Our top picks for book clubs this month

For book clubs who want to lean into our current situation…

The End of October by Lawrence Wright

At an internment camp in Indonesia, 47 people are pronounced dead with acute hemorrhagic fever. Henry Parsons – microbiologist, epidemiologist – travels there on behalf of the World Health Organization to investigate, and what he finds will have repercussions across the globe: an infected man is on his way to join the millions of worshippers in the annual Hajj to Mecca. Already-fraying global relations begin to snap in the face of a pandemic as Henry’s wife, Jill, and their children face diminishing odds of survival in Atlanta… As packed with suspense as it is with the fascinating history of viral diseases, this is a full-tilt, electrifying, one-of-a-kind thriller.


For book clubs who need to keep it lighter this month…

The Drop-Off by Fiona Harris & Mike McLeish

Lizzie, Megan and Sam became accidental friends over good coffee, banter and wrong-world jokes at school drop off. Lizzie is a part-time midwife with four kids and a secret past. Sam is an ex-chef and stay-at-home dad with an absent, high-flying corporate wife. Megan is an ex-model single mum with a thriving online business and no time for loneliness. None of them have much interest in their school community, but when tragedy deals Baytree Primary’s reputation a potentially crippling blow, this unlikely trio have to step up. Forced out of their respective comfort zones, Lizzie, Megan and Sam learn more about each other, the school and themselves than they thought possible.


For book clubs who are keen for an intimate examination of family…

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

On a hot summer’s day in Tokyo we meet three women: thirty-year-old Natsu, her older sister Makiko, and Makiko’s teenage daughter Midoriko. Makiko, an ageing hostess, has travelled to Tokyo in search of breast enhancement surgery. She’s accompanied by Midoriko, who has recently stopped speaking, finding herself unable to deal with her own changing body and her mother’s self-obsession. Her silence dominates Natsu’s rundown apartment, providing a catalyst for each woman to grapple with their own anxieties and their relationships with one another. Kawakami paints a radical and intimate portrait of contemporary working class womanhood in Japan in this gripping English language debut from Japan’s brightest young talent.


For book clubs in the mood for a relatable coming-of-age narrative…

The Adversary by Ronnie Scott

It’s been a long winter in a creaky house in Brunswick, where a young man has devoted himself to recreational showers, staring at his phone, and speculating on the activities of his best friend and housemate, Dan. But now summer is coming, and Dan has found a boyfriend and a job, so the young man is being pushed out into the world, in search of friendship and love. The Adversary is a sticky summer novel about young people exploring their sexuality and their sociability, where everything smells like sunscreen and tastes like beer, but affections and alliances have consequences.


For book clubs who want a cinematic and thrilling drama…

The Mountain by Massimo Donati

Twelve-year-old Roberto, returning to the mountain village where he spends his summer holidays, renews his friendship with the intense, brooding Mattia. Bound together by contempt for ‘baby-children’ and a thirst for grown-up adventure, they drive each other to test their courage and daring. But then they decide to take on the mountain, and the expedition ends in tragedy and guilt. 30 years later Roberto is an art dealer in Zurich. When his father dies he is forced to confront the unresolved issues of that distant summer, to unearth a secret kept for too long. But to do this he needs Mattia. And to go back to the mountain, one last time.


For book clubs who like lively and intelligent novels…

You People by Nikita Lalwani

The Pizzeria Vesuvio looks like any other Italian restaurant in London – with a few small differences. The chefs who make the pizza fiorentinas are Sri Lankan, and half the kitchen staff are illegal immigrants. At the centre is Tuli, the restaurant’s charismatic proprietor and resident Robin Hood, who promises to help anyone in need. Nineteen-year-old Nia, haunted by her troubled past in Wales, is running from her family. Shan, having fled the Sri Lankan civil war, is desperate to find his. But when Tuli’s guidance leads them all into dangerous territory, and the extent of his mysterious operation unravels, each is faced with an impossible moral choice.


For book clubs who adore witty personal essays…

Something That May Shock and Discredit You by Daniel Mallory Ortberg

Reasons for Transitioning: Want to impress good-looking ex; Want to upset good-looking ex; Bored of existing wardrobe, looking for excuse to buy all-new clothes that don’t fit in a new way; Younger siblings getting too much attention; Neoliberalism??… From the beloved writer behind The Toast and Slate’s ‘Dear Prudence’ column comes a personal essay collection exploring popular culture, literature, religion, and sexuality. With wit and compassion, Daniel Mallory Ortberg revisits beloved cultural and literary figures in the light of his transition.


For book clubs who appreciate irreverent and fierce poetry…

Throat by Ellen van Neerven

Throat is the explosive second poetry collection from award-winning Mununjali Yugambeh writer Ellen van Neerven. Exploring love, language and land, van Neerven flexes their distinctive muscles and shines alight on Australia’s unreconciled past and precarious present with humour and heart. This fiercely talented writer is unsparing in their interrogation of colonial impulse, and fiercely loyal to telling the stories that make us who we are.


For book clubs who relish vivid explorations of the natural world…

Fathoms: The World in the Whale by Rebecca Giggs

When writer Rebecca Giggs encountered a humpback whale stranded on her local beachfront in Australia, she began to wonder how the lives of whales shed light on the condition of our seas. Fathoms: The World in the Whale blends natural history, philosophy, and science to explore: How do whales experience ecological change? Will our connection to these storied animals be transformed by technology? What can observing whales teach us about the complexity, splendour, and fragility of life?


For book clubs who believe in the power of art…

Funny Weather by Olivia Laing

In this remarkable collection of essays, acclaimed writer and critic Olivia Laing makes a case for why art matters, especially in the turbulent political weather of the twenty-first century. Funny Weather brings together a career’s worth of Laing’s writing about art and culture. She profiles Jean-Michel Basquiat and Georgia O'Keefe, interviews Hilary Mantel and Ali Smith, writes love letters to David Bowie and Freddie Mercury, and explores loneliness and technology, women and alcohol, sex and the body. With characteristic originality and compassion, she celebrates art as a force of resistance and repair – an antidote to a frightening political time.