Book Clubs

Looking for your next book club pick? Like to ask questions about the books you’re reading? Browse our collection of book-related resources for reading recommendations and discussion questions.

Mom Camp by Véronique Darwin is a A debut collection of interconnected fiction that delivers a frothy, philosophical take on modern female archetypes. Learn more about the book here or click the button to download a PDF version of the Mom Camp book club guide.

Mom Camp discussion questions

  1. The book is divided into six sections: mother, sister, friend, server, lover, and artist. Can you relate to these classifiers, and does doing so feel clarifying or confining?
  2. What do the women in the collection want, and how do they each go about pursuing it?
  3. Do you see Mom Camp as a book of interconnected short stories or an experimental novel? Why might it matter?
  4. What are the book’s central questions and themes? How do the sections—the Hotel and Retreat throughlines, the stories, and the one novella—support and subvert these?
  5. How does the concept of “Mom Camp” act as a symbolic container for the collection?
  6. What does the box in “by Seabird” represent? What does each woman believe, before the box is opened, and what do they understand once it is? Who is Seabird?
  7. In which ways are the themes of art and friendship from “by Seabird” present throughout the collection?
  8. How does the book portray the tension between who the women have been and who they are? Did any character’s journey resonate with you personally?
  9. How does the book play with perspective, memory, or storytelling to explore the idea of narrating your own life? Do you think we have control over our own narratives?
  10. Does Mom Camp remind you of other writers or books ? The acknowledgements say this “book is made from other books”: how do you think that might work?

Nightshade by Lynn Hutchinson Lee is a Gothic, Romany coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the 1980s Southern Ontario tobacco belt—with a dash of magic realism. Learn more about the book here or click the button to download a PDF version of the Nightshade book club guide.

Nightshade discussion questions

  1. How does Zelda’s desire for glamour and freedom shape the choices she makes throughout the story?
  2. In what ways does Zelda struggle with her Romany identity, and how does that internal conflict influence her relationships?
  3. What do the Tormentines represent to Zelda at the beginning of the summer, and how does that perception change?
  4. How does power operate in the relationship between Zelda, Trixie, and Jack?
  5. What role does wealth play in creating both opportunity and danger in the novel?
  6. How do you interpret the figure of the “devil of the tobacco fields?” Is it literal, symbolic, or both?
  7. What does Puri Dai represent in Zelda’s life? How does her guidance contrast with the Tormentines’ influence?
  8. How does the setting (tobacco fields, motel parking lot, itinerant/migrant life) shape the mood and themes of the story?
  9. Do you see Zelda’s attraction to the Tormentines as empowerment, exploitation, or something more complicated?
  10. What do you think the novel ultimately suggests about freedom—what it costs, and what it truly means?