The Best Books for Book Clubs in 2025
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What are the best books for book clubs in 2025? We are so glad you asked.
As we all know, a book club is never just a place for discussing the latest reads. It’s a place to connect with friends, drink a glass of wine (or three), and dive into discussions about everything from current events to a jaw-dropping psychological thriller. Your book club may be the type that comes prepared with detailed discussion questions, or you may just wing it. You could have a book club with 25 members, or 5. It can be a way to keep in touch with old friends, or try (and succeed) to make new ones.
With so many diverse types of book clubs, it can somehow be hard to know how to select what to read each month. But here at Glamour, we’ve cracked the code. Here are our top picks for best books for book clubs in 2025, on such topics as nonfiction, romance, thriller, and memoir.
What do they all have in common? They are sure to spark an enriching discussion among groups of women, no matter what brings them together.
All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman
A funny whodunit with incisive commentary on modern motherhood. I zipped through All the Other Mothers Hate Me in just a few days—it’s the perfect type of thriller: one with enough mystery to keep you guessing, but the meat of social commentary underneath.
Florence is a single mom whose life is kind of a mess. After being unceremoniously booted from a hit girl pop band in her teens, she has been adrift, her love for her 10-year-old son, Dylan, is the only stabilizing force in her life. After Dylan is accused of being involved in the disappearance of a schoolmate, Florence resorts to a series of increasingly problematic tactics to prove his innocence. It’s ripe for a debate on what makes a “good” or “bad” mom, and entertaining to boot.
—Stephanie McNeal, senior editor
Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie
Described as “a Trojan horse of a novel about art, power, misogyny, and female rage,” Runcie”s story is one we can all relate to—whether we’re aspiring stage actors or not. At center of the plot is Alex Lyons, a revered British theater critic, nepo baby, and entitled asshole who believes shows either deserve a five-star rave or a one-star pan. Anything in between is meaningless.
On the opening night of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, he despises a one-woman show he sees—but has a one-night stand with Hayley, the actress, anyway. Unaware that she hooked up with the critic who’s just written a career-ending review of her work—until she sees the newspaper at his apartment—Hayley revamps her show into a viral sensation critiquing Lyons himself and inviting other women to do the same with callous men they’ve encountered. I read this book, by all accounts juicy and so real, in a single weekend.
—Perrie Samotin, digital director
—Out July 8
Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
MacmillanYou’ve probably heard about Sarah Wynn-Williams's Careless People, or the book that Facebook, a.k.a. Meta, has tried to block. Long story short, Wynn-Williams, a former longtime government affairs employee at the tech giant, surprise-dropped her memoir about working there in the 2010s, and it immediately rocketed up best-seller charts for its searing insight into the company’s “careless” culture.
But while business and tech aficionados will pore over her insights about the inner workings of one of the world’s biggest firms, the beating heart of the book is Wynn-Williams’s story of being a woman of childbearing age in a workplace that, in her telling, did not want her to succeed. Her descriptions of feeling pressured to work while literally in labor (and return to the job soon after almost dying in childbirth) are just some of the jaw-dropping anecdotes that prove how far we have to go for true equality in the US workplace. It’s a story that will fire you up and make you want to fight back.
—S.M.
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
Nnedi Okorafor writes my kind of science fiction! This creative and inventive novel follows a disabled Black female writer named Zelu and how the trajectory of her life changes when a book she writes becomes super popular and catapults her to fame.
I loved Zelu as a character; through her we see how disabled people are treated in America and in Nigerian culture. This story also explores AI and humanity in a way that feels more timely than ever. It’s brilliantly told, and trust me—when you finish this book, you’ll need discuss it with someone.
Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert
Sometime at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, we watched ourselves enter a post-feminist era on reality TV, gossip blogs, and in the tabloids. That is the subject of Girl on Girl by Sophie Gilbert.
The book takes a hard look at the pop culture of the late ’90s and early ’00s—the explosion of tabloid photography, increasingly cruel and ceaseless commentary on celebrity blogs, sexualization of young women by the media, etc.—and the lasting damage it has done to modern women and, possibly, the feminist movement itself. It’—outs a book that will make you think, and want to discuss.
—Kathleen Walsh, contributor
—Out 4/29
Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson
I really enjoyed Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel, Black Cake, so I was eagerly anticipating the release of her second, Good Dirt. This is a generational story that looks at the Freeman family as they deal with the weight of a traumatic incident.
Charmaine Wilkerson is a brilliant storyteller. The short chapters make you want to keep turning the pages as she hints at the mystery of family secrets that will be uncovered. Wilkerson explores several weighty topics in this novel, including race, parental expectations, and grief, which provides plenty of discussion fodder for your book club.
—N.O.
Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang
This satire of influencer culture is so zany, with a plot that gets so bonkers, that I actually laughed out loud multiple times while reading it. Author Liann Zhang clearly has her pulse on the absurdity of modern social media (she even made her book go viral on TikTok with just one post) and is able to make her points while delivering a story that is truly one of a kind.
Julie Chan is struggling through a hard life, which is only made worse by the fact that her twin sister, Chloe, has an awesome one. After the twins’ parents died in a car accident when they were toddlers, Chloe was adopted by a rich white family and became an influencer, while Julie was sent to live with her aunt and struggles as an adult. The sisters have barely been in contact since then, but when Chloe suddenly reaches out, Julie can’t help but come to visit her in New York. When she instead finds her sister dead in her apartment, she makes a choice that sets her on a collision course of truly insane proportions. You won’t be able to stop talking about that ending.
