Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy

 

Characters
Rowan Hank Jones – husband, biology professor at NYU Rowan’s siblings – Liv, Jay, River (drowned when she was watching him)   Dominic Salt “Dom” Claire – wife, deceased Raff – oldest child, violin player, plays whale sounds Fen – swims and stays with seals Orly – 9 years old   Shearwater Global Seed Vault in Antarctica   Scientists: Hank – senior botanist – research into adapting plants to climate change Alex Tom – Alex’s brother, meteorologist doctor
Animals	Plants
Seals – King Brown, Silver, Freckles Penguins – gentoos (babies) Whale – Raff plays whale songs on violin Humpback whales – protected dead baby gray whale from orcas - empathy Albatross – circles globe three times a year, spreads buzzing burr Giant petrels Sooty shearwaters – birds, follow whales	Dandelions – food for many insects and birds, considered a weed Buzzy burr – depend on animals for survival, hook onto fur for transport Mangrove seeds Pitcher plants – eat insects Wollemi pine Banksia plant – only in Australia

 

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 2025 hardback edition.

1.      This book had fewer characters than many books we have read.  Did you like that?  Could it have worked if the author had added more characters?

2.      As you were reading, what did you think happened to Hank?

3.      How was the information about Rowan and Hank’s house burning to the ground important to the story line?

 4.      There were many hints, especially in the first 100 pages, about what had happened.  For example, early on Dominic cleans up blood (page 13), all the communication equipment was broken (page 48), last three emails from Hank (page 94), and Dom thinks he has to warn the kids who Rowan really is and that she is a liar (page 68).  Did this add to your reading?

5.      Were you surprised that it was Orly who broke all of the communication equipment?  Why did he do that?

6.      As you were reading, what did you think had happened and how the story would end?  For example, were you surprised that Rowan died saving Orly? 

7.      Did you like all of the information about plants and animals?  Which did you find particularly interesting?  How did this add to the story?

8.      Did reading Orly’s description of the importance of dandelions and how they feed many animals (pages 17 and 18) change the way you look at them as a weed?

9.      How do you think the surviving family members are going to fare once they get back to civilization?

10.  Did you find the end satisfying?  Why or why not? 

11.  Discuss your reading experience.  Did you enjoy the book?  How did you feel when you finished the book?

12.  Why do you think this book was chosen for Reese’s Book Club and also was at the top of the USA Today’s best books of 2025 list?

My Friends, by Fredrik Backman

 

Characters

The One of the Sea C. Jat – artist, first picture painted at age 14 Three figures: Joar, Ted, and Ali “C. Jat” stands for Christian, Joar, Ali, and Ted   Kim – “KimKim”  Parents divorced Dad – alcoholic, complained to friends about Kim and he could hear   Joar Mother – abused, a lot of gossip regarding the way she dressed, poor judgement Father – abusive to both wife and Joar, worked in factory, injured in accident   Ted Father died of cancer at age 14 Older brother – abused Ted Mother – worked nights to take care of Dad during day Ted became a history teacher, stabbed at school trying to protect a student   Ali Dad could not keep a job, moved a lot, mother deceased   Louisa – graffiti artist, in foster system, aged out at beginning of novel Mother left her with neighbors and never returned   Fish – Louisa’s friend, died   Christian – artist, temporary janitor at Kim’s school, encouraged Kim Mother – art history professor

 

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 2025 hardback edition.

1.      Discuss the various characters.  It took the author considerable time to tell their stories.  Did that add to your reading or not?

2.      Why were the four such good friends?  What did they get from the friendship that they were not getting in their family lives?

3.      When Ted and Louisa were on the train with the ashes and painting, Ted thinks, “…the artist was right.  She’s one of us” (page 119).  How do you think Louisa would have fit in with the four friends?

 

4.      The phrase “one of us” was used several times to describe the friends and Kim referred to Louisa with that phrase.  Christian told him mother he had found one on pages 216 and 408.  At the end of the book Louisa tells Ted she found one on her travels (page 433).  What qualities makes someone “one of us?”

