The book of qualities cover

The book of qualities

by J. Ruth Gendler

One of the most amazing books ever. A series of abstractions and concretisations of human good and bad qualities: anger, fear, joy, utilising imagery and colour to personify these qualities. Gendler makes each quality/emotion into a distinct human entity in order to expand and detail their essence. Words fail me. I have searched for two decades to find this book again!

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?