These are the Penguin Random House books that over 80,000 book clubs voted as the best group reads this month.
Autumn is here, temperatures are dropping and it’s the perfect time to curl up with a good book.
With summer activities slowing down, now is your chance to recommit to your book club. But what will you read?
To discover the books that book clubs are loving, we turned to Book Movement where over 80,000 book clubs have voted for their favourite books this month.
Keep reading to learn about the books book clubs are loving – hopefully, you find one for your own meetups.
Best book club reads of autumn 2024
Hello Beautiful Ann Napolitano
This instant bestseller centres around four sisters and the rift in the family that pulls them apart. Can they find their way back to each other? Can love make a broken family whole? Miranda Cowley Heller, author of The Paper Palace called it ‘beautiful, perceptive, wistful. I loved it.’ If your book club loved The Covenant of Water or Tom Lake, this is the pick for you!
None of This is True Lisa Jewell
Prepare to be hooked: this addictive suspense thriller is chilling, pacy and utterly unputdownable. It’s equally amazing on audiobook and will provoke many lively book club discussions. With a blurred line between what is/isn’t true, the open ending will spark endless hours of conversation. A must-read for any book club that enjoys crime and thriller genres.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Gabrielle Zevin
This beautifully written book by Gabrielle Zevin is full of themes for your book club to explore. An ‘unconventional love story’, it tells the tale of two friends who become business partners – along with all the highs and lows that come with human relationships. Equally funny and heartbreaking at times, this one has become a book club favourite for good reason.
The Berry Pickers Amanda Peters
You’ll think about this book long after you finish reading the last page. One day in 1960s Maine, a young girl named Ruthie disappears while her family pick fruit. In an affluent suburb nearby, Norma grows up as the only child of unhappy parents. When she begins to sense that there are secrets in her past, it will take decades to unravel the grief and betrayal. Suspenseful, deep and utterly thought-provoking, this read is perfect for book clubs that enjoyed Demon Copperhead.
Go as a River Shelley Read
With gorgeous depictions of the Colorado landscape and a heart-wrenching story about prejudice and young love, Go As a River is essential reading for any book club. When Victoria and Will meet, the spark is undeniable – but the world they’re living in isn’t ready for a relationship between them. When tragedy strikes, Victoria is propelled away from home and forced to reckon with loss, hope, and her own untapped strength.
Black Cake Charmaine Wilkerson
Black Cake will transport your book club into six years in the life of one Caribbean/American family. Perfect for fans of The Vanishing Half, the book raises questions about family, history and hope. When Eleanor’s children reunite for their mother’s funeral, the estranged siblings discover a puzzling inheritance that changes everything they thought they knew about their family.
The Thursday Murder Club Richard Osman
If your book club loves mysteries, look no further than The Thursday Murder Club. The first book in the series of the same name, the book follows a group of retirement village residents who band together to – you guessed it – solve murders. Surprisingly adept at sleuthing, the lovable laugh-out-loud characters will have to catch a killer before it’s too late.
Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer
For a nonfiction pick, consider Braiding Sweetgrass, an illuminating book about the wisdom of the natural world. Botanist Robin Will Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions – and the answers she discovers highlight the ways that plants and animals are some of the best teachers. Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother and a woman, she highlights ways that we can better listen to the languages of other beings.
All The Broken Places John Boyne
From the author of the multi-million-copy classic, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, comes this highly-anticipated sequel. Gretel Fernsby is a quiet woman leading a quiet life. She doesn’t talk about her escape from Germany, and she definitely doesn’t talk about her father who was a commandant of one of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps. When a young family moves into the apartment below, Gretel gets a second chance to save a life. Will she make a different choice this time?
The Fraud Zadie Smith
History, mystery and a court case that captivated 1870s England. Centred around the real, historical ‘Tichborne Trial’ this book blends fact and fiction to present questions about hypocrisy and the fragility of truth. With her expert prose and deep insight, Zadie Smith brings the Victorian melodrama to life, planting plenty of seeds for interesting book club conversations.