Book clubs
The book-club kit
Hosting a group for Songs of Dust and Water? Here is everything on one page: a plan, things to make and eat, and printables. The ending stays out of it.
A plan in three meetings
| Meeting | Read | Bring |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Part One, chapters 1–9 (pages 3–77) | Your bookmark and one line you liked |
| 2 | “Ten years later” and chapters 10–19 (pages 81–153) | A guess about what the village will do next |
| A short extra get-together (optional) | Chapters 20–24, then stop | Two small objects, one white and one black, for your own stone vote |
| 3 | Chapters 25–28 and the Coda, to the end | Your sealed vote result |
The questions for each meeting are in the reading-group guide. Each set opens once your group has read that far.
Before the first meeting
- Send everyone the link to chapter 1, so the doubters can try it first.
- Print the bookmarks: one has a chapter tracker to tick off.
- Pin up a large sheet of paper as your group’s ledger, and write down everyone’s predictions with names and dates.
- Look up the names you are unsure how to say on the people and words page.
What to drink and eat
Attaya, strong green tea with sugar and mint, served in three rounds: short and bitter, then sweeter, then sweetest. Wonjo, a cold red drink of hibiscus flowers with sugar and mint. For something more filling, benachin, rice cooked in one pot with fish or meat and vegetables, or domoda, a groundnut stew over rice. All of them appear in the book and in the glossary at the back.
Games for the group
- Which keeper are you? Everyone takes it on their phone, then compares.
- Who said it? Read the line aloud and let the room guess.
- Cast your stone after chapter 24, before anyone reads on.
