11 Book Club Picks For August 2024, From Sapph-Lit to #ReadWithJenna
Welcome to a new month of book club’s selections! Whether you’re just curious about what books people will be talking about this month, are looking for your next read, or want to join in with a book club, I’ve got you covered with this roundup. Almost all of the book clubs are virtual—but all have at least a virtual component—and you can join in as little or as much as you’d like. Plus, you usually get to hear the author talk about their book at the end of the month. My favorite part is that there is something for all reading tastes. So what did a bunch of book clubs pick to read in August 2024?
Our very own When In Romance co-host Jessica Pryde’s edited collection is a pick this month! Romance readers also have two more options: a very popular YA author’s adult romance for second-chance trope lovers and a fake-dating office romance. Other picks include a novel by the author of The Kite Runner; a novel about a family of luchadores; a classic by James Baldwin; a 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography; a historical novel set during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and more. There’s so much to choose from, go forth and enjoy!
Sapph-Lit
Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg
About the book club: Born from TikTok, Sapph-Lit is a safe space book club for sapphic women and nonbinary readers to come together and chat books and life as well as offer each other support. One book a month is selected, alternating each month between fiction and nonfiction.
What Sapph-Lit said about the book: “A groundbreaking work about the complexities of gender that follows the life of a butch lesbian from their childhood in the ’40s through the ’70s.”
Subtle Asian Book Club
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
About the book club: Tiffany and Alexandra, longtime friends, created the Subtle Asian Book Club in 2020 with the goal of uplifting Asian voices and storytellers. You can read along with the monthly book chosen, join in on discussions on social media, and watch videos of their live author interviews.
About the book: If you’re in the mood for a novel that spans 50 years and many countries with multiple character’s lives, this is your book club this month!
Follow Subtle Asian Book Club on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Discord
The Audacious Book Club in 2024
The Sons of El Rey by Alex Espinoza
About the book club: Author Roxane Gay (Bad Feminist, Ayiti, The Banks) selects a book every month with the goal of uplifting “authentic and necessary perspectives from writers who fearlessly share their stories.”
What Roxane said about the book: “…we’re talking about The Sons of El Rey by Alex Espinoza (@ae_espinoza). I hope you’ll join us at The Audacity to discuss this masterful novel throughout the month of August and on August 29th when we’ll be in conversation with Alex. Register here or at the link in my stories.”
Follow Roxane Gay on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads
Mocha Girls Read
Black Love Matters: Real Talk on Romance, Being Seen, and Happily Ever Afters by Jessica P. Pryde
About the book club: Mocha Girls Read is a monthly book club of Black women who love to read. They currently have chapters in 14 cities across the United Stats. Starting in 2024, anyone can join an “IG Live every first Saturday of the month at 5 pm PT. Alysia, our founder, will chat about our current book club selection.”
What Mocha Girls said about the book: “For this August’s book for 2024, we are so blessed to have Penguin/ Random House sponsor us and the guest author at our Wellness + Books Retreat. 🎉 The Mocha Girl Read Monthly Book Selection for August 2024 is: Black Love Matters: Real Talk on Romance, Being Seen, and Happily Ever Afters by Jessica P. Pryde 🖤”
Follow Mocha Girls Read on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, MeetUp, Goodreads, Pinterest
Eclectix The Book Club
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
About the book club: Dawnshaeé Reid is a self-proclaimed eclectic blogger who created this book club with Black authors as a priority. It aims to highlight a wide range of genres. There’s an in-person, once-a-month meeting option if you’re in Louisville, KY, and a virtual option that meets the last Tuesday of every month.
What Eclectix The Book Club said about the book: “💙 August Pick: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin — to celebrate Baldwin’s life and legacy in honor of his centennial, we’re picking up one of his renowned bodies of work.”
Follow Eclectix The Book Club on social media: Instagram, Discord, TikTok
TODAY Book Club, #ReadWithJenna
The Wedding People by Alison Espach
About the book club: Jenna Bush Hager — current co-host of Today with Hoda & Jenna — independently chooses a book each month that she personally loves. (“Jenna was not paid to mention these items and is unaffiliated with the authors and publishers“)
What Jenna said about the book: “It’s about where we are when we’re in the middle of our life and expectations versus reality. It’s about love and friendship and finding that love when you least expect it. I think you will love this book if you want to laugh, maybe shed a couple tears, but also just have a lot of fun.”
Follow Read With Jenna on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Read With Jenna Goodreads group
Reese’s Book Club
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell
About the book club: Every month, Reese Witherspoon picks a book for Reese’s Book Club that centers a woman in its story.
What Reese said about the book: “Happy (almost) August and happy 99th @reesesbookclub pick!!!!!! 🤯 This month’s pick, SlowDance by @rainbowrowell invites you into the bittersweet world of Shiloh and Cary, where childhood promises are tested by time, and love finds its way back through unexpected twists. You can listen to it on @applebooks our official audiobook partner, all month long! 🎧”
Follow Reese’s Book Club on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube
The Stacks Book Club
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo
About the book cub: Hosted by Traci Thomas, The Stacks is a podcast that chats all about books, and there’s a monthly book club! The book chosen for the month is discussed on the podcast the last week of the month with a selected special guest.
What The Stacks Book Club said about the book: “And now for our announcement of our August book club pick. It is Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo. This book was the winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize and biography and is the story of self emancipation told through the lives of a bold young enslaved couple.”
Follow The Stacks on social media: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok
Matzah Book Soup: A Jewish Own Voices Book Club for All
Not Safe for Work by Lindsey Lanza
About the book club: Lillianne Leight and Amanda Spivack created this book club with a focus on Jewish books and characters “with varying relationships to Judaism” that welcomes all readers — Jewish and non.
What Matzah Book Soup said about the book: “This month we are thrilled to be returning to one of our favorite authors with @readwithli’s newest book Not Safe for Work! This fake-dating office romance is sure to make you swoon and we can’t wait to chat about it with Lindsey on AUGUST 28TH @ 8 PM EST on Zoom!”
Follow Matzah Book Soup on social media: Instagram, Facebook
Amerie’s Book Club
Hum by Helen Phillips
About the book club: “A modern book club for the modern reader” that invites casual readers to bibliophiles to join in on social media to talk about exciting books.
What Amerie said about the book: “Even in a futuristic age, surrounded by both soothing and terrifying technology, humans will be humans. HUM is an exploration of so many of our anxieties about the greater world and planet, as well as our worries about being a good parent, partner, and human being. Helen Phillips renders in beautiful prose the intersections of family, our relationship with the earth, conformity, public shaming, and what privacy means when our minds are too easily accessed.”
Follow Amerie’s Book Club on social media: Instagram, YouTube
Good Morning America‘s GMA Book Club
The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
About the book club: Read along with Good Morning America Book Club, which aims to “showcase book picks from a wide range of compelling authors.”
What GMA said about the book: “Moreno-Garcia’s new novel, set in the 1950s during the Golden Age of Hollywood, takes readers through the life of ‘a young woman wins the role of a lifetime in a film about a legendary heroine,’ according to a synopsis.”
If you want to know about past monthly book club picks, prepare your TBR shelf and take a look.
