Bothered Book Club

Thought starters and discussion questions to accompany August’s stories

[A NOTE TO BETA READERS: This is meant to show example “book club style questions” that might accompany our stories. You do not need to answer these questions; please simply skim them.]

“Happy Accidents”

By Aiden Marks

• Isaiah is on the brink of an important promotion at work, yet feels ambivalence towards it. When he meets Olivia, he reconsiders the importance of this promotion and even puts it at risk. What does Olivia represent to him?

• In the beginning of the story, Isaiah witnesses a car crash but is unable to approach the scene. The author writes, “Isaiah wanted to spring up and help, but he couldn’t seem to move.” By the end of the story, does Isaiah exhibit more agency in his actions? What does his encounter with Olivia unlock within him? 

• If Isaiah had met Olivia on any other day, would she have had the same effect? Or did this encounter need to happen on a precipice of change for him? In your own life, what are some of the “coincidental” occurrences that had outsized impact? Why were they impactful?

“Redemption”

By Alice Holm

• In this story, a relationship from Clara’s past plagues her decisions today. How have past relationships in your life played an outsized role for years afterwards? How did you ultimately heal?

• Clara gets an opportunity to rewrite the ending to a past relationship, which is very meaningful to her. Is there a relationship you wish you could rewrite in your life? How would you rewrite it?

• This story contains a BDSM scene in which one person inflicts consensual pain on another. How did reading this scene make you feel? What is your own relationship to pain, pleasure, and their intersection?

• At the end of the story, Annie takes Clara under her wing and the two (presumably) have their own sexually charged interaction. How do you imagine Ronnie reacts? How do you think this continues to contribute to Clara’s rewriting of her story with Ronnie?