Book Club Reading Guides 2019-20

CBF's 2019-20 Opportunities to Affect Reading Guide list features novels, memoirs, poetry and young adult fiction. We hope these books will enrich and challenge your missional journey.

Looking for the Reading Guides from Previous Years?

2018-19 Reading Guides
2017-18 Reading Guides
2016-17 Reading Guides

AUGUST

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Behind Ove’s cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. The arrival of Ove’s new neighbors leads to unexpected friendships that will change Ove and the community.

Download the free discussion guide for A Man Called Ove

SEPTEMBER

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
The notorious murder case of Walter McMillian drew Bryan Stevenson into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.

Download the free discussion guide for Just Mercy

OCTOBER

All the Names They Used for God by Anjali Sachdeva
This short story collection spans centuries and continents but is united by each diverse character’s struggle with fate. Sachdeva has a talent for creating moving and poignant scenes, following her highly imaginative plots to their logical ends, and depicting how one small miracle can affect everyone in its wake.

Download the free discussion guide for All the Names They Used for God

NOVEMBER

The View from Flyover Country by Sarah Kendzior
In this collection of essays, Sarah Kendzior—a former columnist for Al Jazeera English—tackles issues including labor exploitation, racism, gentrification, media bias and other aspects of the post-employment economy.

Download the free discussion guide for The View from Flyover Country

DECEMBER

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement.

Download the free discussion guide for Brown Girl Dreaming

JANUARY

The Good Neighbor by Maxwell King
In the first full-length biography of Fred Rogers, King offers a view of the children’s champion that is both a feel-good tribute and a look into Rogers’ commitment to making the world a better place.

Download the free discussion guide for The Good Neighbor

FEBRUARY

I'm Still Here by Austin Channing Brown
Austin shares an eye-opening account of growing up Black, Christian, and female in middle-class white America, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God’s ongoing work in the world, and discover how blackness—if we let it—can save us all.

Download the free discussion guide for I'm Still Here

MARCH

The Path Between Us by Suzanne Stabile
Most of us have no idea how others see or process their experiences. Understanding the motivations and dynamics of the nine Enneagram personality types can be the key that unlocks sometimes mystifying behavior in others—and in ourselves.

Download the free discussion guide for The Path Between Us

APRIL

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Henrietta Lacks was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells became one of the most important tools in medicine. Henrietta’s story is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we’re made of.

Download the free discussion guide for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

MAY

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
A Place for Us unfolds the lives of an Indian-American Muslim family. In a narrative that spans decades and sees family life through the eyes of each member, the novel charts the crucial moments in the family’s past, from the bonds that bring them together to the differences that pull them apart.

Download the free discussion guide for A Place for Us