Category: Book Club Discussion Questions

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Discussion Questions:

1.Did you know what Pachinko was before you read the book?

2. Pachinko is a popular gambling machine in Japan. Why do you think the book is call Pachinko? What does the title of the book relate to?

3. What was your initial reaction to the book at the beginning? Did it pull you in right away or did it take time to hook you?

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Discussion Questions:

1. The title of the book, Small Great Things is adapted from Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” What does that mean? What does the characters do to show this?

2. The book is told in three people’s perspectives- Turk, the white supremacist, Ruth, the Black nurse, and Kennedy, the public defender. Did you enjoy reading these three points of view? Did it enhance your reading experience and the book?

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Discussion Questions:

1. At the start of the book, A. J. has lots of preferences on books that he will read or not read but by the end of the book his preferences changed. What happened to make him change his preferences? Do you have specifics that determine what types of books you read?

2. A. J. is a bookseller and the book pays homage to books, with references to books throughout the novel. Have you read any of the books or authors mentioned in the novel? (James and the Giant Peach, Alex Cross series, The Book Thief, Anne of Green Gables, A Little Princess, Case Histories, Bel Canto, The Awakening, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Cloud Atlas etc.) Did you enjoy reading all the literary references? Why? Which ones did you like the most?

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Discussion Questions:

1. Sam’s mother told him that he was given extraordinary eyes because he was going to lead an extraordinary life. What do you think of her approach to his condition of ocular albinism?

2 .”God did not make you different, Fernando. He made you special.“

Sam teaches the same lessons to Fernando as his mother did for him. Do you think that we are like our parents? That we become like them in our old age? Have you said things that your parents said to you?

Read Girl, Woman, Other book review

Discussion Questions:

1. Were you surprised by the lack of grammar in the book? Did you like the style of writing? Did the lack of grammar impede on your reading experience? What do you think the author was trying to achieve in not using grammar?

2. The book had twelve main characters each with their own stories. Did you find find it confusing or were you able to follow the thread of the book? What did you think of the format?

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Discussion Questions:

1. Before reading The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek did you know about the Kentucky Pack Horse program that was introduced in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration (WPA)? Did you know about the blue-skinned people of Kentucky? Did it pique your interest that you did some research about the topics?

2. The WPA raison d’etre was to to help create jobs and improve economic recovery in the Great Depression. The women’s work programs such as the Pack Horse Librarian was a result of that goal. Do you think that the Pack Horse Librarian program helped the people in the remote area of the Appalachians? What changes did you notice? Do you think today’s library programs are essential for the community?

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Discussion Questions:

1. Before reading Next Year In Havana, did you know much about the political history of Cuba? Did you learn much? Did it make you want to learn more?

2. The novel goes back and forth between Eliza Perez life in the 1950s and her granddaughter’s Marisol Ferrera’s trip to Cuba in 2017. Which story line did you enjoy the most? Who did you identify with? Did you find their stories similar?

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Discussion Questions:

1. At the start of The Midnight Library, Nora was depressed and anxious and nothing was going right for her. She had so many regrets. Why do you think Nora turned to suicide? Why did she think this was her only option?

2. What did you think of Nora? How did you feel about her? Could you relate to her and what she was going through?

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Discussion Questions:

1. What was the significance that William Shakespeare was not mentioned by name but referred to as dad, husband, Latin tutor etc.? Why did the author not mention his name?

2. Agnes and her husband William, were they well suited? Why, why not?

3. What did you think of Agnes? Did you like her? Why did the author make her character a healer?

4. Why did Agnes have her first child in the woods? Why did she want to have her other kids there? What was her thought process?

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Discussion Questions:

1. “One could not count the moons that shimmers on her roofs, Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.”

The title of the book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, comes from the 17th century poem ‘Kabul’ written by Saib-e-Tabrizi. Did you like the literary and cultural reference? Did you want to find out more about the poem and Kabul?

2. Did you enjoy learning about Afghanistan and the political regime changes from the book?