42 pages • 1-hour read
How to Giggle: A Guide to Taking Life Less Seriously
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Discussion Questions
General Impressions
Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.
1. What were your overall impressions of How to Giggle? Was it what you expected? Why or why not?
2. How does How to Giggle compare to other self-help titles you’ve read, such as Stassi Schroeder’s You Can’t Have It All: The Basic B*tch Guide to Taking the Pressure Off, Sophia Benoit’s Well, This Is Exhausting, or Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle’s We Can Do Hard Things?
3. Have you listened to the authors’ podcast? If so, how did your experience reading How to Giggle compare to your experience listening to Giggly Squad? If not, are you more or less interested in the podcast after reading the book?
Personal Reflection and Connection
Encourage readers to reflect on how the book relates to their own life or work and how its lessons could help them.
1. How did you respond to the authors’ advice about romantic and sexual relationships? Which of their red and green flags did you agree and/or disagree with, and why?
2. Which aspects of Berner and DeSorbo’s light-hearted approach to life resonate most with your own experience? What sorts of experiences might you apply the authors’ outlook to, and how do you imagine laughing more will change your experience?
3. How did you respond to the chapter featuring Berner’s and DeSorbo’s mothers’ voices? Could you relate to the mother-daughter relationships featured in the text?
4. How do the authors’ job histories compare to your own? What lessons can you take away from their job-related anecdotes?
Real-World Relevance
Prompt readers to explore how the book fits into today’s professional or social landscape.
1. Berner and DeSorbo embrace a feminist lens throughout the text. How does their representation of womanhood and empowerment relate to contemporary conversations about women in the workforce, women in the arts, and women at home? Is their standpoint inclusive or exclusive of women of different races, orientations, classes, etc.? How so?
2. The authors reference social media throughout How to Giggle. Do they represent online culture as positive or negative, and why? How do their views on social media echo or challenge those of mainstream culture?
Practical Applications
Encourage readers to share and consider how the book’s lessons could be applied to their personal/professional lives.
1. After reading Berner and DeSorbo’s advice on decentering men, how do you plan to apply this suggestion to your own life? What steps will you take, and how will you prioritize yourself instead?
2. Having read Berner and DeSorbo’s opinions on anxiety and stress, how will you alleviate tension in your own life going forward? Which of the authors’ methods will you attempt, and what is your desired outcome or goal?
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