Switching to guided discussion questions changed my book club's vibe completely

My book club in Portland was getting stale, everyone just saying they liked or didn't like a book. After about 4 months of that, I found a site with guided questions for each chapter. We tried them out on a mystery novel last month, and suddenly people were debating motives and plot holes for an hour past our usual stop time. Has anyone else seen a big shift from using structured questions versus free talk?

2 comments

2 Comments

vera_palmer1mo ago

Different strokes I guess. Guided questions feel too much like homework to me. We tried them once and the conversation got really stiff. Everyone just answered the question and waited for the next one. No natural flow. Free talk lets people bring up what actually stuck with them. Like last month someone mentioned a tiny detail about the cat in chapter 3 and it turned into this whole thing about symbolism nobody planned. You lose those random surprises with a list.

hannahm391mo ago

That cat detail sounds amazing, stuff like that is why I love book clubs in the first place. @vera_palmer, I get what you mean about it feeling like homework, maybe it just depends on the group and how strict the person leading it is.