Life After Coffee

Hopefully, your group enjoyed LIFE AFTER COFFEE and you’re ready to pour yourself a nice cup of something strong and warm – or crisp and chilled – and get your discussion on…

Here are some questions that circle the main themes of the book. Happy conversational wandering!

• There’s quite a lot of mom-on-mom conflict within LIFE AFTER COFFEE. Are you a veteran of the mommy wars or do you think the whole working mom vs stay-at-home mom thing is over these days?
• What do you think might have ended up happening if Amy had embarked on a full-blown affair with Matt?  Do you think Matt would have actually left Kimberley for Amy? Would Amy have given up her work as a coffee buyer?
• Amy’s job traveling round the world as a green bean buyer leaves her feeling like she has some extreme work life balance issues that need resolving. If you are a working parent, how do you feel about the work vs family challenge? Is the career path one you actively chose or would you actually prefer to be able to stay home with your kids, or work a part-time/flexible schedule?
• If you find life as a working parent hard, do you feel like you have a forum in which to discuss your struggle? Do you think the media/society recognizes or supports the idea that having two sets of parents working full-time might realistically present some difficulties at times?
• When Amy leaves Violet and Billy to go on a long work trip it’s a very tender moment. Do you have a similar scene when leaving your kids to go to work or is it a non-issue? Has the Moment of Departure become easier as they’ve gotten older? 
• If you are a stay-at-home mom, has this book changed your view of working parents? If so, how?
• Did LIFE AFTER COFFEE change your perception of coffee? Are you tempted to prepare your coffee in a different way (See ‘Coffee Demo’ for hints and tips on how to do that if interested.) Does it make you think more about where your coffee might have come from?
• Both Amy and Peter’s families live far away from them. Do your in-laws or parents live near or far? Do you wish they lived nearer…or further? How has their distance or proximity impacted your life?
• Do you have a successful ex who you sometimes wonder about? What do you think your life might be like now if you had stayed with him or her?
  
  Book Club Action Point: Go to the most skinny-jeans-slouchy-beanie coffee shop you can find and order a single blend coffee. See if you have a “sensory experience that can only have come from the Divine,” and let me know what happened!