—S.M.
—Out April 29
Never Planned on You by Lindsay Hameroff
Lindsay Hameroff is known for her witty and fun romantic romps, and her latest book, Never Planned on You, is a pure delight. Though the novel is most definitely a rom-com, she also explores such themes as family and ambition, with a lot of hijinks thrown in.
Ali Rubin never expected to see Graham again. The two met in London and, wildly, got matching tattoos together one drunken night, but that was the end of it. Until he turns out to be the groom in a high-profile wedding she’s planning, and she must confront that her one night of craziness with him maybe should be something more. It’s giving ’90s chick flick, in the best way.
—S.M.
Sucker Punch by Scaachi Koul
Scaachi Koul is known for her acerbic and sharp cultural observations, and her latest book, Sucker Punch, is no exception. In this essay-driven memoir, Koul grapples with an upending event in her life: her divorce during the COVID-19 pandemic. After her marriage falls apart, she is forced to examine her own history of love, relationships, family, and body image, with luminous results.
Koul has a unique ability to make you laugh out loud, gasp at her audacity, and then get punched in the gut with her writing, usually all on the same page. Because the end of a relationship isn’t just about the relationship; it’s finding your way back to yourself.
—S.M.
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
If your book club has embraced the big romantasy trend that’s sweeping the publishing world at the moment—and I’m going to guess that it has—then you’ve likely already covered Rebecca Yarros’s wildly popular Empyrean series, also known as the Fourth Wing books.
Add her latest, Onyx Storm, as early to the rotation as possible, or you’ll risk getting spoilers via BookTok.
–Anna Moeslein, deputy editor
Tilt by Emma Pattee
Tilt is truly a Russian nesting doll of a book. It takes place during the 24 hours after the long-feared “Big One” earthquake hits the Pacific Northwest, but its actually an insightful story of motherhood, relationships, and self.
In the novel, author Emma Pattee follows the story of Annie, who is nine months pregnant and at Ikea buying a crib when the catastrophic earthquake hits. As she walks through her devastated city and tries to make her way home, she reflects on the decisions that led her to the life she is in, for better or for worse. It’s a beautiful story that anyone who’s ever given birth, had a mother, or had a partner, will immediately resonate with.
—S.M.
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
Women’s rights have not felt as precarious in decades as they do right now, and the prescient and thoughtful The Dream Hotel explores these fears. In the same vein as Jessamine Chan’s The School for Good Mothers, author Laila Lalami explores the prejudices we face as women and the ways technology could potentially be weaponized against us.
Sara is an ordinary wife, mother to twins and a career woman who is plunged into a nightmare when she is stopped by security officials on her way back from a trip abroad. In her world, future crime is tracked by gathering data from, among other things, dreams; this is used to assign people “risk scores” that determine whether they may become an offender. Sara is told her dreams have shown she fantasizes of killing her husband, so she is sent off to a retention center, essentially a prison, where she must prove herself capable of returning to her family. It’s chilling, remarkable, and poignant, and will also make you want to delete your data from, like, literally every app.
—S.M.
The Favorites by Layne Fargo
The Favorites has to be one of the most entertaining books I’ve read in recent memory; it’s the kind of book you won’t want to put down once you pick it up. It’s about a pair of ice-dancing figure skaters and the rise and fall of their career together.
Fargo does an excellent job of foreshadowing and building up the tension, which leaves you desperate to know what exactly happened between the main characters, Kat and Heath. This book was a wild ride, and you're going to want to read it with your book club or some friends so you can discuss all of the drama that happens.
—N.O.
The Talent by Daniel D’Addario
Daniel D’Addario's delightful novel The Talent is ostensibly about famous actresses, but it is really about women. Through his description of his main characters, he paints a delightful, insightful tale of how we are pitted against each other and the different ways in which ambition can manifest.
The book centers around women who are all in the running for the Oscar for best actress. Each of them is at a different stage of her life, career, and emotional journey, and all feel achingly relatable despite their dealing with Hollywood problems. It’s a fun and poignant read that everyone can take something away from.
—S.M.
The Women on Platform Two by Laura Anthony
This family drama is, at its core, steeped in love, loss, and explorations of grief and trauma. The Women on Platform Two is based on a true story of the brave women who were tenacious enough to stand up for change.
The novel is set in 1970s Dublin, when all forms of contraception were outlawed. We get a present-day timeline and a 1970s timeline, although the bulk of the story takes place in the past. Reading about these resilient women who banded together to make change was just what we needed right now. There are absolutely good men and husbands, too, which we very much appreciated. You’ll have so many great discussion topics for book club and will leave feeling fired up.
—Stef and Ash, book influencers @youhavetoreadthisnow
Three Days in June by Anne Tyler
Anne Tyler is an incredibly acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize–winning fiction author, but her latest book was the first I have ever read. I was immediately delighted by her prose, especially her incisive writing on the different ways to be a woman.
Gail Baines is a buttoned-up, repressed school administrator who struggles to connect to people, including her coworkers, her daughter, Debbie, and her ex-husband, Max. However, Debbie is now getting married, and her wedding weekend may just be the catalyst for Gail to change her life and open herself up to all the possibilities it had to offer. I couldn’t help but love Gail and was genuinely sad when the book ended and I could no longer live in her brain.
—S.M.
