Men and Books: Why Men Aren't Joiners

In this post, Andrew McCullough ruminates on why men and book clubs aren't a match made in heaven. He has, however, overcome that stereotype with the 18-member Man Book Club, which celebrated its first anniversary this month. Congrats, Andrew!

There's a reason why book clubs are overwhelmingly populated by women. Men don't want in. They sign up for bowling leagues and rotisserie leagues (sports, not food). They join country clubs and cigar clubs. Whether it's a game of chance or a game of skill, they'll line up with complete unknowns. But most guys head in the other direction if you mention a book club. Especially those run by women.

After careful study, I think I've figured out why men don't join book clubs. The answer goes back to grade school, when men still felt intellectually superior to women. Somewhere around the fifth grade, girls stopped being totally dumb. By the ninth grade, most guys were holding their own in World Civilization and Biology. By senior year, we still had an edge in AP Physics. By college it was Game Over. Women were more articulate, they read more, and they used words like "archetype" and "trope" in conversations about books.

In those early post-college years, it didn't matter that women were smarter. We were willing to discuss books with them because it made us seem caring and sensitive. And it helped that our college reading lists were still fresh in our memories. But, with the passage of time, it got harder to keep up with women. They were more thoughtful, and they weren't afraid to bring emotion into the discussion.

Now that we're all grown up, we gravitate toward the comfort of all-male activities, where we can be mistaken without being inadequate. To venture into a book club filled with women only makes us wonder if we have anything original to say. And if the book is Eat, Pray, Love, let's be honest: we don't. No, it's much easier to stick with fantasy football, even if we're dead wrong about a Brett Favre comeback.

--- Andrew McCullough

Deciding What To Read

One of the questions that we are asked most often is, "How does a group decide what to read?" This post from Jennifer Hart, who writes the bookclubgirl.com blog, talks about how her group does this and how they enlist the help of their local independent bookseller in their selection process.

Many people ask me how my book group decides on the books that we read each month. While I had nothing to do with how our group is set up to choose titles, as I joined a few months after it was formed, I have to say that I think we have a system that works pretty well, with a minimum of hurt feelings. In groups I've been in in the past, there was a general free-for-all at each meeting, with every member putting forth titles for us to vote on. Inevitably someone felt that their titles weren't paid attention to.

Here's how we do it in my current group. Whoever's turn it is to host that month puts forth 5 books. If they're not books they have on hand, our local independent, Goldfinch Books, is great about lending out copies for the night. They also give us a discount on the bulk purchase of books and call each and every member when the books come in. If you're not hooked up with a local store to get the books for your group, I highly recommend it. And the staff, of course, can be a great resource in pointing you towards good choices. Find a store near you via the Book Sense website.

So we have our five books. The host presents each one, and we pass them around. If anyone has read one or another book by that author we share those thoughts and impressions. We then hold two rounds of voting. In the first round, you can vote for two books (I guess this is like the presidential primaries --- not in the two votes sense, but in the preliminary sense). In the second round, or general election if you will, only the top two vote getters from the first round are up for election. During this round each member gets one vote and the winner here is the next book group pick.

This system works really well. I like not having to narrow down my choice to one initially, and the discussion we have between rounds helps us to hone in on which books are not only the most appealing but the ones we feel are the most discussable -- which is, of course, the ultimate goal. A newly initiated rule is that we will bring the runner up back to the subsequent meeting as one of the next five candidates. In addition, if we've voted on a book twice and not chosen it, we don't usually allow it into the running again. Though I'm pretty sure we broke this rule with Eat, Pray, Love, which took a few months to get chosen.

My book group met tonight, and our choices were Jodi Picoult's Plain Truth, Katrina Kittle's The Kindness of Strangers, Lionel Shriver's The Post-Birthday World, Geraldine Brooks' March (we previously read and loved Year of Wonders) and Debbie Galant's Fear and Yoga in New Jersey.

The top two picks from the first round were The Kindness of Strangers and The Post-Birthday World. Lionel Shriver won out, I think mostly due to our anticipation of discussing the book's enticing premise --- how one woman's life will change, or not, based on whether or not she kisses a man who is not her husband. I'm very much looking forward to next month's discussion of this book!

