Discussion Guide


for Everything Happens for a Reason
(And Other Lies I’ve Loved)

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discussion questions to accompany you as you read.

I’m so thrilled to hear you are reading my medium-sad book, Everything Happens for a Reason (and Other Lies I’ve Loved). I wrote this book as a love letter. It’s to my family, and to my friends and to anyone who’s also in pain who feels like people are just rushing in with a reason. We hope this free discussion guide will be useful to you whether you are reading solo, with a book club, in a Sunday school class, or among friends.

May you recognize you are a person to be loved not a problem to be solved.  

Everything Happens
for a Reason

(And Other Lies I’ve Loved)

“Heartbreaking, surprisingly funny.” â€”Bill Gates

Frank and funny, dark and wise, Kate Bowler pulls the reader deeply into her life in an account she populates affectionately with a colorful, often hilarious retinue of friends, mega-church preachers, relatives, and doctors. An instant New York Times bestseller, Everything Happens for a Reason tells her story, offering up her irreverent, hard-won observations on dying and the ways it has taught her to live.

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Kate Bowler sitting in front of books

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Hi, I’m Kate. Let’s untangle our culture’s obsession with toxic positivity and self help, shall we?

I am a Duke professor, podcaster, and author with a single mission: giving you permission to feel human. (And letting you have whatever weird or boring hobbies you can’t explain to strangers. Do I love roadside attractions and exotic potato chip flavors? Yes. More than I should say.) 

I believe that the world would be a better place if we took apart the well-meaning clichĂ©s we use when life is hard. (What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger? Maybe what doesn’t kill you might try again tomorrow. 🙂 ) 

After years of being told I was incurable, I was declared cancer-free. But there’s no going back. I am forever changed by what I discovered: life is so beautiful and life is so hard. For everyone. 

My team at Everything Happens and I create free resources like this one with you in mind. We are determined to create a gentler world for everyone who wants to admit that they are not always “living their best life.” If that’s you, bless you. You’re in the right place.

Kate Bowler sitting in front of books