Book Club Night Kit
The Digital Delusion
Jared Cooney Horvath
Cozy night
A neuroscientist gently pulls back the curtain on our screens, asking whether all this digital convenience is quietly costing us the deep focus, memory, and connection we love. It is the perfect pick for a night of unplugging together.
Screens Down, Blankets Up
Come unplug with us for a warm, low-key night of cocoa, comfort food, and gentle talk about The Digital Delusion. Wear your softest sweater and leave the notifications at the door.
Reading level: Moderate
Best for: a club that loves cozy nonfiction and heart-to-heart chats about how we actually live
Discussion
Warm-up
- 1.Where did you do most of your reading of this book, and did a favorite chair, blanket, or mug become part of the ritual?
- 2.Was there a page that made you set your phone face-down and just sit for a moment? Tell us about that little pause.
Digging in
- 1.The book celebrates slower, analog ways of learning and remembering. What is one low-tech comfort (a paper notebook, a real map, a printed photo) that the book made you feel newly tender toward?
- 2.As you read about how screens pull at our attention, which of your own everyday habits felt gently seen rather than scolded?
- 3.The book suggests our devices can crowd out quiet togetherness. When has putting a screen away made an ordinary evening feel warmer for you?
- 4.Which idea from Horvath do you most want to carry into your daily life, not as a strict rule but as a small kindness to yourself?
Going deep
- 1.By the time you closed the book, did you feel more hopeful or more wistful about our relationship with technology, and what moment tipped you that way?
- 2.The book asks us to notice what we may be trading away for convenience. Looking back over the whole read, what is one thing you feel quietly moved to protect or reclaim?
On the table & to sip
To eat
Slow-baked mac and cheese
The ultimate analog comfort food, warm and unhurried, perfect for a screens-down night that celebrates slowing down.
Warm apple cinnamon crumble in little bowls
Homey and a touch indulgent, it rewards patience and fills the room with a cozy, unplugged scent.
A shared board of soft cheeses, crackers, and honey
Meant to be grazed slowly while you talk, encouraging the lingering, present togetherness the book champions.
To sip
Spiced hot cocoa with marshmallows (no alcohol)
A nurturing childhood-comfort mug that invites everyone to cradle a warm drink and settle in.
Chamomile and honey tea (no alcohol)
Calm and screen-soothing, a gentle nod to winding down and resting tired, over-scrolled eyes.
Mulled red wine
Warm, fragrant, and slow-sipped, it matches the book's invitation to savor the analog and unhurried.
Run of show
7:00
Phones in the basket
Greet everyone warmly and invite them to tuck phones into a cozy basket by the door, no pressure, just an option.
7:15
Settle in with cocoa
Hand out warm drinks and let people claim a comfy seat and blanket before anything begins.
7:30
Gentle warm-ups
Ease in with the two warm-up questions so quieter voices feel invited early.
7:50
Comfort food and theme talk
Bring out the mac and cheese and drift through the theme questions while people graze.
8:30
Crumble and deeper reflection
Serve warm crumble and slow into the two deep questions as the room softens.
9:00
Trivia and bookmarks
Close with light trivia, scorecards, and take-home bookmarks before a gentle goodnight.
Host tips
- Keep the lighting low with lamps or candles so the room feels like a den, not a meeting.
- Let silences breathe. In a cozy night, a thoughtful pause is a feature, not an awkward gap.
- Have spare blankets and refills ready so no one has to get up and break the mood.
Playlist
soft, unplugged, and lamplit, the sound of a phone left in another room
- 01 Holocene - Bon Iver
- 02 Harvest Moon - Neil Young
- 03 The Night We Met - Lord Huron
- 04 Slow Show - The National
- 05 Landslide - Fleetwood Mac
- 06 Home - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
- 07 Saturn - Sleeping at Last
- 08 Banana Pancakes - Jack Johnson
Trivia
- 1.What is the profession of author Jared Cooney Horvath that shapes this book? (He is a neuroscientist and educator who studies the brain and learning.)
- 2.The book's core concern is our relationship with what kind of technology? (Digital and screen-based technology.)
- 3.Is The Digital Delusion fiction or nonfiction? (Nonfiction.)
- 4.Horvath's work often focuses on which two brain-related processes highlighted in the book? (Learning and memory.)
- 5.Besides writing, Horvath is known for translating brain science into advice for which everyday setting? (Education and classrooms (how people learn).)
- 6.The book frequently contrasts digital habits with which older, hands-on alternatives? (Analog methods like paper, print, and handwriting.)
- 7.What word in the title signals the author's skeptical stance toward our screen assumptions? (Delusion.)
Bookmarks
Print, cut, and tuck one at every seat, a small keepsake from the night.
“Set the screen down and let the evening slow.”
The Digital Delusion
Jared Cooney Horvath
bookclubnight.com
“Paper, lamplight, and a mug that stays warm.”
The Digital Delusion
Jared Cooney Horvath
bookclubnight.com
“Your attention is a soft thing worth keeping.”
The Digital Delusion
Jared Cooney Horvath
bookclubnight.com
Rate the book
Coziness of the read☆☆☆☆☆
How much it moved me☆☆☆☆☆
Made me want to unplug☆☆☆☆☆
Warmth of tonight's chat☆☆☆☆☆
Would curl up with it again☆☆☆☆☆
One word for how this book made me feel: ______________________
One small analog thing I want to bring back: ______________________
The comfort food I'd pair with this book: ______________________
That's a wrap
Thank you for coming
We hope the company was good and the conversation even better. Until the next chapter.