Alexa's Gold Book Club Discussion Topics

Alexa’s Gold

Reading Group Questions

and Topics for Discussion

1.     Do you agree with Alexa’s response to her traumatic work-related assault? Has she tried to envision what lies ahead in her life or acted with an unhealthy disregard for reality? Is her attempt at societal isolation healthy or a character frailty? Is she courageous, foolhardy, naïve, or a complicated mixture of these and other human attributes?

2.     Belinda, Alexa’s work and social friend, is definitely a secondary character. Why is Belinda’s character integral to Alexa’s journey? Does the character of Belinda represent a personality trait or traits that may be absent or conspicuously missing from Alexa’s character?

3.     What significant conflicts exist between Alexa, her mother, or her grandparents that need resolution? Does Alexa recognize the different influences on her life? Does Alexa navigate her circumstances with aplomb or defeatism? When considering her mother and grandmother, is there a spiritual influence and, if so, how significant is it?

4.     Alexa’s Gold is in some ways a typical journey story in which a person travels to a new land, has adventures, and ends up with a new perspective. There is a search for grandpa’s hidden gold. Can “gold” be defined as something other than monetary coins? What new experience or perspective enlightens Alexa?

5.     Novels generally rely on four typical archetypes, to wit, protagonist or hero; monster as either a villainous person or evil force; Anima figure which is the opposite personality the protagonist must strive to be in alignment with; and helper who aids the protagonist or listens to the protagonist and in so doing lets us understand the protagonist. Alexa is obviously the protagonist. Where do the other characters fit in?

6.     Alexa often bemoans the fact that Attorney Brad Haberkorn doesn’t tell her everything or anything, especially when it comes to her grandmother’s will. Does Alexa have a legitimate gripe? How does this relationship tug-of-war speed or slow Alexa’s and Brad’s romance? How does her son Samuel fit in? What influence does grandma exert in selecting Brad to be her attorney or grandma’s earlier life advice to Alexa?

7.     Although cooks use recipes to reach the goal of successful creations, many psychologists differ on detailing guaranteed instructions on how to live life. Is Alexa’s chore to find grandma’s recipe clue to the stashed gold coins more than a practical treasure hunt? Is the recipe symbolic? Of what? Are there any symbols in Alexa’s story?

8.     In life, people often muddle along. Are there any lessons the characters in Alexa’s Gold did not learn, but should have?

9.     If we assume Alexa did not want to become a clone of her mother, what aspect of her mother did Alexa object to? Is either materialism or crude language an inherited or cultural influence?

10.  Alexa’s journey is both emotional and physical. Where does it end? Are there any solid clues in what we know from the story to date?

Alexa’s Gold is Donan Berg’s first novel after One Paper Heart, his 2016 winner of Feathered Quill’s Gold Award First Place for Romance. Read a free Alexa’s Gold sample at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/713346.

Ten Book Club Discussion Questions

Adolph’s Gold by Donan Berg

1.  What conflicts protagonist Adolph Anderson other than the fact he doesn’t clip a gold detective shield to his belt?

2.  Was Chief Ron Howard right to pair Adolph and Luann? Was there ever any doubt that Adolph would achieve his gold shield?

3.  Did Adolph follow correct police investigative procedure or fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants?

Does it matter? If not to Adolph, to reality’s criminal justice system?

4.  Adolph finds scraps of poetry, or what ascribes to be poetry. What do they foreshadow?

If someone said it was an author’s trick to advance the story’s plot or to generate artificial suspense, would you agree or disagree?  What other foretelling is there?

5.  Did the locale add significance to the story?

6.  There is a multitude of secondary characters. Are all necessary? Did they distract or become vital to understanding Adolph or his gold shield quest? How important is Officer Finnegan? Rebecca? Dean Wainright? Lt. “Bulldog” Hunter?

7.  Is Adolph’s family important to understanding all sides of Adolph? What significance is his relationship to his wife, his daughter? Does Adolph’s interaction indicate he’s more concerned about his family’s well-being or that Adolph would act as he does for any individual in peril?

