Book Club: Commencement Part 2

For the Book Beginnings and Bookends book club, we read the book Commencement. We split up our discussion of the book into 2 parts because the book itself was split into 2 parts. Below are my answers to the discussion questions for the 2nd part.




1. What parts of the book could you most relate to? Least relate to?

In the 2nd half of the book, I think I related to Celia’s life the most. I am single, and am in the process of figuring out my life, so I totally got where she was coming from. The character I related to the least was April. Although I do think because of her character this book really opened my eyes, I just don’t see why anyone would want to put their life at jeopardy like that. There was probably a better way to get their issues across that wasn’t illegal or didn’t put their life in danger.

2. If the author were to write another novel that followed one of the girls onto her next step of life, which one would you want it to be about? Whose story would you want to follow more of?

I really wanted to find out what happened to Bree. Did she go back to Lara? Did she reconcile with her family? I also think a book about Celia would be interesting, especially if it focused on her career and the dating scene in NYC.

3. What surprised you most about this book?

Although I totally saw what April and Ronnie were up to about half way through the 2nd part, I guess I was surprised at the abrupt ending. It left a lot of things up in the air, and unresolved for me. I would have liked the book to have had maybe another chapter where the girls are 6 months down the road or something like that. Did April go to jail? Did Bree go back with Lara? Did Celia become an author? Is Sally enjoying motherhood? Are the girls still close? Lots of questions were running through my mind at the end of the book.

4. Which character did you look forward to reading about the most?

I think I enjoyed reading about Celia and Bree, especially after Bree moved in with Celia in her NYC apartment. I also did want to know what happened to April, especially since she was practically MIA for the majority of the 2nd part.

5. Did the book meet your expectations?

I totally enjoyed this book, and it did meet my expectations. I didn’t realize it would have so much women’s rights involved, but I feel like this did open my eyes to some things that I just never really thought about. Although this was a big part of the book, it was the girls’ relationships that shone the most for me.

I am having a great time with this book club, and can’t wait to see what the next book is going to be.