Book Clubs by Saralyn Richard

One of the many tasks an author tackles when she has a new book released is to develop a list of discussion questions for book clubs. While I enjoy every part of researching, writing, revising, publishing, and marketing a book, creating discussion questions is one of my favorites.

Years of doing lesson plans, creating assessments, and interacting with students around the literature they’ve read have given me the tools.  I also helped teachers develop higher level questions when I was an administrator. And, for the trifecta, I took Junior Great Books training, which helps leaders craft Socratic questions that have more than one right answer and whose answers prompt more questions. All of these gave me excellent experience in working with book clubs.

Before I get into details, I must say that no two book clubs are alike. In fact, even the same book club can differ from its last session with a different book, a different leader, a slightly different crowd, or a different context for discussion. For example, I just returned to a fabulous local book club that had discussed my book, BAD BLOOD SISTERS, a year ago, and this time they were discussing MURDER IN THE ONE PERCENT. A different book, a different series, and this time there were men in the group. Furthermore, the person who hosted the second session turned it into a party to simulate the elegant party in the book. The whole atmosphere was charged with festivity, and, although I had prepared higher level discussion questions to go with the book, no one wanted to hear them. Instead, the readers had questions of their own to ask me. I was cool with that. I wanted everyone to enjoy the discussion, and I wouldn’t want anyone to leave empty-handed, with unanswered questions.

Two days later, I had the first book club discussion of the new release, MRS. OLIVER’S TWIST. I sat down to prepare the questions, and that old familiar sense of joy flooded through me. I loved writing the book, and I would love setting the platform for discussing it. What would I want to revisit? The characters? The plot? The setting? The theme?

I crafted between fifteen and twenty questions, printed them out, cut them into strips, folded them neatly, and placed them into a jar. When it came time for the discussion, I led with a five-to-ten-minute talk about the inspiration for the book, and then opened the floor for questions. Everyone had to take a turn asking or answering a question. If a person didn’t have a question to ask, she could pull a question from the jar. She would read the question and take the first crack at answering it. Or she could pass and let someone else answer it.

At the end of the evening, everyone had contributed to the discussion several times, and everyone went home happy—including the book’s author!

I’m always amazed at what comes from readers at book clubs. My philosophy is that the book belongs to me when I’m writing it, but it belongs to the reader once it’s published. So I don’t claim to have all the “right” answers, and I enjoy hearing different responses.

Sometimes I attend these book clubs in person, and sometimes by FaceTime or Zoom. Either way, it’s an honor and a joy to be invited to discuss my book with a new group.

How about you? What is the most interesting, unusual, or fun book club meeting you’ve ever attended?

Saralyn Richard is the author of the Detective Parrott mystery series, the Quinn McFarland mystery series, A MURDER OF PRINCIPAL, and the children’s book, NAUGHTY NANA. If you’d like to invite Saralyn to your next book club or organization meeting, contact her at saralyn@saralynrichard.com.