Book Club Night Kit
The Great Wherever
Shannon Sanders
Cozy night
Shannon Sanders writes family with such tenderness that reading her feels like being handed a warm mug and told to sit down a while. "The Great Wherever" follows the pull between the people who raised us and the places we go, making it an easy book to talk about with people you love.
Come sit a while: a cozy night with The Great Wherever
We are reading Shannon Sanders's "The Great Wherever" and gathering around warm cider, baked mac and cheese, and peach cobbler. Bring a family story and wear something soft.
Reading level: Moderate
Best for: A club that cares more about swapping family stories than dissecting structure, and likes a second helping of dessert
Discussion
Warm-up
- 1.Before we say a word about the book: what is the one dish that means home to you, and who made it?
- 2.Where did you do most of your reading for this one, and did the book make you want to call someone?
Digging in
- 1.Sanders is so good at the feeling of walking back into a family space after being away. What did that stir up in you, if anything?
- 2.Which small moment in this book did you find yourself sitting with for a minute before turning the page, and what made it land?
- 3.The title points toward somewhere out there, beyond the familiar. What was your own "great wherever" at some point, the place or life you imagined leaving for?
- 4.When a relative in this book was difficult, did you find yourself taking sides or softening toward them? What does that say about how you handle your own people?
Going deep
- 1.By the time you closed the book, did you feel more forgiving of the characters than when you started? Where did that shift happen for you?
- 2.Sanders lets a lot go unsaid between family members. Thinking across the whole book, what did the silences feel like to you, protective, lonely, or something warmer, and does that match the silences in your own family?
On the table & to sip
To eat
A big pan of baked mac and cheese, browned on top
The dish that shows up when family shows up. Nothing in this book's emotional register is better matched than something scooped out of a shared pan.
Skillet cornbread with honey butter
Homey, a little indulgent, and built for a table where people are leaning back and talking. Bake it ahead and warm it while guests arrive.
Warm peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream
A dessert of homecomings and grandmother kitchens, and the sweet soft landing for a conversation about family.
To sip
Spiced apple cider on the stove (no alcohol)
Non-alcoholic, smells like the whole house is taking care of you. Keep the pot warm all night with cinnamon sticks and orange peel.
Bourbon in sweet tea, over a little ice
A gentle nod to Southern family tables, slow sipping for a slow conversation.
Hot toddy with honey and lemon
The thing someone's aunt would press into your hands and insist you drink. Warm, soothing, and quietly indulgent.
Run of show
7:00
Door open, mugs out
Cider already on the stove so the house smells right. No agenda, just let people land.
7:20
Plates and warm-ups
Everyone fixes a plate and answers the comfort-food question while they eat. Food first, book second.
7:45
First impressions, round the room
One sentence each on how the book made them feel. No analysis allowed yet.
8:00
Theme questions
Work through the theme questions loosely. Let family stories take over, that is the point.
8:40
Cobbler and the deeper two
Serve dessert first, then move into the deep questions. Sugar makes honesty easier.
9:10
Trivia, scorecards, and lingering
Keep trivia light and fun, hand out bookmarks, and let people stay as long as they want.
Host tips
- Say out loud at the start that nobody has to have finished the book. Cozy means no one gets quizzed.
- Have blankets and extra seating that isn't a dining chair. People talk more honestly on a couch.
- Make the mac and cheese and cobbler earlier in the day so you are sitting down when guests arrive, not stirring.
Playlist
Soft soul and warm piano, the sound of a kitchen radio late in the evening with everyone still sitting around
- 01 Feeling Good - Nina Simone
- 02 The Way You Do The Things You Do - The Temptations
- 03 Golden - Jill Scott
- 04 Lovely Day - Bill Withers
- 05 Home - Stephanie Mills
- 06 Harvest Moon - Neil Young
- 07 Cranes in the Sky - Solange
- 08 At Last - Etta James
Trivia
- 1.Who wrote "The Great Wherever"? (Shannon Sanders.)
- 2.What kind of book was Shannon Sanders's debut, a novel or a story collection? (A story collection, "Company," published in 2023.)
- 3.Besides fiction, what profession is Shannon Sanders known for? (She is a lawyer, writing alongside her legal career.)
- 4.What region's family life does Sanders's fiction most often center? (Black American family life, frequently in and around the Washington, D.C. area.)
- 5.Sanders's debut collection "Company" takes its title from a word with a double meaning. What are the two senses? (Guests or visitors, and companionship or keeping someone company.)
- 6.What recurring subject threads through Sanders's work? (Extended family across generations, including mothers, sons, aunts, and cousins.)
- 7."Company" won a major award for emerging writers in 2024. Which one? (The PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for a debut short story collection.)
- 8.What genre shelf does "The Great Wherever" sit on? (Literary fiction, family-centered contemporary fiction.)
Bookmarks
Print, cut, and tuck one at every seat, a small keepsake from the night.
Rate the book
Comfort factor☆☆☆☆☆
Made me feel something☆☆☆☆☆
Characters I'd invite to dinner☆☆☆☆☆
Pages I reread on purpose☆☆☆☆☆
Would press into a friend's hands☆☆☆☆☆
One word for how this book left me: ______________________
The moment I want to talk about tonight: ______________________
Who I thought about while reading: ______________________
That's a wrap
Thank you for coming
We hope the company was good and the conversation even better. Until the next chapter.