Book Reviews, Questions & Discussion Summaries For Book Clubs & Readers' Groups

Updated: Regularly
Scroll to the bottom for links to discussion summaries from my book club

One of the pleasures in recent years has been the proliferation of Book Clubs. Not only do readers have the delight of enjoying a good book - be it a novel, biography or inspirational - they now have the added joy of being able to share - and therefore multiply - their satisfaction with others.

Those 'others' may not be of like-mind! As the leader of a Readers' Group, it never ceases to amaze me how many different nuances of perspective and points of view can emerge from one group discussion. One aspect which gives me immense gratification, is watching the effect as members come to know one another better and become increasingly at ease. The quiet ones come out of themselves. The opinionated become more open-minded. And as fiction touches on fact, and reading experiences encourage the sharing of life experiences, real friendships emerge. What more could you want from a book or a Book Club?

Which is why I gladly offer the Book Reviews, Questions and Discussion Summaries of my real-time Readers' Group to anyone who wants to use them. And I live in hope that an Online Book Club may, eventually, emerge from this aspect of my website blog.  Click here if you would like to know more about setting up a book club; and here for Part 2

IF YOU LEAD A BOOK CLUB or READERS' GROUP, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO USE THE FOLLOWING BOOK REVIEWS, QUESTIONS, AND THE DISCUSSION SUMMARIES WHICH HAVE COME ABOUT THROUGH THE READERS' GROUP I HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF LEADING. ONLY NON-COMMERCIAL REPRODUCTION OF THESE ARTICLES IS PERMITTED IN ANY FORMAT; THEY SHOULD BE UNALTERED AND MUST INCLUDE THE COPYRIGHT LINE AND BIO DETAILS AS SHOWN BELOW:

© Copyright Mel Menzies – Used by Permission
Author of a number of books, one a Sunday Times No 4 Bestseller, Mel Menzies is also an experienced Speaker at live events, as well as on Radio and TV. This article, in its original form, can be found at http://www.melmenzies.co.uk/

FICTION TITLES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER (Non-fiction below)

• A Painful Post Mortem by Mel Menzies: REVIEWS & BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS
• Archbishop by Michele Guinness: DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Chocolat by Joanne Harris: QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez: BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION
  
• My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult: QUESTIONS
• My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult: DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult - Guest Book Review
• Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult: DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Remember Me? by Lesley Pearse BOOKCLUB DISCUSSION
• Room by Emma Donoghue: DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Suite Francaise: a novel by Irene Nemirovsky QUESTIONS
• Suite Francaise: a novel by Irene Nemirovsky DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• The Art of Hearing Heartbeats: International Bestseller by Jan-Philipp Sendker BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION
• The Catcher In The Rye by J D Salinger DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• The Fight by Luke Wordley DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• The Generation Game by Sophie Duffy: REVIEW
• The Light Between Oceans by M L Stedman DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid: REVIEW
• The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid: QUESTIONS
• The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid: DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• The Shack by William P Young: QUESTIONS
• The Shack by William P Young: DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Time To Shine by Mel Menzies - DISCUSSION

NON FICTION TITLES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

• A Better Story: God, Sex & Human Flourishing by Glynn Harrison
• A Time To Live (assisted dying) by George Pitcher - QUESTIONS
• A Time To Live (assisted dying) by George Pitcher - DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Born On A Blue Day (biography / autism) by Daniel Tammet - QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Can You Hear Me? (unanswered prayer) by Brad Jersak: REVIEW
• Can You Hear Me? by Brad Jersak – QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Everybody's Normal Till You Get To Know Them Part 1 by John Ortberg: DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Everybody's Normal Till You Get To Know Them Part 2 by John Ortberg
• Everybody's Normal Till You Get To Know Them Part 3 by John Ortberg
• Faith in the Fog by Jeff Lucas: DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Faith in the Fog by Jeff Lucas: QUESTIONS
• God On Mute: The Problem Of Unanswered Prayer by Pete Greig
• Holy Habits by Andrew Roberts - DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Intelligent Church by Steve Chalke: REVIEW
• Intelligent Church by Steve Chalke: QUESTIONS
• Intelligent Church by Steve Chalke: DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Iraq: Searching For Hope by Andrew White: QUESTIONS
• Love Wins by Rob Bell: DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Naturally Supernatural by Wendy Mann: DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Showing of Love by Julian of Norwich: QUESTIONS
• Showing of Love by Julian of Norwich: DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Simply Christian by Tom Wright: QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Soul Survivor by Philip Yancey: DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• The Lost Message of Jesus by Steve Chalke & Alan Mann: REVIEW
• The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen: QUESTIONS
• The Return Of The Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen: DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• The Torn Veil by Gulshan Esther: REVIEW
• The Torn Veil by Gulshan Esther: DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• When We Can't, God Can by Catherine Campbell BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION
• Why Trust The Bible by Amy Orr-Ewing: QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION SUMMARY

I would be very grateful if you would be kind enough to report broken links.

WRITING CATEGORIES:

• ARTICLE WRITING & BLOGGING
• CREATIVE WRITING
• WRITING & PUBLISHING A BOOK

RELATIONSHIP CATEGORIES:

• BEREAVEMENT
•  DIVORCE, REMARRIAGE & STEPFAMILIES (STEP PARENTING)
• FAMILY & PARENTING
• PERSONAL GROWTH & RELATIONSHIPS, DRAMA TRIANGLE & PERSONALITY TYPE