Ten SHORT Books That Will Spark Lively Book Club Discussion

Top Ten Tuesday


NOTE: CLICK HERE FOR A VERSION OF THIS LIST THAT I CONTINUALLY UPDATE WITH NEW BOOKS!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish that asks bloggers to create Top Ten lists on a variety of bookish topics. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books To Read If Your Book Club Likes _______________.

I tend to think all book club selections should be on the short side to accommodate a variety of reading schedules for book club members. But, the books on this list are especially short…around 300 pages or less. Yet, they’re incredibly meaty and will spark lively book club discussions despite their brevity.

Short Books that will spark lively book club discussion


Brain on Fire
 by Susannah Cahalan (290 pages)
This medical mystery memoir from the New York Post writer was the last book I chose for my former book club.

Did You Ever Have A Family by Bill Clegg (293 pages)
One of my favorite books of 2015, this book will get you talking about family (obviously), small-town life, prejudice, parent/child relationships, grief, heartache, and regret.

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance (272 pages)
This memoir of growing up poor in Appalachia / social analysis is especially timely for this election season.

The Beautiful Bureaucrat by Helen Phillips (192 pages)
This entire book feels like a giant riddle and, even once the central questions have been answered, it will leave you thinking “what does it all MEAN?!”

The Dinner by Herman Koch (306 pages)
This is a love it or hate it type novel (always great for heating up the discussion!) which will also have you arguing over the many questionable decisions the main characters make.

The Mother by Yvvette Edwards (256 pages)
This novel centered around the trial of a sixteen year old boy’s murderer explores a mother’s grief, poverty, race, and the choices faced by people born into a rough life on the streets.

The Mothers by Brit Bennett (288 pages)
One of the hottest debuts of 2016, this novel is about many things (grief, recovering from trauma, teen pregnancy, race, and friendship) without being overwhelmingly about any one of them.

The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood (208 pages)
This award-winning Australian novel addressing the treatment of women is weird, has an ending that is entirely open to interpretation, and will likely generate strong opinions one way or another.

The Wife by Meg Wolitzer (211 pages)
This novel about a writer who puts her career aside to support her husband’s writing career and take care of her family…it explores the role of “the wife” in society and the expectations and pressures that many women face as they navigate harnessing their talents and/or devoting themselves to their families.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (208 pages)
Though this emotional gut-wrencher is technically a book about death, it’s more about humanity and how to live…this for you if you’re looking for an incredibly intense discussion.

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32 Comments

  1. I’m going to bookmark this for the next time my book club selects book.

    Posted 11.1.16 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Yay!

      Posted 11.2.16 Reply
  2. Did You Ever Have A Family was one of my favorite books last year, too. I almost included it on my list this week, but even though it is about family, in some ways it’s also not.

    Love the idea of shorter books for book clubs. I’m no longer in one because it always drove me nuts that half the people wouldn’t finish the books!

    Posted 11.1.16 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      I agree – lots about grief and small towns too.

      I dropped out of my book club too! But more because I was the one who never read the book and always skipped meetings!

      Posted 11.2.16 Reply
      • To be really honest, I also quit my book club because I thought a lot of the books that other people picked were awful!

        Posted 11.2.16 Reply
  3. Anita wrote:

    I agree with your short books work best theory for book club. My book club is all over the place with picks. I need to keep some of these in mind for just me, or when it’s my turn to pick. Thanks.

    Posted 11.1.16 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      You’re welcome! I feel like more people will read a book they may not have picked up on their own if it’s short!

      Posted 11.2.16 Reply
  4. I read, and enjoyed, Brain on Fire at the beginning of this year, and also Did You Ever Have a Family (so melancholy). Good choices, and I plan on picking up When Breath Becomes Air soon since so many readers recommend it. Thanks, Sarah!

    Posted 11.1.16 Reply
  5. My reading groups have read both long and short books this year. I can recommend a short one that provoked excellent discussion: The Cradle by Patrick Somerville. Link to my review: http://keepthewisdom.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-cradle.html

    Posted 11.1.16 Reply
  6. Half of these have me going, “Yes, that’s a GREAT book club pick” and the other half are, “ohhh I haven’t read that yet, adding it to Goodreads!”

