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Book club questions for your book

Discussion questions for your own book, from your title, genre and themes, ready for a reading group guide.

Up to five, separated by commas: grief, ambition, found family.

Questions

Questions come from our own templates, filled with what you type. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Book club questions

The Map in the Piano

Opening

  1. Was there a moment when you could not put the book down? What pulled you in?
  2. Which passage would you read aloud to the group, and what does it show about the book?

Characters

  1. Who changes the most in The Map in the Piano, and what causes the change?
  2. Which decision of Nell's did you disagree with? What would you have done?
  3. Which minor character would you like to know more about, and why?

Setting

  1. Would you want to spend time in her grandmother's old house? Why or why not?

Themes

  1. Did The Map in the Piano change how you think about family?
  2. Do the characters see memory differently from one another? Whose view is closest to yours?
  3. How does The Map in the Piano explore second chances?

Literary fiction

  1. Why do you think the story is told from the point of view it uses?
  2. What do you think the title The Map in the Piano means? Did its meaning change as you read?
  3. Which image or object comes back more than once, and what might it stand for?

The writing

  1. How did the structure of the book, its chapters, jumps in time or points of view, affect how you read it?
  2. How did you feel about the ending? Would you change it?

Closing

  1. What do you think happens to Nell after the last page?

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Short answer

Enter your book's title, genre and themes, plus the main character and setting if you like. The tool fills our own question templates with your details and groups 10, 15 or 20 questions by opening, characters, setting, themes, genre, the writing and a closing question. No AI and nothing from other books.

How to use it

  1. Type your book's title and pick its genre.
  2. Add up to five themes, separated by commas.
  3. Add the main character and the setting, if your book has them.
  4. Choose 10, 15 or 20 questions, and press Shuffle for a different set.
  5. Copy the questions, or download them as a Word file or plain text for your reading group guide.

How it works

We wrote a bank of question templates for each part of a good discussion: opening, characters, setting, themes, literary fiction, the writing, closing. Fiction, memoir and non-fiction each get their own versions, and every genre adds questions of its own. The tool picks a mix with a numbered shuffle, then fills in your title, themes, main character and setting.

Worked example: for a literary novel called The Map in the Piano, with the themes family, memory, second chances, a main character called Nell and the setting her grandmother's old house, the 15 question set includes 3 theme questions, one per theme. For example: "Did The Map in the Piano change how you think about family?"

Questions authors ask

How many questions does a book club need?

Most groups get through 10 to 15 in a meeting and skip some. Pick 10, 15 or 20 here. Put the questions in your book's back matter, a reading group guide on your website, or a handout for a library or bookshop event.

Are the questions written by AI?

No. We wrote every question template ourselves. The tool picks templates for your genre and fills in your title, themes, character and setting. It runs in your browser and sends nothing to any service.

Can I use these questions in my published book?

Yes. Edit them as you like and put them in your book, on your website or in handouts. We suggest reading them through and adding one or two questions only you could ask about your story.

What should I put in Themes?

Short nouns or phrases a reader would recognize, such as grief, ambition or found family. Up to 5, separated by commas. Each theme gets its own question, and the questions go round the themes in order.

Does it work for memoir and non-fiction?

Yes. Pick Memoir or Non-fiction and the questions change: they ask about the author's choices, the people in the book and the argument, instead of characters and plot. There are 10 genres in all.

Why do I get different questions each time I shuffle?

Each genre has more templates than a set uses. Shuffle picks a different mix. The share link remembers the genre, number of questions and shuffle, but never your title, themes or names.

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