and then never speaks another word. #1 New York Times bestseller.
- 7.
The Midnight Library: A Novel
Summary: Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
- 8.
Becoming
Summary: In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address.
- 9.
A Man Called Ove: A Novel
Summary: A feel-good story, Fredrik Backman’s first novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful exploration of the profound impact one’s life has on countless others.
- 10.
American Dirt (Oprah's Book Club): A Novel
Summary: Already being hailed as "a Grapes of Wrath for our times" and "a new American classic," Jeanine Cummins's American Dirt is a rare exploration into the inner hearts of people willing to sacrifice everything for a glimmer of hope.
- 11.
All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel
Summary: From Anthony Doerr--the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning author of Cloud Cuckoo Land--the beautiful Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.
- 12.
The Guest List: A Novel
Summary: A wedding celebration turns dark and deadly in this deliciously wicked and atmospheric thriller reminiscent of Agatha Christie from the New York Times bestselling author of The Hunting Party.
- 13.
Before We Were Yours: A Novel
Summary: Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.
- 14.
Anxious People: A Novel
Summary: Looking at real estate isn’t usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can’t fix their own marriage. There’s a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can’t seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment’s only bathroom, and you’ve got the worst group of hostages in the world.
- 15.
The Nightingale: A Novel
Summary: The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France during World War II.
- 16.
A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel
Summary: A transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel. Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.
- 17.
The Giver of Stars: A Novel
Summary: From the author of Me Before You, set in Depression-era America, a breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond.
- 18.
The Dutch House: A Novel
Summary: A richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go. The Dutch House is the story of a paradise lost, a tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance, love and forgiveness, of how we want to see ourselves and of who we really are.
- 19.
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
Summary: A #1 New York Times Bestseller. The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime story of one man’s coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed. Trevor illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and unflinching honesty. His stories weave together to form a moving and searingly funny portrait of a boy making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time, armed only with a keen sense of humor and a mother’s unconventional, unconditional love.
- 20.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Summary: France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world. But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
DISCUSSION GUIDES
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