The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: 20 Discussion Questions

Three men and two women in a book club discussion with book shelves in the background

We’ve put together discussion questions for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot that you can use with a book club or a class at school. We include sample answers, book club activities that will help you get more out of what you’ve read, and recommendations for more reading if you like this book. Book Synopsis The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the true story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor African American tobacco farmer who died of cervical cancer in 1951. Before her death, doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital took samples of her cancer cells without her

Born a Crime: 23 Book Club Discussion Questions & Activities

Men and women in a book club discussion

We’ve put together discussion questions for Born a Crime by Trevor Noah that you can use with a book club or a class at school. We include sample answers, book club activities that will help you get more out of what you’ve read, and recommendations for more reading if you like this book. Book Synopsis Born a Crime is Trevor Noah’s memoir about growing up in South Africa during and after apartheid. The title refers to the fact that Noah was born in 1984 to a black Xhosa mother and a white Swiss-German father at a time when such a

JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy: 23 Discussion Questions & Activities

A young woman reading a book while sitting at a table in a cafe

We’ve put together discussion questions for Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance that you can use with a book club or a class at school. We include sample answers, book club activities that will help you get more out of what you’ve read, and recommendations for more reading if you like this book. Book Synopsis Hillbilly Elegy is JD Vance’s 2016 memoir chronicling his upbringing in the white working-class Appalachian culture of Middletown, Ohio, and Jackson, Kentucky. Vance describes growing up amid poverty, family instability, and dysfunction—including his mother’s struggles with drug addiction and a revolving door of father figures. Despite

The Moral Animal by Robert Wright: Book Overview & Takeaways

A split screen with a prehistoric man on the left and a 21st-century man on the right

Why do we fall in love, feel jealous, compete for status, or sacrifice for family? Robert Wright’s The Moral Animal offers a theory: These behaviors are hardwired into us by evolution. Published in 1994, this book connects biology, anthropology, and psychology in an attempt to explain everything from romantic attraction to moral judgment. Keep reading to see how understanding our evolutionary programming might help us make sense of our own motivations and better understand the people around us.

The Glass Castle: 23 Discussion Questions & Activities

A woman holding a book and reading in bed

We’ve put together discussion questions for The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls that you can use with a book club, a class at school, or a team at work. We include sample answers, book club activities that will help you get more out of what you’ve read, and recommendations for more reading if you like this book. Book Synopsis The Glass Castle is a memoir by Jeannette Walls about her unconventional and often chaotic upbringing. Walls recounts growing up with brilliant but deeply dysfunctional parents: her father Rex, an alcoholic dreamer who filled his children’s heads with grand plans (including

Sapiens Discussion Questions, Sample Answers, & Activities

Ten women in a book club discussion sitting around a table in a restaurant

We’ve put together discussion questions for Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari that you can use with a book club or a class at school. We include sample answers, book club activities that will help you get more out of what you’ve read, and recommendations for more reading if you like this book. Book Synopsis Sapiens traces the history of our species from the emergence of Homo sapiens in Africa—estimated at roughly 300,000 years ago to the present day. Harari identifies three major revolutions that shaped human history: Throughout the book, Harari explores how shared myths—including religions, nations, corporations, and money—have

Just Mercy: 23 Discussion Questions & Activities for Book Clubs

A drawing of two women and two men discussing a book in a book club gathering

We’ve put together discussion questions for Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson that you can use with a book club, a class at school, or a team at work. We include sample answers, book club activities that will help you get more out of what you’ve read, and recommendations for more reading if you like this book. Book Synopsis Just Mercy is Bryan Stevenson’s memoir about his career as a young lawyer defending those most desperate and in need—the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of the criminal justice system. The book centers on

Bad Blood: 23 Book Club Discussion Questions & Activities

Books in stacks on a table and placed on bookshelves in a bookstore

We’ve put together discussion questions for Bad Blood by John Carreyrou that you can use with a book club, a class at school, or a team at work. We include sample answers, book club activities that will help you get more out of what you’ve read, and recommendations for more reading if you like this book. Book Synopsis Bad Blood tells the true story of Theranos, a Silicon Valley startup founded by Stanford dropout Elizabeth Holmes, who claimed to have revolutionized blood testing. Holmes promised that her company’s proprietary technology could run hundreds of diagnostic tests using just a few

Confronting the Presidents by O’Reilly & Dugard: Book Overview

Collage of US presidents Washington, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, FDR, JFK, Nixon, George W. Bush, and Obama

Every US president leaves their mark on history—some as heroes, others as cautionary tales. Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard’s Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments From Washington to Biden examines the personal lives and political legacies of the American presidents. The book reveals how the decisions, relationships, and character traits of these leaders shaped the country we know today. Read more to explore how various presidents navigated the pressures of the highest office and what their stories teach us about America as a nation.

When Breath Becomes Air: Discussion Questions & Activities

A black-and-white sketch of seven people in a book club discussion group

We’ve put together discussion questions for When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi that you can use with a book club, a class at school, or a team at work. We include sample answers, book club activities that will help you get more out of what you’ve read, and recommendations for more reading if you like this book. Book Synopsis When Breath Becomes Air is a profound memoir by Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgeon who was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer at age 36, just as he was completing his medical training. The book chronicles his journey from doctor to