Civil Articles
When I think “book club”, my mind immediately goes to classics like Jane Eyre or the new David Sedaris, but it’s always firmly rooted in the realms of literary or social commentary. But it doesn’t always have to be this way – so you shouldn’t be surprised to find that book clubs span a ton of other categories besides the usual mystery/thriller, historical romance, and memoir. Be creative and try introducing one of these categories to your book club – just think of the fun you could have coming up with book club questions!
Cookbooks
Why not? If it’s written well, a cookbook has a personal touch – whether its theme is to portray another culture’s techniques; to advise on how to eat cheaply but well; or to share anecdotes about the chef’s life. An added benefit to trying to figure out the chef author’s life, personal history, and so forth, is that you get to try out the recipes. Yum!Sample questions: How did food impact the cook’s childhood/adulthood? Did you find these recipes frustrating? Did you try improvising ingredients?
Graphic novels
Why not? Many graphic novels happen to be very deep stories, and have stunning illustrations to go with the compelling storyline.Sample questions: How do splash pages and irregular panels express broad concepts like intense emotion and the shifting of time? Does the style allow you to better accept outlandish settings like space or futuristic dystopias? How do the writer and artists work together to express characterization and plot development? Did any parts take you by surprise? Were you able to detect patterns in either storytelling or art?
Erotica
Why not? If everyone is comfortable enough to talk about sex and what turns you on (this is the kind of thing I’d see more in a college dorm than a room of mothers), then you could have some truly illuminating discussions about culture, sexuality, and even identity. Also, these are usually short story collections, so you can interact only as much as you’re comfortable with.
Sample questions: Which lover (male, female, or in a same-sex story, clarify which character) did you find yourself identifying with? Why does the author decide to set the story in a bedroom/office/airplane bathroom? Were there elements to a story that unnerved/disgusted you, and why? Is there artistic merit to erotica?
Photo collections
Why not? A picture is worth a thousand words. Think you can come up with more than that in a discussion?
Sample questions: (Steer away from technicalities – unless you’re all photo buffs! – and stick with personal reactions.) Why did the artist decide to use color/black-and-white? Is this a candid or a posed photo, and how does that affect your reaction? What is the message that the artist is trying to transmit?
Audiobooks
Why not? This isn’t so much a theme as a different style of experiencing the content, so perhaps this will dip into the Sedaris and Patterson categories. But introducing the audiobook option could ensure that more members get to actually read the book before the next meeting, due to the ability to have it in the car or on a morning jog. Plus, it can be a more personal experience to have a book read to you by someone, especially if it’s narrated by the author him/herself.
Sample questions: Were you surprised at how good/bad the narrator was? Did the story have one or more narrators, and which works better? Did you find yourself focusing more or getting more distracted listening to the book? (Plus other questions based on the specific category you choose.)
Learn more about book clubs and the questions you can ask at this really neat digital book club, which is currently covering The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Tags: book, book club questions, digital book club, Literature, lovely bones
Posted in Literature · December 18th, 2009 · Comments (0)