Book clubs

Book club questions for nonfiction books

Twenty questions that work for any nonfiction book, a plan for an evening that doesn't stall after ten minutes, and question sets for ten popular books.

By Alexis Thomas, maker of Prismo · Updated

The short answer

Good nonfiction book club questions move from first reactions to the book's big ideas, then whether its evidence holds up, then what it means for your own life. Tick five or six of the questions below, copy or print just those, and open with one everyone can answer without notes.

20 book club questions for any nonfiction book

These work for almost any nonfiction book: popular science, history, psychology, business, memoir. Skim the list before the meeting and choose the ones that fit your book.

Tick the questions you want, then copy or print just those.

First reactions

  1. What stayed with you most, and why do you think it did?
  2. In one sentence, what is this book trying to convince you of?
  3. Was there a moment where you changed your mind about something, or felt the author changed it for you?
  4. Who would you give this book to, and who would you warn away from it?

The big ideas

  1. Which idea in the book feels most new to you, and which one did you already believe before reading it?
  2. Pick the example or story that best captures the book's argument. Why does it work so well?
  3. How does this book compare with another one the group has read on a similar subject? Where do they agree, and which makes the stronger case?
  4. If the author had to cut half the book, which half should go?

Does it hold up?

  1. What evidence does the author rely on most: studies, statistics, personal stories, history? Which part convinced you least?
  2. What do you know about the author's background? How does it shape what they notice, and what they leave out?
  3. Who might disagree strongly with this book, and what would their best argument be?
  4. Has anything in the book been challenged or overturned since it came out? Does that change how you read the rest?

Your own life

  1. Where in your own life does the book's main idea already apply, for better or worse?
  2. Where has your own life or work gone differently from what the book predicts? What does the book miss?
  3. Which idea would be most useful to someone in your job, school or family, and how would you explain it to them in two minutes?
  4. What is one thing you'll do differently this week because of this book? What will make it hard?

Closing

  1. What question would you ask the author if you could?
  2. How would you rate the book out of ten now, and has the discussion moved your rating?
  3. What would you want to remember from tonight a year from now?
  4. Based on this book, what should the group read next?

Questions for specific books

Ten questions for each of these books, written around what the book actually argues, including where later research disagrees. Each set comes with a short quiz on the book's key ideas, if your group wants to see how much stuck.

Atomic Habits

James Clear

Clear says winners and losers often share the same goals, so the system is what differs. Think of a goal you reached or missed: what did your daily routine look like around it?

All 10 questions

Deep Work

Cal Newport

Newport says busyness passes for productivity because real contribution is hard to measure. Where do you see that in your workplace, and who benefits from keeping it that way?

All 10 questions

Make It Stick

Brown, Roediger and McDaniel

The book treats a quiz as a way to learn, not just a way to measure. Why do schools and workplaces still mostly use tests only to grade, and what would change if they didn't?

All 10 questions

Mindset

Carol S. Dweck

Dweck argues that praising children for being smart can backfire. How were you praised growing up, and how do you think it shaped the way you handle challenges now?

All 10 questions

Sapiens

Yuval Noah Harari

Harari says Peugeot is a legal fiction that would survive the loss of every factory and worker. Which other parts of daily life, like a border, a currency or a degree, work the same way?

All 10 questions

How to run a discussion that doesn't stall

  1. Open with a five-minute recall round. Before anyone opens the book, everyone writes down the three ideas they remember. Reading the lists aloud gets everyone talking and shows the group what stuck. Trying to recall the book is also one of the best ways to keep it. Researchers call this retrieval practice; you may know it as active recall.
  2. Choose five or six questions in advance. One reaction question, two or three on the big ideas, one that tests the book, one about your own lives. Twenty questions in an hour means skimming all of them.
  3. Ask for examples, not opinions. "Where have you seen this happen?" gets better answers than "Do you agree?" Stories from members' own lives are what people remember afterward.
  4. Give the skeptic a turn. Ask someone to argue against the book on purpose. Nonfiction discussions get flat when everyone politely agrees with the author.
  5. End with one thing each person will try. Say it out loud. It turns a pleasant evening into something you'll still remember next month.

Keeping the book after the meeting

Most of a discussion fades within days. Two small habits change that. The same evening, write down the two or three ideas you want to keep, in your own words. Then come back to them a few days later and again a few weeks later, and try to recall them before you look. The review schedule calculator gives you the dates, and our guide on how to remember what you read covers the whole method.

That second habit is what I built Prismo for. You write or dictate a few lines after the meeting, and it turns them into questions and brings each one back just before you'd forget it.

Frequently asked questions

How many questions should a book club discuss?
Five or six for a meeting of about an hour. Pick them before the meeting from a longer list, and expect the best conversation to come from one or two of them. A list of twenty is a menu, not an agenda.
What are good questions to start a book club discussion?
Start with questions everyone can answer without notes: what stayed with you, what surprised you, and whether you would recommend the book. They get every member talking once before the harder questions.
How is a nonfiction book club different from a fiction one?
Fiction discussions follow characters and plot. Nonfiction discussions work best around the book's argument: whether the evidence holds up, where it matches your own experience, and what you would actually do differently after reading it.
What if nobody finished the book?
Run the meeting around the book's main ideas instead of its chapters. Ask the people who finished to explain one idea each, then discuss whether it holds up. Explaining an idea to the group is also the best way for them to remember it.
How do you remember a book after the book club meets?
Write down the two or three ideas from the discussion you want to keep, in your own words, the same evening. Then test yourself on them a few days later and again a few weeks later. That is spaced repetition, and it is what makes a discussion stick.
GuideHow to remember what you read Learning scienceActive recall: the study habit that feels worse and works better GuideThe best app for book notes depends on one question

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