Book Club Kits

What are "Book Club Kits"? Book Club Kits provide all the resources necessary for you to hold your own successful book club meeting!

Included in each kit are:

  • eight copies of a book title;
  • an informational card containing an author biography, plot summary, and discussion questions;
  • a librarian-curated list of additional resources related to the themes and topics of each book title;
  • and a convenient carrying bag.

Book Club Kits are available for checkout with a valid Library card for a period of six weeks.

Contact the South Pasadena Public Library Reference Desk at 626-403-7330 or library@southpasadenaca.gov for more information.

Updated February 22, 2025
South Pasadena Public Library
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The alienist
Carr, Caleb
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NOW A TNT ORIGINAL SERIES * "A first-rate tale of crime and punishment that will keep readers guessing until the final pages."--Entertainment Weekly "Caleb Carr's rich period thriller takes us back to the moment in history...
All creatures great and small
Herriot, James.
Paper Book
Take an unforgettable journey through the English countryside and into the homes of its inhabitants-- four-legged and otherwise-- with the world's best-loved animal doctor. For over 25 years-- since All Creatures Great and Small was first published-- readers have delighted to the...
Before I let go
Ryan, Kennedy
Paper Book
"Real, raw, magnificent--Before I Let Go is the beautiful angst I love to read." --Colleen Hoover, #1 New York Times bestselling author A Good Morning America Book Buzz Pick! Their love was supposed to last...
Bittersweet : how sorrow and longing make us whole
Cain, Susan
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * The author of the bestselling phenomenon Quiet explores the power of the bittersweet personality, revealing a misunderstood side of mental health and creativity while offering a roadmap to facing heartbreak in order to...
The butterfly effect : insects and the making of the modern world
Melillo, Edward D.
Paper Book
A fascinating, entertaining dive into the long-standing relationship between humans and insects, revealing the surprising ways we depend on these tiny, six-legged creatures. Insects might make us shudder in disgust, but they are also responsible for many of the things we take for...
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Diamond, Jared M.
Paper Book
A study of the downfall of some of history's greatest civilizations, written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel, includes coverage of such cultures as the Anasazi, the Maya, and the Viking colony on Greenland, tracing patterns of environmental damage, climate change, poor...
Crying in H Mart : a memoir
Zauner, Michelle
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the indie rock sensation known as Japanese Breakfast, an unforgettable memoir about family, food, grief, love, and growing up Korean American--"in losing her mother and cooking to bring her back to life, Zauner became herself" (NPR). * CELEBRATING...
Daughters of the dragon : a comfort woman's story
Andrews, William W.
Paper Book
During World War II, the Japanese forced 200,000 young Korean women to be sex slaves or ?comfort women? for their soldiers. This is one woman?s riveting Story Of Strength, Courage And Promises Kept. Young Ja-hee and her sister are torn from their family farm and forced to become sex slaves, or...
The Dutch house : a novel
Patchett, Ann
Paper Book
Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize New York Times Bestseller | A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick | A New York Times Book Review Notable Book | TIME Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of 2019 Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, The Washington Post; O:...
Educated : a memoir
Westover, Tara
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER * One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University
A gentleman in Moscow
Towles, Amor
Paper Book
A New York Times "Readers' Choice: Best Books of the 21st Century" Pick The mega-bestseller with more than 2 million readers--Now a Paramount+ with Showtime series starring Ewan McGregor as Count Alexander Rostov From the #1 New York Times...
H is for Hawk
Macdonald, Helen
Paper Book
One of the New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the Year One of Slate's 50 Best Nonfiction Books of the Last 25 Years ON MORE THAN 25 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR LISTS: including TIME (#1 Nonfiction Book), NPR, O, The Oprah Magazine (10 Favorite Books), Vogue (Top 10), Vanity Fair...
Hamnet : a novel of the plague
O'Farrell, Maggie
Paper Book
NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The bestselling author of The Marriage Portrait delivers a luminous portrait of a marriage, a family ravaged by grief, and a boy whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays of all time. *...
Honor : a novel
Umrigar, Thrity N.
Paper Book
THE JANUARY 2022 REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK "In the way A Thousand Splendid Suns told of Afghanistan's women, Thrity Umrigar tells a story of India with the intimacy of one who knows the many facets of a land both modern and ancient, awash in contradictions...
Klara and the sun
Ishiguro, Kazuo
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Once in a great while, a book comes along that changes our view of the world. This magnificent novel from the Nobel laureate and author of Never Let Me Go is "an intriguing take on how artificial intelligence might play a role in our futures ... a...
The library book
Orlean, Susan
Paper Book
Susan Orlean's bestseller and New York Times Notable Book is "a sheer delight...as rich in insight and as varied as the treasures contained on the shelves in any local library" (USA TODAY)--a dazzling love letter to a beloved institution and an investigation into one of its...
The Lost City of the Monkey God : a true story
Preston, Douglas J.
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, named one of the best books of the year by The Boston Globe and National Geographic: acclaimed journalist Douglas Preston takes readers on a true adventure deep into the Honduran rainforest in this riveting narrative about the discovery of...
The madonnas of Leningrad
Dean, Debra
Ebook
"An unforgettable story of love, survival and the power of imagination in the most tragic circumstances. Elegant and poetic." --Isabel Allende, New York Times bestselling author of ZorroThe ravages of age are eroding Marina's grip on the everyday. An elderly Russian woman...
Need to Know: A Novel
Cleveland, Karen
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * FINALIST FOR THE ITW THRILLER AWARD * Perfect husband. Perfect father. Perfect liar? "Terrific."--John Grisham "Superb."--Lee Child "Breathtaking, heart-pounding."--Louise Penny "A fast-paced,...
News of the world : a novel
Jiles, Paulette
Paper Book
National Book Award Finalist--Fiction It is 1870 and Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels through northern Texas, giving live readings to paying audiences hungry for news of the world. An elderly widower who has lived through three wars and fought in two of them, the...
Pachinko
Lee, Min Jin
Paper Book
In this New York Times bestseller, four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan-the inspiration for the television series on Apple TV+.  In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored...
The plot
Korelitz, Jean Hanff
Paper Book
** NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! ** The Tonight Show Summer Reads Winner ** A New York Times Notable Book of 2021 ** "Insanely readable." --Stephen King Hailed as "breathtakingly suspenseful," Jean Hanff Korelitz's...
This is how it always is
Frankel, Laurie
Paper Book
Claude is five years old, the youngest of five brothers. He loves peanut butter sandwiches. He also loves wearing a dress. When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl. Rosie and Penn want Claude to be whoever he wants to be, but aren't sure they're ready to share that with the world. The...
Tom Lake : a novel
Patchett, Ann
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America's finest writers. "Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than...
The Underground Railroad : a novel
Whitehead, Colson
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER * "An American masterpiece" (NPR) that chronicles a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. One of The New York Times's 10...
Untamed
Doyle, Glennon
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * OVER TWO MILLION COPIES SOLD! "Packed with incredible insight about what it means to be a woman today."--Reese Witherspoon (Reese's Book Club Pick) In her most revealing and powerful memoir yet, the activist, speaker, bestselling author, and...
The vanishing half
Bennett, Brit
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES * THE WASHINGTON POST * NPR * PEOPLE * TIME MAGAZINE * VANITY FAIR * GLAMOUR New York Times<...
Yellowface : a novel
Kuang, R. F.
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK "Hard to put down, harder to forget." -- Stephen King, #1 New York Times bestselling author White lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences... Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she...

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