User menu

Shopping cart

Bookshop Santa Cruz staff recommendation:

The following books are recommended by our staff as great choices for book groups. Sign up for our Book Ends email newsletter to receive more great book group recommendations.

Looking for more book group recommendations? Find curated book lists for the following categories:

Surviving 2020: Books That Will Make You Believe in Humanity
Strong Women Through the Ages
Book Group Sleepers: Great Books Your Group May Have Missed


  • Anthology of women's perspectives on desire
  • Explores multiple types of yearning, from sexual desires to wanting company, solitude, or even a car
  • Integrates essays from 33 diverse contributors
  • Insightful, poetic, and thoughtful

 

Wanting: Women Writing About Desire By Margot Kahn (Editor), Kelly McMasters (Editor) Cover Image
By Margot Kahn (Editor), Kelly McMasters (Editor)
$17.95
ISBN: 9781646220113
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Catapult - February 14th, 2023



  • Important read for anyone interested in the history of feminism
  • Explores the struggle between white feminism and intersectional feminism
  • Written by a Women, Gender, and Sexuality professor at Rutgers
  • You'll wish you'd have read it sooner

 

The Trouble with White Women: A Counterhistory of Feminism By Kyla Schuller, Brittney Cooper (Foreword by) Cover Image
By Kyla Schuller, Brittney Cooper (Foreword by)
$18.99
ISBN: 9781645036876
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Bold Type Books - May 2nd, 2023



  • Seven works by a timeless author, compiled by her son
  • Intro to Sontag's writing on aging, equality, beauty, sexuality, and fascism
  • Articulates the politics and aesthetics of being a woman
  • Clear, clever, and provocative

 

On Women By Susan Sontag, Merve Emre (Introduction by), David Rieff (Editor) Cover Image
By Susan Sontag, Merve Emre (Introduction by), David Rieff (Editor)
$17.00
ISBN: 9781250876850
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Picador - May 30th, 2023



  • Explores "witch-ness" from childlessness to independence to sexuality
  • Deconstructs modern ideas that stem from a more misogynistic time
  • Illuminates the prevalence of contemporary sexism
  • Will make you scream "long live witches!"

 

In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial By Mona Chollet, Sophie R. Lewis (Translated by), Carmen Maria Machado (Introduction by) Cover Image
By Mona Chollet, Sophie R. Lewis (Translated by), Carmen Maria Machado (Introduction by)
$20.00
ISBN: 9781250894878
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: St. Martin's Griffin - October 3rd, 2023



  • Deconstructs seven phrases the author frequently encounters about their gender
  • Interrogates current frameworks around identity with nuance, openness, and humor
  • Insightful meditation on society's views on gender
  • Loved by Elliot Page, Johnathan Van Ness, and Blair Imani

 

None of the Above: Reflections on Life Beyond the Binary By Travis Alabanza, Alok Vaid-Menon (Foreword by) Cover Image
By Travis Alabanza, Alok Vaid-Menon (Foreword by)
$17.95
ISBN: 9781558610347
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Feminist Press - October 17th, 2023



  • Workplace romance with a cinnamon-roll-hero
  • Great for fans of The Kiss Quotient
  • M/F relationship | contemporary romance | open door

 

Business or Pleasure By Rachel Lynn Solomon Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780593548530
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Berkley - July 4th, 2023



  • A perfect use of the fake-relationship trope
  • Characters have real problems, touches on ambiguous loss
  • Made me cry in the best way
  • F/F relationship | contemporary romance | open door

 

Staff Pick Badge
Fly with Me: A Novel By Andie Burke Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781250886378
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: St. Martin's Griffin - September 5th, 2023



  • An INCREDIBLY HOT second-chance romance
  • Touches meaningful topics like grief and mental health
  • An emotional rollercoaster
  • M/F relationship | contemporary romance

 

Staff Pick Badge
Before I Let Go (Skyland) By Kennedy Ryan Cover Image
$15.99
ISBN: 9781538706794
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Forever - November 15th, 2022



  • The same almanac your parents have been using since 1792!
  • Covers regions of the United States that you don't even live in!
  • Never be caught in an unexpected eclipse again!
  • The good old days were great!

 

The 2024 Old Farmer's Almanac By Old Farmer’s Almanac Cover Image
$9.95
ISBN: 9781571989529
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Old Farmer's Almanac - August 29th, 2023



  • Written for telling a story in public but great for the written word too
  • From coaches at The Moth where storytelling is a superpower
  • Storytelling is a skill for all situations
  • Give the perfect wedding toast and ace the job interview

 

Staff Pick Badge
How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from The Moth By The Moth, Meg Bowles, Catherine Burns, Jenifer Hixson, Sarah Austin Jenness, Kate Tellers, Padma Lakshmi (Foreword by), Chenjerai Kumanyika (Introduction by) Cover Image
$19.00
ISBN: 9780593139028
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Crown - April 25th, 2023


Pages