ICE Breakers

KLARA AND THE SUN

BOOK OF THE MOMENT

How does having Klara as narrator and protagonist add to the story?
What is Klara’s view of the world at the beginning and how does this develop throughout the story as she observes and learns?
Why do you think Josie’s mother agreed for her to be lifted knowing what had happened to her first daughter?
Why do you think Josie’s father left the family home and do you think he was unhappy with the decision to have Josie lifted?
Were you surprised by the ending and why do you think Ishiguro allows this to happen?
“Can you learn someone’s heart – not the organ, but something that makes us individual”
Klara thinks she will be able to learn Josie’s heart. Josie’s father believes no one can learn someone’s heart because it is unique to them. Do you believe it will ever be possible for an AF to learn someone’s heart?

THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

Was ‘The Midnight Library’ an unusual choice for you and your group and was the experience uplifting, raising more questions than answers or a book that was life affirming?
Which of Nora’s book of lives were you keen to explore? What life do you think she wanted the most? And what were you hoping for?
How do you think Matt Haig’s own experiences of depression and mental health shaped this novel?
Since the author is a known atheist, did the absence of God matter in this novel and to what extent are we really in control of our own destinies?
As a fantasy fiction novel, what do you think Matt Haig was hoping to achieve?
How did this novel compare to his other novels? What films if any did it remind you of? ‘A Wonderful Life’, ‘About Time’?

FALL: THE MYSTERY OF ROBERT MAXWELL

What memory or opinion, if any, did you have of Maxwell before reading this book?
Were you surprised by his roots and his family tragedies? Do you think he would have taken a different path, had he not had these experiences?
What did you think of his relationships with his wife Betty and his family? Why was Betty so loyal to him?
Maxwell is exposed as reckless, dispensing of his friends and freezing out his family. Given his backstory do you have any empathy?
Do you recall the day of his ‘fall’? Having read the book what is your conclusion? Was it suicide? Did he fake his death?
Described as ‘Crook of the Century’, do you think someone like him could get away with his deceit today?
Given Preston’s past books have successfully transitioned to TV, could you see this story on our screens?
What might Preston be working on next?

THE WILD CARD