BOOK CLUB READING CHALLENGE RESOURCES

Year of Yes is not a prescriptive guide or a one-size-fits-all manifesto. It’s a lived experiment. What makes it resonate is its honesty—the acknowledgment that saying yes can be uncomfortable, messy, and even uncertain.

What does it mean to tell the story of a life? What is remembered, what is reshaped, and what is quietly left out?

Remarkably Bright Creatures lived up to its title in more ways than one. While it gave us a brilliantly imagined octopus, it also reminded us that humans, too, are remarkably bright when we allow ourselves to connect, to heal, and to begin again.

The Paris Express is a reminder that every shared space—no matter how fleeting—holds countless untold stories.

Reading isn’t just about turning pages—it’s about the quiet moments where something shifts inside you. In this personal reflection, Naomi shares what books have meant to her over a lifetime, and how reading continues to inspire connection, curiosity, and deeper understanding.

This month, the Sole Sister Ramblers Book Club stepped into 1950s Tehran, where first love, political upheaval, family expectation, and cultural identity all collide in Marjan Kamali’s The Stationery Shop.

Remarkably Bright Creatures is a gentle but deeply moving story about connection—between generations, between strangers, and even across species.

At its heart, How to Read a Book is about what happens when lives collide—and how people recover from those collisions.

Great Circle follows Marian Graves, a fiercely independent aviator determined to circumnavigate the globe by crossing over both poles. Orphaned young and raised in Missoula alongside her beloved twin brother Jamie, Marian grows up defying expectation — socially, sexually, and professionally.

The Stationery Shop is a tender and evocative novel about first love, political upheaval, loss, and the enduring power of memory.

The Music Shop proved to be a quietly powerful and deeply evocative read for our Sole Sister Ramblers Book Club. For many, this was not a book they would have chosen independently — yet that is precisely where its magic lay.

Great Circle is a bold, emotionally resonant novel that asks what it truly means to live a meaningful life. Maggie Shipstead crafts a story that is both epic and intimate, reminding us that ambition can be a form of devotion—and that devotion often demands sacrifice.

How to Read a Book is a quietly powerful novel that reminds us how deeply we are shaped by our stories—both the ones we live and the ones we read.

By centring the story on Robert March, Brooks dismantles the myth of the “near-perfect” March family and replaces it with something far more unsettling and human.

At first glance, Little Women appears to be a gentle domestic tale about morality, virtue, and growing up. But beneath its soft edges lies a quietly radical novel. Louisa May Alcott uses the story of the March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—to explore the tension between personal ambition and societal expectation.

The Music Shop is a warm, soulful novel about the healing power of music, unexpected connections, and the courage it takes to open your heart—both to others and to your own life

March by Geraldine Brooks brings readers back into the world of Little Women, this time through the eyes of the elusive Mr. March. Instead of the warm domesticity of the original story, Brooks places us in the tension, violence, and moral uncertainty of the American Civil War. The result is a vivid, emotionally layered portrait of a man whose ideals are constantly tested.

The 2026 Reading List truly reflects the heart of our Sole Sister reading community. It weaves together a beautiful blend of genres—historical fiction, contemporary stories, memoir, mystery, and a powerful classic pairing—each chosen for its ability to spark conversation, connection, and reflection.

From Wollstonecraft’s philosophical arguments to Alcott’s sisterhood and selfhood, these voices formed a chorus that still rings true today. They proved that resistance doesn’t always need to roar — sometimes, it can whisper from the pages of a novel, reshaping how generations of readers see the world.

The Long Flight Home took our Sole Sister Ramblers Book Club Challenge on an emotional journey through World War II—one that balanced history, heart, and heroism.

Cauvery Madhavan’s The Inheritance transported our Sole Sister Ramblers Book Club to the lush, layered landscapes of Ireland—both its rolling green hills and its shadowed historical terrain