8.  Does any character name remind you of an earlier Donan Berg mystery?

9.  Is there a fear, an experience or a contemporaneous event that motivates Adolph to alter or confirm how he reacts the way he does? More than one?

10. Is it important to characterize the novel as a police procedural? Would it fit or cross to other genres? Mystery? Thriller? Literary? Character or family study?

Discussion Guide - The Bones Dance Foxtrot

Author Donan Berg's The Bones Dance Foxtrot, Second Skeleton Series Mystery, will be the featured book at CASI Book Club, Davenport, IA, in September. The following book club discussion topics have been prepared especially for them.

Book Club Discussion Questions

The Bones Dance Foxtrot by Donan Berg

1. How does protagonist Jake respond to the death of Athena? Is his response to his wife’s death realistic? If not, why? Is there any “normal” reaction to a spouse’s death?
2. For the characters, Emily, Patricia, Kate and Chief Coltraine, what is disclosed in their individual past life’s history that influences their actions? Do persons in real life always act consistent? What about Robert?
3. Jake’s occupation is as an over-the-road truck driver. Would he act different if he were employed as a person who “drove” a desk eight hours a day?
4. Prophet Jeremiah’s biblical words are quoted frequently. What do they foreshadow? If someone said it was an author’s trick to advance the story’s plot or to generate artificial suspense, would you agree or disagree? Is there a logical connection between a truck driver’s life and the fact that motels place Gideon Bibles in nightstands?
5. Within the novel, the author expends many words, including in-person point-of-view, to detail actions from a police perspective. Is that helpful, engaging or distracting?
6. Many of the characters, including Jake, participate in Emily’s local community theater. Does Patricia’s actor role foreshadow her personality or is her reality the direct opposite of the role she plays? How does Patricia’s role impact Jake, if at all?
7. Does Kate’s desire, as a widow, not to remarry square with her outward interactions with Jake? Also, is her diner veteran’s wall a true memorial or is it a business strategy?
8. Is Chief Coltraine’s gut reaction about Jake based on his experience or is it illogical for a veteran police supervisor, in a new job, to go against other department members?
9. Emily extends a hand of friendship to Jake. What motivates her? Is Jake a father figure? Is Emily just friendly to anyone who joins the acting troupe?
10. What does Emily’s hiring of Clem say about her? Does Clem impact Jake?
11. What about Jake’s quirk concerning measurements? Do you know any such person?
12. Is there humor in the story? What about Jake picking up the stuffed chickadee in his search for the stolen gold? Any other examples?
13. How important is Oscar in solving the mystery? Has the author, considering his previous novel, A Body To Bones, in which a young boy named Oscar found a skeleton, purposefully selected the name of Oscar to point to a significant discovery?
14. What role do the dances play in the story? What about the clothes worn by the dancers? What about Jake’s relationship with whom he dances? Does his treatment of his dance partners reveal anything about Jake’s personality?
15. The bank robbery is a past event happening before Jake arrives in Paradise. What ramifications impact on Jake?
16. Jake is a veteran. He talks about his military service with self-deprecation. Is there something else about his military service that has remained hidden? Could it be he didn’t even realize how service to his country could impact his actions?
17. Jake is presented with a crisis. What motivates him to react the way he does? Is it a past or recent experience or a person? Does Jake’s reaction indicate he’s more concerned about one person’s well-being or that Jake would act as he does for anyone in peril?

     Author Donan Berg's Baby Bones, Third Skeleton Series Mystery, now available in trade paperback at www.dotdonbooks.com and www.amazon.com . Earlier releases included an Ebook and Mp3 (audio) book.

Survival or Getting Through First Paragraphs

Review excerpt from Survival by A.M. Hargrove (Editor Sarajoy Porter) available on Smashwords.com.

