What the heck just happened? There I was, reading about some magical books and winding up for a thriller plot and then whoosh, I’m through a door and down a rabbit hole of double dealing, dubious morality and a distorted time twist that would have knocked even Alice on her back foot.
Buckle up, because your book club is going to have a doozie of a time discussing this one. And our The Book of Doors discussion guide will help you get there. The following book club questions for The Book of Doors aims to help you untangle the myriad of personalities who are after this special book and explore the its themes of unexpected friendship, loneliness, greedy psychopathy and the law of unintended consequences.
The guide includes 10 discussion prompts, a synopsis and some selected reviews. And if you would like to further break your brain, we’ve got a few ideas for some related reads.
Let’s get started!
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The Book of Doors Synopsis
(We always chose to provide the publisher synopsis because we feel that it’s worthwhile to discuss whether the official book description actually squared with your experience of the book.)
The Book of Doors, Gareth Brown
Cassie Andrews works in a New York City bookshop, shelving books, making coffee for customers, and living an unassuming, ordinary life. Until the day one of her favorite customers—a lonely yet charming old man—dies right in front of her. Cassie is devastated. She always loved his stories, and now she has nothing to remember him by. Nothing but the last book he was reading.
But this is no ordinary book…
It is the Book of Doors.
Inscribed with enigmatic words and mysterious drawings, it promises Cassie that any door is every door. You just need to know how to open them.
Then she’s approached by a gaunt stranger in a rumpled black suit with a Scottish brogue who calls himself Drummond Fox. He’s a librarian who keeps watch over a unique set of rare volumes. The tome now in Cassie’s possession is not the only book with great power, but it is the one most coveted by those who collect them.
Now Cassie is being hunted by those few who know of the Special Books. With only her roommate Izzy to confide in, she has to decide if she will help the mysterious and haunted Drummond protect the Book of Doors—and the other books in his secret library’s care—from those who will do evil. Because only Drummond knows where the unique library is and only Cassie’s book can get them there.
But there are those willing to kill to obtain those secrets. And a dark force—in the form of a shadowy, sadistic woman—is at the very top of that list.
The Book of Doors Book Club Questions
These questions have been tailored to this book’s specific reading experience, but if you want more ideas, we also have an article with 101 generic book club questions.
- Regarding The Count of Monte Cristo, Mr. Webber says to Cassie “I’ve read it before, but as I get older, I find comfort in rereading favorites. It’s like spending time with old friends.” Do you receive comfort from re-reading favorite books? If so, what are they?
- Izzy says that she’s glad that Cassie got the book and she wondered what someone who wasn’t as nice as Cassie would have done with it. Well, The Woman was not only not nice, she was psychopathic. Discuss the ways that the different characters responded to or used the books.
- Barbary says that collecting the books was “… an arms race to see who could collect the most books and the most power…” Drummond carefully guards the Fox Library, hoping to secure the books away from those who sought power. But, while his intentions seemed good, his own hoarding of the books was also way to exert power and control. How were Drummond’s actions similar to or different from Barbary’s?
- Drummond says “Where else would I keep special books but in a secret room at the top of a hidden tower?” Where indeed? Where would you keep your stash of secret magical books?
- Most magical books have spells or another device which create or direct the magic. But the “books of xx” books seem to keep a record of how the magic was used. Discuss how the magical book trope here differs from other novels (such as The Midnight Library, Ink Blood Sister Scribe, The Book Eaters, The Shadow of the Wind etc.)
- Why did the author choose books as the vehicle…instead of some other sort of talisman? Rather than a sword or potion, what’s specific to the nature of books that make them critical to the story?
- Some of the negative reviews of the book flagged racist and fat-shaming comments coming from some of the characters. Did you notice that? If so, did you accept the comments as part of that character’s make-up? Or did it bother you?
- If you could return through any door (or doors) on the planet, where/when would it be?
- Discuss Drummond’s theory about how you can’t really alter the present if you go back in time. He believes that you’ll just ensure that what is supposed to happen, happens. Is that really what happened? Or did Cassie’s careful massaging of the past indeed change the present?
