In good news, book clubs remain very popular. In even better news: there is a vast array of choices, from sapphic-themed to author-run book clubs, so there is certainly one (probably many!) that is perfect for you. Plus, they all have a virtual component, and most meet with the author or have an end-of-the-month discussion.
May’s picks range from a memoir with a focus on Colombia’s history to an Italy-set romance. There are also mysteries and thrillers, a Japanese fantasy, an Irish short story collection, a novel set in 90’s NYC art world, a sci-fi novel about human connections, and so much more! You’re gonna want to carve out plenty of reading time this month.
The Audacious Book Club
The Violence: My Family’s Colombian War by Adriana E. Ramirez
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. And she’s partnered with Allstora for book delivery of selections.
What Roxane said about the book: “Next month in the Audacious Book Club, we’re talking about The Violence: My Family’s Colombian War by Adriana E. Ramirez (@adrianawrites). I hope you’ll join us at The Audacity to discuss this excellent book throughout the month of May.
You can also register for our Zoom discussion with Adriana.”
Follow Roxane Gay on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads
Subtle Asian Book Club
Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
About the book club: Tiffany and Alexandra, longtime friends, founded the Subtle Asian Book Club in 2020 to uplift 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’re in the mood for Japanese fantasy involving a portal to another world, this is your book club this month.
Follow Subtle Asian Book Club on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Discord
In The Club
Sign up for In The Club to get tips and tricks to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.
Eclectix The Book Club
Where the Wilflowers Grow by Terah Shelton Harris
About the book club: Dawnshaeé Reid is a self-proclaimed eclectic blogger who created this book club, prioritizing Black authors. 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 on the last Tuesday of every month.
What Eclectix The Book Club said about the book: “April showers bring May flowers with this month’s selection. Harris’ debut cemented her as a powerful writer in my book – she is an author willing to challenge her readers to hold space for some of the most uncomfortable conversations around trauma and undesirable life circumstances. I’m excited to see what everyone thinks of her newest novel that takes us back to the South, with a woman finding solace and peace but battling a past she has buried deep.”
Follow Eclectix The Book Club on social media: Instagram, Discord, TikTok
Mocha Girls Read
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
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. Anyone can join an Instagram Live every first Saturday of the month at 5 p.m. PT to hear Alysia, the founder of Mocha Girls Read, discuss the current book club selection.
What Mocha Girls Read said about the book: “Our 2026 global theme, AROUND THE WORLD, invites us to explore stories that expand how we engage with literature across cultures. This month, we are leaning into a story that is as provocative as it is timely, sparking important conversations about voice and visibility. We are excited to announce our May Monthly Book Selection: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang.”
Follow Mocha Girls Read on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, MeetUp, Goodreads, Pinterest
Service95 Book Club
So Late In The Day by Claire Keegan
About the book club: British singer/songwriter Dua Lipa is clearly a book lover and created “a space to enjoy all things literary, including Dua’s Monthly Reads and exclusive Q&As between her and the authors…”
What Dua Lipa said about the book: “My monthly read for May is So Late In The Day by Irish writer Claire Keegan. Her stories are small gems: deceptively short, but they carry the heft of a great novel. This will take you less than an hour to read – but you’ll want to start again the moment you finish.”
Follow Service95 Book Club on social media: Instagram, YouTube, Facebook
TODAY Book Club, #ReadWithJenna
Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister
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: “’We rarely choose mysteries and thrillers in the book club, although I love them. Gillian McAllister’s newest hit just right,’ Jenna tells TODAY.com.
The prolific British writer’s latest novel unfolds in a remote Texas landscape, where a mother visits her teenage daughter after she completes a summer acting program, only to realize things have gone drastically off-course.
‘Yes, it is a book set in Texas, where I’m from, but also it’s a book that is about motherhood,’ Jenna says when describing what drew her to the book. ‘What lengths we’ll go to to protect those we love.’”
Follow Read With Jenna on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Read With Jenna Goodreads group
Late Show Book Club
Ghost Town by Tom Perrotta
The Stacks Book Club
Lonely Crowds by Stephanie Wambugu
About the book club: 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 in the last week of the month with a selected special guest.
What The Stacks Book Club said about the book: “A debut novel about friendship, the 1990’s, and NYC’s art world? That’s right, our May book club pick is Stephanie Wambugu’s LONELY CROWDS. This novel is polarizing, and brings up issues of ambition, intimacy, and the evolution of our connections. The book made The Stacks list of best books of 2025, and I’m thrilled we’re all going to read it together.
