Book Club Picks: July 2026
Alta Journal’s California Book Club
The book: American Midnight by Adam Hochschild
Our reviewer says: “President Woodrow Wilson’s call for the U.S. to enter WWI to make the world “safe for democracy” ironically set the stage for an unprecedented attack on Americans’ civil liberties, according to this expert and eye-opening account.” Read more.
The book: Pool House by Mary H.K. Choi
Our reviewer says: “A broke actor and her 20-year-old daughter rent out their home and decamp to their “money pit” pool house in the mordant adult debut from YA author Choi (Yolk).” Read more.
Barnes & Noble Book Club and Read with Jenna
The book: The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson
Our reviewer says: “Jackson (Pineapple Street) serves up an enjoyable tale of a writer who makes new friends and then steals their stories.” Read more.
The book: Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells by Ida B. Wells-Barnett
The book: Voyagers by Meg Charlton
Our reviewer says: “Charlton’s fascinating near-future debut puts a well-researched and deeply introspective spin on a familiar alien abduction scenario.” Read more.
The book: Flooding the River by Kehinde Winful
The book: Land by Maggie O’Farrell
Our reviewer says: “O’Farrell (Hamnet) paints a devastating yet tender portrait of Irish history through the story of a Dublin family’s relocation to a western peninsula.... It’s a stunning and gorgeous epic.” Read more.
The book: Someone Else's Husband by Kimberly McCreight
Our reviewer says: “Investment banker Richard Falk and his wife, Gretchen, are sound asleep in their swanky Upper East Side co-op when police arrive with a warrant in this entertaining mystery from bestseller McCreight (Like Mother, Like Daughter).... This should satisfy the author’s fans and win her new ones.” Read more.
Good Morning America Book Club
The book: Country People by Daniel Mason
Good Morning America YA Book Club
The book: Ruinous Ends by I. V. Marie
The book: Contrapposto Say by Dave Eggers
Jewish Book Council Book Club (fiction)
The book: The Very Unremarkable Life of Mrs. Etty Bloom by Talya Jankovits
Jewish Book Council Book Club (nonfiction)
The book: Judy Blume: A Life by Mark Oppenheimer
Our reviewer says: “Journalist Oppenheimer (Squirrel Hill) contends in this impressive biography that Judy Blume ‘rewired the English-speaking world’s expectations of what literature for young people could be.’” Read more.
The book: Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson
The book: One Leg on Earth by ‘Pemi Aguda
Our reviewer says: “The marvelous debut novel from National Book Award finalist Aguda (Ghostroots, a story collection) follows a young woman whose arrival in Lagos for an exciting career opportunity coincides with a series of harrowing suicides by pregnant women.... This is unforgettable.” Read more.
The book: Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers
The book: Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby
Our reviewer says: “In this strong crime novel from Thriller Award finalist Cosby (Blacktop Wasteland), the double murder of married couple Isiah Randolph and Derek Jenkins, shot dead outside ’a fancy wine store‘ in Richmond, Va., drives African American Ike Randolph and self-proclaimed redneck Buddy Lee Jenkins, both hardened ex-cons, to track down their sons’ killers.... Chalk up another winner to Cosby.” Read more.
NYPL Adult/Teen Banned Book Club
The book: The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
Our reviewer says: “Tiến Phong, 12, who ‘speak[s] mostly English,’ and his mother, Hiến, a refugee who ‘speak[s] mostly Vietnamese,’ have long read fairy tales together to bolster Hiến’s English.... Meanwhile, Tiến struggles to discuss his sexuality with his parents (‘The librarian and I couldn’t find the word for it in Vietnamese’) and navigate his feelings for male best friend Julian, even with the encouragement of best friend Claire.” Read more.
The book: Little Wonder by Sophie Chen Keller
The book: One & Only by Maurene Goo
Our reviewer says: “YA author Goo (The Way You Make Me Feel) makes her adult romance debut with this enjoyable contemporary.... fans of Celine Song’s films will especially enjoy Goo’s exploration of complicated relationships. Add in a touch of magical realism, vivid prose, and well-rounded characters, and this makes for a diverting romp.” Read more.
The book: A Founding Mother: A Novel of Abigail Adams by Stephanie Dray
The book: Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory
Our reviewer says: “The mild latest from bestseller Guillory (The Wedding Date) finds buttoned-up bisexual Avery Jensen, 29, ready to try dating women for the first time, though she’s unsure how to begin. Enter bartender Taylor Cameron, a newly single lesbian lothario... The result is sweet but forgettable.” Read more.
The book: Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi
Our reviewer says: “The author, who grew up behind the Iron Curtain in Albania, recounts her coming-of-age in 1990 as the country (the last with Stalinist-type rulers in Europe) began to shed its Communist identity.... This vivid rendering of life amid cultural collapse is nothing short of a masterpiece.” Read more.
The book: Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Our reviewer says: “A Mumbai slum offers rare insight into the lives and socioeconomic and political realities for some of the disadvantaged riding the coattails (or not) of India’s economic miracle in this deeply researched and brilliantly written account by New Yorker writer and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Boo.” Read more.
The book: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Our reviewer says: “Hamid’s (The Reluctant Fundamentalist, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia) trim yet poignant fourth novel addresses similar themes as his previous work and presents a unique perspective on the global refugee crisis.” Read more.
The book: The Winged Game by Sophie Kim
Our reviewer says: Former rivals in a magical game must learn to work together in this light and humorous blend of sports romance and contemporary fantasy from Kim (The God and the Gwisin).... Readers in it for the romance will be well pleased."
The book: Every Version of You by Natalie Messier
The book: The Waves: The Virginia Woolf Library Authorized Edition by Virginia Woolf
