Hello,

In this issue, we bring you our last book club discussion of the year. Sandra Newman's Julia, a powerful feminist retelling of George Orwell's classic 1984, focuses on the perspective of protagonist Winston Smith's love interest.

We also invite you to enjoy a retrospective of all our online discussions in 2023, our exciting lineup of new discussions beginning in January, and a fun quiz to test your knowledge of the best books of the year as chosen by our subscribers.

And in case you missed them, you can still check out our recommended books for book clubs in 2024, both fiction and nonfiction.

With best wishes,

The BookBrowse Team

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An imaginative, feminist, and brilliantly relevant-to-today retelling of Orwell's 1984, from the point of view of Winston Smith's lover, Julia, by critically acclaimed novelist Sandra Newman.

"I read 1984 before starting Julia and am glad I did. ... The author really captures the atmosphere of 1984, but is also able to provide more information about Party politics and tactics. Julia's character is fleshed out and interesting. While the subject matter is depressing and at times shocking, the story is engrossing and I could not put the book down for three days until I finished it." —jennluna

"I think I have a bias against books that are a rewrite of others, but Julia proved to me that it can be well done and can provide more layers to the original story. Julia was actually one of my favorite books of the year." —kimk

"It added so much to the narrative to learn of Julia's actions, thoughts and emotions and I am glad Julia is now part of my book collection." —gloriam

Looking for some lively book banter? Whether you're hunting for possible book club picks or just curious about others' thoughts on a recent title, BookBrowse Book Club discussions are the perfect resource for tuning in to readers' opinions, feelings and observations.

During 2023, we hosted discussions of 17 different books. Most of these discussions are now closed for new posts, but you can visit our archives to see how they unfolded and which topics were most popular. Plus, view titles from previous years for insight into what earlier selections might appeal to you or your book group. ...continued

Discussions are open to all, so please join us! If you would like to receive a message when a particular discussion opens, you can sign up for a one-time notification. You can also find inspiration for your book club among our more than 200 past discussions.

In January, we'll be discussing Lauren Grodstein's We Must Not Think of Ourselves and Evie Woods' The Lost Bookshop, followed by Lynda Rutledge's Mockingbird Summer and Costanza Casati's Clytemnestra in February, as well as Parini Shroff's The Bandit Queens in March.

Looking for books to read with your book club in 2024? Check out our recommendation lists for novels and nonfiction!

Can you match these BookBrowse 2023 Best of Year books to their opening lines?

BookBrowse's Top 20 reflects authentic reader opinion because only BookBrowse members and subscribers of our free newsletters are eligible to vote, which prevents the vote-stuffing that skews other popular awards in favor of the books with the biggest fan base.

We've published a best-of-year list every year since 2001, but this is the first year we've turned the list into a quiz. We hope you enjoy testing your knowledge of this year's Top 20!

Usually published once a month, Book Club News is one of BookBrowse's four free newsletters. We also publish BookBrowse Highlights every Thursday, Publishing This Week every Sunday; and Librarian News monthly.