Can't decide what to read next? Here are 20 recommendations for your book club

"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?"

"I guess I could explain the plot to you: 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"

"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 titles from 2025 are presented as conversation-ready selections for book clubs. The recommendations span contemporary and historical fiction, psychological ambiguity, family sagas, and genre-bending narratives. Audition follows an actress confronted by a man who insists she is his mother, creating deliberate narrative ambiguity and sparse detail that favors intrigue and depth. Buckeye traces two intertwined couples in fictional Bonhomie, Ohio, across the mid-20th century, aiming for an American epic with naval battle scenes and small-town scope. Cursed Daughters centers on three Falodun women bound by a multigenerational curse, blending family insight with surprising genre elements.

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