Looking for nonfiction to read with your book club in the coming year? It can be tricky to track down quality nonfiction that has real discussion potential, so we've created this list to give your group a head start on your picks for 2024.
Our selections include two books portraying lesser-explored elements of World War II from unique angles, an engaging story of sisters separated by the Chinese Civil War, an eye-opening account of women fighting discrimination at MIT, an intimate and socially conscious portrait of George Floyd, and the dramatic telling of a North Carolina community's battle for justice against a multinational corporation.
All of these titles will be available in paperback during the first half of 2024; some have full discussion guides available; for those that don't, we recommend our 36 Book Club Discussion Topics for Any Book. We hope these books spark fruitful conversations!
It can be difficult to decide what middle age is, much less what books on the subject should cover. Depending on who you ask, mid-life may begin as early as 35 and end as late as 65. And experiences of the period vary widely based on many factors; for example, whether or not a person has (or wants to have) children, where they are professionally or in life. But when it comes to books about those in middle age, the particular topics that emerge often have to do with aging itself and a growing understanding of the limits of human existence. In accordance with the concept of the mid-life crisis, it's in middle age that many begin to grapple with the question of whether it's "too late" — to be a parent, to excel in one's chosen career path, to make significant changes to one's personal life. Middle age can also be a time of reflecting on the past, of questioning, from a more mature perspective, the choices one made long ago, and the current cycles and habits those decisions have established. All of this makes for philosophically rich considerations that many authors turn into literary gold, as evidenced by this list we've compiled of recent books about people in middle age.
Topics covered include mental health, infertility, illness, love in mid-life, how one's personal decisions impact others, the search for meaning, the everyday realities of marriage, the legitimacy of choosing a childless or unmarried life, and many others. All of the books come recommended by our reviewers and some have reading guides provided by the publisher to help build fulfilling book club discussions. Whether you fall into the middle-age range yourself or are somewhere on either side of it, we hope you enjoy these selections.
At the start of each year, we ask BookBrowse subscribers to look back on the previous year and tell us which books they most enjoyed discussing with their book group. The 2022 Top 10 includes some favorites from previous years and some new arrivals!
Coming-of-age plots are a staple of YA books, as the changes of adolescence and the transition to adulthood have special relevancy to the teenage perspective. But adults can benefit from coming-of-age stories too. Gaining some distance from your own experience of growing up provides a place from which to reflect more deeply on the experiences of others, and any thoughtful story that leads readers through the inevitable, pivotal changes we all encounter in certain early stages of life is likely to give book groups something relatable and interesting to talk about. Plus, we never really stop growing, and "coming of age" is a murky concept that can stretch well into adulthood. Luckily, there's no shortage of evocative and insightful coming-of-age books for adults, and we've put together a list for you containing some of the best from recent years.
All the books below have been rated five stars by our reviewers, and they all come with reading guides to help you organize quality conversations with your book club. They feature a range of young people, from children to 20-somethings still struggling to find their place in the world, across a wide variety of life circumstances and settings.
Looking for reading inspiration? BookBrowse's Book Club discussions are a reliable resource for readers seeking ideas for their own book club picks or who just want to get some insight into specific books. In 2022, our members talked about 18 different books in our discussion forum. Scroll down for links.
Reading nonfiction with your book club provides an opportunity to learn about new topics with the benefit of others' thoughts and perspectives. It can also be fascinating to discuss how authors have chosen to view and present certain aspects of nature, society, history or their own lives.
If you're looking to expand your group's nonfiction picks for next year, we have some suggestions! Below are half a dozen books covering a wide range of subjects that will be newly available in paperback during the first half of 2023, all of which come highly recommended by our reviewers. Three are memoirs that use the author's personal experience to reflect on the world around them, while the other three are substantial dives into complex and important subjects. Despite their depth, they're relatively short, digestible reads, ranging from around 240 to 350 pages. All of them are sure to provide plenty of worthy material for conversation, and we've included ideas for topics to discuss.