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Common Reader

Highlighting the Norfolk State University Common Reader book.

Hosting a Book Discussion

“Conspiracy theorists, skeptics, and revolutionaries love to accuse unnamed cabals of hidden white men of running the country, while oblivious or innocent thinkers point to the Constitution and the idea of democracy and denounce these notions. The truth is somewhere in between.”

― Michael Harriot, The Situation in South Carolina: A Novel

How to Hold a Book Discussion

Taking part in a book discussion? Keep in mind the points below:

  • Open-mindedness: listen to and respect all points of view. Conversation isn’t just talking. It’s talking and listening. In fact, in a group of 4-8, you’ll be listening more than you are talking! By focusing on listening, you may also benefit from the variety of ideas around the table.
  • Acceptance: suspend judgment as best you can. We all judge one another, but do your best not to. Doing so will enable you to hear new things from others. It also helps everyone feel safer if they think others are trying to not judge them!
  • Curiosity: seek to understand rather than persuade. We’re not here to convince others that we are right and they are wrong. If someone expresses a point of view that seems different from yours, see if you can ask some questions to gain clarity or understanding.
  • Discovery: question assumptions, look for new insights. Insight—seeing more deeply into a topic—can come if we watch for it.
  • Sincerity: speak from your heart and personal experience. What’s important to you, not just your opinions or data you’ve collected. Relate your ideas to your personal experience.
  • Brevity: go for honesty and depth but don’t go on and on. Honesty and depth are important to a good conversation, but so is giving everyone a chance to speak. People are polite. They may not stop you if you go on and on. But you can stop yourself. Try to stay under a couple of minutes.

-From The Complete Hosting Manual

Basic Ground Rules

  1. Haven’t read the book? Come anyway. Not everyone can finish every book, but non-readers may still have valuable insights.
  2. Disagreements about the book. Be gracious! There is no one way to experience or interpret a book. In fact, differing opinions are good.
  3. Members who prefer to socialize. Be gentle but firm. Insist that discussion time be limited to the book. 
  4. Dominating personalities. Never easy. “Let’s hear from some others” is one approach. Some clubs pass an object around the room; you talk only when you hold the object. 

Time Frame

  1. Allow 1 to 1.5 hours for book discussion
    • You can add time for socializing, if you like

Holding the Discussion

  1. With a leader
    • Appoint someone to lead the discussions.
    • Invite an outside facilitator (English teacher, other professor, or librarian).
  2. Without a leader
    • Take turns going around the room, allowing each member to talk about their experience reading the book.
    • Hand out index cards. Ask everyone to write a question or observation; then select one or more to discuss.

-From the ALA Book Discussion Guide

If you're leading a book discussion

  1. Choose one question at a time and toss it out to the group.
  2. Select a number of questions, write each on an index card, and pass them out. Each member (or a team of 2 or 3) takes a card and answers the question.
  3. Use a prop (or object) related to the story. It can help stimulate members' thinking about some aspect of the story. It's adult show & tell!
    • •maps, photographs, paintings, food, apparel, a music recording, a film sequence
  4. Pick out a specific passage from the book description, an idea, a line of dialogue—and ask members to comment on it.
    • How does the passage reflect a character...or the work's central meaning...or members' lives or personal beliefs?
  5. Choose a primary character and ask members to comment on him or her. Consider:
    • character traits, motivations, how he/she affects the story's events and characters.
  6. Distribute hand-outs to everyone in order to refresh memories or use as talking points. Identify the primary characters and summarize the plot.

If you're taking part in a book discussion

  1. Avoid "like" or “dislike.” Those terms aren't very helpful for moving discussions forward, and they can make others feel defensive. Instead, talk about your experience, how you felt as you read the book.
  2. Support your views. Use specific passages from the book as evidence for your ideas. This is a literary analysis technique called “close reading.”
  3. Take notes as you read. Write down particularly interesting passages: something that strikes you or, maybe, that you don't understand. Take your notes to the meeting.

-From the ALA Book Discussion Guide

Begin the discussion no more than 5-10 minutes after scheduled time.

Take time to make introductions.

1. During introductions, ask each reader to answer the question, "Did you like the book?" Once introductions are
over, you will have enough comments to get the discussion off to a good start.
2. Ask each reader to choose one word that describes the book.
3. Ask each reader if this is a book similar to what they usually read or not.

Questions to Contemplate

The questions below are general book questions to help get the discussion started.

  • How does the title reflect the book?
  • What do you think the author wanted the reader to get out of the book?
  • Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? If yes, what would you say about it?
  • What makes the book distinctive?
  • How is the book structured? Why do you think the author chose to write the book this way?
  • How does the language of the book help convey the theme?

Questions to ask if the readers didn't like the book

  • At what point did you decide to give up on the book and why?
  • What made you keep reading to the end?
  • Would this book have been better in another format? (i.e. as an audiocassette or film)
  • Does the book offer a central idea or premise? What are the problems or issues raised? Are they personal, spiritual, societal, global, political, economic, medical, scientific?
  • What kind of language does the author use? Is it objective and dispassionate? Or passionate and earnest? Is it polemical, inflammatory, sarcastic? Does the language help or undercut the author's premise?
  • Can you point to specific passages that struck you personally—as interesting, profound, silly or shallow, incomprehensible, illuminating?
  • Did you learn something new reading this book? Did it broaden your perspective about a difficult personal issue? Or a societal issue? 

From the ALA Book Discussion Guide