5.      When Joar’s father was severely injured in a factory accident, the father’s friends seemed suddenly to feel guilty that they knew he was abusive to his family but never said anything.  Why did they suddenly feel guilty?

6.      Were there any sentences that resonated with you?  For example, if you have recently lost someone in your life, what did you think when you read “You don’t wish for happiness when you have lost the love of your life, because you can’t even imagine ever feeling happy again” (page 69).

7.      The author wrote that “Adults often think that self-confidence is something a child learns, but little kids are by their nature always invincible, its self-doubt that needs to be taught” (page 79-80).   Do you agree? 

8.      The author wrote that Christian “changed the world” (page 189) when he told Kim what his mother had told him: “‘All children are born with wings…It’s just that the world is full of people trying to tear them off…Only a few children escape.  But those children? They rise up to the skies’” (page 188).  How did this change Kim?

9.      Did you like all the quotes about art and the inclusion of various artists?  If you are not particularly interested in art, did they lead you to think about it a little differently?

10.  On page 77, Kim thought that “art isn’t chronological.”  This story was not told chronologically.  Did you like that?

11.  Ted wants his ashes scattered in a library because “you don’t have to put up with reality there” and “you can be among imaginary friends…sitting on the shelves and calling to you” (page 306).  What do your library director would think about this idea?

12.  Did you like how the story kept you guessing (at least for me) until the very end?

13.  Did you know right away who Christian’s mother was?

14.  Did you like the ending?  Were you surprised that Joar was still alive? 

15.  The author Donna Tartt is mentioned on page 306 as an author who “describes why a person falls in love with art: ‘It’s a secret whisper from an alleyway.  Psst, you.  Hey kid. Yes, you.’”   She is again mentioned in the Q and A in the back of the Barnes and Noble Book Club edition.   Why do you think she is the only living author mentioned?

16.  Did you like the last sentence?

17.  Would you recommend this book to a friend?  Why or why not?

Hamnet, by Maggie O'Farrell

 

Characters
Agnes Husband – Will, not named through most of novel Suanna – older sister Hamnet and Judith – twins   John – Will’s father, makes gloves, his father ousted from guild Mary – Will’s mother
Agnes’ family	Will’s family
Father – “former man of means” Rowan – mother, died giving birth to third child Bartholomew – brother, inherited farm Joan - stepmother, allowed to live on farm in will Six children – Caterina, Joanie, Margaret, Thomas, James, Richard   Falcon – Agnes’ pet, a kestrel, given to priest when married   Agnes able to see the future, could “read” people by pinching the area between their thumb and index finger	John – father, makes gloves Mary – mother Eliza – sister Anne – sister, died Two older sisters died before Eliza born Richard, Gilbert, Edmond - brothers

 

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 2020 paperback edition.

1.      On pages 140 – 151 the author tells how the plague of 1596 made its way to England.   Did you find this description interesting, plausible, scary?

2.      On pages 170 and 171 the author describes Susanna playing boat while sitting on the floor in a basket.  What did you think of this description?

3.      If you were Mary, what would you have thought of Agnes as a daughter-in-law?

4.      Did you like how Will is never mentioned by name throughout the novel?

5.      Agnes and Bartholomew conspire to send Will to Strafford because they feel he needs work, to feel useful.  Was this a good decision?  Would will have written what we suppose he did if he had stayed?

6.      Judith thinks her dad stays away because he is reminded of Hamnet when he looks at her.  Susanna was very kind and listed the ways she was different from her twin.  Why do you think Will stayed away from his family so much?

7.      Why didn’t Will tell Agnes about the subject of his new play?

8.      There were no chapter headings or signals that the author was changing times in the story.  Did you like this?  Did you have trouble figuring out where you were in the timeline?

9.      Did you like/enjoy this book?  Is there a difference between ”liking” a book and appreciating the writing?