Jul 12, 20 the audio book club on the interestings our critics discuss meg wolitzers novel about six childhood friends whose lives intersect over the years. The following list includes ten triedandtrue book club picks. The good news is if you start out with a few good questions, the ball gets rolling from there. The interestings book club central pick june 20 by meg wolitzer when six, artistic teenagers meet for a summer in 1974 at spirit in the woods, they dub themselves the interestings due to their intellectual connections. So, the lovely emma of a beautiful mess just started a book club, which is perfect for me to help accomplish my goal this year of reading more books for pleasure. The interestings is warm, allamerican, and acutely perceptive about the feelings and motivations of its characters, male and female, young and old, gay and straight. This month, were chatting about the interestings by meg wolitzer. They toasted their newformed club with vodka and tang cocktails, and rechristened this new member, formerly known as julie.
In your opinion, is it something you are born with or something you work. If the book youre discussing has one its certainly worth printing it out but do look through it before the discussion opens and decide which topics you think your group will enjoy. Becoming by michelle obama book club discussion questions. Although there are many historically resonant moments, more than anything this is a book about character growth and development.
This evening discussion group meets on the fourth wednesday of each month at 7. The interestingss inclusive vision and generous sweep place it among the ranks of books like jonathan franzens freedom and jeffrey eugenides the marriage plot. How meg wolitzer made sure the interestings would be a big book. The next few questions will explore some of these, but feel free to bring up others and to discuss the overall role of secrets in the novel with your book club. Scoop evelyn waugh discussion questions wednesday book club.
While emma of a beautiful mess posted some thoughtprovoking responses to the discussion questions she posted, i wont be responding to the questions since i dont want to spoil the book for you. The interestings meg wolitzer, 20 penguin group usa 480 pp. Grab your gals and a glass of wine and get discussing. Jan 31, 2014 the interestings is such a beautiful evolutionary tale of friendship.
I know probably a lot of you read the glass castle by jeannette walls ages ago, but i only just recently read it and worried that they would be too similar. The interestings is such a beautiful evolutionary tale of friendship. A beautiful mess book clubthe interestings by meg wolitzer. I just decided hey, this looks like a good book, and read it.
One book club member brought up the cup of tea analogy as an example of a resource that is available to young people. Kindle book club spoiler alert, the interestings, reading complete. There is a lot of currency to the book, with themes easily linked to todays public conversation. I think adolescence is the perfect time to start exploring interests and skills more indepth than children. The january selection was the interestings by meg wolitzer, a novel i had no background knowledge of. Any page references refer to a usa edition of the book, usually the. My current book club group is much more casual, but perhaps too much so. Choose one question at a time and toss it out to the group. Over wine, of course the girl on the train by paula hawkins.
Apr 10, 20 meg wolitzers the interestings follows a group of teens who meet in the 70s at an artsy summer camp and remain friends for the rest of their lives. Welcome to the wednesday book club melbourne northern suburbs calendar. The editor and novelist emailed recently about wolitzers new novel the interestin. Time to focus in on this months educated book club discussion. Simsion does, however, give groups plenty to discuss about asperger syndrome, love, and relationships.
Book club discussion questions the deliberate reader. She works as an instructor in the mfa program at stony brook southampton. The interestings book club central pick june 20 the. Each month, we share top book picks from indie next and libraryreads, as well as the target book club title and pennies pick for costco.
This was a great read for a book club because, well, this book was not beloved overall. Book club discussion questions october 20, 2015 by sheila 7 comments while its always helpful if you can find reading guides for the precise title your book club is. Meg wolitzer is the new york timesbestselling author of the interestings, the uncoupling, the tenyear nap, the position, the wife, and sleepwalking. Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of riverhead books. To listen to the audio book club discussion of the interestings, click the arrow on the player below. Though the interestings spans several decades, most of the novel takes place in and around new york city in the 1970s. Book club central, or bcc, will bring a world of information to book lovers, book clubs, libraries, and anyone who wants to increase their enjoyment of reading. A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy. It follows six characters who meet at summer camp in 1974 up through the presentalong with, to varying degrees, new friends, new relationships, and. Book clubs are great, but sometimes they veer a bit off course. Book club discussion questions for the interestings by meg wolitzer. Kristin van ogtrop here, editor of real simple, timechallenged working woman, and lover of books albeit with limited reading time. What did the book club think about meg wolitzers the interestings.
