I read Miss Benson's Beetle last month and was really positively surprised. This Book Club Kit is a great tool to encourage discussion with my friends who read this book as well.

I received a copy of Miss Benson’s Beetle via a book club box I belong to and at the time I was just mildly interested, so it has been sitting in my to-be-read pile. After reading this book club kit, I find my interest has greatly increased. Without knowing the whole plot, I found the discussion questions pulling at me as if I need to answer them. The interview between the author and main characters was especially entertaining. Two women with nothing in common go in search of an elusive beetle in the South Pacific and become great friends. What an unique idea for a story. I love the author’s quote about finding yourself, “In order to become who we are truly are, we need to embrace the parts of ourselves that are hidden and underdeveloped.” Well, the book about the golden beetle has just moved up to the top of my pile!

This kit also includes fun facts about beetles, an interview with the author, recipes and drinks, and recommended friendship movies. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this snippet into the book and the mind of the author.

So many cute ideas for a book club! Also, the discussion questions will add such depth to the story!

The book club kit for Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce includes 10 questions to lend to a deeper discussion of the book. A short list of facts about beetles is also included as well. Two interviews with the author are included. The interview done with Margery Benson and Enid Pretty was quirkiy and fun. The transcript for the BBC Radio 4 interview gives us a much deeper understanding of why the author chose to write the book and how she went about researching and writing it. The piece de resistance for me is the section on food and drink. A perfect accompaniment for any book group that is reading Miss Benson's Beetle.

Book Club Kit: Miss Benson’s Beetle is one of a new series of supporting brochures and materials available for fiction and nonfiction titles from Penguin Random House Librarian Resources. Released 11th Feb 2021 by Penguin Random House, this entry is filled with interesting background history to enhance the personal or book-club reading experience for Rachel Joyce's profound and engaging story about the transformative power of friendship from 2020. This brochure is 13 pages long and includes discussion questions, some beetle facts, a map, some coordinated period appropriate food and drink recommendations, an "interview" with the two main characters, a short Q&A interview with the author, and a recommended film list.

I enjoy the extra resources and enhancements the larger publishing houses are able to employ to support their publications. I also appreciate that most library systems can provide quite a lot of extra support and guidance to their patrons and groups. These materials would be appropriate for online/remote discussion groups, formal education (fiction, modern literature, writing, and allied subjects), and for enhancing personal reading. I found a number of good ideas for further watching including films with which was previously unfamiliar.

Five stars. Compact, succinct, beautiful typesetting and graphics. It does -not- include the original book, just the discussion and support materials. Available free from the publisher's website.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I loved getting to look through this fun Book Club Kit for Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce. I haven't read this book yet but am interested in it- especially after reading the interview with the author and the movie recommendations for fans of the book.
There are also great drink recommendations, a recipe, and facts and discussion questions to make your book club night a hit. The packet is beautiful with artwork that compliments the book's cover art.
Thanks to Penguin Random House Library Resources and NetGalley for the advance copy.

I really adored Miss Benson's Beetle and this book club kit is so fun! It includes discussion questions, facts about beetles, an interview with the author and the book's two main characters, and food/drink and movie recommendations. This would make such a great book club pick!

I love this Book Club Kit for Miss Benson's Beetle almost more than I loved the book!

I listened to the audiobook of this novel by Rachel Joyce last month (January 2021), and this is the perfect "physical" companion for that experience. Its beautifully-designed landscape-formatted pages include:

- Group Discussion Questions, such as: "How do Margery's core beliefs - about herself, about the world - change throughout the novel?"
- Beetle Facts, like "25% of all life on earth is a type of beetle." (Fascinating!)
- An Interview with Margery Benson and Enid Pretty, where Rachel Joyce does a Q&A with the novel's fictional characters. (Adorable!)
- An interview with Rachel Joyce, which made me understand - and appreciate - this story even more.
- A map of New Caledonia (Yes! This is exactly the type of thing audiobook listeners miss out on when choosing that format over print.)
- Food & Drink suggestions (I doubt anyone will make the recipe for Bougna, but the drink ideas are lovely.)
- Further viewing movie suggestions to continue celebrating female friendship, like A League of Their Own.

This kit is a book club host's holy grail. Well done!

Book Club Kit is designed to be a companion to Rachel Joyce's MISS BENSON'S BEETLE, the top pick for the November 2020 Library Reads selections. This work of historical fiction (set in 1950) is an adventure story (mainly on an island in the South Pacific) involving an unlikely friendship; the title also received a starred review from Library Journal ("a delightful book ... sure to be a hit with book clubs") and Publishers Weekly. The Book Club Kit appears similar to the discussion questions which appear in the novel, but there is plenty in this roughly 20 page "kit:" "interviews" with the main characters and the author (whose earlier work includes The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry), map, food, drinks and a list of related movies. It's a great idea to have it here on Net Galley, too!