And on a scale of 1-10, with one being a mild headache and 10 being a blinding migraine, how much does his theory make your brain hurt? - There were some very circular elements in the time travel part of the story. For instance Barbary’s pain floated in the air, subsequently landing on Rachel, aka The Woman, who as an adult, triggered much of the plot action. Did you observe other instances of the plot looping in on itself? Did it work for you?
- BONUS QUESTION: Pick one of the books that you would like to have and share why you would want it and how you would use it. For a reminder, they are the books of… awaking, illusions, shadows, pain, memories, light, matter, health, faces, mists, luck, speed, control, safety, mist, destruction, despair, joy, and flame.
Selected Reviews for The Book of Doors
(Use these selected Goodreads reviews to compare with your own experience of the book. Do you agree or disagree with the reviews?)
“My favourite part of this book is the intricacy of the plotting and how it all comes together. Unlike the more grounded genres such as crime thrillers or historical fiction, genres such as fantasy and time travel cannot be over-analysed for logical accuracy as they are essentially imaginative. Keeping this in mind, the book astounded me with how neatly *almost* all its threads came together at the end.”
“Though the story flows well, it does suffer from inconsistent pacing, minor repetitiveness, and verbosity. (There were a few dialogues and descriptions I thought were offensive and unnecessary, but that’s more a personal observation.) The time travel element was interesting but left me with unanswered questions. I liked the protagonist and her friends and though the villains in the story were evil enough and also provided an element of comic relief, they weren’t strongly developed characters.”
“But by about 10-15% in, I realized this author was lacking in the magic department…lacking in the character development arena…AND that the only ‘fantasy’ I would experience while reading this book was a fantasy where I truly ENJOYED it.”
“A complex, intricate storyline packed full of blind twists and delicious surprises, it was the kind of book that I both couldn’t put down, but also didn’t want to finish. With a somewhat circuitous plot, this was one tale that had every right to feel repetitive, but somehow managed to not. As characters and events shifted into and out of frame, the sharp writing pulled them all together into perfect alignment. And by the end, this enigma of a puzzle hit just the right chord.”
Books Like The Book of Doors
The Book of Doors has been compared to The Midnight Library and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. If you are keen to read either, we have discussion guides for Midnight Library and Addie LaRue.
And if you’re a sucker for books that feature books as the main character, we have a whole list for that. And here are a few other ideas to add to your TBR:
Ink Blood Sister Scribe, Emma Törzs
This is a good comp if you liked the whole magical library and evil doers who want-it-all thing.
When Joanna and Esther’s estranged father’s death triggers a series of events, the sisters are forced to reunite to protect the last remaining books of an ancient, blood-bound library. As they unravel the secrets of their family and the sinister forces hunting them, they must navigate their own fraught relationship and a world where ink and blood hold immense power.
The Cartographers, Peng Shepherd
The Cartographers isn’t really about time travel. Well, it kinda is, but mostly it presents “place travel” in a very unique way. And, like Book of Doors, there are also betrayals, lies and other shenanigans afoot.
Nell is a disgraced cartographer who, after her father is found dead, discovers a seemingly worthless map. But the map isn’t worthless. Indeed it has the power to manipulate place and space. She dedicates herself to figuring out how the map works, and what it meant to her father and mother. All the while, dodging other mapmakers and nefarious characters.
Read this one for book club and use our Cartographers discussion guide.
A Novel Bookstore, Laurence Cosse
(Alison Anderson, translator)
No magic here. But imagine if Drummond owned a cozy bookstore that curated only a subjective and mercurial collection of the “best books”. And then some people don’t like it and things get dangerous.
Ivan, a world traveler, and Francesca, an Italian heiress own a very unusual type of Parisian bookstore. This is no Barnes & Noble, with a promo-oriented front table littered with pop fiction. They only carry “good literature”, chosen by a secret committee with idiosyncratic tastes. The store becomes immensely popular with customers, but it’s bedeviling to the publishing companies. Dark doings start to happen and Ivan, Francesca, and the committee need to figure out what’s going on…and how to protect themselves.
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