10 Perfect Books for Fall Moms Book Club

It’s fall book club season, and time to choose those mom book club books you’ll be reading and sharing with friends as the days get shorter and the nights get colder. We’ve collected ten perfect fall book club books that’ll keep your club discussions going well after the coffee cake runs out.

Based on a True Story by Delphine de Vigan

Delphine, the protagonist of this memoir-style tale, shares a name and history with the author—a coincidence that’s sure to make this one of the most-discussed mom book club books on this list. The story centers on a writer’s toxic friendship with another woman, and how the relationship almost destroys her. Is Based on a True Story true? That’s up to you to decide.

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

Unlike Based on a True Story, Brain on Fire is definitely non-fiction. At age twenty-six, author and New York Post reporter Susannah Cahalan began experiencing flu-like symptoms, only to have them worsen into seizures, hallucinations, paranoia, memory loss, and catatonia. Her tale is both a medical mystery and a reminder doctors don’t always have all the answers.

Golden State by Stephanie Kegan

Natalie’s daughter is on a university campus when the latest explosion set by the “Cal Bomber” goes off. In the aftermath, Natalie finds herself comparing the bomber’s manifesto to a letter from her genius brother.

While certainly a psychological thriller, Golden State is also a deep examination of the emotional turmoil experienced when a family member is associated with a horrible crime.

Idaho by Emily Ruskovich

The debut novel from O. Henry Prize winner Emily Ruskovich, Idaho tells the story of Ann’s exploration of her husband Wade’s past as his memory fades. Her determination to discover the fate of Wade’s first wife Jenny and their daughters leads Ann on an imaginative journey into a previously-unknown aspect of Wade’s life. One of the most fascinating fall book club books we’ve ever encountered.

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

Paula Hawkins is the #1 New York Times author of The Girl on the Train. In Into the Water, a single mother’s body is dredged up from the bottom of the river running through town. She isn’t the first woman to wind up in the river, and her corpse’s discovery brings older secrets to the surface.

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

“Literary apothecary” Monsieur Perdu prescribes novels to mend hearts and souls from his floating bookstore on a Parisian barge, although he himself is haunted by heartbreak and a long-unread letter from the woman he loved. After finally reading the letter, Perdu takes his floating bookstore on a trip to the south of France to discover the end of the letter’s story and hopefully come to terms with his loss.

The Orphan’s Tale by Pam Jenoff

Two trapeze artists forge a deep friendship after an initial rivalry in a travelling circus during World War II. As their secrets, guilt, and acts of survival emerge, the two must decide if their friendship can survive the fallout.

A Separation by Katie Kitamura

After a young woman and her faithless husband agree to separate, she finds herself reluctantly looking for him after he disappears in a remote region of southern Greece. Torn between her lingering feelings for him and his infidelity, the protagonist’s feelings add a taut realism to this suspenseful tale.

The Second Mrs. Hockaday by Susan Rivers

Two years ago, Major Gryffth Hockaday left his wife Placidia, his infant son, and his 300-acre farm to fight in the Civil War. Now he’s returned, only to discover his wife accused of bearing and murdering a child in his absence. Inspired by true events, Susan Rivers’ captivating story is an emotional page-turner.

Sleeping Beauties by Stephen and Owen King

The only book on our list of fall book club books not written by a woman, Sleeping Beauties explores what would happen to men in a world without women.

Women across the world are falling into deep sleeps. While they sleep, they experience a place of deep harmony, but if forced awake become feral and violent. Only one woman is immune to this strange malady, but she’s hardly safe in a world where men increasingly give into their primal urges.

Ideal for Halloween, Sleeping Beauties is a reminder of the role women play in men’s lives—and the void they leave in their absence.