Maddie slowly cracked opened (sic) her eyes to see the brilliance of the morning peeking through her tent. Squinting, she poked her nose out of her sleeping bag to test the temperature, and just as she imagined, the frost in the air nipped at her. She knew she would have to get up soon to use the facilities, if you could call the outhouse that, and also to make breakfast as well as break down (sic) her campsite.

(Three line paragraph excised. Think Christmas Day.)

She quickly unzipped her toasty sleeping bag, slipped her boots on, threw on a jacket, and unzipped the door to her tent. When she got her first glimpse of the morning, her jaw hit the ground, and she sucked in her breath. She was standing in a winter wonderland, complete with a three inch blanket of snow.

(Later....)

Cat was full of life. There was just no other way to describe her. From the first moment I met her. I knew we'd be BFF's-and I mean forever.  She was my soul sister. AND we were so much alike it was uncanny. Like me, she was constantly in a rush, and she always looked like she had just survived a hurricane. When Catherine made up her mind about something, well, that was it. She was as hardheaded as a cinder block, again, like me, in that regard - and funny! OMG, that girl could make me laugh until my sides were killing me.

She was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina, so it was easy to find one thing we both loved. That was, no surprise, hiking. She had spent over the summer hiking the Appalachian Trail and was hooked.

Moments later, two adults appeared, which I correctly assumed were her parents. We quickly introduced ourselves and then the question I had so been dreading was popped.

"So Maddie, are your parents here?"

I felt my head swin a bit as I was thrust into another disturbing flashback. (End of quote.)

No star rating expressed since this reader stumbled with the distractions presented by the entrance into the novel's world. It's billed as a young adult paranormal, although the line of teendom and older becomes blurred by the main characters being in college. A male character, named "Henry," could be because the credits list a spouse as a Henry or it's a veiled reference to the character Henry in The Time Traveler's Wife.

Let me put forth my reaction to the excerpts presented, in no way highlighted as representative of the entire novel, just that the words arrived on early pages.

1. The words "cracked opened" in the first line must be a typo. The two words "break down" caused a reading hiccup. Perhaps the term should be "breaking down" or "strike," but, since these words apply primarily to the tent alone, the greater action may be to "pack up" the campsite.
2. Then there is the participle "Squinting." Participles are words ending in "ing" or "ed." They are to describe the subject of the conventional sentence. Does "squinting" describe the nose? Of course not.
3. Maddie supposedly sees the brilliance of the morning peeking through her tent. A paragraph later says, "When she got her first glimpse of the morning..." How can that be? If she had seen the peeking sun brilliance, she couldn't be first glimpse awe-struck when stepping outside her tent minutes later.
4. As one reads, one cannot help but be bombarded by the constant use of "to be" verbs. These inert verbs require the action to be exhumed and enlivened by vigorous verbs. Count the number of times the "to be" past tense verb "was" presents itself in the latter portion of the excerpt.  The inert verbs highlight the "telling" of a story, not its "showing." Review clauses such as "full of life," "were so much alike," and "like she had just survived a hurricane". What specifics are told? Are they cliches, overused and/or meaningless?
5. Metaphors can be confusing. Consider the use of the words "cinder block" connected to "hardheaded." A normal construction cinder block has a hollow core. Does the author wish to convery the character is an "airhead" or merely "stubborn." The traits could be polar opposites.
6. In the latter part of the excerpt, would  the two words "Moments later" be enough to avoid a mind-jarring interruption or merely slight confusion with the time shift from the past to the present?
7. Is all believable? Would a teenage female meeting her parents introduce herself? That's what the language says when it refers to "We quickly introduced outselves."
8. This final comment brings forth the question: Where's the present inciting action that sets forth the central conflict? The introduction travels through backstory with a minimal reader grounding. Yes, this is young adult literature, but how many teenagers spend today trudging through the past. If a teenager lost a parent, do they, at seventeen, lament their seventh birthday party when Mom lit the cake candles or do they suffer losing a job interview or being late for a longed for date when the car won't run and Dad's not there to fix it? And then, there's the placement of the two incidents on the conflict scale.