    Posted 11.1.16 Reply
  7. Amanda wrote:

    Of course I just picked my January book club book! I really need to read When Breath Becomes Air. And really most of these are on my list to read still!

    Posted 11.1.16 Reply
  8. This is an excellent list! Many members of my book club prefer shorter books and all the one I’ve read from this list have been great. I’ll get to the rest eventually…

    Posted 11.1.16 Reply
  9. Lindsay wrote:

    Sadly “The Dinner” was in the “hate” column for me. I don’t remember why… I just know I gave up on it after like 20 pages! But Koch’s new book has gotten so much hype that I’ve been wondering if I should give him another try.

    I agree that “When Breath Becomes Air” is a fantastic book club pick! There’s so much to talk about there.

    Posted 11.1.16 Reply
  10. Naomi wrote:

    Picking short books is a good idea – I hadn’t really thought of that before. I think the main problem our book club has is finding enough copies of the book to go around without having to buy them. So any book not available at our library is automatically out of the running. Which eliminates more than half the books on your list (or any list!). Oh well, there are still lots of good ones to choose from – we just have to dig around a little bit for them. 🙂

    Posted 11.1.16 Reply
  11. Michelle wrote:

    This is an interesting list. A lot of them don’t scream book club selections to me, but your reasoning makes a lot of sense for all of them and I can see the appeal now. Definitely a lot of discussion fodder in all of them!

    Posted 11.1.16 Reply
  12. Great idea and will pitch this at a new book group I’m joining next month. With so much going on right now, I think short and “meaty” is a great way to approach the book group burnout.

    Posted 11.1.16 Reply
  13. Excellent list! My book group prefers picks on the shorter side 🙂 We’ve read a few of these (Wood, Phillips, Koch)and all provided great discussion, so naturally, I’ll be checking out your other suggestions.

    Posted 11.2.16 Reply
  14. Beth F wrote:

    Some really great choices here. Brain on Fire was fab, wasn’t it?

    Posted 11.2.16 Reply
  15. I didn’t realize Hillbilly Elegy is a short book. I expected it to be one of those long, meaty hardcovers. I might have to bump that up my TBR list a little. I loved When Breath Becomes Air. I don’t usually love memoirs of the dying, but this one was great. I’m jsut starting The Mothers and Brain on Fire is fairly high up on my backlist TBR list.

    Posted 11.2.16 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Yes – it’s super short and reads quickly – give it a shot! And – I was skeptical about WBBA too..which is why it took me so many months to read it, but it really is fantastic. Plus, I felt like it’s actually more about how to live than dying. Hope you’re enjoying The Mothers!

      Posted 11.2.16 Reply
  16. I loved Brain on Fire, Hillbilly Elegy, and The Wife. Our best book club discussions last year were The Admissions by Meg Mitchell Moore and Circling the Sun by Paula McLain, but they aren’t short books. The club seems to have fizzled for the new school year, which is fine.

    Posted 11.3.16 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      I loved Circling the Sun – good discussion on the role of women I’m sure!

      Posted 11.6.16 Reply
  17. Excellent list! I might send to my mother — I know she’s looking for a book to suggest to her book club for their next read.

    Posted 11.6.16 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Awesome – please do!

      Posted 11.10.16 Reply
  18. Bookertalk wrote:

    The Dinner would be a good choice. Lots of scope for discussion . Our book club prefers shorter texts so there are some here thet inwillmtwke a closer look at. I won’t recommend Did Yiu Ever Have a Famikynwhixh I thought rather copped out at the end.

    Posted 11.12.16 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Good to hear! I’m the type of reader where the journey matters more than the destination, so the ending didn’t bother me too much.

      Posted 11.14.16 Reply
  19. Toady wrote:

    I adore this list! Some of my favorite books have been shorties that have rocked my world and are among my most memorable reads. The Chronicles of a Death Foretold is such a book.

    Posted 11.12.16 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      I agree! Will check that one out.

      Posted 11.14.16 Reply
  20. Rachel wrote:

    I have Brain on Fire on my shelf, though I doubt I’ll read it next year since I have already over-extended myself on reading plans for next year. I plan on reading Hillbilly Elegy in May through June of next year, for instance. 🙂

    Posted 11.24.16 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      You’ve got quite the long term plan! Hope you enjoy them when you get to them!

      Posted 12.1.16 Reply

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