"You know that feeling when you finish a book and just have to discuss it with someone? That's a great book club book. We looked through our favorite books of 2025, and pulled out 20 titles that are sure to get the conversation started. If your club reads fast - we've got you! NPR's Books We Love archive has more than 1,300 book club recommendations going back 13 years. Now all you need to figure out is: Who's hosting next month?"
"An actress meets up with a man who is convinced she's his mother. It turns out she's not. I think? Maybe she is? Or, maybe she's not but actually kind of is? What is a mother? The most impressive thing about this Booker Prize finalist is how Katie Kitamura plays with the narrative and toys with the reader without being overly clever about it all. She's stingy with details and answers, but generous with intrigue and depth."
"Where else would a novel called Buckeye be set but in Ohio? Its title, however, is the only expected thing about this moving historical narrative, which follows the lives of two intertwined couples in the fictional small town of Bonhomie from pre-World War II to the close of the 20th century. Patrick Ryan, whose previous books include the standout 2016 short story collection The Dream Life of Astronauts, aims to write an American epic and he has the chops to do so,"
Twenty conversation-starting titles for book clubs are collected from favorite books of 2025 and recommendations in NPR's Books We Love archive. The list highlights contemporary fiction that prompts questions about identity, family, history, and narrative form. Audition examines maternal identity and narrative ambiguity through an actress entangled with a man who believes she is his mother, emphasizing restraint in detail and psychological depth. Buckeye traces intertwined couples in a small Ohio town across much of the 20th century, aiming for an American epic that includes naval battle scenes. Cursed Daughters depicts a multigenerational family curse affecting three women.
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