Best Book Club Books Lists

Like me, many book discussion group participants are beginning the process of choosing new books for the new year.

I was reminded of this by the RA Online weekly "Under the Radar List" this week which was entitled, Great Reads for Book Clubs.

This list is great, the problem is, my group has done almost every one of these books.  If your group has been around awhile, you probably have too.

So where do I go to find ideas for what to discuss. Here are a few of my favorite resources to help you narrow down what titles your group would most enjoy:

• The first place I turn to when creating a possible titles list is The New York Times Trade Paperback Bestseller list.  Most of these titles are on this list thanks to book clubs.  There is a fiction and a nonfiction version of this list.
• IndieBound, an association of independent booksellers has an "Indie Next List" each month. While I wouldn't suggest the current month's titles since they may only be in hardcover, you can look at past month's suggestions for ideas. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for easy access to the older lists. These are generally excellent book discussion books.
• More than any other award, I have found the list of Man Booker Prize finalists and winners to be a great resources for book discussion books.  Click here for the full archive.
• My favorite resource for finding quality book discussion titles is Reading Group Guides. Specifically, I like using their lists of favorites: Ongoing Favorites, Enduring Favorites, and New Favorites.  There are lists going back a few years for each.  You can also search by theme, genre, or most requested.  There are hundreds of proven titles to choose from here.

Finally, remember that I publish a report on every book my group discusses.  You can access these posts by using the book discussion books tag.

I hope your 2011 book discussion planning goes smoothly.  I will be posting the BPL's choices for the first half of 2011 before the end of November.