Town House Book Discussion Group For Adults

Our book group meets the 2nd Sunday of every month at the bookstore (*unless otherwise noted) from 2 to 3:30. For more information call 630/584-8600.
Please note: our group is currently at capacity.

Owner David Hunt with local book group, Unabridged.

Current Reading List

2024 Book Group (44th Annual Reading List)

  • January 14, Fathers and SonsTurgenev
  • February 11, West with GiraffesRutledge
  • March 10, Our Missing Hearts – Ng
  • April 14, Small World Evison
  • *May 19, Good Night, IreneUrrea
  • June 9, If Cats Disappeared From the WorldKawamura
  • July 14, Starry MessengerTyson
  • August 11, Ella Minnow PeaDunn
  • September 8, Island of Missing TreesShafak
  • October 13, Fraud – Smith
  • November 10, Heaven & Earth Grocery StoreMcBride
  • December, Book Club does not meet
  • January 12, 2025, Madame Bovary  – Flaubert

Previous Book Group Reading Lists

2023 Book Group (43rd Annual Reading List)

  • January 8, Angle of Repose – Stegner
  • February 12, The Parisian – Hammad
  • March 12, Horse – Brooks
  • *April 16, Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow Zevin
  • *May 21, Cloud Cuckoo LandDoerr
  • June 11, Square HauntingWade
  • July 9, Lessons in ChemistryGarmus
  • August 13, An Immense WorldYong
  • September 10, Trust – Diaz
  • *October 15, Ordinary Grace – Kingsolver
  • November 12, Small Things Like These / FosterKeegan
  • December, Book Club does not meet
  • January 14, 2024, Fathers and Sons  – Turgenev

2022 Book Group (42nd Annual Reading List)

  • January 9, My Antonia – Cather
  • February 13, The Night Watchman – Erdrich
  • March 13, Deacon King Kong – McBride
  • *April 3, The Plague – Camus
  • *May 15, Lincoln Highway – Towles
  • June 12, Sorrow and Bliss – Mason
  • July 10, Klara and the Sun – Ishiguro
  • August 14, Hell of a Book – Mott
  • September 11, Three Girls From Bronzville – Turner
  • October 9, Ordinary Grace – Krueger
  • November 13, The Magician – Toibin
  • December, Book Club does not meet
  • January 8, 2023, Angle of Repose – Stegner

2021 Book Group (41st Annual Reading List)

  • January 10, Intruder in the Dust – Faulkner
  • February 14, One-in-a-Million Boy – Wood
  • March 14, Crossing to Safety – Stegner
  • April 11, This is How It Always Is – Frankel
  • *May 16, Caste – Wilkerson
  • June 13, Apeirogon – McCann
  • July 11, American Dirt – Cummins
  • August 8, Vanishing Half – Bennett
  • September 12, Hamnet – O’Farrell
  • October 10, This is Happiness – Williams
  • November 14, This Tender Land – Krueger
  • December, Book club does not meet
  • January 9, 2022, My Antonia – Cather

2020 Book Group (40th Annual Reading List)

  • January 12, To Kill a Mockingbird Lee
  • February 9, Little Fires Everywhere Ng
  • March 8, The Rent Collector Wright
  • *April 19, Madame Fourcade’s Secret War Olson
  • *May 17, The House of Broken Angels Urrea
  • June 14, The Lake on Fire Brown
  • July 12, The Overstory Powers
  • August 9, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous Vuong
  • September 13, The Water Dancer Coates
  • *October 18, Educated Westover
  • November 8, Disappearing Earth Phillips
  • December, Book club does not meet
  • January 10 2021, Intruder in the Dust Faulkner

2019 Book Group (39th Annual Reading List)

  • January 13, Remains of the Day Ishiguru
  • February 10, News of the World Jiles
  • March 10, Awakening /Vagabond Chopin/Collette
  • April 14, Tsar of Love and Techno Marra
  • *May 19, Less Greer
  • June 9, An Unnecessary Woman Alameddine
  • July 14, Woman Who Smashed Codes Fagone
  • August 11, There, There Orange
  • September 8, The Great Believers Makkai
  • *October 20, Pachinko Min Jin Lee
  • November 10, The Bluest Eye Morrison
  • December, Book club does not meet
  • January 12, To Kill a Mockingbird Lee

