Get deep into discussion at your next book group with these handpicked reads from our expert library staff. This list covers our favourite titles for book groups and since they are our top picks, we have many copies and formats available.
The white girl* by Tony Birch and The yield* by Tara June Winch are recent, showcase works from Australian Indigenous authors. We have uncovered some incredible debut novels, try The vanishing half* by Brit Bennett, The binding* by Bridget Collins, also have several new titles from other favourite Australian authors such as A room made of leaves* by Kate Grenville, The living sea of waking dreams* by Richard Flanagan, Cilka's journey* by Heather Morris and The wife and the widow* by Christian White.
Love a true story? Educated by Tara Westover or The erratics by Vickie Laveau-Harvie should help start some conversations.
Visit our Book Groups page for more information on Book Group events and resources.
Recommended reads for book groups
Fiction
- The heart goes last* by Margaret Atwood
- The testaments* by Margaret Atwood
- The sense of an ending* by Julian Barnes
- The vanishing half* by Brit Bennett
- The white girl* by Tony Birch
- The field of poppies* by Carmel Bird
- The secret chord by Geraldine Brooks
- Milkman* by Anna Burns
- The chemistry of tears* by Peter Carey
- The binding* by Bridget Collins
- Boy swallows universe* by Trent Dalton
- French exit by Patrick De Witt
- All the light we cannot see: a novel* by Anthony Doerr
- Akin* by Emma Donoghue
- Actress* by Anne Enright
- The lying life of adults* by Elena Ferrante
- The woman in the window by A. J. Finn
- The narrow road to the deep north* by Richard Flanagan
- The living sea of waking dreams* by Richard Flanagan
- The city of girls* by Elizabeth Gilbert
- A room made of leaves* by Kate Grenville
- The dressmaker* by Rosalie Ham
- The dressmaker's secret* by Rosalie Ham
- Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
- The nightingale by Kristin Hannah
- Force of nature* by Jane Harper
- The lost man* by Jane Harper
- The survivors* by Jane Harper
- Golden boys by Sonya Hartnett
- Our souls at night* by Kent Haruf
- Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine* by Gail Honeyman
- The Dickens boy* by Tom Keneally
- Act of grace* by Anna Krein
- The choke* by Sofie Laguna
- The beekeeper of Aleppo* by Christy Lefteri
- The Nancys by R.W.R McDonald
- The children act* by Ian McEwan
- Nutshell by Ian McEwan
- Autumn Laing by Alex Miller
- The carer* by Deborah Moggach
- Nine perfect strangers* by Liane Moriarty
- Big little lies* by Liane Moriarty
- The tattooist of Auschwitz* by Heather Morris
- Cilka's journey* by Heather Morris
- The strange library by Haruki Murakami
- Dear Edward* by Ann Napolitano
- Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
- Little fires everywhere by Celeste Ng
- Everything I never told you by Celeste Ng
- Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
- The Dutch house* by Ann Patchett
- A spark of light by Jodi Picoult
- Where the Crawdads sing* by Delia Owens
- Normal people* by Sally Rooney
- Honeybee* 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
- Olive again* by Elizabeth Strout
- Mothering Sunday* by Graham Swift
- A gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
- Damascus* by Christos Tsiolkas
- The wife and the widow* by Christian White
- The nickel boys* by Colson Whitehead
- The dictionary of lost words* by Pip WIlliams
- The yield* by Tara June Winch
- Cloudstreet* by Tim Winton
- The bass rock by Evie Wyld
- Bridge of clay* by Markus Zusak
Non-fiction
- Phosphorescence by Julia Baird
- Only: a singular memoir by Caroline Baum
- No friend but the mountains* by Behrouz Boochani
- Humankind by Rutger Bregman
- The road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
- 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
- The erratics by Vickie Laveau-Harvie
- Becoming* by Michelle Obama
- Dark emu* by Bruce Pascoe
- Any ordinary day* by Leigh Sales
- Reckoning: a memoir by Madga Szubanski
- Too much and never enough by Mary Trump
- Hillbilly elegy by J. D. Vance
- Educated by Tara Westover
- The boy behind the curtain by Tim Winton
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.