How to Come Up With Good Book Club Discussion Questions

There’s nothing quite as thrilling as a terrific book club discussion, where people are sharing insights and fully engaged with the conversation.

And. . . there’s nothing quite as bad as stilted book club questions that make everyone feel like they’re back in a boring classroom with a subpar professor.

I think about book club questions ALL the time because of Everyday Reading Book Club where it’s my job to make the discussion interesting and engaging every week.

I’m personally almost always turned off by the book club questions in the backs of books because they feel very forced and not at all like they generate the kind of organic and fluid discussion I want.

If you’re in the same boat, here are some of my best tips for coming up with great book club questions and starting a lively discussion.

How to Come Up With Good Book Club Discussion Questions

1. Book club questions are just a launching point for a great discussion. This is the biggest thing for me – the whole point of book club is to have a great discussion and if a question gets you going in an interesting direction, let the conversation move that way. The questions are a tool, not the point of the evening. If you don’t get to half or three quarters of them, that’s a GOOD thing!
2. Make notes as you read. I am NOT a notetaker when I read normally but when I’m reading for book club, I highlight like my life depends on it and make notes for good questions in the margins. Going back after the fact to try to remember what might make a good discussion question is a lot harder!
3. Start with background info. One of my book clubs did this really well and I loved that the moderator nearly always started out with a little background information about the author or the time period or the topic which really got the discussion going.
4. Avoid yes or no questions. You all know those book club questions that are totally uninspired – open-ended questions work WAY better generally. Here are some excellent open-ended book club questions that can get a discussion going:
   1. Was this book a slow start for you or were you sucked right in?
   2. How would you describe this book in one sentence?
   3. What star rating would you give this book?
   4. What made you interested in picking this book up (or what made you hesitant to read it)?
   5. What character did you relate to most?
   6. What made you want to throw this book across the room?
   7. What did the author do well or not so well?
   8. What book would you recommend for someone who loved (or hated!) this book?
   9. Who would you cast to play the main characters in a movie?
   10. Did you read a paper copy of this book or listen on audio?
   11. Did you wish this book was longer or shorter?
5. Voting is a simple way to get people participating. I use this ALL the time in my online book club but it can work just as well in an in-person book club because no one is on the spot and generally people have strong opinions one way or the other. You can ask which love interest they liked better, if they thought the ending was satisfying or not, if they’d read another book by this author, or any number of questions. You can even have a speed voting round at the beginning with 5-10 questions to get people involved in a low-pressure, fast paced way.
6. Send some discussion fodder to the group beforehand. This was a brilliant suggestion on Instagram about a way to get people ready to talk about the book and spark a lively discussion. Whether it’s a podcast interview with the author, a related article to the topic, or a bunch of emojis about the ending, it’s a fun way to get people thinking about book club before you even meet.
7. Ask everyone to bring a book club question. It’s a lot of pressure for some groups to have just one person lead the discussion and it can work better for some groups to have everyone invested in the discussion by each coming with one or two questions.

Any other suggestions or go-to book club questions to get a great discussion going? I’d love for you to share!

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