What Book Clubs Are Reading In February

Good Morning America’s book club picked the hotly anticipated sophomore novel by Kiley Reid, author of Such a Fun Age. The club praises Reid's satirical campus novel to be "a searing indictment of materialism and life under capitalism while painting an intimate portrait of desire, consumption and reckless abandon."

Both Roxane and Nat joined the lovefest for one of the buzziest novels of 2024 so far. Martyr! explores violence and loss through Cyrus Shams, a newly sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, obsessed with martyrs, artists, poets, and kings. Following the voices of his obsession, Cyrus uncovers some revealing family secrets. "This book vibrates with love of life, beauty and language," wrote Nat on her Instagram post. "I’m in awe of Kaveh Akbar’s writing and imagination..."

The book club hosted by podcast and radio show Science Friday is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Stiff by Mary Roach. The show’s 1.8 million weekly listeners, and you, can tune into a host of virtual and live events this month to mark the momentous milestone for this “laugh-out-loud funny” book about, well, corpses. But fear not, the Wall Street Journal’s Tara Parker-Pope says Stiff offers “an appreciation of the miracle that the human body really is.”

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Jenna has picked the perfect "deconstructed love story" with Dolly Alderton's latest book. The book’s narrator, 35-year-old comedian Andy, tries to understand what went wrong in his relationship after his ex, Jen, suddenly dumps him. As he faces heartbreak without the home, love life, or stand-up career he’d hoped for, Andy thinks that solving the puzzle of his break-up just might make everything else fall a little more into place.

Actor Emma Roberts, with film production partner Karah Preiss, selected Sarah Gailey’s Just Like Home, which they describe as “a darkly gothic thriller” perfect for those who love The Haunting of Hill House or I’ll Be Gone in the Dark. In Just Like Home, Vera comes home to her estranged mother and the tatters of their relationship, haunted by memories of her father, a serial killer. Upon arrival, Vera finds an unwelcome guest and strange notes, and that’s just the beginning.

In her fiction debut, award-winning poet Dameron follows Mika Tabor, a young girl who spends time with her grandparents at Redwood Court, a cul-de-sac in the working-class, all-Black suburb of Columbia, South Carolina. "This book is filled with a sense of nostalgia as Mika takes us down memory lane, sharing stories of her Southern Black family through a collection of vivid vignettes," said Reese about her latest pick, which she called an "exquisite debut."

The latest book to get Dua Lipa levitating is this bestselling backlist gem, which she announced as her pick while rallying her fans to stand in solidarity with Afghan women. She told readers not to be put off by the "heaviness" of the subject: "This book soars on many levels. It’s an illuminating story of the cultural and political history of Afghanistan, rich with the textures of daily life. What stood out for me as much as the oppression it details is that this story is infused with love..."

Of rapper Noname's two picks for her Noname Book Club this month, we call out the poetry collection My Mother Was A Freedom Fighter by Aja Monet in case its not on your radar. Angela Davis called My Mother Was A Freedom Fighter a "feminist journey" that will "expand our capacity to envision and fight for new worlds." Filmmaker Ava Duvernay also thanked Aja Monet for her poetic ode to mothers, daughters, and sisters.

California Book Club has selected The Circle by West Coast lit celeb and McSweeney's founder Dave Eggers, who is fresh off winning the Newbery award for his kids book. This dystopian novel about “surveillance capitalism on steroids" is remembered by many for its 2017 adaptation with Emma Watson and Tom Hanks. "Nothing escapes Eggers’s keen and merciless eye for her encounters with the absurd, the ridiculous, and the horrifying," note the club organizers. "We can’t say we weren’t warned."

Alison Stewart, host of WNYC’s All Of It and the Get Lit book club, shares the gripping The Reformatory by Tananarive Due this month. (You can join Alison and the author for an event, in-person or via livestream later this month. Check @allofitwnyc for details.) Stephen King calls this New York Times notable pick “one of those books you can’t put down.” The New York Times says this “intensely readable, immersive story” that’s so “heart-smashingly good” it made its reviewer late for work.