If you can't make an in-person book discussion at one of our branches this month or our author's visit, you could try our online discussion. And even if you are coming to the library discussions, you can get the most out of the experience by participating online, too! You'll be able to leave comments on the discussion topics below for the entire month of March. Click on a question to begin.

1. Discuss the circumstances, personal characteristics, and family influences that contributed to Mortenson's humanitarian mission in Pakistan.
2. What is the significance of tea in this book and in the title?
3. Agree or disagree with Mortenson's statement: "When we increase literacy, we substantially reduce tensions."
4. How has this book added to your understanding of other cultures and a geographic region few Americans have an opportunity to experience firsthand?
5. Is Mortenson someone you would like to know? What questions would you ask him?
6. Have you ever known anyone like Mortenson? Have you ever had the experience of making a difference yourself through acts of generosity, aid, or leadership?
7. References to paradise run throughout the book-Mortenson's childhood home in Tanzania, the mountain scenery, even Berkeley, California, are all referred to as "paradise." Discuss the concept of paradise, lost and regained, and how it influences Mortenson's mission.
8. "I expected something like this from an ignorant village mullah, but to get those kinds of letters from my fellow Americans made me wonder whether I should just give up," Mortenson remarked after he started getting hate mail in the wake of September 1 What was your reaction to the letters mortenson received?
9. Much of the book is a meditation on what it means to be a foreigner assimilating with another culture. Discuss your own experiences with foreign cultures-things that you have learned, mistakes you have made, misunderstandings you have endured.
10. Did the book change your views toward Islam or Muslims? Consider the cleric Syed Abbas, and also the cleric who called a fatwa on Mortenson. Syed Abbas implores Americans to "look into our hearts and see that the great majority of us are not terrorists, but good and simple people." Discuss this statement. Has the book inspired you to learn more about the region?
11. Free Discussion - Use this space to raise your own issues or talk about any other aspect of the book.