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Book club questions for Untamed by Glennon Doyle covers all the concepts, the quotes and more in this nonfiction read. For more context about the book, check out my review first.
I think Untamed might win the prize for the best cover of the year! I mean, how gorgeous is this? Since I finished the book, I’ve been thinking about timing. She obviously wrote this way before our current situation but I think it’s actually the ideal kind of book to read right now. It’s so focused on self-reflection and making sure we stay true to ourselves. And in an era where we have time to think, I believe this is quite profound.
Reese Witherspoon picked Untamed for her April book club and she posted a fun Instagram live discussion with Glennon where Reese is totally fangirling over her! Here’s some of their conversation:
Book Club Questions for Untamed
- Let’s first talk about the title. Why do you think she chose “Untamed”?
- Are you a fan of Glennon Doyle’s previous work? If so, how do you think this one compared to her previous books? In what ways has she grown?
- The book starts off with a prologue where Glennon and her family see a caged in cheetah at the local zoo. This becomes a metaphor for all women to break free from their cages. Let’s discuss this.
- Glennon made huge changes in life: she got divorced from her husband and married female soccer star Abby Wambach. After she first meets Abby, Glennon writes on page 6: “I looked hard at my faith, my friendships, my work, my sexuality, my entire life and asked: How much of this was my idea? Do I truly want any of this, or is this what I was conditioned to want?” How much do you think one’s decision making is based on other people’s expectations? What’s the balance between forging your own path and listening to advice from others? Or does the balance exist?
- Glennon talks about how women, especially, always go back to the mindset that they should be grateful for what they have and not really do anything to “rock the boat” so to say. Let’s talk about this concept—why does it seem that women are forced to be agreeable and satisfied while men seem to be allowed to want something more?
- What did you think about the first meeting between Glennon and Abby? How did that change everything for her?
- The key to freedom according to Glennon: feeling emotions, trusting intuition, embracing imagination and finding courage. Why do you think women tend to ignore those areas of who they are? Do you agree with her on this that by embracing those parts of themselves, women can truly be free?
- A standout quote includes: “When a woman finally learns that pleasing the world is impossible, she becomes free to learn how to please herself.” Let’s talk about what this quote means to us.
- Glennon talks often about embracing one’s Knowing. Let’s discuss what this Knowing is and how it applies to each person.
- She talks about God and religion throughout the book and says “to me, faith is not a public allegiance to a set of outer beliefs, but a private surrender to the inner Knowing.” What do you think about her viewpoint on God and religion?
- In the chapter where her mother is struggling with Glennon’s sexuality, Glennon recognizes that while her mother loves her, they disagree about what’s best for her. So Glennon is going to have to decide who she trusts more: her mother or herself. And for the first time, she decided to trust herself and that’s when she became an adult. She says that a woman becomes a responsible parent when she stops being an obedient daughter. What do you think about this concept and can you relate to it?
- The book is positioned as insight about what it means to be a woman today. Do you agree that the book achieved this?
- What are your key takeaways from this book?
- Which quotes and passages did you highlight from the book?
What to Read Next
Hope you enjoyed book club questions for Untamed! Here are some more recommendations along with links to book club questions.
Becoming by Michelle Obama
In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.
You can order the book on Amazon here. Check out my book club questions here.
Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.
Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.
Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.
The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.
You can order the book on Amazon here. Check out my discussion questions here.
Happy reading!
