Book clubs 2026-02: Options for February
I ended up tracking 40 book clubs for February, and 92 titles, although there are some repeats. As of one week into the month, Library Science, Native American, Oprah, PBS Book Readers, Richard and Judy, and Sunnie Reads (6 clubs) have not yet chosen a book.
For the good news, looking at the clubs for February and last year did generate some great clubs and books. For the bad news? I generated 30 titles just in February! I can’t READ 30 books in a month. Sigh. I know, I know, it’s a #FirstWorldReaderProblem.
I have no idea how I’m going to choose from the following 30 books. Oh, wait, One & Only and This Book Made Me Think of You appear twice each, so I’m down to 28.
- Chain-Gang All-Stars, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
- The Curious Case of the Poisoned Professor, Lucy Connelly
- Discipline, Larissa Pham
- Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Olga Tokarczuk
- Fallen Gods, Rachel Van Dyken
- First Witches Club, Maisey Yates
- The Harvey Girl, Dana Stabenow
- It’s Not Her, Mary Kubica
- The Once and Future Queen, Paula Lafferty
- One & Only, Maureen Goo
- The Poisoner, I.V. Ophelia
- Read Between The Lies, Jesse Q. Sutanto
- Return of the Maltese Falcon, Max Allan Collins
- Sibylline, Mellissa de la Cruz
- So Old, So Young, Grant Ginder
- A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage
- Stolen Midnights, Katherine Quinn
- The Storm, Rachel Hawkins
- The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E. Harrow
- Theo of Golden, Allen Levi
- The Things We Leave Unfinished, Rebecca Yarros
- This Book Made Me Think of You, Libby Page
- This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
- Two Bodies Are Better Than One, Erica Ruth Neubauer
- The Unwedding, Allyson Braithwaite Condie
- Vigil, George Saunders
- The Widow, John Grisham
- The Winter Witch, Jennifer Chevalier
I started with one of the Amazon First Reads — Two Bodies Are Better Than One. I managed to get 20% in, and while it is okay, it’s not really grabbing me. It’s about an aging woman who is semi-retired from being a hitwoman for the mob, and a body turns up on her lawn. She’s investigating, along with a dumb sheriff, and a smart but new detective who is as interested in the older lady as she is in the body. Just not resonating with me, so it will be a DNF. Maybe when I was younger I would have finished it, it’s not bad, just not good enough to continue.
Next up will be This Book Made Me Think of You.
Here’s the list of all the bookclub picks I considered for the month.
| Book Club | Book title & author | Brief Description | Yes/no for me |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon First Reads | Leave It Up To Love, Kristy Woodson Harvey | Shortstory, Barista as ghostwriter | Repetitive theme, NO |
| I Came Back For You, Kate White | 10y cold case, mother investigates daughter’s murder | Not compelling, NO | |
| The Water Women, Bonnie Blaylock | Sardinia, WWII, romance | Not compelling, NO | |
| First Witches Club, Maisey Yates | Magic cures dead marriages | Intriguing, YES | |
| No One Is Safe, Ellie Marney | Serial killer with amnesia (Bourne Identity-like) | Mixed result, NO | |
| So Very Lucky, Caitlin Devlin | Singer seems to die, comes back with memory gaps | Not compelling, NO | |
| Otherworldly, Dwain Worrell | Addict astronaut on planet with things that go bump in the night | Not compelling, NO | |
| Two Bodies Are Better Than One, Erica Ruth Neubauer | Bodies on the lawn, but the cozy sleuth is part of the mob | Intriguing, YES | |
| Kissing the Sky, Lisa Patton | Trip to Woodstock concert | Not compelling, NO | |
| Sight Unseen, Alexis Marie | Privilege, magic, curses, and serial killers? | Just not, NO | |
| Audacious | The Age of Calamities, Senaa Ahmad | Speculative shortstories | Not compelling, NO |
| Barnes & Noble | Good People, Patmeena Sabit | Multiple PoVs for immigrant family tragedy | Not compelling, NO |
| BBC Radio 2 | This Book Made Me Think of You, Libby Page | Husband died, left behind 12 books with notes for wife | Already in my list, YES |
| Belletrist | Strangers, Belle Burden | Memoir of surprise divorce | Not compelling, NO |
