Club Book

Historical fiction heavyweight Marjan Kamali is a leading figure within the flourishing Iranian-American literary tradition. Her novels spotlight the lives and irrepressible spirit of Iranian women across generations, both in their native country and the global diaspora. Kamali’s maiden novel, Together Tea, follows a mismatched mother and daughter pair who emigrate to America but, despite their contrasting natures, each feels drawn...

Elle Cosimano is the pen behind the chart-topping Finlay Donovan series, madcap mysteries unlike any other. Cosimano first introduced her domestic antihero, a single parent and strung-out thriller novelist, in Finlay Donovan is Killing It (2021). In this debut outing, described by reviewers as “part screwball comedy, part morality tale,” a wronged wife mistakes Finlay for a contract killer after overhearing her outline the plot of ...

Minnesota’s own Joshua Moehling is a unique voice and rising star in the crowded mystery and thriller landscape. He introduced fans to Deputy Sheriff Ben Packard and the seemingly idyllic town of Sandy Lake in 2023. Notes the Associated Press: “Moehling’s debut, And There He Kept Her, plays out like something on TV, resembling Yellowstone in its small-town setting and larger-than-life drama set against captivatingly detailed scener...

Jon Hickey is a member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Chippewa Indians (Anishinaabe) and author behind the 2025 literary breakout Big Chief. Set on the fictional Passage Rouge Reservation in northern Wisconsin, Big Chief follows Mitch Caddo, a young law school graduate and aspiring political fixer, as he attempts to clinch reelection for Tribal President Mack Beck. Political control of the Nation, and with it the lucrative Golden E...

New York Times bestselling author Silvia Moreno-Garcia masterfully blends elements of horror, fantasy, noir, and historical fiction. Her distinctive style gained a wide audience with Mexican Gothic, winner of the Locus Award for Best Horror Novel in 2021 and one of TIME’s 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time. Moreno-Garcia’s follow ups include The Daughter of Doctor Moreau (2022), a reimagining of the H.G. Wells classic ...

Nickolas Butler is the internationally bestselling author of critically acclaimed novels like The Hearts of Men (2017) and Little Faith (2019). His breakout debut, Shotgun Lovesongs (2014), remains among his most enduring works to date. It centers around five lifelong friends who take wildly diverging paths in life but remain indelibly linked both to one another and to the small Wisconsin community they called home. Butler’s two mo...

Hanif Abdurraqib is an incisive poet, accomplished essayist, and versatile cultural critic. His acclaimed poetry collections include The Crown Ain’t Worth Much (2016), a raw meditation on the dangers of being young and Black in the American Midwest, and A Fortune for Your Disaster (2019), which explores the themes of loss and rebuilding after heartbreak. Music aficionados may know Abdurraqib best for his essay collection They Can’t...

Internationally acclaimed author Jesse Q. Sutanto writes across genres and for all ages. Her fiction to date includes the middle grade Theo Tan series and several young adult novels. The latter include revenge-thriller The Obsession (2021), campus mystery The New Girl (2022), and laugh-out-loud rom com Well That Was Unexpected (2022). All draw inspiration from the author’s own Chinese-Indonesian heritage and life spent between Jaka...

David Housewright is one of Minnesota’s best-known and most prolific mystery writers. His breakout debut, Penance, marks its thirtieth anniversary in 2025. Penance introduced readers to private investigator Holland Taylor, the first of Housewright’s indelible detective heroes, and won Housewright the Mystery Writers of America’s prestigious Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1996. Practice to Deceive (1997), the sophomore outing f...

Fiction phenom Alison Espach is the author behind The Wedding People, a genre-straddling novel which holds company with the most anticipated and bestselling books of 2024. When newly minted divorcée Phoebe Stone arrives alone to the posh Cornwall Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, she finds herself an accidental wedding crasher. Surprise follows surprise as Phoebe strikes up a unique rapport with bride Lila, who needs a confidante every...

Chart-topping novelist Ann Napolitano is the author behind some of the decade’s best contemporary fiction. Early career standouts include Within Arm’s Reach (2004), her first in a succession of poignant family dramas, as well as A Good Hard Look (2011), a fictionalized biography of Southern icon Flannery O’Connor. Napolitano reached a still wider audience with Dear Edward (2020), an instant New York Times bestseller and TODAY Show ...

Mai Corland is a Korean American author, born in Seoul and adopted in New York. She is a Rollins College and University of Miami School of Law alumna. Her debut adult romantasy novel Five Broken Blades, the first of a trilogy from Red Tower Books, was a USA Today, Indie Booksellers List, Sunday Times, and instant New York Times bestseller. It was also the May pick for Book of the Month; an Amazon, Indigo, and Apple Books Best Book ...

Samantha Irby is a comedian and a New York Times bestselling essayist and memoirist. Her fresh, honest brand of humor first came to the attention of readers through her immensely popular blog Bitches Gotta Eat. Irby’s first essay collection, Meaty, adapted and expanded her most popular blog entries – and added some new ones, to boot. Topics truly run the gamut: from personal reflections on the author’s failed relationships and on b...

Fans and critics alike credit Alafair Burke with some of the most believable psychological thrillers and police procedurals in modern fiction. Her hallmark authenticity draws heavily from Burke’s professional background as a professor of law and former deputy district attorney in Portland. Her literary debut, Judgment Calls (2003), introduced mystery aficionados to Samantha Kincaid – a lawyer in Multnomah County, Oregon’s drug and ...

Sujata Massey is an undisputed master of both mystery and historical fiction. In the words of fellow mystery heavyweight Janet Evanovich, Massey “blasted her way into fiction with The Salaryman’s Wife, a cross-cultural mystery of manners with a decidedly sexy edge.” Her literary debut won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel in 1997 and introduced a legion of readers to the first of her two indomitable heroines. Japanese American ...

National Book Award finalist Karla Cornejo Villavicencio is the author behind the acclaimed 2020 exposé The Undocumented Americans. Born in Ecuador and raised in New York, Cornejo Villavicencio’s writing career began while a senior at Harvard, where she was soon to be among the first undocumented students to graduate from the elite university. During the national debate around the DREAM Act, she penned an anonymous essay in The Dai...

Lisa See is best known for her poignant historical fiction, much of which spotlights the experiences of Chinese immigrants who are so often relegated to the margins. Book club favorites include Shanghai Girls and its sequel Dreams of Joy, which debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list. USA Today praised the duology for “exploring the bonds of sisterhood while powerfully evoking the often nightmarish American immigrant e...

Stephen Graham Jones is one of speculative fiction’s bestselling authors and is beloved for his unique, potent blend of horror and cutting social commentary. His chart-topping novels to date include the modern classic The Only Good Indians, which tracks four childhood friends stalked by a sinister secret – and something else – on a Blackfeet reservation in Montana. (Jones is himself an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe.) Both ...

Yangsze Choo is the author behind some of this decade’s most original historical fantasy. Her work is often inspired by folklore and infused with the paranormal. Such is the case with her 2013 debut, The Ghost Bride. Publishers Weekly praised: “Choo’s clear and charming style creates an alternate reality where the stakes are just as high as in the real world, combining grounded period storytelling with the supernatural.” The Ghost ...