Introduction

A young librarian and an old curmudgeon forge the unlikeliest of friendships in this charming, feel-good novel about one misfit book club and the lives (and loves) it changed along the way.

Sloane Parker lives a small, contained life as a librarian in her small, contained town. She never thinks of herself as lonely…but still she looks forward to that time every day when old curmudgeon Arthur McLachlan comes to browse the shelves and cheerfully insult her. Their sparring is such a highlight of Sloane's day that when Arthur doesn't show up one morning, she's instantly concerned. And then another day passes, and another.

Anxious, Sloane tracks the old man down only to discover him all but bedridden...and desperately struggling to hide how happy he is to see her. Wanting to bring more cheer into Arthur's gloomy life, Sloane creates an impromptu book club. Slowly, the lonely misfits of their sleepy town begin to find each other, and in their book club, find the joy of unlikely friendship. Because as it turns out, everyone has a special book in their heart?and a reason to get lost (and eventually found) within the pages.

Books have a way of bringing even the loneliest of souls together...

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Discussion Questions

From Reading Group Choices:

1. Books help shape the characters in The Lonely Hearts Book Club in different ways. Which character’s approach to reading matches your own?

2. The novels that the book club chooses to read mirror what’s going on within the characters’ lives. What book best captures your life and outlook?

3. Arthur once used highlighted passages in a book to express his secret feelings for the woman he loved. If you were to choose a book to represent your love for someone, which one would it be and why?

4. Does The Lonely Hearts Book Club have a villain? If so, who is it?

5. Sloane teases Arthur with a social media challenge intended to knit two titles together to create a unique sentence. (For example, the darkly humorous A Time to Kill Pollyanna.) What are some other great combinations?

6. Mothers and their relationships with their children are a strong central theme in the book. How is each character shaped by the parents and/or children in their life?

7. Sloane describes herself as quiet, meek, and fairly average in every way—until she meets Arthur. What do you think it is about Arthur that encourages a spark within her?

8. The relationship between Arthur and Sloane is the backbone of the book. What do you think is so special about inter-generational friendships? What are some of your favorite inter-generational friendships across books and film?

9. In your opinion, is the ending to the book more happy or sad? As a reader, what are you meant to take away from it?

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