------Jennifer Hart , bookclubgirl.com

The Storie delle Sorelle (Stories of the Sisters) Book Club

Guest blogger Heather Johnson founded the Storie delle Sorelle book club in 2005 in the greater Baltimore/Annapolis, MD, area. After trying unsuccessfully to find an existing group to join, she contacted every woman in her address book and found five like-minded souls. The club has since more than doubled in size, and here Heather shares some of their reading adventures.

When I started my book club back in May of 2005, I had a grand plan in mind: I would gather a group of friends on a bi-weekly basis and together we would delve into the most intriguing books we could find. Everyone would love every book and raise lots of meaningful points during the discussions.

Well, as we all know, reality does not ever follow our grand plans. In reality, I have a dedicated group of friends who regularly attend meetings. We call ourselves Storie delle Sorelle, Italian for Stories of the Sisters. Rather than bi-weekly (was I crazy?!) we meet about once a month. Everyone does not love every book, but get this...that makes the meetings even better!

Our most controversial book was What Our Mother's Didn't Tell Us: Why Happiness Eludes the Modern Woman by Danielle Crittenden. The point of the book is that the feminist movement actually hurt women in a variety of ways. Boy, did this cause some discussion! Some of the ladies completely agreed with the author's points while others thought she was loony. One discussion centered on the age-old debate of the working mom vs. the stay-at-home mom --- what a touchy subject! Our meeting was intense and needed very little direction from me as the leader.

One good tip --- if your club plans to discuss a "heavy" book, have your meeting in a fun environment. We discussed this book at our annual pool party --- it's hard to get too tense while wearing a bathing suit and drinking lemonade!

One of our best meetings was for Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. In what seemed like a miracle for our club, everyone really loved this book. For our meeting we dressed in Japanese garb and had Asian food. We even had a special guest bring family heirlooms from WWII occupied Japan and an antique samurai sword. Because we all loved the book, our discussion was rather brief. When it seemed there was no more to say, I brought up the controversy and lawsuits that followed the novel's publication ... then we had a great deal to discuss. That new knowledge made us re-examine the novel with a more critical eye.

Another great discussion came from Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon. This book is one of my all-time favorites, but with more than 800 pages it was a stretch for my group. To accommodate busy schedules and slower readers we decided to split the book into two meetings. Not everyone liked this book, but everyone got something out of it. Some said they appreciated the strong female characters. One member said reading about the rival kingdoms of King Arthur's day helped her understand the rivalry and wars between the small kingdoms in the Old Testament. A few were just proud that they had completed such a long and intense book.

My book club is nothing like what I imagined in my grand plan ... in reality it's a wonderfully eclectic, sometimes stressful but always enjoyable band of "sisters." Our taste in books varies wildly --- as does our reading speed --- and we try to accommodate everyone. We found what works for us and our excellent meetings are the evidence. It's not what I would have imagined, but reality can be better than fiction!

---Heather Johnson

The Book Club Queen Hits The Road --- As An Author: Part Two

As we pick up with Kathy L. Patrick and her Pulpwood Queens Book Tour they are driving onto Memphis, home of THE King to continue their adventures. Here's more about their glamorous life on the road as the tour starts to blur!

So I am up to my ears in weather, driving, having the time of my life with my girlfriends and now headed to Memphis.We all said hey to Elvis at Graceland and then drove the most incredible drive of my life to Nashville. We stayed with my good friend and author, Denise Hildreth. She gave us the fastest tour of Nashville ever and I vaguely remember driving the wrong way on the circle drive that led to the Parthenon.

Wait, weren't we in Tennessee. Yep, it was the Parthenon. Of course, I took pictures. Supreme southern dining that night at The Loveless Cafe with another author friend joining us, River Jordan. Now I think we did Atlanta next, in Georgia. Then we stayed with my author brother, Michael Morris and his wife Melanie in Birmingham, Alabama. I adopted them as they are the perfect brother and sister. You see I make up the rules as I go. You want a perfect brother and sister, adopt them. I did and it works.

Every thing after that eveining started to blur. Were we in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi! I know we crossed the Mississippi River a couple times.