2018 Book Group (38th Annual Reading List)

  • January 14, Frankenstein – Shelley
  • February 11, Moon Palace – Auster
  • March 11, Unaccustomed Earth – Lahiri
  • April 8, Lincoln in the Bardo – Saunders
  • *May 20, Moonglow – Chabon
  • June 10, Killers of the Flower Moon – Grann
  • July 8, Homegoing Gyasi
  • August 12, Manhattan Beach  Egan
  • September 9, Exit West – Hamid
  • *October 21, A Gentleman in Moscow – Towles
  • November 11, The Good Soldier – Ford
  • December, Book club does not meet
  • January 13, The Remains of the Day – Ishiguro

2017 Book Group (37th Annual Reading List)

  • January 8, Middlemarch – Eliot
  • February 12, Italian Shoes – Mankell
  • March 12, The Portable Veblen – McKenzie
  • April 9, Ceremony – Silko          
  • *May 21, The Golem and the Jinni – Wecker
  • June 11, North Water – McGuire
  • July 9, Hillbilly Elegy – Vance
  • August 13, The Nix – Hill
  • September 10, Underground Railroad – Whitehead
  • *October 15, Fun Home – Bechdel
  • November 12, Sympathizer – Nguyen
  • December, Book club does not meet
  • January 14, Frankenstein – Shelley

2016 Book Group (36th Annual Reading List)

  • January 10, Don Quixote Pt.1 – Cervantes
  • February 14, Don Quixote Pt.2 – Cervantes
  • March 13, Light Years – Salter
  • April 10, Constellation of Vital Phenomena – Mara
  • *May 15, West with the Night – Markham
  • June 12, Tale for the Time Being – Ozeki
  • July 10, Our Souls at Night – Haruf
  • August 14, A Little Life – Yanagihara
  • September 11, Between the World and Me – Coates
  • *October 16, The Signature of All Things – Gilbert
  • November 13, Dead Wake – Larson
  • December, Book club does not meet
  • January 8, Middlemarch – Eliot

2015 Book Group (35th Annual Reading List)

  • January 11, Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
  • February 8, Housekeeper & the Professor – Yoko Ogawa
  • March 8, White Dog Fell from the Sky – Eleanor Morse
  • April 12, Boys in the Boat – Daniel James Brown
  • *May 17, Americanah – C. Ngozi Adichie
  • June 14, All Quiet on the Western Front – E. Maria Remarque
  • July 12, Faceless Killers – Henning Mankell
  • August 9, Dandelion Wine – Ray Bradbury
  • September 13, All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
  • *October 18, Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman
  • November 8, The Children Act – Ian McEwan
  • December, Book club does not meet
  • January 16, 2016 Don Quixote – Cervantes

2014 Book Group

  • January 12, The Trial – Franz Kafka
  • February 9, 12 Tribes of Hattie – Ayana Mathis
  • March 9, Billy Lynn’s Long ½ Time Walk – Ben Fountain
  • April 13, Unlikely Pilgrimage Harold Fry – Rachel Joyce
  • *May 18, 10th of December – George Saunders
  • June 8, Sandcastle Girls – C. Bohjalian
  • July 13, Round House – Louise Erdrich
  • August 10, Inventor & the Tycoon – Edward Ball
  • September 14, Orphan Master’s Son – Adam Johnson
  • *October 19, Flamethrowers – Rachel Kushner
  • November 9, Bridge of San Luis Rey – Thornton Wilder
  • December, Book club does not meet
  • January 11, 2015, Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy

2013 Book Group

  • January 13, Moby Dick – Herman Melville
  • February 10, Story of a Marriage – Andrew Sean Greer
  • March 10, Boy Kings of Texas – Domingo Martinez
  • April 14, Good Earth – Pearl Buck
  • *May 19, Carry the One – Carol Anshaw
  • June 9, The Yellow Birds – Kevin Powers
  • July 14, Redbreast – Jo Nesbo
  • August 18, Where’d You Go Bernadette? – Maria Semple
  • September 8, Leon and Louise – Alex Capus
  • *October 20, Brooklyn – Colm Toibin
  • November 10, Behind the Beautiful Forevers – Katherine Boo
  • December, Book group does not meet
  • January 12, 2014, The Trial – Franz Kafka

2012 Book Group

  • January 8, The Lacuna – Barbara Kingsolver
  • February 12, The Imperfectionists – Tom Rachman
  • March 11, Annie Dunne – Sebastian Barry
  • April 15, The Elegance of the Hedgehog – Muriel Barbery
  • *May 20, The Warmth of Other Suns – Isabel Wilkerson
  • June 10, The Tiger’s Wife – Tea Obreht
  • July 8, Look at Me – Jennifer Egan
  • August 12, The Art of Fielding – Chad Harbach
  • September 9, The Buddha in the Attic – Julie Otsuka
  • October 14, Cutting for Stone – Abraham Verghese
  • November 11, The Sense of an Ending – Julian Barnes
  • December, Book Group does not meet
  • * January 13, 2013, Moby Dick – Herman Melville

