Category: Book Club Discussion Questions

Here’s a video of Paula McLain, up close and personal on a conversation about her book Circling The Sun. Also included is a reading of the book and Q & A with the author.

Discover books by Paula McLain!

Discussion Questions

1. Circling The Sun is based on the life of a real person. Do you enjoy reading a novelist’s interpretation of the person’s life in story form or do you prefer a biographical format?

2. Did you think Beryl’s father made the right decisions for her as she was growing up?

3. Did you feel Beryl’s father sort of forced her decision to marry Jock at such a young age leaving her to think “Do I really have a choice at this point?” Continue reading “Circling The Sun Book Club Discussion Questions” →

Here’s Ann Patchett talking about her writing process in Commonwealth.

Discussion Questions:

1. The kiss at the beginning of the book is pivotal in setting in motion the fate and lives of the families involve. Do you believe that it was fate, like Bert Cousins, or choice?

2. How are the children affected by the divorce (of Fix and Beverly Keating, and Bert and Teresa Cousins) and re-marriage of Bert and Beverly?

3. What does the title of the book mean? And what does the title of the book suggest you about Patchett’s concept of family? Continue reading “Commonwealth Book Club Discussion Questions” →

Please put your comments for Lilac Girls book club discussion questions in the comments area below.

Here’s a video of Martha Hall Kelly introducing Lilac Girls.

Find Martha Hall Kelly: |Website | Facebook |Amazon Author Page |

Discussion Questions for Lilac Girls

1. Lilac Girls was based on real people and real events that happened during Hitler’s reign, were you aware of the Ravensbruck “Rabbits” before you read the book?

2. There were many gruesome events that happened in the book. Kelly’s focus on the harrowing experiments in Ravensbruck was very memorable. What message was Kelly trying to say by including heavy details of the women’s experiences? Did you find these parts hard to read? Continue reading “Lilac Girls Book Club Discussion Questions” →

Synopsis:

“You will develop a palate. A palate is a spot on your tongue where you remember. Where you assign words to the textures of taste. Eating becomes a discipline, language-obsessed. You will never simply eat food again.”

These are the words that introduce us to Tess, the twenty-two year old narrator of Sweetbitter.

Shot from a mundane, provincial past, Tess comes to New York in the stifling summer of 2006. Alone, knowing no one, living in a rented room in Williamsburg, she manages to land a job as a “backwaiter” at a celebrated downtown Manhattan restaurant. Continue reading “Sweetbitter Book Club Discussion Questions” →

Please put your comments for A Gentleman in Moscow book club discussion questions in the comments area below.

Discussion Questions:

1.Having read A Gentleman in Moscow, who would you recommend it to?

2. Did you like the premise of the book? Was it believable that an aristocrat was under house arrest for more than 30 years?

3. Why do you think that the author made the protagonist an aristocrat? How does the title of the book tie into that? Continue reading “A Gentleman In Moscow Book Club Discussion Questions” →

Please put your comments for  The Underground Railroad book club discussion questions in the comment area below.

 

Discussion Questions:

1. The Underground Railroad focuses on freedom. We see that freedom is a perspective that changes with the person and the time. What exactly does freedom mean to Cora? How does she react when she first gets to North Carolina? How does her view later change? Is her reaction what you’d expect from being a slave? Continue reading “The Underground Railroad Book Club Discussion Questions” →

Please put your comments for  Fates And Furies book club discussion questions in the comment area below.

Discussion Questions:

1. Lotto’s story is under Fates, and Mathilde under Furies, why do you think  Groff divided the book like this? What the significance of it? Continue reading “Fates and Furies Book Club Discussion Questions” →

Please put your comments in for The Paris Wife book club discussion questions below in the comments area.

 

Discussion Questions:

1. Did you enjoy The Paris Wife, and would you recommend this book?

2. This is a fictionalized account of Ernest Hemingway’s marriage to Hadley Richardson written from mainly Hadley’s perspective. Knowing that Hadley was the first of the one of four wives, you find her narrative convincing and believable? Were you sympathetic towards her? Continue reading “The Paris Wife Book Club Discussion Questions” →

Please put your comments in for The Last Painting of Sara De Vos book club discussion questions below in the comments area.

 

Discussion Questions:

1. The setting of The Last Painting of Sara De Vos took place in various locations and time period. Did you find Smith’s method of going back and forth and between the different time periods and locations a success to keeping you engaged? Continue reading “The Last Painting of Sara De Vos Book Club Discussion Questions” →

Please put your comments for The Little Red Chairs book club discussion questions in the comment area below.

Discussion Questions:

1.We meet Dr. Vladimir Dragan at the beginning of the book appearing like a holy man in white gloves and white hair. What does his appearance signify? Continue reading “The Little Red Chairs Book Club Discussion Questions” →