What are good book club discussion questions for Country People?

Spoiler-free questions to get the conversation going: What was the first scene or moment that made you settle in and feel at home in this book?; If you moved to a tiny rural town tomorrow, what one comfort from your current life would you absolutely bring along?; Miles is caught up in Russian folktales while living inside a very human, messy family life. Which folktales or bedtime stories from your own childhood still comfort you?; The novel is full of eccentric locals. Which small-town character warmed your heart most, and who did they remind you of from your own life?; Marriage and parenthood are handled with such tenderness here. What moment between the family members felt most true or moving to you?.

What food and drinks should I serve at a Country People book club?

Food: Slow-simmered beef and root vegetable stew, Warm buttered rye bread with sharp cheddar, and Maple apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. Drinks: Hot spiced apple cider (non-alcoholic), Russian caravan tea with honey, and Hot toddy with local whiskey and maple.

How do I host a Country People book club night?

A warm, funny novel about a floundering academic, his family, and the eccentric Vermont town that scoops them up. Perfect for a slow, snug evening of conversation.

Country People Book Club Questions, Food & Host Guide

Warm-up questions

1 What was the first scene or moment that made you settle in and feel at home in this book?
2 If you moved to a tiny rural town tomorrow, what one comfort from your current life would you absolutely bring along?

Digging in

1 Miles is caught up in Russian folktales while living inside a very human, messy family life. Which folktales or bedtime stories from your own childhood still comfort you?
2 The novel is full of eccentric locals. Which small-town character warmed your heart most, and who did they remind you of from your own life?
3 Marriage and parenthood are handled with such tenderness here. What moment between the family members felt most true or moving to you?
4 Vermont almost becomes a character. What place in your own life has felt that alive to you, and how did it seep into your everyday?

Going deep

1 The book leans into absurdity as a kind of grace. Where in your own life has something ridiculous ended up being exactly what you needed?
2 Without giving anything away, how did the book leave you feeling as you closed it, and what stayed with you the next morning?

On the table

Slow-simmered beef and root vegetable stew

A hearty Vermont winter supper, the kind a neighbor drops off in a Pyrex

Warm buttered rye bread with sharp cheddar

A nod to both Russian folktale kitchens and Vermont dairy country

Maple apple crisp with vanilla ice cream

Pure New England comfort, best eaten from a mismatched bowl in your lap

To sip

Hot spiced apple cider (non-alcoholic) No alcohol

Cinnamon, clove, and a slice of orange, the smell of a Vermont porch in October

Russian caravan tea with honey No alcohol

A gentle wink at Miles and his folktales, smoky and warming

Hot toddy with local whiskey and maple

Nurturing, a little indulgent, perfect in a heavy mug

Soft folk, hearth-crackle acoustic, and a whisper of old-world lullaby

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