If you’ve ever joined or started a book club, you know the range of benefits they provide, from making friends to broadening your perspective. By fostering social connection and encouraging critical thinking, book clubs are also great for your mental health and a valuable way to build community where you live. Psychology researchers have found that sharing opinions in book clubs leads to improved social skills, increased confidence, and higher self-esteem.
But like any group, book clubs can fall into a creative rut. While your book club may already be organized around a genre, historical period, or reading goal, it never hurts to shake things up by introducing a theme to expand your club’s perspective.
We’ve put together 10 book club themes to get you started, whether you’re starting a new book club from scratch and need some ideas or you’re trying to infuse your long-running book with new energy. You can even use all 10 to jump-start a book club reading challenge!
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If you want to explore new genres…
If you’re looking to expand the kind of books your group reads, throw in a few specific genre picks outside of your usual fare.
Read a Thriller
Is your book club facing an energy slump? Are you looking for a first meeting pick that’s guaranteed to build excitement for a new book club? A thriller theme never fails to build momentum and get your members talking. Whether it’s the newest from Alex Michaelides or a classic from Stephen King, a complex exploration of the human psyche or a tale of spies and espionage, you won’t go wrong choosing a can’t-put-it-down thriller. Want to take it up a notch? Mail physical invites to members with a puzzle they have to solve to reveal details of the meeting.
Read a Memoir
We seem to be in a golden age of memoirs, with incredible self-reflective and eye-opening works being published by household names and regular folks who have lived through extraordinary circumstances. Choose one that you think will best resonate with your members and host a personal storytelling workshop at the book club meeting. You can check out resources created by storytelling institutions like The Moth or bring in a local writer to lead a short lesson.
Read a Graphic Novel
While the term “graphic novel” might bring to mind the comic books of your youth, graphic novels span the full range of genres in both fiction and nonfiction. You could check out classics of the genre like Maus by Art Spiegelman or Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, or look at the best new releases of the past few years. We think Punk Rock Karaoke by award-winning cartoonist Bianca Xunise (notable for winning the 2025 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work) is a perfect pick. For an activity tie-in, give members paper, colored pencils, and markers so you can all draw your responses to the book before sharing them in a roundtable discussion.
If you want to explore the connections between creative works…
Books are the basis for a range of creative works, from film and television to longer series. Deepen your usual discussion by choosing a book with a connection to another work.
Read a Novel and Its Sequel
Usually book clubs pick totally separate books for each meeting, so why not tackle a pair of linked books for your next picks? If your group is feeling ambitious, take on a book and its sequel for a meeting and explore the nature of storytelling across both novels. Or, split the books up into two separate meetings to build anticipation. One perfect meta double pick for this theme could be Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot and The Sequel, a set of fun and exciting thrillers that deconstruct the nature of publishing and will definitely get you talking about the relationship between first books and their sequels.
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Read a Novel and Watch Its Film Adaptation
Turn your book club into a movie club for a month by choosing a book with a screen adaptation. You might assign your chosen book and then watch its accompanying film at the meeting or go to see a new movie in theaters together and then read its book inspiration. If you’re looking for new film adaptations coming out in theaters this year, check out Stephen King’s The Long Walk or Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet. You could also pick a classic book with several adaptations to compare, like Jane Austen’s Emma or Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
If you want to learn something new…
If your book club tends to stick to fiction and novels, throw in a nonfiction book on a topic you’ve been wanting to learn more about!
Read a Psychology Book
We all need to check in with our mental health, so why not turn a book club meeting into a reflective space for growth? By picking an accessible book written by a psychology expert, you can give your members the chance to look inward and learn everyday strategies for tackling common mental health issues. One popular topic these days is our quest for happiness and emotional regulation, which Marc Brackett’s Permission to Feel tackles in a way that’s both complex and practical. Choose this or a similar title and put together some reflective questions offered by the book or simply start the meeting with a quick mindfulness exercise.
Read a History Book
Many of us may have had less-than-stellar experiences being forced to memorize dates in high school history class. Today’s historians have shaken things up, writing accessible books for the general public and infusing their meticulous research with engaging prose and fascinating insights. Just ask Lin-Manuel Miranda, who was so taken with Ron Chernow’s 2004 Hamilton biography that a hit musical was born (p.s. Chernow just published a new book about Mark Twain). You might pick a war history, a work of recent history, or a cultural history of an everyday object. Smithsonian Magazine often has great lists of historical nonfiction, or check out our recent guide to history book club picks.
Read a Sociology Book
You probably use words every day, like gender norms, intersectionality, counterculture, or microaggression, that originated within the field of sociology. Why not explore the works that coined those terms? One classic we recommend is The Managed Heart, by Arlie Russell Hochschild, a study of the work of flight attendants that introduced an idea we’re all still talking about: emotional labor. If your book club is excited about sparking a more academic discussion, look for sociological studies — they are some of the most interesting nonfiction works you’ll read. And check out accessible pop sociology academics and journalists like Tressie McMillan Cottom and Isabel Wilkerson.
If you want to “spice” things up… (in either sense of the word)
Read a Cookbook
Cookbook clubs are becoming all the rage, but if you’re not ready to dive headfirst into a full-fledged cookbook club, you can convert your regular book club into a cooking club for a meeting. Choose a book (for instance, one of these delectable Southern Cookbooks), then have each member select a recipe to bring to the next meeting. At the meeting, sample the dishes and discuss your experience using the recipes in the chosen cookbook. The theme is flexible, as the host can plan an all-out cocktail party or a simple living room potluck.
Read a Romance Novel This is a perfect theme for February, when Valentine’s Day rolls around. No matter your regularly scheduled book club’s theme, there’s a romance novel that fits your vibe. Are you mostly fans of literary fiction? Check out a literary love story. Usually read historical novels? There’s probably a romance novel for your favorite historical period. You can adjust your pick to your members’ spice level.
