Book Club Night Kit

Rules To Live By

Jimmy Chin with Daniel Duane

Cozy night

Jimmy Chin, the climber and filmmaker behind some of the most vertigo-inducing images ever made, turns inward to share the principles that carried him through risk, fear, friendship, and loss. It is a warm, hard-won book about how to choose a life, which makes it perfect for a night of soft lighting and honest talk.

Soup, Slippers, and a Few Rules Worth Keeping

Come read Jimmy Chin with us. There will be green chile stew, warm cider, a skillet crumble, and a slow conversation about risk, mentors, and the lives we have quietly chosen. Wear something soft.

Reading level: Easy

Best for: A club that likes memoir with a little grit, and that would rather share stories about their own lives than debate craft

Discussion

Warm-up

1.Before we dig in: where did you read most of this one, and did it make you want to go outside or stay very warmly indoors?
2.Was there a rule or line of advice in here that you found yourself repeating to someone in your actual life this week? Tell us how that went.

Digging in

1.Chin writes about risk as something you learn to be in relationship with rather than conquer. What is one small risk you have made peace with, and one you have quietly decided is not for you?
2.So much of this book is about being taken in by a community of people who do a strange, demanding thing. When has a group of people adopted you like that, and what did it feel like to be let in?
3.Reading about mentors and elders who passed down hard-earned knowledge, who came to mind for you? Did you feel grateful, wistful, or a little of both?
4.The book treats patience and waiting (for weather, for conditions, for readiness) as a real skill. Did that comfort you or make you restless about something you are currently waiting on?

Going deep

1.Chin is honest about the cost of a life organized around something consuming. Without giving anything away, did the book leave you feeling the trade was worth it, and did your answer change for your own life versus his?
2.By the time you closed the book, which rule had quietly rearranged itself for you, meaning you understood it differently at the end than when you first read it? Keep it vague on details and just tell us what shifted inside you.

On the table & to sip

To eat

Big pot of green chile and white bean stew with cornbread

A nod to Chin's Jackson Hole and American West life, and the exact thing you want simmering when the talk turns to cold mountains and warm friendships.

Basecamp snack board: salted nuts, dried mango, dark chocolate, hard cheese, good crackers

Expedition food made comfortable. Low effort, grazeable all night, and it keeps hands busy during the honest parts of the conversation.

Skillet apple crumble with vanilla ice cream

The post-descent reward. Warm, humble, a little indulgent, and it scoops straight from the pan onto the coffee table.

To sip

Spiced maple cider (served warm, non-alcoholic) (no alcohol)

Cinnamon, star anise, a spoon of maple, kept hot on the stove so people refill themselves and linger.

Hot toddy bar with bourbon, honey, lemon, and a jar of cloves

The classic after-cold-day drink. Set it out and let guests build their own so you are never playing bartender.

Thermos of strong coffee with cardamom (no alcohol)

Because every alpine start begins this way, and because someone always wants the second half of the night to be coffee instead.