Book Club Night Kit

Love You More

Emily Giffin

Cozy night

Billie is newly engaged when a call from her first love pulls her back to Wisconsin, and that pull sets up a warm, tender story about the roads we take and the people who stay with us. It's an easy book to curl up with, and it gets everyone swapping their own stories about first love and going home.

Come Home for Book Club

Bring your coziest socks and your softest memories of first love. We're gathering over beer cheese soup, warm cider, and Emily Giffin's Love You More.

Reading level: Easy

Best for: Friends who love heartfelt women's fiction and a long, unhurried conversation over something warm to eat

Discussion

Warm-up

1.Billie's story starts with a phone call that sends her back to Wisconsin. Is there a place you've gone back to (or dream of going back to) that makes you feel like your younger self the minute you arrive?
2.Where and how did you read this one? Tell us about your coziest reading spot, and whether this book kept you there longer than you meant to stay.

Digging in

1.First loves tend to stay with us in small ways, like a song, a smell, or a street corner. Did this book bring back any memories of your own first love, and how did revisiting that feeling land for you?
2.Billie is standing at a happy new beginning when the past reaches out to her. Which moments in the book made your heart ache for her, and which ones felt like a warm hug?
3.Going home can feel comforting and unsettling all at once. What did the Wisconsin scenes stir up for you about the places and people that shaped you?
4.The title is a phrase people say to the ones they cherish most. Who in your life would you say 'love you more' to, and did the book make you want to reach out to anyone?

Going deep

1.Thinking about the whole book, how did your feelings about Billie's choices shift as you read? Was there a moment when you found yourself quietly rooting for something you hadn't expected to?
2.The story asks what we owe to our past and what we owe to our future. Without giving away how it ends, did the book leave you feeling comforted, wistful, or somewhere in between, and why do you think it hit you that way?

On the table & to sip

To eat

Slow Cooker Wisconsin Beer Cheese Soup with Soft Pretzel Bites

A classic from America's Dairyland that you can start in the afternoon and keep warm all night. It's rich and cheesy, the kind of thing you'd get back home.

Warm Cheese Curd and Local Cheese Board

Squeaky cheese curds (baked or warmed up) next to cheddar, apple slices, and honey bring Billie's Wisconsin homecoming right to the coffee table. You just set it out, and people graze while they talk.

Warmed Racine-Style Kringle

Kringle is Wisconsin's flaky, buttery pastry, and a few minutes in the oven makes it taste like a hometown bakery. It's an indulgent, nostalgic way to end the night.

To sip

Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet

Wisconsin's signature supper-club cocktail. It's familiar, a little old-fashioned in the best way, and perfect for sipping slowly during a story about going back home.

Door County Cherry Mulled Wine

Red wine warmed with Wisconsin cherries, orange peel, and cinnamon. It fills the room with a cozy smell and suits a bittersweet love story.

Hot Spiced Apple Cider (no alcohol)

A mug of cider simmered with cinnamon sticks and cloves gives everyone a comforting, alcohol-free choice, and it smells wonderful on the stove.