Book Club Night Kit
I Want to Show You More
Jamie Quatro
Cozy night
Jamie Quatro's debut collection gathers short, startling stories about longing, faith, running, marriage, and the strange tenderness of bodies and screens. The pieces are brief enough to read in one cozy sitting and linger far longer than their page count suggests.
Short Stories, Soft Blankets, Second Helpings
Come read Jamie Quatro's I Want to Show You More with us: 206 pages of longing, mountains, and grace, paired with skillet cornbread and cider on the stove. Wear something you can curl up in.
Reading level: Moderate
Pages: 206
Best for: A close-knit club that likes feeling things together and does not mind sitting with a little mystery
Discussion
Warm-up
- 1.Which story title pulled you in before you even read a word of it, and what did you imagine it would be about?
- 2.These stories are short enough to read in a bath or a waiting room. Where did you end up reading most of this book, and did the setting change how it landed?
Digging in
- 1.Quatro writes about longing for someone who is far away. Has distance ever made a feeling bigger for you, and did that surprise you at the time?
- 2.Several stories move through the mountains and small-town South. Which scrap of landscape here felt most like somewhere you would want to walk, and why?
- 3.Faith and desire keep sitting in the same room in this book. Did you find that uncomfortable, oddly comforting, or both at once?
- 4.Running shows up as something like prayer here. What do you do with your body when your mind is carrying too much, and did reading this make you feel less alone in that?
Going deep
- 1.Was there a story that unsettled you so much you had to set the book down, then picked it back up anyway? What brought you back?
- 2.By the last pages Quatro has asked a lot of your tenderness. Which story are you still carrying around a week later, and what do you think it knows about you?
On the table & to sip
To eat
Skillet cornbread with honey butter
A warm nod to the North Georgia and Tennessee valleys the stories move through, and the easiest thing in the world to pass around a couch
Slow-baked tomato pie
A Southern potluck classic, homey and a little indulgent, the kind of dish someone brings to a neighbor who is having a hard year
Peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream
Georgia on a spoon, and a soft landing for a book that asks a lot of your heart
To sip
Spiced apple cider, kept warm on the stove (no alcohol)
Non-alcoholic, endlessly refillable, and perfect for a group that will linger past the planned end time
Bourbon hot toddy with lemon and honey
Quiet Southern comfort in a mug, warming and a touch restorative, fitting for stories about bodies that ache
A simple glass of red, poured generously
Low-effort and companionable, the sort of thing poured at a kitchen table where people tell each other the truth
Run of show
7:00
Arrive and warm up
Cider on the stove, cornbread out of the oven, no agenda. Let people hug and complain about their week first.
7:20
Plates and warm-up questions
Everyone fills a plate, then goes around with a favorite title and where they read the book. Low stakes on purpose.
7:45
Favorite story read-aloud
Invite anyone who wants to read a short passage they loved. Two or three readers is plenty, and silence is fine too.
8:00
Theme talk by the fire or lamplight
Work through the theme questions loosely. Let tangents happen. This book rewards people telling their own stories.
8:40
Cobbler and the deeper questions
Serve dessert first, then ask the two deep questions. Sweetness makes hard feelings easier to say out loud.
9:10
Trivia, scorecards, and soft landing
Light trivia, fill out scorecards, hand out bookmarks, and let people drift toward the door whenever they want.
Host tips
- Because the stories vary so much, ask everyone to name one favorite early. It gives quieter members something concrete to hold.
- A few of these stories are frank about sex and about faith. Say upfront that nobody has to share anything personal, and the room will loosen considerably.
- Keep the cider pot going and the lights low. A dimmer room makes an intense book feel safer to talk about.
Playlist
Hushed Appalachian folk and slow gospel-tinged ballads, fingerpicked and a little aching, played low enough to talk over
- 01 Hard Times - Gillian Welch
- 02 Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens
- 03 Down in the Valley - The Head and the Heart
- 04 Angel from Montgomery - John Prine
- 05 I'll Fly Away - Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch
- 06 Re: Stacks - Bon Iver
- 07 Wade in the Water - Rhiannon Giddens
- 08 Long Ride Home - Patty Griffin
Trivia
- 1.In what year was I Want to Show You More published? (2013.)
- 2.Is this a novel or a short story collection? (A short story collection, and Jamie Quatro's debut book.)
- 3.Which Southern state appears in the book's subject categories and shapes much of its landscape? (Georgia.)
- 4.Roughly how long is the book? (About 206 pages, short enough for one or two sittings.)
- 5.Which major newspaper reviewed the collection, helping bring it wide attention? (The New York Times.)
- 6.What athletic activity recurs across several of the stories as a near-spiritual practice? (Long-distance running.)
- 7.Adultery and longing are listed among the book's themes. What other large theme runs right alongside them? (Religious faith, including prayer and evangelical Christian life.)
- 8.The collection's form is notable for variety. Some pieces are nearly novella-length, while others run how long? (Only a page or two, closer to flash fiction.)
Bookmarks
Print, cut, and tuck one at every seat, a small keepsake from the night.
“Longing kept warm on the back of the stove.”
I Want to Show You More
Jamie Quatro
bookclubnight.com
“Mountain light, a long run, a prayer you cannot finish.”
I Want to Show You More
Jamie Quatro
bookclubnight.com
“Come sit close. These stories are small and they are not gentle.”
I Want to Show You More
Jamie Quatro
bookclubnight.com
Rate the book
How much it moved me☆☆☆☆☆
Warmth of the writing☆☆☆☆☆
Stories I will reread☆☆☆☆☆
Comfort versus discomfort☆☆☆☆☆
Would curl up with it again☆☆☆☆☆
One word for how this book left me: ______________________
The story I would hand to a friend: ______________________
Something it made me want to tell someone: ______________________
That's a wrap
Thank you for coming
We hope the company was good and the conversation even better. Until the next chapter.