One Book - One San Diego | Public Library

Discussion Guides

Viking Reading Group Guide (PDF: 116K) for "Three Cups of Tea".

Reading Guide prepared by the San Diego Public Library

There are many ways to begin a book discussion in your own home, workplace, neighborhood bookstore or coffee shop, public library, church, etc. The idea behind One Book, One San Diego is to have all citizens in the San Diego area reading the same book at the same time, creating a kind of citywide book club and sense of community.

The first step in conducting a book discussion is to visit any of the 35 San Diego Public Library locations, bookstores or the One Book, One San Diego web sites at www.sandiegolibrary.org or www.kpbs.org/onebook and download the resource guide. The resource guide will include discussion questions as well as a biography of the author.

After obtaining a resource guide, pick a date to gather a group of friends, relatives or co-workers to discuss the book. Having trouble gathering a group together? No problem: The San Diego Public Library will offer many public book discussions at its locations throughout the city.

Once you have your group together, an easy way to begin the book discussion is to ask everyone in your group to bring a favorite passage or question to the meeting and spend some time going around the room and discussing each one. Next, using your resource guide, focus on the main aspects of the book-settings, themes, characterization, etc.

For example:

What in particular did everyone like about the book? Was it the characters? The way they were rendered by the author? Were they well-developed, or did you leave the book wanting to know more about them?
What about the way the story was told? How did the voice of the book affect the reading of it? Did the voice draw you in or distance you from the story as you read?
What are the main themes? Do any of the themes relate to topics or events in the news? Were there major conflicts in the book and were they resolved in a convincing manner?

One of the easiest-and most rewarding-things you can do with your group is to read the book and then attend a lecture by the author. Check the schedule of events on this web site to find out when and where these events are taking place.

The San Diego Public Library will also provide "BookClub in a Bag" to book groups. "BookClub in a Bag" is everything you need to set up and maintain your own book discussion group! Each bag contains:

10 copies of the book
Questions and reviews for the book
Author's biography

The San Diego Public Library will have 25 "BookClub in a Bag" sets available for checkout. Each bag may be checked out for three weeks.

Discussion Questions created by the San Diego Public Library

Mortenson didn't set out for Pakistan with the intention of becoming a philanthropist. What triggered his change of course and have you ever had such a sudden life changing experience?

What impact does the local culture have on Mortenson? Does he overcome its challenges?

In particular, how does Mortenson cope with working in a Muslim society? How did the community adapt to him?

After reading this book, how has your own view of the region been altered?

Do you go along with Mortenson's claim that building schools is a better, more successful, response to terrorism than war?

"Isn't it better to live in ignorance of everything-asphalt and macadam, vehicles, telephones, television-to live in bliss without knowing it?" How would you answer?

Mortenson seems to think that the tea drinking ritual is a good metaphor for a way of living. What is the relevance of the title "Three Cups of Tea"?

What criticisms or tough questions could we direct at projects like those of Mortenson?

What is it about Greg Mortenson that has made him so successful at building schools in Pakistan? Which parts of the book best highlight these characteristics?

Could anyone, with enough determination, have the kind of impact that Mortenson has had?

Have you changed as a person or taken any action as a result of reading this book?

Do you agree that "sometimes, to be human, you have to take sides"?

Mortenson is sometimes helped and sometimes hindered by other people as he tries to carry out his plans. What part did others play in his efforts?

Mortenson hated every minute of his climb of Kilimanjaro but at the end of it realized he had become hooked on mountaineering. Have you ever become hooked on something you hated that much?

Do you go along with King Bhutan's assertion that the measure of a nation's success shouldn't be its gross national product but its "gross national happiness"?

What would you like to know about Mortenson that you didn't learn from the book?