Another idea is a novel by Tom Wolfe or Philip Roth who both died in May.
I haven’t read Bonfire of the Vanities since it came out in 1987. After 31 years, many of the issues in the book - racism, greed, politics, social class, seem as relevant as ever. I wonder how the book holds up on a re-reading?
I’m open to any especially being a newbie to the CC book club. 
I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for the first time about 8 years ago. Loved it.
Okay, I swapped out one duet for another:
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
Sunburn by Laura Lippman and a noir classic (maybe something by Elmore Leonard?) (duet)
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain and Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler (duet)
Vetoes? Additions? Or, if satisfied, feel free to vote now, as @ignatius did.
Sweetbitter is a terrible book with unlikable characters. I regret having read it. But the hype was sky high.
The first four interest me most.
^Now that’s a veto with feeling!
Out goes Sweetbitter, in goes *Bonfire of the Vanities/i I would also be open to Philip Roth, but wouldn’t know what title to select.
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
Sunburn by Laura Lippman and a noir classic (maybe something by Elmore Leonard?) (duet)
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
Regarding Philip Roth, Portnoy’s Complaint was the book that put him on the map, so to speak, but I think he and critics thought that Sabbath’s Theater was his best. That said, The Plot Against America is somewhat timely.
I tried to get through Sabbath’s Theater a few years ago and found it a rough slog. Finally gave up about a third of the way through. I found it incredibly vulgar, and I am hardly a prude.
Tom Wolfe - Bless his heart! - loves italics and exclamation points!!! His italicized, exclamation-pointed style drove me crazy in The Right Stuff. I actually started keeping count of both per page to amuse myself as I read. Not an outright veto but a definite hesitation re trying him again.
My choices remain (in no particular order):
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley
The Heart’s Invisible Furies
and …
The Plot Against America - Philip Roth (@VeryHappy’s suggestion)
*Off for the morning!!! Have a good day, one and all!! )
Ah, @ignatius, once again this book club has led me on a relentless pursuit of knowledge. I googled the question, “How many exclamation points does Tom Wolfe use in The Bonfire of the Vanities?”
So on the bright side, if the book were to be chosen, you wouldn’t have to keep count. 
LOL @ignatius. The Tom Wolfe style can sure get tiresome though I really enjoyed the Right Stuff. I also read The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, but didn’t like it nearly as much.
I’m inclined to go for Twelve Lives as it keeps popping up as a suggestion, not just last time, I think the time before as well.
Here’s an updated list. I removed the noir duo because the lack of comment leads me to believe it’s not really a contender. If I’m wrong, it can go back.
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
For those who don’t know, The Plot against America assumes that FDR lost the election in 1940 and Lindburgh – an anti-Semite – was elected instead.
I’m interested in The Plot Against America, but serious question here: Do you think we could get through a discussion without repeatedly violating CC’s interdict against political commentary?
I really like everything on the list (and we should keep those titles in mind for the future), but like @mathmom, I’m inclined to go with Twelve Lives as well, to reward @ignatius for her persistence. To quote Tom Wolfe, “Energy and persistence conquer all things!!!” Okay, really that was Benjamin Franklin. Minus the exclamation points.
Would everyone be okay with Hannah Tinti’s novel as the choice for August?
I’m one of the minority of people who felt Beneath a Scarlet Sky is undeserving of its many great reviews on Goodreads. It is based on a real person, and the story itself could have been interesting. However, the writing style was lacking, too simplistic, if not juvenile. I think it’s one of those books that appeals to the masses.
I just read The Heart’s Invisible Furies a month ago. It’s very long, but wow, I really enjoyed it. I recommended it to my mother, a bibliophile, as I knew she would like it. I talked to her the other day and she said it was the best book she’d read in a long time (not that her opinion matters here as she is just one person, but she is a 77 y/o who likes good literature). It deals with so many different issues that make it a great novel for discussion. As noted above though, anyone troubled by descriptions of (gay) sex will probably not want to read it.
I’ve read five of the six books on Mary’s most recent list above tho Bonfire of the Vanities was many years ago (have not read Sunburn). No vote from me for any particular one, but if I were to recommend removing any from the vote it would be Beneath a Scarlet Sky.
Editing to add that while I was typing, Mary updated her list and took off Sunburn.
Yes, I consider it a public health service, saving lives by steering people away from Sweetbitter. 
I’m perfectly content to read 12 Lives. It’s already on my wish list at Audible.
I’m good with The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley.
I jumped the gun and just put myself on my library’s waiting list for The Twelve Lives. Whether the group goes for it or not, it sounds like one I’d want to read. (Love this group for reading inspiration! I’m so glad I found you.)
@4kids4us, you’ve read all the books on the final list? I’m impressed! I can’t keep up with you folks. I hope that you will join us for The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley…and not tell us it’s a Sweetbitter.
@Mary13 I confess to being an avid reader. I read Bonfire of the Vanities a very long time ago. I have not read the Roth book. Just a coincidence I happened to read all the others. A group of my friends who are all readers have a Facebook group where we share recommendations. Beneath a Scarlet Sky was being marketed by Amazon in one of their reading groups when first released (it was only available via Kindle then) so my friend downloaded for free at the time. She raved about it so I bought it for $2.99 thru my Kindle app rather than wait for my library to purchase. Thankfully I didn’t pay anymore than that (I see now that the price has gone up).
I’lol have to skim reread Twelve Lives if chosen as I don’t remember enough about it to contribute to discussion. I try to give at least a brief review on Goodreads of books I’ve read so I can later remember what I liked and/or did not like but unfortunately I only gave a rating for that one. I didn’t hate it, I know that, so for me, it was not a Sweetbitter (haven’t read that one and sounds like that’s a good thing!).
Hannah’s book looks good to me !
I just heard about Sweetbitter a couple days ago, a friend has been watching the Tv series on Cinemax.
Bonfire of the Vanities is linked with the 1980’s when I read it. I wonder if t holds up now.
The Flight Attendant , is next up for me to read. library just went ebook download notice.
Also, watching the Australian tv series “Offspring” on Netflix ! Season 2 is so good.
LOL, I certainly don’t need to read Sweetbitter - I remembered the review and went looking for it. I will probably go on a binge of fantasy reading right now as a friend recommended a bunch of stuff. And of course there are more books in the Kushiel world.
It irritates me so that she got a HUGE advance on the book, which contributed to the HUGE buzz, and then an interview with the author on NPR roped me into putting the book in queue. The finished product? Dreck.
When I saw there is a TV series? Uff. No justice in this world.
Carry on! I will not speak of it again. lol