The worst book club meeting is the one where everybody liked the book. Fifteen minutes of "it was lovely" and then you're talking about someone's kitchen renovation. The best meetings happen when the room splits down the middle and people have to explain themselves. These nine novels reliably do that, and each comes with the question that tends to start it.
Normal People by Sally Rooney (2018)
Connell and Marianne spend four years failing to say what they mean to each other, from school in a small Irish town to college in Dublin. Half your group will find them heartbreakingly real; the other half will want to shake them. See our review of Normal People.
The question: is the ending hopeful or sad, and are these two actually good for each other?
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (2022)
Two friends build video games together across thirty years and keep wounding each other over credit, pride and love. A plot turn in the back half reliably divides readers. See our review of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.
The question: whose side are you on, Sam's or Sadie's, and does the big turn earn its place or manipulate you?
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (2020)
One twin lives as Black, the other passes as white and hides it from everyone, including her daughter. The book refuses to judge Stella, which forces your group to do it. See our review of The Vanishing Half.
The question: was Stella's choice understandable, unforgivable, or both?
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (2021)
A robot companion narrates her life with a sick teenager and her anxious mother. The book never says whether Klara truly feels anything, so your group will. See our review of Klara and the Sun.
The question: does Klara love Josie, and what do you think of the mother's backup plan?
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (2022)
A modern David Copperfield in Appalachia during the opioid crisis. Long, funny and furious. It's great for a two-meeting club, and the arguments are about blame: the drug companies, the systems, the families or the choices of the people themselves. See our review of Demon Copperhead.
The question: does the Dickens frame make the story stronger, or does it get in the way?
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (2017)
A Booker winner made of dozens of ghostly voices in a cemetery on the night Lincoln visits his dead son. People either fall for the form or bounce off it entirely, and those who bounce will tell you why. See our review of Lincoln in the Bardo.
The question: did the crude comedy of the ghosts help you feel the grief or keep it at arm's length?
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh (2018)
A rich, beautiful, deeply unpleasant young woman in Manhattan in 2000 decides to sleep for a year with the help of a spectacularly irresponsible psychiatrist and a cabinet full of pills. It's darkly funny and some readers can't stand it. The narrator is designed to be unlikable, and the ending will set off a whole second conversation.
The question: is she a character you're meant to sympathize with, and does it matter?
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang (2023)
After her more successful friend dies, a struggling white writer takes the friend's unfinished manuscript and publishes it as her own. What follows is a satire of the publishing industry, with a lot of the action playing out in online pile-ons on X. It's a perfect pick for a club that also posts about books, because everyone has an opinion about who gets to tell which stories.
The question: is the book criticizing online outrage, joining in, or both?
Trust by Hernan Diaz (2022)
A novel in four parts about a Wall Street fortune in the 1920s, told first as a novel within the novel and then retold by people who were there, each version undercutting the last. It shared the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with Demon Copperhead in 2023. It's ideal for a group that likes to compare notes and catch details.
The question: which version did you believe, and when did you stop believing it?
How to host an argument without losing friends
Pick the question in advance and open with it. Asking "did you like it?" invites polite nodding; asking "was Stella right?" gets people sitting forward. Go around the room once before open discussion so the quiet people get a turn before the loud ones take over.
Let people change their minds out loud. The best moment in any club is somebody saying "I came in hating this and now I'm not sure," so leave room for it. Keep spoilers to the meeting and out of the group chat for people who haven't finished.
And if your club meets online, many of these questions work well as a poll on X before the meeting. Our guide to running a book club on X covers polls, threads and live audio chats in detail.