Our top books for book groups

Get deep into discussion at your next book group with these handpicked reads from our expert librarians. This list covers our favourite titles for book groups and since they are our top picks, we have many copies and formats available.

We have brilliant Australian literary titles such as Burial rites, The chemistry of tears and The choke or try standout titles like Richard Flanagan's Man Booker Prize winner The narrow road to the deep north or Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks with Year of wonders and The secret chord.

Dissect movie adaptations The help, The light between oceans, The dressmaker, The book thief or smash hit TV series The handmaid's tale and Big little lies.

Love a true story? Reckoning: a memoir by Madga Szubanski or Hillbilly elegy by J. D. Vance should help start some conversations. 

Join a book group

Want to join a book group? We have library book groups you can join to discuss fascinating reads. 

• Book Group Hawthorn Library Second Wednesday of the month
• Book Group Kew Library Fourth Wednesday of the month

Book group kit for loan

Your book group can also borrow kits of 12 regular print copies (plus 2 large print and 2 talking book copies where possible). 

Find out more about Book Group Kits.

Recommended reads for book groups

Fiction

• The handmaid's tale* by Margaret Atwood
• The heart goes last* by Margaret Atwood
• The sense of an ending* by Julian Barnes
• The other side of the world by Stephanie Bishop
• Between a wolf and a dog* by Georgia Blain
• The secret chord by Geraldine Brooks
• Year of wonders* by Geraldine Brooks
• The chemistry of tears* by Peter Carey
• Amnesia* by Peter Carey
• Luminaries* by Eleanor Catton
• The truth about the Harry Quebert affair by Joel Dicker
• All the light we cannot see: a novel* by Anthony Doerr
• Boy swallows universe by Trent Dalton
• The woman in the window by A. J. Finn
• The narrow road to the deep north* by Richard Flanagan
• Every note played by Lisa Genova
• The little Paris bookshop by Nina George
• The dressmaker* by Rosalie Ham
• Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
• The nightingale by Kristin Hannah
• The party by Robyn Harding
• Force of nature* by Jane Harper
• The lost man* by Jane Harper
• Golden boys by Sonya Hartnett
• The mere wife by Maria Dahvana Headley
• Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine* by Gail Honeyman
• And the mountains echoed by Khalid Hosseini
• Burial rites* by Hannah Kent
• Our souls at night* by Kent Haruf
• The choke*  by Sofie Laguna
• Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig
• Grace by Paul Lynch
• The Nancys by R.W.R McDonald
• The children act* by Ian McEwan
• Nutshell by Ian McEwan
• On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
• Autumn Laing by Alex Miller
• Big little lies* by Liane Moriarty
• The tattooist of Auschwitz* by Heather Morris
• Hear the wind sing by Haruki Murakami
• The strange library by Haruki Murakami
• Little fires everywhere by Celeste Ng
• Everything I never told you by Celeste Ng
• Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
• Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
• A spark of light by Jodi Picoult
• Jasper Jones* by Craig Silvey
• The last painting of Sara de Vos* by Dominic Smith
• The light between oceans* by M. L. Stedman
• Anything is possible* by Elizabeth Strout
• The goldfinch by Donna Tartt
• The secret history by Donna Tartt
• Mateship with birds* by Carrie Tiffany
• Brooklyn: a novel by Colm Toibin
• A gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
• Barracuda* by Christos Tsiolkas
• The lost swimmer by Ann Turner
• A spool of blue thread by Anne Tyler
• The nowhere child by Christian White
• Underground railroad by Colson Whitehead
• Cloudstreet* by Tim Winton
• Cairo* by Chris Womersley
• A little life by Hanya Yanagihara
• The book thief* by Markus Zusak
• Bridge of clay* by Markus Zusak

Non-fiction

• Only: a singular memoir by Caroline Baum
• The road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
• Boy erased: a memoir by Garrard Conley
• The hare with amber eyes by Edmund De Waal
• The happiest refugee by Anh Do
• Flesh wounds by Richard Glover
• Talking to my country by Stan Grant
• One life by Kate Grenville
• A honeybee heart has five openings by Helen Jukes
• When breath becomes air by Paul Kalanithi
• The erratics by Vickie Laveau-Harvie
• Dark emu* by Bruce Pascoe
• Any ordinary day* by Leigh Sales
• The lost child of Philomena Lee by Martin Sixsmith
• Reckoning: a memoir by Madga Szubanski
• Hillbilly elegy by J. D. Vance
• Educated by Tara Westover
• First we make the beast beautiful by Sarah Wilson
• The boy behind the curtain by Tim Winton
• Fire and fury by Michael Wolff

Reserve a book on our list

To reserve a book, click the title and use your membership number and PIN to place a reservation.

Titles with an asterisk (*) are also available from our eBook collection.

More recommended reading

To view booklists on a variety of subjects, visit Booklists from our librarians.