for your book club’s discussion
A liberty bond tour full of eager young women. A sunny town with a dark underbelly. When the Florida Girls start shooting back, will anyone survive?
St. Petersburg, Florida, 1944. Thelma Miles can’t abide injustice. Broke and orphaned near the close of WWII, the 18-year-old joins a troupe of touring swimsuit models, only to find she's stepped into the mafia's lair.
Kathleen Young has a one-track mind, often missing the obvious. Determined to get her emporium out of debt and take her sick husband to California’s healing climate, organizing the tour is her first step in a series of increasingly drastic measures.
With the chaotic world of late WWII America as a backdrop, Kirchner’s twisty story weaves together real-life characters and in-depth research to reveal the interior lives of women who were told to step aside when the men returned. If you like rich narratives, coming-of-age adventures, and incredible period details, then you’ll love Kirchner’s gritty tale.
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for your book club’s discussion…
Introduction:
Never give up, especially not on yourself.
An unexpected divorce forces LL Kirchner to confront the fact that her painful childhood family dynamics remain unresolved. Fearing a return to her addictions, she embarks on a spiritual journey to regain her trust in the universe. But she keeps looking for the answer in relationships, until finally she realizes the gift her mother had always given her—hope.
Blissful Thinking is the sweeping story of L.L. Kirchner’s search for nirvana that took her from university halls in the Persian Gulf to the streets of Manhattan to a sex cult in India. In a memoir that’s both rapturous and page-turning, Kirchner captures the terrors and joys of searching for radical honesty — and a second date.
Questions and Topics for Discussion
The author writes that she “loved cigarettes and hated patchouli.” Were you more surprised to realize that the author never intended to go on a spiritual journey, or that she undertook one at all?
Have you ever found a “spiritual solution” to a real-world problem?
The author writes that for most of her life she “equated multiple partners with cheating,“ yet she ended up exploring polyamory and staying in a sex cult. What’s the most extreme length you’ve gone to for healing? Or conversely, what’s one of your most radically changed opinions?
Do you think it’s harder to maintain close friendships as we grow older, like what happened with Willy?
Have you ever tried meditation? Were you surprised to learn that meditation is not always a pathway to bliss?
The author is careful not to equate mental illness with the capacity to meditate. Why do you think she would do that?
Of all the places described in the book, where have you been? Which places would you like to visit?
The family dysfunction is clear, but it’s not at the forefront of the author’s story. Yet her mother’s death leads to her ultimate epiphany. Why do you think the author chose not to write more about her family?
What do you think of the expanded definition of cults the author cites? Why do you think the author didn’t end up joining any of the cults or ashram communities she visited? Do you think it’s possible to benefit from cults?
What’s the biggest takeaway you gained from the spiritual explorations in the book? Did you learn anything surprising about people in long-term recovery?
for your book club’s discussion…
Introduction:
After taking a job in Qatar to boost to her husband’s journalism career, L.L. Kirchner lost her health and then her dog as she faced one calamity after the next, all while struggling to lead a marketing team in one of the world’s most patriarchal cultures. Then her husband ended their marriage over the phone, from another country.
As she wrote, “I hoped moving to Qatar would change everything. Until it did.”
She says she wanted the book to be funny yet not to shy away from the truth of her experiences in Doha in the mid-aughts, so it was no small thrill when NPR said her memoir was “like Eat, Pray, Love, but funny.”
Questions and Topics for Discussion
Of all the countries the author travels to in this book, where would you like to visit? Why or why not?
Do you believe it’s possible to be surprised by a partner’s decision to end a marriage? Why or why not?
What about the way expats did and did not respect Muslim culture? Could you live and work in such a restrictive atmosphere?
Can you imagine not realizing you were experiencing menopause? Why or why not?
What do you think of the author’s decision to include her recovery from substance use disorder?
What did you think about the author’s “I’m not a feminist, but…” rant? Did you find yourself agreeing with any of those statements? Have you changed your mind about those beliefs?
What does it mean that the author wrote the first half of the book in past tense and the second half in present? Did you find the opening scene planted a seed as you began the story?
What did you think when the author invoked images of women in the media? Or about the different ways the same stories are reported in different outlets?
Did you believe that the main character made her own dreams come true? Do you think the marriage had to end to get her to take that action?
Were you hoping for a new and improved relationship at the end? Why or why not?