| Black Men Read | Black Moses, Caleb Gayle | Biography, Edward McCabe, wanted to create Black US state | Interesting, NO |
| Book of the Month | Stolen Midnights, Katherine Quinn | Stolen magical locket | Intriguing, YES |
| One & Only, Maureen Goo | Matchmaker family | Fascinating, YES | |
| The Exes, Leodora Darlington | A series of dead exes? How many before you say huh? | Too unrealistic, NO | |
| Good People, Patmeena Sabit | Multiple PoVs for immigrant family tragedy | Not compelling, NO | |
| A Good Animal, Sara Maurer | Farm life or move away | Not compelling, NO | |
| It’s Not Her, Mary Kubica | Murder in a cabin, missing kid | Compelling, YES | |
| The Natural Way of Things, Charlotte Wood | Two women are drugged and left in a desert property | Not compelling, NO | |
| All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque | German soldier learns to hate war | Classic, NO | |
| Everyday Reading Book Club | Reconnected, Carlos Whittaker | 7 weeks screen-free with Amish | Interesting, NO |
| Good Housekeeping | So Old, So Young, Grant Ginder | Big Chill, 6 friends, 20y, 5 parties | Intriguing, YES |
| Good Morning America | The Exes, Leodora Darlington | A series of dead exes? How many before you say huh? | Too unrealistic, NO |
| Good Morning America: YA | Sibylline, Mellissa de la Cruz | Three teens working at magic school steal an education | Intriguing, YES |
| Good Reads (Mystery, Crime, Thriller Group) | The Spy Coast, Tess Gerritsen | Retired spy in Maine | Already read, NO |
| The Widow, John Grisham | Lawyer has secret rich client, but ends up looking guilty | Always, YES | |
| I Care About Books | The Bittlemores, Jann Arden | Chicken Run meets Enola Holmes? I have no idea | Simply not, NO |
| Jack Carr | Once an Eagle, Anton Myrer | Two types of military leaders over decades | Not compelling, NO |
| Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand | Philosophical revolution disguised as an action thriller | Classic, not right now, NO | |
| The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand | Hero architect | Classic, not right now, NO | |
| The Winds of War, Herman Wouk | WW II Part 1 | Classic, not right now, NO | |
| War and Remembrance, Herman Wouk | WW II Part 2 | Classic, not right now, NO | |
| Anthony Jeselnik | Paradais, Fernanda Melchor | Mexican housing complex, teenager plot | Not compelling, NO |
| Jewish Book Council: NF | Always Carry Salt, Samantha Ellis | Loss of culture and language | Interesting, but NO |
| Jewish Book Council: F | At Last, Marisa Silver | Grandmothers fighting for their granddaughters’ love | Trauma much? NO |
| Katie Couric | Theo of Golden, Allen Levi | Stranger buys drawings, gives them to citizens | Fascinating, YES |
| Late Show | Vigil, George Saunders | A Christmas Carol redux | Intriguing, YES |
| Library Science | Nothing posted for February | ||
| Main Street Reads – Fab Fantasy | Fallen Gods, Rachel Van Dyken | Gods are sleeping in mortal bodies | Intriguing, YES |
| MSR – Thrill in the ‘ville | The Storm, Rachel Hawkins | Writer in small town to clear local’s name during storm | Intriguing, YES |
| MSR – Kids | Hattie Mae Begins Again, Sharon G. Flake | Black country girl attends boarding school in Philly | Not compelling, NO |
| MSR – Kiss & Tell Romance | The Things We Leave Unfinished, Rebecca Yarros | Woman and writer try to finish grandmother’s last book | Compelling, YES |
| MSR – Books & Banter | The Poisoner, I.V. Ophelia | Poisoner of men | Compelling, YES |
| Mindy’s Book Studio | Read Between The Lies, Jesse Q. Sutanto | Two authors competing and dueling | Intriguing, YES |
| Mocha Girls Read | Rhythm & Design, Long Temple | Romance between ex-pastor and architect | Not compelling, NO |
| Natalie Portman (not followed) | The Son of Man, Jean-Baptiste Del Amo | Estranged husband takes wife and son to remote cabin | Yawn, NO |
| Mother Mary Comes to Me, Arundhati Roy | Memoir about her relationship with her mother | Not compelling, NO | |
| Native American | Small Ceremonies, Kyle Edwards | Coming of age, Winnipeg, Indigenous youth * not posted until mid-February | Unsure, NO for now |
| Oprah 2.0 | Nothing posted for February | n/a | |