Book club discussion questions this page gives you a full list of all the books featured on this site, split between fiction and non fiction. Have a good topic of discussion to start the conversation and make sure to have some more ready to introduce if the conversation flags, goes off topic, starts to repeat itself or gets uncomfortably contentious. From the new york timesbestselling author of the interestings, an electric, multilayered novel about ambition, power, friendship, and mentorship, and the romantic. She is also the author of the young adult novel belzhar. Mar 20, 2014 one thing the interestings provided was a great book club discussion. Meg wolitzers the interestings follows a group of teens who meet in the 70s at an artsy summer camp and remain friends for the rest of their lives. Aug 08, 2019 the official launch of book club central took place during the presidents program at the ala annual conference and exhibition in chicago on saturday, june 24, 2017. Meg wolitzers the interestings podcast and book club discussion. If you read the noobligation book clubs september 20 choice, meg wolitzers the interestings, you know that the plot hinges on the shifting decadeslong relationships among six fiercely bonded friends. Book club discussion questions for the interestings by. One thing the interestings provided was a great book club discussion. Any page references refer to a usa edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions. From the new york timesbestselling author of the interestings, an electric novel not just about who we want to be.
Topics about this book topics that mention this book. For more information, call the readers advisory desk at 3178143987. Content includes books from bestselling, midlist and debut authors. The interestings is a book of great depth and insight. Inheritance is a book about secretssecrets within families, kept out of shame or selfprotectiveness. Real simples online book club celebrates its fifth. Selecting books that generate discussion means doing a little homework, and youre in luck, because i have done some of that research for you. This was my first read for the schaumburg library book club beyond the book.
Decades later the bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed. Oct 29, 2019 erin collazo miller is a freelance book critic whose work has appeared regularly in the orlando sentinel. The interestings, by meg wolitzer the new york times. First off i wanted to say thank you to everyone who has already left. It is the story of a womans urgent quest to unlock the story of her own identity, a story that has been scrupulously hidden from her for more than fifty years, years she had spent. One of the crazy things about writing up a book club discussion when weve hosted the author, is that ive already been writing and writing and writing about the book. This month we celebrate the fifth anniversary of the noobligation book club, and im pleased to be back leading our discussion. Turns out readers arent the only ones who wanted to befriend some of the pals. Aug 29, 2014 if you read the noobligation book clubs september 20 choice, meg wolitzers the interestings, you know that the plot hinges on the shifting decadeslong relationships among six fiercely bonded friends.
Simple managing editor kristin van ogtrop moderated the discussion of the interestings, which marked the fifth anniversary of the noobligation book club. All carmel clay public library book discussions are currently postponed. Home book discussion groups libguides at american library. If youre ready to start a book club, heres 40 of the best book club questions, for fiction and nonfiction alike. The american dream is the idea of social mobility and that working hard will bring eventual success. Questions for book club discussion on gone girl by gillian flynn your book club wont be able to stop talking about the rosie project. There were 16 people in the club and i think 4 of us self included gave it a 4 out of 5, everyone else. Theyve discussed the beautiful bureaucrat, to kill a mockingbird, the lifechanging magic of tidying up and much more i chose books that i thought would make enjoyable reading for both sexes and would spark lively, interesting, sometimes heated discussion. Feb 02, 2014 so, the lovely emma of a beautiful mess just started a book club, which is perfect for me to help accomplish my goal this year of reading more books for pleasure. Get your book discussion started with book club discussion questions coming up with book club discussion questions is often the hardest part of hosting a book club meeting. Apr 09, 2014 what did the book club think about meg wolitzers the interestings. The official launch of book club central took place during the presidents program at the ala annual conference and exhibition in chicago on saturday, june 24, 2017. May 14, 2015 this month, were chatting about the interestings by meg wolitzer.
