Suggested starters for book club discussion

One lovely surprise for me has been the popularity of Boxes from the Attic with book clubs! I keep hearing of clubs that are discussing my book—and it’s a true thrill.  I’ve also participated in several of these club meetings up and down the San Francisco Peninsula and have heard of other meetings across the country.   One in Washington DC!

Why has the book resonated with so many of my readers?  I’ve asked that question and came up with this: we all have mothers, we all have stories (many immigrant stories), and we all have memories—that we love to discuss,  explore, learn from, and share.

Because I hope that book clubs continue to enjoy Boxes, here’s a short set of suggested discussion starters. I’d love to hear from you about your club and your own discussion starters….

1.      What do you think of the author’s discussion of Thea as an “ordinary” person who lived an “extraordinary” life.  Check out page 208’s brief discussion about extraordinary  life. Are there people in your life who are “extraordinary”—even if they’re not rich or famous?  What makes them so?

2.      What did you think of Thea’s immigrant experiences—to Palestine and then to the USA?  Are there people in your family with similar/different experiences?

3.      Is anyone doing your family history?  Is it you?  Is it important to you? If so, why? In the future, how will we do family history in our digital age—when we only have emails and texts as resources?  Should we try to preserve something?  If so, what?

4.      Thea as parent. What do you think about her child rearing?  What mistakes did she make?  What did she do well?  How did her childhood affect her parenting?

5.      One of the saddest parts of the book was about Thea dealing with her son’s suicide. Can you relate to that?  Do you have such horrors in your family? Does the family discuss them? Ignore them?

6.      Thea dealt with unfairness in her upbringing. Are there examples in your parents’ decisions that you felt were unfair? Or brilliant? Or OK? Did they affect how you raised your own kids?

7.      What did you think of the 20th century history embedded in this book? Did you enjoy that?  Were there surprises?  Did any of it change your views about 20th century events?

8.      Thinking about your own mother, what was her greatest strength? Gift? What characteristics of hers have shaped your own behavior?

9.      The book includes many of Thea’s life lessons. See, for example, page 207.  Do you have  words/sayings that you carry with you from your parents? Do your kids carry such words from you? Care to share?