| PBS Book Readers | Nothing posted for February | ||
| Poisoned Pen – Cozy Crimes | The Curious Case of the Poisoned Professor, Lucy Connelly | Journalism professor suspected of murder | Compelling, YES |
| PP – British Crime | A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage | Arsenic and young lace? Murderous housewife | Compelling, YES |
| PP – First Mystery | Rifle Season, Pat Kelly | Hunter in Colorado plus warlords | Simply no, NO |
| PP – Crime Collectors | Murder at 30,000 Feet, Susan Walter | Murder on a plane, locked room | Derivative, NO |
| PP – Historical | The Harvey Girl, Dana Stabenow | Female Pinkerton in 1890 New Mexico | Compelling, YES |
| PP – Notable new fiction | The Once and Future Queen, Paula Lafferty | Queen Guinevere via Vere, a waitress in present time | Compelling, YES |
| PP – Hardboiled/noir | Return of the Maltese Falcon, Max Allan Collins | If the original bird was a fake, who has the real one? | Compelling, YES |
| PP – Romance | And The Crowd Went Wild, Susan Elizabeth Phillips | Book 11 of the Chicago Stars | Maybe later, NO |
| PP – Historical | The Winter Witch, Jennifer Chevalier | Witches in 17th Century Montreal | Compelling, YES |
| Read with Jenna | One & Only, Maureen Goo | Matchmaker family | Fascinating, YES |
| Reader’s Digest | This Book Made Me Think of You, Libby Page | Already on list | Above, YES |
| Reddit /BookClub | Chain-Gang All-Stars, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah | Gladiators from prisons | Compelling, YES |
| This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone | Time travel and romance | Compelling, YES | |
| Independent People, Halldor Laxness | Father / daughter battle of wills | Not compelling, NO | |
| The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde | Faustian bargains | Classic, but not right now, NO | |
| Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Olga Tokarczuk | Whodunnit, in Polish village | Compelling, YES | |
| Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt | Missing son, detective octopus | Too weird, NO | |
| The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E. Harrow | A magical book, many doors | Compelling, YES | |
| A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine | Space opera, battle, invasion | Maybe later, NO | |
| The Silver Chair, CS Lewis | Book 6 of Narnia | Already read, NO | |
| Hollow City, Ransom Riggs | Book 2 of Miss Peregrine | Maybe later, NO | |
| La Belle Sauvage, Philip Pullman | Book 1 of Book of dust | Maybe later, NO | |
| Heretics of Dune, Frank Herbert | Book 5 of Dune | Maybe later, NO | |
| Sharp Ends, Joe Abercrombie | Dark sci-fi | Too weird, NO | |
| System Collapse, Martha Wells | Book 7 of Murderbot Diaries | Maybe later, NO | |
| The Magician’s Land, Lev Grossman | Book 3 of The Magicians | Maybe later, NO | |
| Rocannon’s World, Ursula K. Le Guin | Part of Hainish Cycle | Maybe later, NO | |
| The Eye of the Bedlam Bride, Matt Dinniman | Book 6 of the Dungeon Crawler Carl | Maybe later, NO | |
| Galactic Empire, GP Hudson | Pike Chronicles, sci-fi | Not compelling, NO | |
| Reese | In Her Defence, Philippa Malicka | Celebrity TV star, estranged daughter, repressed memories…find the truth | Not compelling, NO |
| Richard and Judy | Nothing posted for February ** Spring picks will be in March | ||
| Secret Chapter Mystery (Cumberland) | The Unwedding, Allyson Braithwaite Condie | Murder at resort, guest steps up to solve case | Compelling, YES |
| Service 95 | The Son of Man, Jean-Baptiste Del Amo | Already above | Yawn, NO |
| Stacks Book Club | Indigo, Beverly Jenkins | Romance in the Underground Railroad | Intriguing, but NO |
| Sunnie Reads | Nothing posted for February | ||
| Sunriver – Fiction | The Lion Women of Tehran, Marian Kamali | Class issues in 1950s Tehran | Not compelling, NO |
| Sunriver – Mystery | The Impossible Fortune, Richard Osman | Book 5 of Thurday Murder Club | Maybe later, NO |
| TeaTime | Discipline, Larissa Pham | Revenge narrative come undone | Regretfully compelling, YES |
| Zibby’s Book Club | Strangers, Belle Burden | Memoir of surprise divorce | Not compelling, NO |
FYI: Yellow code: #FFFFE0