But book clubs were lonely, left to discuss books on their own. And they would go astray.  So Publishers said, “It is not good for clubs to be all alone”…and in their wisdom they gave clubs the Reading Guide.
Today, the reading guide - with its 15 or so book discussion questions - is ubiquitous, or almost. Book clubs have come to depend on them for leading their discussions, while publishers, hoping that clubs choose their titles, are happy to supply them.
Given their importance to book clubs, an important but pretty simple question should be asked: are reading guides really useful?
By  “useful” I mean, does the reading guides enrich and inform book club discussions?  Do guides provide a good method for getting to the heart of a work of fiction (or nonfiction)? Do they help readers, in this case book club members, come to a deeper understanding of a book?
I believe, after all, that’s the purpose of book clubs. In addition to providing a rich social venue, clubs also offer an opportunity to explore ideas that lie behind the books its members read. The premise here - on which is based my long held philosophy as an English teacher - is that the pleasure of literature increases with understanding.
So do reading guides help readers understand a book?  The answer is, yes and no.
Am I alone in thinking that some of the discussion questions come across like nasty pop quizzes? They are so precise and detailed that even a professor would have trouble answering them?
Here’s a sample just to give you an idea (names are changed to protect the innocent…and to avoid copyright infringement):