Stupid Questions You Don’t Want To Ask In Book Clubs
December 21, 2009 in Literature by article_directory
We need more young people getting engaged with each other over the books they read. Think about your own group of friends: at least one of your moms is in a book club, meeting up with other mothers to chat about the latest historical fiction or speculative thriller they’ve read. But where is that same engagement among our own generation?
It seems pretty painless: choose a book, choose a time, READ IT, and then get a discussion going. But it’s always the last step that trips the most people up. It’s always hard to create interesting book club questions that everyone will want to discuss, but here are some hints to make it easier.
To learn more about book club questions, visit this very cool book club for The Lovely Bones.
Don’t ask too-smart questions, but don’t ask stupid ones, either. It’s always important to make sure that you’re including everyone, so it’s wise to not link the book to discussion of the space-time continuum (unless it’s The Time Traveler’s Wife!). But at the same time, don’t underestimate your audience; people could be turned off by a dumbed-down query like “Could the car be important to the story?” (Alternatively, “The author seems to use cars as a recurring motif. What different meaning could they have for each character?”) All questions should be answered with more than a simple yes or no, so that people will actually have something to say.
Make sure you have questions ready for those who inevitably haven’t been able to finish the book. To ensure that you’ve got some open-ended questions, look at the book’s themes. In The Lovely Bones, heaven is not only a theme, but also a space (another trope to consider!). Middlesex is all about the liminal state, of being in-between countries or even bodies. Disgrace looks at sexuality and public versus private spheres.
Encourage personal experiences. This develops right out of the prior tip: Let members know that it’s all right to affix personal viewpoints, to share their own stories while working through thematic and plot matters. If you end up on a tangent but everyone’s interacting, then wait until there’s a lull in the conversation and suggest a snack break. When you’re sitting down again, you can get everyone back on track with a more book-oriented question.
Respect everyone’s opinion. Don’t start a fight just because you are offended by what someone says – instead, ask them what they mean by their comment.
Share the wealth. Depending if your friends are more leaders than followers, let them set up the next meeting. These two things are important: consistency and diversity. So, try to do a new book each month, or every six weeks depending on your schedules, and have a new person head each round. That way, each person’s tastes get indulged at one point, and you’ll have an exciting batch of questions!
To see a great example of book club questions in use, check out this book club for The Lovely Bones.
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