What are good book club discussion questions for Malibu Rising?

Spoiler-free questions to get the conversation going: Where did you curl up to read this one, and did it make you crave the beach or the couch more?; Which Riva sibling did you want to wrap a blanket around and bring a cup of tea to first?; The Riva siblings take care of each other in really tender ways. What small moment between them stayed warm in your chest?; Nina carries so much for everyone. Have you ever been the person who quietly holds a family together, and how did this book sit with you because of it?; Malibu itself feels like a character. What place in your own life feels like home in that bone-deep way?.

What food and drinks should I serve at a Malibu Rising book club?

Food: Build-your-own grilled cheese bar with tomato soup shooters, Warm cinnamon sugar churro bites, and Honey-drizzled cornbread with whipped butter. Drinks: Mick Riva's Old Fashioned, Beach-bonfire spiked horchata, and Sunset citrus spritzer with orange and rosemary.

How do I host a Malibu Rising book club night?

A sweeping family saga set during one unforgettable Malibu party, where four famous siblings carry decades of love, longing, and unspoken hurts under the California sun.

Malibu Rising Book Club Questions, Food & Host Guide

Warm-up questions

1 Where did you curl up to read this one, and did it make you crave the beach or the couch more?
2 Which Riva sibling did you want to wrap a blanket around and bring a cup of tea to first?

Digging in

1 The Riva siblings take care of each other in really tender ways. What small moment between them stayed warm in your chest?
2 Nina carries so much for everyone. Have you ever been the person who quietly holds a family together, and how did this book sit with you because of it?
3 Malibu itself feels like a character. What place in your own life feels like home in that bone-deep way?
4 Surfing is the siblings' refuge. What is the thing in your life that works on you the way the ocean works on them?

Going deep

1 The book gently asks what we owe the people who raised us, and what we owe ourselves. Where did you land emotionally by the last page?
2 Without giving anything away, was there a moment that made you want to call someone in your own family? What would you want to say to them?

On the table

Build-your-own grilled cheese bar with tomato soup shooters

Cozy California beach-shack comfort, easy to nibble through a long chat

Warm cinnamon sugar churro bites

A nod to Malibu's Southern California roots, sweet and shareable

Honey-drizzled cornbread with whipped butter

Soft, golden, and homey, like the Riva family kitchen you wish you grew up in

To sip

Mick Riva's Old Fashioned

A nod to the famous crooner father, served slow and stirred

Beach-bonfire spiked horchata

Warm, cinnamon-sweet, and a little indulgent for a cool evening

Sunset citrus spritzer with orange and rosemary No alcohol

Non-alcoholic and bright like a Malibu evening sky

Soft 70s and 80s California gold, sun-warmed and a little wistful

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