With all the exciting books coming out every week, it can be easy to get distracted by the new and shiny. But just because a new book is available now doesn’t mean it’s the right fit for your reading life or for your book club.
When it comes to book clubs, the backlist has a lot going for it. “Backlist” means “not newly published.” (New titles are referred to as “frontlist.”) Because backlist titles have been out for a while, it’s easier to get a sense of whether a book will make for good discussion and if it will work for your group. They also tend to have shorter wait times at the library and are less likely to be on backorder.
Even so, the dizzying array of backlist options can be overwhelming, so we turned to the team behind Modern Mrs Darcy and What Should I Read Next and asked them for great book club recs that aren’t brand new.
We are a team of readers—hardly a meeting goes by without adding at least one book to our collective TBRs—with a variety of tastes and interests, so there’s something for everyone here. (If you want my book club picks, check out our upcoming selections for the MMD Book Club. We feature a mix of frontlist and backlist titles there.)
If you’re interested in hearing more of the MMD team’s recommendations, check out What Should I Read Next episode 253: A whole bunch of book recs, from our team of readers to you and episode 268: Our team’s best books of the year.
Brenna’s Recommendations:
The One Hundred Nights of Hero
In the Great Green Room: The Brilliant and Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown
Too Late to Die Young: Nearly True Tales from a Life
Chelsey’s Recommendations:
The Joy Luck Club
We Are Okay
Monday’s Not Coming
Ginger’s Recommendations:
The Jane Austen Book Club
Machines Like Me
With the Fire on High
The Fire Next Time
Leigh’s Recommendations:
Empire of Sand (The Books of Ambha)
Idlewild
Wild Beauty
Fingersmith
Shannan’s Recommendations:
What Alice Forgot
That Kind of Mother
The Almost Sisters
Will’s Recommendation:
The Lola Quartet
What backlist titles has your book club particularly enjoyed? Tell us in the comments section!
P.S. Check out 15 backlist books to enjoy while you wait for this summer’s buzziest new releases and 16 favorite novels for book clubs.
40 comments
Anything by Anne Tyler, but particularly The Accidental Tourist.
Anne Tyler is my all time
Favorite author!! Ladder of
Years is great!
I love Anne Tyler and Ladder of Years is a favorite. I like listening to the audio versions too. I’m always trying to find a “read alike” for her but nothing is quite like her writing.
I love Anne Tyler, too. A Blue Spool of Thread is my favorite.
Coincidentally, tonight our book club will be discussing Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. I really enjoyed it. So well-written. xx
Loved, loved that story! I think I liked it better than Little Fires, maybe!
I was wondering if you ever read or recommend any Christian Fiction. I lead a ladies book club at my church and would appreciate wonderful suggestions.
Mark of the Lion Series by Francine Rivers, also A Mother’s Hope and A Mother’s Dream.
Have you read Lynn Austin, Susan Meissner, Kristy Cambron or Katherine Reay? Our book club enjoyed Meissner’s Secrets of a Charmed Life and will be reading The Last Year of the War soon.
Series by Liz Curtis Higgs: Thorn in my Heart, Fair is the Rose, Whence Came a Prince. It is an older series but engrossing retelling of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel story.
I loved these books too! I still think about them even though I read them years ago.
I’m super picky about my Christian fiction. Here are some good ones.
Her Mother’s Hope – Francine Rivers
Waves of Mercy- Lynn Austin
The Maid of Fairborne Hall- Julie Klassen
If mystery and suspense is what you like, anything by Jaime Jo Wright
Also anything by Jane Kirkpatrick
Julie Klassen is favorite of mine. I really her enjoyed her Ivy Hill books. Lynn Austin would be a great author for you book club too!
Our favourite across the board has been Kindred by Octavia Butler. So much to talk about in the book but also about the context of the world when it was written. Butler was truly a trailblazer.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a must. One of the best books I’ve ever read, everyone I recommended it to LOVED it, and it made a fantastic book discussion. So many layers to this one!
By Taylor Jenkins Reid
YES! It’s such a good book. It was one of my favorite fiction reads in 2019.
JoJo Moyes One Plus One
https://hopewellslibraryoflife.wordpress.com/2017/05/15/review-one-plus-one-wonderful/
Anything by Anne Tyler, Barbara Pym, Daphne Du Maurier and many others.
I often end up reading backlist books due to wait times at the library and my own crazy schedule, so this makes me happy to see this post.
I’m always trying to get my book clubs to read The Hearts Invisible Furies, but they complain it’s too long.
The Heart’s Invisible Furies was outstanding! My book club hasn’t voted for that one yet, either.
Wild Life by Molly Gloss. I cannot believe it took me so long to find this gem and I wish more people knew about it.
The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas is also in the same camp, and I think both would be fun to discuss in a book club.
