Water for elephants book club discussion

Book clubs friends of the library book club beginning with the april 2021 discussion meeting, we will resume inperson book discussions at the library. What does the novel have to say about loyalty during hard times. Our book club discussions book lovers never go to bed alone. Water for elephants by sara gruen is a must read a story about a 90yearold man remembering his days with a circus during the great depression.

Water for elephants reading between the wines book club. We started a momson book group to help our boys enjoy reading years ago. Sara gruen depicts a juxtaposed world of the train circus and the nursing home. One way to include all members is to write questions on an index card for e. Volunteer leaders for each session help facilitate discussion, but the group rarely needs extra encouragement to share thoughts on the reading. It is full of characters who demonstrate the spectrum of human emotion that is revealed times of political conflict. If drinking and trying to shout in an acquaintances e. Use these book club discussion questions on water for elephants to lead your book clubs conversation on the story.

Ok, maybe that last one only works for book lovers and book club members. It may be slightly over hyped, but it certainly deserves of most of the praise its receiving. Mount prospect public library book discussion questions. Rob devoured the book and passed it along to another homeless man. Download water for elephants study guide subscribe now the nurses help the residents to the dinner table, and jacob sarcastically asks what is on the menu for the evening.

Heres how to spin up your own kids book club, plus a few kidapproved reads to get you started. Water for elephants is a best book club book for discussion, about the bond of love, trust, hope, and survival that grows between a circus trio during the depression. Book club discussions, historical fiction laura spaulding march 07, 2016 book club discussion, circus, water for elephants, sara gruen, adapted into a movie, historical fiction, elephants comment. The worst part about a book club if there is such a thing is having to pick out and agree on the. Then, resnik brought the kite runner, and then a thousand splendid. With this stroke of bad luck, jacob has his planned future unexpectedly seized away. Surprising, poignant, and funny, water for elephants is that rare novel with a story so engrossing, one is reluctant to put it down. The true story of the greatest elephant that ever lived by ralph helfer. Openended questions help ignite discussions involving the whole group. Start a book club discussion and challenge your group to deepen their analysis of the reading material with this set of sample book club questions. These book club discussion questions reveal important details about water for elephants by sara gruen. When jacob jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits, a secondrate circus struggling to survive during the great depression, making onenight stands in town after endless town. With lines of startling beauty, haunting and evocative scenes and finelydrawn characters who dance off the page, readers can dip in and out of the novel, immersing themselves in jacobs memories. The jaycpl book group meets monthly for informal discussions of selected books.

Water for elephants is the touching story of jacob jankowski, a ninetythreeyearold man, who is reminded of his colorful past when a circus sets up next door to his assistedliving center. When jacob jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits the benzini brothers most spectacular show on. As a member or leader of a book club, you are likely to be reading books on a wide variety o. Book club kits are designed to give you everything you need to run a book club. Use these book club discussion questions on the thirteenth tale to delve into diane setterfields magical world. Water for elephants by sara gruen730l lexile measure. Jacob laughs and says, im not running away, im coming home.

Water for elephants by sara gruen water for elephants by. A novel of starcrossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932. And also feel free to recommend other books thanks. Did this act as a spoiler or wet your appetite for the story. Questions for book clubs about water for elephants. When resnik one day handed rob homeless, and an avid reader water for elephants, the seeds of a book club for the homeless were sown. Reading guide for water for elephants by sara gruen. Water for elephants by sara gruen book club discussion. The first things that pop into your mind when you hear the word summer are things like beach days, bonfires, sunny rays, and a whole lot of reading to catch up on. He also meets rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her. Book club discussion on kite runner khaled hosseini, books, 143 replies please recommend a classic that would be good for a book club. Water for elephants book club discussion questions thoughtco.

To what extent do the chapters concerning the elderly jacob enhance the. Discussion questions for water for elephants are listed. The paris architect is the debut novel of american author charles belfoure. When jacob overhears a man at the assistedliving center claim to have been a water boy for the elephants on a circus, jacob knows the man is lying because jacob himself once worked as a vet on a traveling circus. Water for elephants audiobook by sara gruen download. Tips for book discussions from washington center for the book at seattle public library. The water for elephants community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. In what ways and to what extent do the words pathetic grandeur describe the world that gruen creates in her novel. Her way of using the current happenings in the rest home to spark jacobs past memories of the circus is brilliant.

In the interview with author and the book club questions there is reference to the biblical story of jacob. The man agrees, saying that jacob will go down in the records book as the oldest man to run away with the circus. Each kit has 10 books and supplemental material including a folder to facilitate the discussion. Members also make selections for the upcoming months. The book is set in nazi occupied france and tells the story of lucien, a struggling. Water for elephants book club discussion questions and. As he stumbles with the following weeks in a daze, numbed not just by the cool winter season yet also by no more having any type of household or residence, he sees a train down by in the night. In the sections of the book set in the present, when jacob is in his 90s, he makes a big deal about his age and seems really upset by it. Water for elephants by sara gruen reading guidebook club. Read all 9 questions with answers, advice and tips about water for elephants discussion questions from moms communities. What can you learn from other readers at a book club meeting. Sometimes it can be difficult to find new friends to socialize with for good, intellectual conversation or meet people in general outside of a bar. In fact it was because of watching the movie that i was induced to read the book. It is the nature of short stories that their action builds to a.

My life with the herd in the african wild elephant whisperer, 1 by lawrence anthony. General book club questions for study and discussion. Beautifully written, water for elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. Water for elephants by sara gruen page 1 tips for book discussions from washington center for the book at seattle public library reading critically books that make excellent choices for discussion groups have a good plot, welldrawn characters. Are you often looking for people to discuss literature with. Gruen did a wonderful job of evoking the time period and the circus life. The prologue gives a glimpse of a climatic scene later in the book. The best part about being in a book club is getting to spend an afternoon drinking coffee and talking for hours about your new favorite book. Recommending new books each month to spark lively conversation. In what ways are the doctors and nurses condescending. Discussion questions for water for elephants by sara gruen.

The thirteenth tale by diane setterfield is a rich story about secrets, ghosts, winter, books and family. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford. Water for elephants is a book that can be read and reread, recommended and handed off between friends. His own personal interest with historical preservation inspired a fascinating fictional book about world war ii.

Certain kits may also include the movie adaptation of the book for your club s viewing enjoyment. Peter resnik, the attorney, lived at the time in a back bay apartment and walked to work each morning through boston common. Water for elephants is a moving tale about circus life during the depression era with quirky characters and complex emotions underlying the characters actions. How do the chapters about the older jacob enrich the story about jacobs adventure with the circus.

I watched the filmmovie titled water for elephants before reading the book. Please share your thoughts on the book water for elephants. Little did we know that it would help us weather a global pandemic. This thread is restricted to the discussion of sara gruens book, water for elephants. My book club read it a few months ago and we were almost unanimous in our love of this book. The book choices come from suggestions given by group members. Water for elephants book discussion questions water for elephants moves between a story about a circus and a story about an old man in a nursing home. The bookclubinabox discussion guide for this marvelous novel will uncover the mystery of how to carry water for elephants. Some say dont judge a book by its cover and others say dont judge a film by the book. Discussion will commence shortly and this thread book club discussion on water for elephants sara gruen novel, children books literature, authors, childrens books, biographies, bestsellers. How would the novel be different if gruen had only written about the younger jacob, keeping the story linear and never describing jacobs life as an old man. Book club discussions are great conversations based on a common book that everyone has read. Did the chapters about the nursing home change how you think about older people.