11 Book Club Picks for January 2025 To Start Your Reading Year Right
If your plan for 2025 is to bury yourself in books when you’re not fighting against cruelty and injustices, then this roundup is for you! Not only are all these book clubs different from each other, but they all are virtual or have a virtual component, and many have author chats. Whether you read nonfiction or any genre of fiction there is certainly a book—probably more than one—on this list to curl up with.
This month brings so many different options. It’s truly beautiful to see the vast picks from many of the book clubs, and in a fun thing to note: two different books from the same author were chosen by two different book clubs. So maybe that’s the nudge you finally need to read them! The rest of January’s fiction picks include a sapphic King Lear reimagining, a YA romance centering a rabbi’s daughter, an award-winning sapphic historical fiction, a Scotland-set contemporary novel centering friendship and family, a fun debut novel that mixes a ton of genres/tropes, a family drama across six decades, and John Lewis’s graphic novel. And in nonfiction, Shonda Rhimes is here to explore saying “yes” to everything and Oprah liked a book so much she chose it for the second time. Now let’s start the year reading!
The Audacious Book Club in 2025
Private Rites by Julia Armfield
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.” Here are the Book Club FAQs.
What Roxane said about the book: “Our January selection is Private Rites by Julia Armfield. We will have a live book club discussion with the author on January 26th at 2 pm EST/11 am PST. Please note that this is a different time from our usual discussions because the author lives abroad. Registration is open! I hope to see many of you there.”
Follow Roxane Gay on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads
Subtle Asian Book Club
Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, 楊双子, translated by Lin King
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 pick, join in on discussions on social media, and watch videos of their live author interviews.
About the book: If you want to start the year off reading a National Book Award-winning sapphic historical fiction, this is your book club this month!
Follow Subtle Asian Book Club on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Discord
Sapph-Lit
Dear Senthuran by Akwaeke Emezi
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 between fiction and nonfiction.
What Sapph-Lit said about the book: “A tender yet brutal story about the unraveling of the self and the transformation of gender.”
Mocha Girls Read
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
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 States. 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 Read said about the book: “January 2025 Monthly Book Selection📚
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
Reading Guide:
Week 1: Chapters 1-5
Week 2: Chapters 6-11
Week 3: Chapters 12-17
Week 4: Chapters 18-23″
Follow Mocha Girls Read on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, MeetUp, Goodreads, Pinterest
Matzah Book Soup: A Jewish Own Voices Book Club for All
The Judgment of Yoyo Gold by Isaac Blum
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: “First book club pick of 2025 is here🫶🏻 we are so excited to share that we are reading The Judgment of Yoyo Gold!!!
We’ve both already read and LOVED this one and are so excited to be reading it again with all of you!
We will be meeting with the fabulous @isaacblum_ later this month to discuss Yoyo. The meeting is January 29 at 8 PM EST over Zoom!
The Judgement of Yoyo Gold is already out, so make sure to grab a copy asap!
We can’t wait to see you there 💙”
Follow Matzah Book Soup on social media: Instagram, Facebook
TODAY Book Club, #ReadWithJenna
The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight
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: “Jenna Bush Hager’s January 2025 pick for her Read With Jenna book club is a novel about a first-year college student in Scotland searching for the answers to her family secrets.
‘This is a book about friendship, motherhood and finding ourselves with mystery and romance at its core. This debut novel will sweep you up your feet,’ Jenna said.”
Follow Read With Jenna on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Read With Jenna Goodreads group
The Stacks Book Club
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
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: “We’re starting off this year with a little time travel with Kaliane Bradley’s debut novel The Ministry of Time. The novel follows a team of agents working to keep history on track by stopping those who try to disrupt it. Moving through different eras and events, the story examines the ripple effects of time travel and the ethical dilemmas of rewriting history.
Who is gonna read with us this month?”
Follow The Stacks on social media: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok
Eclectix The Book Club
Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
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: “I read this one a few years ago, but I would love to revisit it at the start of a new year with other readers who are doing some self-reflecting in the beginning of the year and are striving to better themselves through affirming and healthy habits!”
Follow Eclectix The Book Club on social media: Instagram, Discord, TikTok
Good Morning America’s GMA Book Club
Homeseeking by Karissa Chen
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: “We’re thrilled to have Homeseeking by award-winning writer @KarissaYChen as our January #GMABookClub pick!
The novel is a sweeping family drama spanning six decades about how a single choice can change an entire family’s life.”
Reese’s Book Club
The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan
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: “Have you ever felt like you were living more than one life? That’s exactly what Cate Kay is grappling with in our January pick, The Three Lives of Cate Kay by @KateFagan3. She’s a literary sensation, the face behind a blockbuster film trilogy, but her life isn’t what it seems. This story swept me away with its big dreams, love, and unexpected twists. Listen to it all month long on @AppleBooks, our official audiobook partner! 💛✨”
Follow Reese’s Book Club on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube
Teen Banned Book Club at NYPL
Run: Book One by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin with art by L. Fury and Nate Powell
About the book club: The NYPL is selecting young adult books that have been challenged or banned from schools and offering them free nationwide via digital access. The book club also hosts the authors for an event.
What The New York Public Library’s Teen Banned Book Club said about the book: “Our latest Teen Banned Book Club pick is Run: Book One by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin with art by L. Fury and Nate Powell. The book is available on Libby for unlimited download—no holds or wait times—for NYPL cardholders through February 28. Plus, download our free discussion guide and sign up for our book club event with the authors!”
Follow The New York Public Library on social media: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram
