What to Read for Book Club: A Month-by-Month Reading Guide

The Best Way to Choose Book Club Reads

The most successful book clubs plan ahead. According to a 2024 Pew Research survey, groups that map out at least three months of reading in advance see 40% higher member retention than those that pick books ad hoc. A month-by-month plan removes decision fatigue, guarantees genre diversity, and lets members look forward to what's coming. Below is a complete calendar of themes and specific titles to help your group build a balanced, engaging year of reading.

January: Fresh Starts and Goal-Setting

January energy is perfect for books about transformation, ambition, and self-discovery. Members are already thinking about resolutions, so lean into that momentum.

Top picks:

• Atomic Habits by James Clear — A practical system for building better routines, with plenty to debate about willpower versus environment.
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig — A woman explores alternate lives she could have lived. Sparks deep discussion about regret, purpose, and what makes a life "good."
• Educated by Tara Westover — A memoir of radical self-invention that raises questions about family loyalty, education, and identity.

Discussion angle: Ask members to share their reading goals for the year and how the book's themes connect to personal growth.

February: Love, Relationships, and Connection

Valentine's season lends itself to stories about all kinds of love—romantic, familial, platonic, and complicated.

Top picks:

• Normal People by Sally Rooney — A decade-spanning relationship between two Irish students. Explores class, communication, and emotional intimacy.
• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger — A love story bent through the lens of time travel. Raises fascinating questions about free will and fate.
• In Five Years by Rebecca Serle — Not the love story you expect. A sharp, affecting novel about friendship and loss disguised as romance.

Discussion angle: Move beyond "Was the romance believable?" and ask what each book reveals about the gap between how we present ourselves and how we actually feel.

March: Women Authors in the Spotlight

March is Women's History Month, making it the ideal time to center women's voices—across genres, eras, and geographies.

Top picks:

• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett — Twin sisters choose opposite racial identities in 1950s Louisiana. A sprawling, beautifully crafted family saga.
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke — A genre-defying puzzle box set in an infinite house full of statues and tides. Luminous, strange, and deeply moving.
• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi — Two half-sisters, one sold into slavery and one married to a British slaver, spawn parallel family lines across three centuries.

Discussion angle: How do these women writers treat themes differently than male-dominated literary canons? What voices are still missing from your reading list?

April: Poetry and Literary Fiction

National Poetry Month in April is a chance to slow down and savor language. Pair a poetry collection with literary fiction that rewards close reading.

Top picks:

• On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong — A letter from a son to his illiterate mother. Part novel, part poem, entirely stunning.
• Devotions by Mary Oliver — A collected-poems volume perfect for reading aloud at meetings and discussing which lines resonate most.
• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara — An ambitious, emotionally devastating novel about four college friends in New York. Best for groups comfortable with heavy content.

Discussion angle: Read a few passages aloud and discuss how the prose style changes the reading experience compared to plot-driven fiction.

May: Memoirs and True Stories

Spring introspection pairs naturally with real-life narratives. Memoirs generate some of the richest book club conversations because readers can compare the author's experience directly to their own.

Top picks:

• Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner — A daughter grieves her mother through the lens of Korean food and identity. Universally relatable despite deeply specific cultural detail.
• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah — Growing up mixed-race in apartheid South Africa, told with humor and heart. A crowd-pleaser that still prompts serious discussion.
• The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion — A precise, devastating account of grief after a sudden loss. Best for groups comfortable with emotional weight.

Discussion angle: Memoirs raise questions about truth and memory. How much "artistic license" is fair? Do readers owe a memoir the same suspension of disbelief as fiction?

June: Summer Starters

Kick off summer with accessible, propulsive books that hook even the most vacation-distracted readers.

Top picks:

• The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman — Four retirees in a British senior community investigate cold cases. Witty, warm, and endlessly charming.
• Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia — A glamorous socialite confronts a sinister English family in 1950s Mexico. Gothic horror with teeth.
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir — A lone astronaut must save Earth with no memory of how he got there. Science-forward and emotionally satisfying.

Discussion angle: What makes a book feel like a "summer read"? Is the category fair, or does it undervalue certain kinds of fiction?

July: Beach Reads with Substance

Peak summer calls for books that are effortless to read poolside yet still give your group something to chew on.

Top picks:

• Beach Read by Emily Henry — Two writers swap genres for the summer. Romantic, witty, and more emotionally complex than its cover suggests.
• The Maid by Nita Prose — A neurodivergent hotel maid stumbles onto a murder. Charming voice, tight mystery, real heart.
• Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid — An epic Malibu party in 1983 unravels a family's secrets. Glamorous, pacy, perfect for the beach.

Discussion angle: Debate the literary merit of so-called "beach reads." Which books this year surprised you by being deeper than you expected?

August: Global Voices

Late summer is a chance to read beyond your home country. Books in translation or by international authors expand perspective and often spark the most eye-opening discussions.