At the bottom of the page you will also find useful links, all in one place. Erin collazo miller is a freelance book critic whose work has appeared regularly in the orlando sentinel. Each member or a team of 23 takes a card and answers the question. On thursday, february 11 th, fixed on fiction met to discuss the interestings by meg wolitzerthe summer that nixon resigns, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts become inseparable. The very successful missouribased diylifestyle blog a beautiful mess has started a book club. Bookclub, meg wolitzer the interestings bbc radio 4. Lots and lots of buzz on this one and i am happy to say, well worth it. These questions are ready for book clubs to use in their discussions on meg wolitzers the interestings. Oct 20, 2015 book club discussion questions october 20, 2015 by sheila 7 comments while its always helpful if you can find reading guides for the precise title your book club is reading, sometimes theyre not available. A memoir by tara westover was a definite on my tbr list.
This list was inspired by my good friend and neighbor, who participates in a coed book club and frequently asks for recommendations. The perfect book club is made up of three key things. The interestings by meg wolitzer discussion questions thoughtco. In wolitzers 2008 novel, the tenyear nap, amy lamb, another child of the e. Ive found that the best book club discussion questions are ones that are openended and that get people to share their personal opinions. The interestings audiobook by meg wolitzer are readers duration. In one of my past book clubs, we literally only read books that included discussion questions at the end of the book because we wanted to be certain wed have a meaningful discussion. This decade was a low point for the city, which had been in a gradual economic decline during the 1960s with rolling blackouts, subway strikes, sanitation strikes, and riots most notably the 1969 stonewall inn riots, which.
This knowing, generous and slyly sly new novel follows a group of teenagers who meet at a summer camp for artsy teens in 1974 and survive as friends through the competitions and realities of growing up. Meg wolitzer born may 28, 1959 is an american novelist, known for the wife, the tenyear nap, the uncoupling, the interestings, and the female persuasion. Welcome to the very first abm book club discussion. Twenty questions to test your knowledge of margaret atwoods famous novel. Part i moments of strangeness, part ii figland, and part iii the drama of the gifted child. Every book page contains useful information for your book group including book club questions. Meg wolitzers the interestings podcast and book club.
At its heart is jules nee julie, she changes it that first summer to seem more sophisticated jacobson, an aspiring comic actress. In some ways, by graeme simsion is a light, fun read for book clubs that need a break from heavy books. On thursday, february 11 th, fixed on fiction met to discuss the interestings by meg wolitzer the summer that nixon resigns, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts become inseparable. Does this dream hold true for the characters of the interestings. Many books suitable for book clubs have discussion guides. Shy, suburban nonentity julie jacobson, who had provoked howls for the first time in her life, had suddenly, lightly changed into jules, which was a far better name for an awkwardlooking fifteenyearold girl whod become desperate for people to pay attention to her p.
I read their first selection, the intere stin g s by meg wolitzer. Sarah mcgrath has been editing meg wolitzer since the wife, in 2003. If youre hoping to join a book club or start one thats about, you know, actual reading, elyssa friedland author of love and. It follows six characters who meet at summer camp in 1974 up through the presentalong with, to varying degrees, new friends, new relationships, and family members. What did the book club think about meg wolitzers the. Apr 21, 20 with this book, she has surpassed herself. The female persuasion by meg wolitzer book summary.
The audio book club on the interestings our critics discuss meg wolitzers novel about six childhood friends whose lives intersect over the years. How julie feels a little left out at first and then jules quickly becomes such a rock for ash and even goodman is great. Book club discussion questions for the interestings by meg. Select a number of questions, write each on an index card, and distribute. The uncoupling was the subject of the first coasttocoast virtual book club discussion, via skype. Conversation between the interestings writer meg wolitzer. Apr 05, 20 how meg wolitzer made sure the interestings would be a big book.
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