Books with Found Family Trope
Do you love books where the lost main character finds family (conventional and otherwise)? Love it when a group of friends or oddballs are knitted together into a family unit by circumstances? Are you looking for your next fiction pick or trying to decide on a novel for your book club? If so, check out the novels with a found family trope featured here on Book Club Bites. Each includes a book club guide just for you!
The Call of the Wrens Book Club Questions and Recipe
The Call of the Wrens is a dual timeline story following two women who join the Wrens (the nickname for the Women’s Royal Naval Service). The first timeline follows the first group of Wrens in WWI and the second timeline follows the second group in WWII. As their stories intersect, the reader learns about these brave groups of women who served Britain in many capacities during the world wars. Interwoven in both timelines are two unforgettable love stories, friendships between brave women, and characters who battle their own internal enemies even while serving bravely during the war.
Double Exposure Book Club Questions and Recipe
Double Exposure follows photojournalist Annie Hawkins as she returns to Afghanistan in 2015 to rebuild a school for girls destroyed by the Taliban.
Set during the unstable period when the Taliban desperately tried to regain power by launching terrorist attacks against Afghans, the novel is a fast-paced, heart-wrenching tale of the people who stood strong in the face of terrorism.
The Memory Keeper of Kyiv: A Novel about Ukraine
Has your book club been searching for a novel about Ukraine? Given the devastating current events in Ukraine, you might be wishing to read more about the country and its people. If so, The Memory Keeper of Kyiv is the perfect choice.
The Memory Keeper of Kyiv is a dual-timeline novel. It follows a young woman and her family as they deal with Stalin’s invasion and the resulting famine in the 1930s and her granddaughter as she comes to term with her own losses and seeks to reconnect with her family heritage in the early 2000s.
The Italian Daughter Book Club Questions and Recipe
If you love a novel about searching for clues to the past, you’ll love The Italian Daughter, Soraya Lane’s newest novel.
When Lily receives an unexpected inheritance containing only two clues linking her to a family she’s never known, she sets out on a journey to discover the past.
Set in present day and post-WWII Italy, the novel follows Lily and her ancestor, Estee, as they navigate through difficult life choices that will both separate and eventually draw them together.
The Exit Strategy Book Club Questions and Recipe
Two women. One man. An unexpected friendship formed with the intention of revenge. You know the concept. You might even love it (I do). But, set your preconceptions aside, because while The Exit Strategy includes a similar hook, the plot is sure to surprise you. If you have worked in any type of corporate setting or male-dominated business, you need to read this book.
The Two Lives of Sara Book Club Questions and Recipe
The Two Lives of Sara is Catherine Adel West’s sophomore novel. Her debut, Saving Ruby King, released two years ago–a timely novel about a young black girl in Chicago whose mother is murdered.
The Two Lives of Sara follows a young woman in trouble as she struggles to deal with her painful past, hopeful for a better future. The novel is set in Memphis. As someone who lived in Memphis for several years, I really enjoyed reading this book. and the setting rang true to me.
A Boundless Place Book Club Questions and Recipe
A quiet novel, full of characters dealing with real grief, it reminded me of other heartwarming books that I have loved. While reading, the book offered me a similar feel to At Home in Mitford, with a little more edginess (aka tragic character pasts).
A Boundless Place is the first novel I’m featuring for Book Club Bites’ collaboration with The Best of Women’s Fiction podcast and Hasty Book List.
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry Book Club Questions and Food Ideas
Are you a fan of indie bookstores? Do you love short story collections? How about novels about found families? If so, then Gabrielle Zevin’s hit, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, should be on your list.
The novel’s central character, A.J. Fikry, is an independent book store owner and widower living on remote Alice Island. When a young girl shows up in his bookstore with no family to left to claim her, A.J.’s life takes an unexpected turn.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Book Club Questions and Food Ideas
Have you ever read an epistolary novel? Epistolary novels are stories told entirely through a series of letters. The form originated in 1740 when Samuel Richardson revolutionized story telling with Pamela.
Considered to be one of the first novel-type works, Pamela led a long trend of epistolary novels. But today the form is rare. You might recall that The Color Purple was an epistolary novel. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is an epistolary novel in its truest form. Told through letters between, not just two or three, but at least a dozen correspondents, it is truly a fascinating work.
The Jane Austen Society Book Club Questions and Food Ideas
If you love British novels, especially feel-good ones, then The Jane Austen Society is just your type of book. Set in post WWII England, the book takes place in the small village of Chawton.
You might recognize Chawton as it was one of the places Jane Austen lived during her lifetime. The book fictionalizes the attempt to secure Jane Austen’s cottage in Chawton along with some of her things for historical purposes.
Far from the Tree Book Club Questions and Recipe
Far from the Tree is a brilliant novel that addresses many heavy topics with grace and care including teen pregnancy, alcoholism, adoption, foster care, divorce, discrimination, and more. And it does it while still maintaining the complex mix of innocence and wisdom through which teenagers process the world.
This Tender Land Book Club Questions and Recipe
If you’ve been stuck in a reading rut lately, especially due to the pandemic (or just life in general), then This Tender Land could be the next read for you. It’s a character-driven adventure story with all the feels, but it won’t leave you emotionally fatigued. The novel centers around two young brothers and their two friends, a mute American Indian and a sweet-hearted girl with a mysterious gift.
