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

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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

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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

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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

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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

Unbroken: Book Discussion Questions & Activities (Hillenbrand)

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We’ve put together discussion questions for Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand 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 Unbroken tells the extraordinary true story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner turned World War II bombardier. After his B-24 plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 1943, Zamperini and two crewmates survived 47 harrowing days adrift on a life raft, enduring starvation, dehydration, shark attacks, and

I Am Malala: Book Questions, Sample Answers, & Exercises

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We’ve put together discussion questions for I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai 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 I Am Malala is the memoir of Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist who was shot by the Taliban when she was fifteen years old for advocating for girls’ education. The book chronicles her childhood in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, where she grew up in a family

How to Win Friends and Influence People—Discussion Questions

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We’ve put together discussion questions for How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie 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 Dale Carnegie’s classic self-help book presents techniques for improving interpersonal relationships and persuading others in both personal and professional contexts. Published in 1936, the book is built around fundamental principles organized into four main sections: The core