We absolutely loved The Sparrow by Mary Doris Russell. Everyone I’ve recommended it to since has also been awed by it. Personally I’d never have read this book if it wasn’t part of a book club list. I’ve read every book she has written since then.
This is How it Always Is by Frankl was one of our best book club discussions over seven years; Such great topics to explore and learn about.
https://libraryreads.org/archive is a fantastic source to find backlist titles that are great!
psst…just a friendly fyi… the author of the wonderful, In the Great Green Room is Amy Gary
Oh goodness, of course it is—thank you!
Hi there Anne
I wanted to say thank you to Brenna for recommending the book about Margaret Wise Brown. I read a terrific article about her in the Guardian about six months ago and she was a fascinating woman, so I was excited to see that there is book about her life. Can’t wait to read it!
I’ve read a number of your pairings titles and loved everyone of them. Thanks for putting this list together. I’ve also just written down a number of titles I haven’t read yet. I am reading the last 15% of The Lost Queen by Signe Pike. It is 728 pages of historical fiction based on Queen Langoureth of Scotland. Everyday I carve out a time to pick up this book and when I enter it, I am completely taken back to the 1500’s and love every minute of it.
I loved reading Anita Shreve’s The Stars are Fire. Her books are somewhat of a comfort read for me…great Sunday-afternoon-on-the-couch (when that actually happens! Which I’m aiming for MORE of!).
Yes that was so good!!
What great picks from the team! 🙂 My go-to back-list title for book clubs is We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. That plot twist! Plus, the ethics of it all is great conversation fodder.
I second the mention of The Sparrow by Mary Doris Russell – an all time favorite. Celine by Heller and Purple Hibiscus by Adichie are better than their later works.
My group is specifically a mystery book group. Favorites do not always lead to good discussions, but the following hit both notes for my group: Citizen Vince by Jess Walter, Special Forces in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney and The Prophet by Michael Kortya.
Book club reads that have been group favorites, by genre:
HISTORICAL FICTION: (1) The Hummingbird’s Daughter (Based on the author’s family history and 20 years in the writing. Gorgeous writing, a little earthy, and a fabulous immersion in historical Mexico; the audiobook read by the author was recommended by some in the group) (2) The Nightingale and/or All The Light We Cannot See (I think most people have heard quite a bit about these two already — set in France in WWII. All the Light is more literary while The Nightingale is more popular. Both are excellent.) (3) Half of a Yellow Sun – I had never heard of Biafra so this was an especially interesting read. Amazing writing.
—-
CLASSIC LITERATURE: (1) Return of the Native and/or Far From the Madding Crowd (classics by Thomas Hardy. We were all surprised how much we loved Hardy after some of us had been tortured by him in high school!) (2) Cyrano de Bergerac (this one is a play so it is short, and it was extremely easy to read, so funny and sweet. Fun for those who are familiar with movie adaptations of the story. Everyone loved this one!) (3) Light in August by William Faulkner – less experimental than some of his other writings.
—-
LIGHTER FICTION: (1) Unmarriageable – a clever adaptation of Pride and Prejudice set in Pakistan. (2) My Lady Jane and/or My Plain Jane – farcical YA historical / fantasy novels based on Lady Jane Grey and Jane Eyre respectively.
—-
MEMOIR: (1) The Glass Castle and/or Educated (The Glass Castle audiobook read by the author is wonderful as is Half Broke Horses by the same) (2) Upstairs at the White House – so interesting to learn how the staff at the White House operates especially with different presidents and their families. (3) Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (great audiobook!) or Just Mercy. These have very different vibes but both educational on race politics. Born a Crime is quite funny and the race issues are incidental. Just Mercy is highly focused on social justice work.
—-
HISTORY: (1) The Color of Law – can’t recommend this enough and it’s under 300 pages! (2) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – highly readable and guaranteed to stimulate interesting discussions. (3) The Wright Brothers – can’t recommend the audiobook, but otherwise well-liked.
Allegedly is Tiffany Jackson’s novel for the older crowd.
“The Mother-in-Law.” So much to discuss!
My book group is reading two books this month, the older novel “News of the World” and the nonfiction “Afgantsy.”
My book club loved discussing Medicine Walk by the late Richard Wagamese! It explores father/son relationships, the struggles of native Americans, addiction and weakness, and most of all, the power of true love and selflessness- all under a backdrop of nature.
Two great books you haven’t discovered:
Fast Girls: A Novel of the 1936 Women’s Olympics Team
by Elise Hooper
A bit of important history that I knew nothing about as I was born in 1952.
West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
Who could imagine two giraffes surviving a hurricane at sea. Then driven cross-country to a California zoo. Overflowing with humanity and adventure. Don’t miss this one . . . .