Author's Note:
Author Donan Berg writes murder mysteries with strong romantic elements and his latest E-book novels are Abbey Burning Love and Baby Bones, neither of which are young adult novels. They may be purchased at http://www.dotdonbooks.com/ and through major E-book retailers. Previews of all four Donan Berg novels are presented at http://www.amazon.com/ .

A Body To Bones Reading Guide

When reading Author Donan Berg’s A Body To Bones, consider the following:

1.  The story begins in a church confessional ten years before Chapter One. What kind of emotional tone does this establish? Does the tone, in perhaps a different context, reappear? Is it engaging, neutral or off-putting?

2.  Are there any visual descriptions that leave a physical impression, either on what just happened, what may be in store, or that cleanse the reader’s palate? As to a cleansing pause, consider James Joyce in “The Dead” where he ends one scene with the following before beginning a subsequent dramatic scene:

            “The morning was still dark. A dull yellow light brooded over

            the houses and the river; and the sky seemed to be descending.

            It was slushy underfoot; and only streaks and patches of snow

            lay on the roofs, on the parapets of the quay and on the area railings.”

3.  In all mysteries a reader should expect clues, red herrings, and suspense. Did you find any or all? Is there a pace consistent with the action?

4.  The story is told in the present tense with several point-of-view character shifts (i.e., the character whose head the reader is inside). Does either tense or point-of-view character shift accentuate or detract from the story narration? What about tense or point-of-view in gaining an understanding of the novel’s characters?

5.  Are there any symbols that are important? E.g., a dove represents peace.

6.  Sarah, the leading character, has what positive character traits, flaws? Could she represent a broad spectrum? Midnight Assassin commented on isolation of midwestern women at the turn of the 20^th century. What 1963 book contemporaneous to and mentioned in A Body To Bones has similar theme?

7.  Does the author present a theme as distinct from an action plot or subplot?

8.  Does the author inject social criticism? If so, what? How is it treated?

     (Please note there are no correct or wrong answers to any of the questions.

      No test nor penalty for ignoring these and thinking of your own.)

The above utilized for a book discussion group. A Body To Bones novel available here.

Book Discussion Guide - Stewart O'Nan

            Bettendorf, Iowa, Library Director canceled my appearance to lead 2010 Contemporary Book Discussion Group discussion of  Mr. Stewart O’Nan’s novel entitled Last Night at the Lobster. I had transmitted ahead of time these reader guide questions:

1. What significance does the snow have other than portending an actual storm?

    2.   What memorable characteristic does Manny DeLeon, the leading character, have?

1. Does his drug use alter your perception?
2. What does this memorable characteristic present to other characters?
3. If Manny were kind, why would Fredo slice his jacket? Did he? If a box cutter is missing, does that indicate Fredo acted on impulse or with premeditation? Is there any proven connection between the missing box cutter and Fredo?

3. What does Manny as the central character want? In compelling fiction the hero desperately wants something. Does he want love, wealth, revenge, safety, redemption, freedom, or simple peace of mind? Did you think of something else?

4. Are the restaurant diners believable individually and/or representative of a group?

5. How many critical choices face Manny that last day? How do they affect the story?

6. How do Manny’s managerial experiences on that last day change his interactions with others, employee and/or diner? If he doesn’t change, isn’t that also okay?

7. How would you say Manny the individual changed from page one to the novel’s end?

8. Who or what is the villain in the novel? Is it expressed or merely hinted at?

9. Consider the following sentence as a given: A novel is an amplification of real life. Is this novel more fun, more romantic, more glamorous, and/or more dangerous? Is it wittier, braver, courser, faster, and/or bigger? Does it have more taste, smell, and sound? Are friendships closer and enemies crueler? Are children more mature and senior citizens more profound?

10. At the end of the story did you feel satisfied? In what way? If not, why not? (Length of novel isn’t a relevant consideration.)