Top picks:

• Pachinko by Min Jin Lee — Four generations of a Korean family in Japan. Epic in scope, intimate in feeling.
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini — Friendship, betrayal, and redemption set against decades of Afghan history.
• My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante — Two girls grow up in a poor Naples neighborhood. The first in an addictive four-book series.

Discussion angle: What did you learn about a culture or history you weren't familiar with? How does reading globally change the way you see your own community?

September: Back-to-School and Coming-of-Age

September's back-to-school energy pairs perfectly with stories about growing up, education, and that painful, exhilarating transition to adulthood.

Top picks:

• The Secret History by Donna Tartt — A group of Classics students at an elite college becomes entangled in murder. Atmospheric, intellectual, morally murky.
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky — A shy teenager navigates high school through letters to an anonymous friend. Short, powerful, and ideal for quick September reads.
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro — Students at a seemingly idyllic boarding school discover the horrifying truth of their existence. Quietly devastating.

Discussion angle: Coming-of-age is arguably the most universal story arc. What makes certain coming-of-age novels endure while others fade?

October: Gothic, Horror, and the Uncanny

Spooky season demands atmospheric reads. Even groups that don't usually read horror can find accessible entries into the genre.

Top picks:

• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson — The original modern haunted house novel. Psychological dread at its finest.
• Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice — A lavish, philosophical reimagining of vampire mythology.
• House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski — An experimental, labyrinthine novel about a house that is larger on the inside. Not for every group, but unforgettable for the right one.

Discussion angle: What scares us in fiction, and why? How does horror as a genre function as social commentary?

November: Gratitude, Family, and Gathering

Thanksgiving and the approaching holidays put family dynamics front and center. Choose books that explore the complexity of familial bonds—the beautiful and the dysfunctional.

Top picks:

• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus — A 1960s female chemist becomes an unlikely TV cooking show star. Funny, feminist, and full of discussion material.
• Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler — Three siblings remember their childhoods in radically different ways. A quiet masterpiece about family mythology.
• The Dutch House by Ann Patchett — A brother and sister spend decades processing their childhood exile from a grand family home. Narrated by Tom Hanks in audio, if your group includes listeners.

Discussion angle: Every family has a shared mythology. How do these books explore the gap between what families tell themselves and what actually happened?

December: Classics and Holiday Reads

Close the year with a classic your group has always meant to read, or a holiday-themed pick that feels festive.

Top picks:

• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens — Short enough to read in a sitting, rich enough to discuss for hours. Revisiting Dickens as an adult reveals layers you missed.
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott — Still relevant, still debated, still beloved. Ideal for end-of-year reflection on growth and ambition.
• The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden — A wintry Russian fairy tale about a girl who can see the spirits everyone else has forgotten. Atmospheric and enchanting.

Discussion angle: Why do we return to certain books? What does a classic "owe" modern readers, and when is it okay to let a book age out of relevance?

Building a Balanced Year

A strong annual reading plan hits several targets:

• Genre variety: Mix fiction, nonfiction, memoir, and at least one graphic novel or poetry collection.
• Diversity of voice: Actively include authors of different races, nationalities, genders, and sexual orientations.
• Length variety: Alternate between 200-page reads and 400-page commitments. Don't schedule two epics back to back.
• Tone variety: Follow a heavy book with something lighter. Emotional whiplash burns readers out.
• Member input: Even with a plan, leave one or two months open for spontaneous picks or member nominations.

Platforms like Readfeed make it easy to queue up your yearly reading list, track progress across the group, and generate discussion questions for each title—so you spend less time organizing and more time reading.

How to Present the Plan to Your Group

Don't just drop a list in the group chat. Instead:

1. Share 2-3 options per month and let members vote.
2. Explain the theme behind each month so the structure feels intentional, not arbitrary.
3. Build in flexibility. If a month's pick falls flat, have a backup ready.
4. Revisit the plan quarterly and adjust based on what's working.

A year-long reading plan isn't a rigid contract—it's a scaffold that keeps your group reading consistently and diversely while reducing the "What should we read next?" debate that stalls so many clubs.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you plan a year of book club reads?

Start by choosing a theme for each month—seasonal moods, genre rotation, or cultural observances work well. Then propose 2-3 titles per month and let members vote. Build in variety across genre, length, tone, and author diversity. Review the plan quarterly and adjust based on group feedback. Tools like Readfeed can help you organize the schedule and track what your group has read.

What books are good for book clubs right now?

Some of the most popular book club picks in 2025 include James by Percival Everett, Intermezzo by Sally Rooney, The Women by Kristin Hannah, and All Fours by Miranda July. Look for books with strong characters, moral ambiguity, and themes that connect to current conversations—those consistently generate the best discussions.

How do you choose books that everyone will like?

You can't guarantee universal enthusiasm, but you can improve the odds. Stick to books between 200-400 pages with ratings above 3.7 on Goodreads. Rotate genres so no one taste dominates. Let different members take turns choosing. And frame the goal as "interesting to discuss" rather than "everyone's favorite"—some of the best book club conversations happen around books that divide opinion.