2011 Book Group

  • January 9, Power of One – Bryce Courtenay
  • February 13, Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut
  • March 13, Flight – Sherman Alexie
  • April 10, A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True – Brigid Pasulka
  • *May 15, Case Histories – Kate Atkinson
  • *June, Book Group does not meet
  • July 10, A Prayer for Own Meany – John Irving
  • August 14, Gilead – Marilyn Robinson
  • September 11, Let the Great World Spin – Colum McCann
  • *October 16, The World Without Us – Alan Weisman
  • November 13, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
  • December, Book Group does not meet
  • January 8, 2012, The Lacuna – Barbara Kingsolver

2010 Book Group

  • January 10, Forgetfullness – Ward Just
  • February 14, Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout
  • March 14, Places in Between – Rory Stewart
  • April 11, Out Stealing Horses – Per Petterson
  • *May 16, Rabbit Run – John Updike
  • June, Book Club does not meet
  • July 11, The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
  • August 8, Dear American Airlines – Jonathan Miles
  • *September 19, The Help -, Kathryn Stockett
  • *October 17, Infidel – Ayaan Hirsi Ali
  • November 14, Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It – Maile Meloy
  • December, Book Club does not meet
  • January 9 (2011), The Power of One – Bryce Courtenay

2009 Book Group

  • January 11, Mr. Pip – Lloyd Jones
  • February 8, Unless – Carol Shields
  • March 8, Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Diaz
  • *April 19, Omnivore’s Dilemma – Michael Pollan
  • *May 18, Maytrees – Annie Dillard
  • June, Book Group does not meet
  • July 12, What is the What – Dave Eggers
  • August 9, Loving Frank – Nancy Horan
  • September 13, Reluctant Fundamentalist -Mohsin Hamid
  • *October 18, Netherland – Joseph O’Neill
  • November 8, Moon and Six Pence – JW. Somerset Maugham
  • December, Book Group does not meet
  • January 10, 2010, Forgetfulness – Ward Just

2008 Book Group

  • January 13, Suite Francaise – Irene Nemirovsky
  • February 10, Revolutionary Road – Richard Yates
  • March 9, Straight Man – Richard Russo
  • April 13, Call Me By Your Name – Andre Aciman
  • *May 18, Dive From Clausen’s Pier – Ann Packer
  • June, Book Group does not meet
  • July 13, Golem – Gustav Meyrink
  • August 10, Heat – Bill Buford
  • September 14, Birds in Fall – Brad Kessler
  • *October 19, The Road – Cormac McCarthy
  • November 9, The Tender Bar – JR Moehringer
  • December, Book Group does not meet
  • January 11, 2009, Mr. Pip – Lloyd Jones (Great Expectations by Charles Dickens suggested as an optional companion read)

2007 Book Group

  • January 14, Confederacy of Dunces – John Toole
  • February 11, The Kitchen Boy – Robert Alexander
  • March 11, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close – Jonathan Foer
  • April 15, History of Love – Nicole Krauss
  • May 20, Inheritance of Loss – Kiran Desai
  • June, Club does not meet
  • July 8, Under the Net – Iris Murdoch
  • August 12, Isaac’s Storm – Erik Larson
  • September 9, Year of Magical Thinking – Joan Didion
  • October 21, Emperor’s Children – Claire Messud
  • November 11, Everyman – Philip Roth
  • December, Club does not meet
  • January 13 (2008), Suite Francaise – I. Nemirovski

2006 Book Group

  • January 8th, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
  • February 12, Ravelstein – Saul Bellow
  • March 12, True Notebooks – Mark Salzman
  • April 9, Bee Season – M. Goldberg
  • May 21, Shadow of the Wind – Z Ruiz
  • June, Club does not meet
  • July 9, Memoirs of Hadrian – M. Yourcenar
  • August 13, Rottweiler -Ruth Rendell
  • September 10, Saturday – Ian McEwan
  • October 8, Tipping Point – M. Gladwell
  • November 12, The Great Fire – Shirley Hazzard
  • December, Club does not meet
  • January 14 (2007), Confederacy of Dunces – John Toole