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, The yield* by Tara June Winch and Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray* by Anita Heiss are showcase works from Australian Indigenous authors. We have uncovered some incredible debut novels, try Lessons in chemistry* by Bonnie Garmus, Cold enough for snow* by Jessica Au, and The other black girl* by Zakiya Dalila Harris. We also have several new titles from other favourite Australian authors such as Horse by Geraldine Brooks, Wildflowers* by Peggy Frew, and Wild abandon* by Emily Bitto.
Love a true story? Unorthodox: the scandalous rejection of my Hasadic roots* by Deborah Feldman or Emotional female* by Yumiko Kadota 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
- Love marriage by Monica Ali
- Cold enough for snow* by Jessica Au
- Elizabeth Finch* by Julian Barnes
- The vanishing half* by Brit Bennett
- The white girl* by Tony Birch
- Wild abandon* by Emily Bitto
- Horse by Geraldine Brooks
- Chai time at Cinnamon Gardens* by Shankari Chandran
- All the light we cannot see* by Anthony Doerr
- Cloud cuckoo land* by Anthony Doerr
- Girl, woman, other by Bernadine Evaristo
- The narrow road to the deep north* by Richard Flanagan
- The living sea of waking dreams* by Richard Flanagan
- Booth* by Karen Joy Fowler
- Crossroads* by Jonathan Franzen
- Wildflowers* by Peggy Frew
- Lessons in chemistry* by Bonnie Garmus
- The woman in the library* by Sulari Gentill
- A room made of leaves* by Kate Grenville
- The midnight library* by Matt Haig
- Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
- The Aaron Falk series* by Jane Harper
- The lost man* by Jane Harper
- The survivors* by Jane Harper
- The other black girl* by Zakiya Dalila Harris
- Golden boys by Sonya Hartnett
- Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray* by Anita Heiss
- The good sister* by Sally Hepworth
- Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine* by Gail Honeyman
- Klara and the sun* by Kazuo Ishiguro
- The dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison* by Meredith Jaffe
- Dinner with the Schnabels by Toni Jordan
- Infinite splendours* by Sofie Laguna
- The Labyrinth* by Amanda Lohrey
- The children act* by Ian McEwan
- Lessons* by Ian McEwan
- Love objects* by Emily McGuire
- The murder rule* by Dervla McTiernan
- The colony* by Audrey McGee
- Nine perfect strangers* by Liane Moriarty
- First person singular* by Haruki Murakami
- Little fires everywhere by Celeste Ng
- Still by Matt Nable
- The marriage portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
- Where the Crawdads sing* by Delia Owens
- The Dutch house* by Ann Patchett
- The maid* by Nita Prose
- One hundred days* by Alice Pung
- Love & virtue* by Diana Reid
- Carrie Soto is back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo* by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Beautiful world where are you?* by Sally Rooney
- Blue hour by Sarah Schmidt
- Dirt town* by Hayley Scrivenor
- Honeybee* by Craig Silvey
- The Paris library by Janet Skeslien Charles
- Black river* by Matthew Spencer
- Everyone in my family has killed someone* by Benjamin Stevenson
- Anything is possible* by Elizabeth Strout
- Olive again* by Elizabeth Strout
- Shuggie Bain* by Douglas Stuart
- Mothering Sunday* by Graham Swift
- The little wartime library by Kate Thompson
- A gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
- Lincoln Highway* by Amor Towles
- French braid* by Anne Tyler
- The Nickel boys* by Colson Whitehead
- The dictionary of lost words* by Pip WIlliams
- The yield* by Tara June Winch
- Still life* by Sarah Winman
- Cloudstreet* by Tim Winton
- The diplomat* by Chris Womersley
- The bass rock by Evie Wyld
Non-fiction
- Phosphorescence by Julia Baird
- Power play* by Julia Banks
- No friend but the mountains* by Behrouz Boochani
- Olive, Mabel and me* by Andrew Cotter
- Love stories* by Trent Dalton
- Lapsed* by Monica Dux
- Apollo and Thelma* by Jon Faine
- Unorthodox: the scandalous rejection of my Hasadic roots* by Deborah Feldman
- With my little eye* by Sandra Hogan
- The happiest man on earth* by Eddie Jaku
- Emotional female* by Yumiko Kadota
- Empire of pain* by Patrick Radden Keefe
- The erratics by Vickie Laveau-Harvie
- Who gets to be smart* by Bri Lee
- Everything is f*cked: a book about hope* by Mark Manson
- This much is true by Miriam Margolyes
- Daring to fly by Lisa Millar
- Witness by Louise Milligan
- 100 years of dirt* by Rick Morton
- Becoming* by Michelle Obama
- Dark emu* by Bruce Pascoe
- Any ordinary day* by Leigh Sales
- Farmers or hunter-gatherers? The Dark emu debate* by Peter Sutton
- Taste: my life through food* by Stanley Tucci
- The boys club by Michael Warner
- Educated by Tara Westover
- Enid* by Robert Wainwright
- Nellie* by Robert Wainwright
Reserve a book on our list
To reserve a book, click the title and use your membership number and PIN to place a reservation. You can find out more about logging in to your account on our Membership page.
Titles with an asterisk (*) are also available from our eBook collection. You can find out more on our eBooks and audio books page.
More recommended reading
To view booklists on a variety of subjects, visit our Booklists page.