We’ll be discussing LONELY CROWDS on the podcast on Wednesday May 27, and virtual book club is on June 2nd.”
Follow The Stacks on social media: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok
Matzah Book Soup: A Jewish Own Voices Book Club for All
The Slow Burn by Ali Rosen
About the book club: Lillianne Leight and Amanda Spivack created this book club, which focuses 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: “Heritage Month and Matzah Book Soup announcement day!!!!! We are thrilled to share that @ali_rosen will be joining us again to chat about her newest book THE SLOW BURN 🧡
We’ll be chatting with Ali on June 1 at 8 PM EST on Zoom. This book is already out and ready to be bought or downloaded (it’s on kindle unlimited)!
We can’t wait for this chat and hope to see you all there ❤️”
Follow Matzah Book Soup on social media: Instagram, Facebook
KCBC (Katie Couric Book Club)
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
About the book club: With the 2026 resolution to “scroll less, read more,” Katie Couric decided to start a book club with a one-book-per-month format that ends in conversation with the author.
What Katie Couric said about the pick: “Since we know all you KCBC members are waiting with bated breath, we’re ready to announce May’s pick: The Things We Never Say by Pulitzer Prize-winning and #1 NYT bestselling author Elizabeth Strout. I love her books, and I’m sure I’ll devour this one. It’s about a beloved teacher who feels isolated from the world when ‘a chance incident that sparks a powerful realization.’ I’ll be speaking with Elizabeth on May 19th at 5 p.m. ET on Substack live.”
Literally Dead Book Club
The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke
The host of the very popular BooksandLala YouTube channel also hosts a monthly book club focused on mystery, thriller, and horror novels. Co-hosts join in for a live show on her YouTube channel at the start of the following month to discuss the book.
What Kayla said about the book: “Our May read is The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke. 🩸🩸🩸”
Follow Literally Dead Book Club on social media: Instagram, Goodreads, YouTube
Sapph-Lit
Saturn Returning by Kim Narby
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: “🪐ONE WEEK TIL PUB DAY🪐 Of course May’s book pick has to be SATURN RETURNING by @KimNarby, Sapph-Lit’s first ever book launch as a publishing imprint with @bindery_books 🖤🍸 Get your copy to read along with all us Sapph-Litties this month and tag @sapphlit to be featured ✨”
Inklings Book Club
Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte
About the book club: Book influencer Jack Edwards has started a book club with the fable app: “Inklings will celebrate compelling and captivating storytelling from around the world, fostering a community of book lovers. That’s YOU!!”
About the book: If you’re in the mood for satire and a novel that is written as five interconnected stories, this is your book club this month.
Follow Inklings Book Club on social media: Instagram, YouTube, Fable
Good Morning America’s GMA Book Club
Homebound by Portia Elan
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: “A story of connection across generations, Homebound paints a hopeful vision of the future and the ties that bind us together.”
GMA’s March YA selection: “Have plans? Cancel them — our May #GMABookClub YA pick is here to take you on an adventure with no itinerary.
Change of Plans by Sarah Dessen is a coming-of-age story about an unassuming girl who learns to stand on her own while falling in love during a life‑changing summer.”
Oprah’s Book Club
John of John by Douglas Stuart
About the book club: Oprah’s book club has taken on different forms over the decades, starting in 1996 on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She’s still book clubbing, more than 100 titles later!
What Oprah said about the book: “Our 123rd book club pick ‘John of John’ is finally here—and @oprah already sat down with @douglas_stuart to talk all about his latest novel!
Set in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, the story follows John-Calum Macleod, a struggling art school graduate who finds himself back in his small hometown to support his elderly grandmother and father, a minister in the Presbyterian church. With Cal’s identity at odds with the religion he was brought up in, he must come to terms with the life he wants for himself while navigating his relationship with his father, who has secrets of his own hiding underneath the surface.”
Follow Oprah’s Book Club on social media: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube
Reese’s Book Club
The Fine Art of Lying by Alexandra Andrews
About the book club: Every month, Reese Witherspoon picks a book for Reese’s Book Club that centers on a woman in its story.
What Reese said about the book: “This book feels like a secret I’m not supposed to share…but it’s too good not to! Set in New York’s art world, full of lies, money, and very messy choices, our May Reese’s Book Club pick is The Fine Art of Lying by Alexandra Andrews.”
Follow Reese’s Book Club on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube
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