Here we share our readers’ selections of their Top 10 Favorite Discussion Books that were pulled from the submissions in our ReadingGroupGuides.com 10th Anniversary Contest, which was open from May through July 2010. We culled the top selections from more than 12,000 entries! After we tallied the 10 most-noted favorites, a small group of us met and delved deeper into these lists. We had fun doing this as we found ourselves remembering familiar titles, learning about some new ones, and getting to know more about the groups who visit ReadingGroupGuides.com. We felt we were at the table with many groups as the personality of a group can come forth by looking at their selections. For those of you who are thinking of adding group members, you may want to consider sharing your group’s favorite titles with incoming members as a way to give them a better idea of what excites your members.

The replies gave us many ideas for lists, beyond the “Top 10.” You can see our Top 10 Discussion Books, as well as lists celebrating the 10 most-mentioned Classics, Memoirs/Biographies, Young Adult/Kids titles, and Books Featuring Animals. And for fun, we compiled another list of Selections You Might Not Expect. We will be unveiling additional lists throughout the fall, including one of historical fiction titles, so stay tuned for those.

Also below you’ll see our list of winners. Congratulations if you’re one of our 50 winners who each receive a $200 gift card to the retailer of their choice. Our hearts were warmed by the number of you who chose to donate your prize to a library, school or local charity.

Many thanks to all of you who voted and shared your favorites. A special thanks to the readers, librarians and booksellers who helped spread the word about our contest. Lists like these wouldn’t be possible without the loyalty, support and feedback from all of you, so thank you for celebrating with us. We hope you had as much fun participating as we did hosting. Don't forget to subscribe to our monthly newsletter for even more reading group guides.

Overall Top 10 (by votes)

Download a PDF of this list!

1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett: A spirited debut that explores the Civil Rights movement through the relationships between a young white woman and two black maids.
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2. Water for Elephants  by Sara Gruen: An elderly man reflects on his younger years as the veterinarian for a travelling circus during the Great Depression, and the many relationships he formed with man and beast alike.
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3. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the atrocities of the present.
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4. The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls: Walls recounts her harrowing, nomadic childhood as the daughter of eccentric parents struggling with substance abuse and often flouting the law.
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5. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert: Gilbert chronicles the end of her marriage and her year abroad in search of happiness, perspective, spirituality and love across Italy, India and Indonesia.
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6. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows: A novel told in letters between an author and a resident of the small, British island of Guernsey detailing the German occupation of the island, and its aftermath.
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7. The Secret Life of Bees    by Sue Monk Kidd: A teenager embarks on a quest to learn more about the mother she hardly knew, navigating the tumultuous racial landscape of the South during the 1960s.
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8. Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay: A compelling portrait of France under occupation during World War II, revealing the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode even in today’s society.
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9. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See: Two women form a lifelong friendship that is thrust into peril against 19th-century China’s rigid caste system and treatment of women.
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10. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant: A rich interpretation of the little-known Bible story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah, and the life of ancient womanhood.
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Top 10 Lists

Top 10 Classics (Alphabetical Order)

Top 10 Memoirs/Biographies (Alphabetical order)

Top 10 Young Adults/Kids Books (Alphabetical order)

Top 10 Books Featuring Animals (Alphabetical order)

Selections You Might Not Expect (Alphabetical order)

Winners of the 10th Anniversary Contest

• Alaine of “Renaissance Book Club” from Kenmore, WA
• Amy of “Book Club Divas” from Coral Springs, FL
• Anna of “Bookclub” from Tulsa, OK
• Anne of “Pool Moms” from Oreland, PA
• Beverly of “Hungry Readers Book Club” from Manville, NJ
• Bonnie of “Paradise Readers” from Muskegon, MI
• Bonnie of “The Vermont Book Group” from South Burlington, VT
• Carla from Littleton, CO
• Carol of “Friday Adult Book Discussion” from Bartlett, IL
• Cheryl of “Book Babes and Bov” from Twin Brooks, SD
• Chris of “Read, Drink, and Be Merry” from Denver, CO
• Connie of “John Roberts Company Lunch Bunch” from Minneapolis, MN
• Del Mari of “Reading Between the Wines” from Alexandria, MN
• Denise of “Bay Harbor Yacht Club Book Club” from Bay Harbor, MI
• Diane of “Pot Luck Book Club” from Sandwich, MA
• Edna of “Juck Edna” from Pismo Beach, CA
• Gerry of “WAMS Book Club” from Mount Laurel, NJ
• Gwen of “Just the 6 of Us” from Camden, DE
• Hilary from Pittsburgh, PA
• Irene of “The Lunch Bunch” from Coon Rapids, MN
• Jamie of “Flatrock Community Reading Group” from Antioch, TN
• Janet of “The Book Babes” from Trabuco Canyon, CA
• Joy of “Book Babes” from Thomasville, GA
• Julie of “Book Talk” from East Lansing, MI
• Julie from Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
• Karen from Fort Mill, SC
• Karen of “SMES Book Club” from Saint Marys, GA
• Kathy of “Logan County Libraries Book Lovers” from Bellefontaine , OH
• Kay of “Lit Wits” from Murfreesboro, TN
• Kim of "Wine, Women & Words" from Winter Haven, FL
• Laurie of “Book Babes” from Columbus, OH
• Laurie from Naperville, IL
• Linda of “Candy's Book Group” from Shaker Heights, OH
• Linda of “Bookwisers” from Racine, WI
• Linda of “The Book Knockers” from Lexington, KY
• Marcia of “The Wayne Senior Center Readers” from Jeffersonville, PA
• Maria of “The Bookies” from Warwick, RI
• Marian of "Readers By the Dozen" from New Windsor, MD
• Marie of “Dormont Library Adult Reading Group” from Pittsburgh, PA
• Melissa of “Phineas' Footnotes” from Ridgefield, CT
• Pat of “Thursday Morning Book Group” from Manalapan, NJ
• Pat of “Lynbrook Ladies Literary League” from Lynbrook, NY
• Sally of “Litwits” from Murfreesboro, TN
• Stacy of “@nd Friday Book Club” from Stillwater, OK
• Susan of “Murder in Sin City” from Las Vegas, NV
• Susan of “Brown Bag Book Discussion Group” from Middlebury, CT
• Susan of “Wordsworth Book Club” from Virginia Beach, VA
• Susie of “Royal Readers” from Waverly, IA
• Terye of “Milpitas Library Book Group” from Milpitas, CA
• Vonda of “Hanska Book Club” from Hanska, MN