Now I know I visited bookstores in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and then a grand tour through Texas. I know as I blogged everyday from the road and you can read all about it at my Pulpwood Queens Blog. You'll have to scroll back for quite a ways as I got in the habit of blogging every day and now no one can stop me. Thank God I have another venue to get all of these book adventures out of my system.

We had a blast on my book tour. I started almost fifty more chapters of the Pulpwood Queens and met a kazillion book lovers along the way.

Did I also mention that besides the bookstore talks, the big hair makeovers, we also did radio, print, and television shows from start to finish. I have finally figured out why Brittany Spears went whack ---- too much fun and hardly any sleep. I guess, I have reached the age though where I have attained the maturity to realize that shaving my head bald is not a good look for a 51-year-old mom turned author.

So what did I learn from my own book tour?

First when an author arrives at my bookstore, I not only roll out the hot pink carpet, I kiss their feet. I'll rub them too. Well, if they have time to get a pedicure. But I have a scathingly brilliant idea, wouldn't it be cool if an author could take her publisher with her on book tour. Think of the fun. Think of the bonding. Think they would get it that we kill ourselves out there on the road and for what? Why in the world do we put ourselves in that kind of position? I will tell you why, because reading is just that important. I would climb the highest mountain, ford the widest river, all to promote literacy Just have that hot tub jacuzzi ready and waiting, okay?

So next time you hear of an author on book tour, go. Go and support this book adventurer. Lend them your support, an arm or hey, even a wheelchair will do. I blogged somewhere on the book tour, "Has any author every died from touring for their book?" I had no idea it was the Boston Marathon, the Ironman competition and a NASCAR race all rolled into trying to look glamorous and fashionable. Thank God for clip on hair dos and a Pulpwood Queen Posse.

I did joke with the girls that if I croaked from the book tour, think of the book sales! Take that Margaret Jones, talk about book love and consequences.

Seriously, when my menopausal brain hot flashes back to my first ever book tour, I can assure you, I'll never forget the good times and the bad. But it is just like they always say, "Life is not about the destination, but the ride." And I say "If I'm riding the road on book tour, somebody better be reading to me something." The Pulpwood Queen Posse sure did and these are the books that were either handed to us to read or recommended to us from the road. I gave them five diamonds in my Pulpwood Queen Tiara and made them official Pulpwood Queen Book Club Selections too!

The Chicken Dance by Jacques Couvillion
Serena by Ron Rash (not yet published)
The Shadow and the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

Last, I would like to say that I believe that I am probably the only author who brought more books back with them from book tour than they left with, (if you remember, I mentioned two cases in my previous post). I just counted my stash. I returned home with 52 books. So bye for now, I have got to get back to reading! But I will check back with you really soon!

---Kathy L. Patrick

The Book Club Queen Hits The Road --- As An Author

Kathy L. Patrick is the owner of Beauty and the Book, the only Hair Salon/Bookstore in the country located in historic Jefferson, Texas. She also is founder of The Pulpwood Queens Book Club, which is the largest "meeting and discussing" book club in the world. I had the pleasure of meeting her last June at a book convention where she was a panelist on a panel that I moderated. After years of hosting authors at her salon and at her three book festivals in the Arkansas/Louisiana/Texas area --- Books Alive, Girlfriend Weekend, and the International Book Club Author Extravaganza --- Kathy hit the road recently to promote her own book, The Pulpwood Queens' Tiara Wearing Book-Sharing Guide to Life. Today we bring you Part One of her blog about the tour with Part Two to follow on Monday.

I just finished my first book tour. Returning home sleep deprived, dazed, and confused, I turned off the phone, the laptop and crashed for almost a week. You all, I had no idea. I had dreamed of writing my own book, my own story, for it seemed like forever. It took six years from start to finish. I thought I was prepared for a book tour. As I recuperate I am thinking Dickens here. You know the quote from A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

So a little back story....

My publisher leased me a Suburban (we call them Texas Cadillacs here in Texas) for my book tour road trip where I was traveling with four of my Pulpwood Queens to 27 bookstore destinations in 10 states. I left on January 3rd for a more-than-month-long trip with a final stop schedule for February 7th. I was so excited I could hardly stand it. What fun, to travel with my girlfriends to new and exciting places and be the featured author. This really was a dream come true. I was to be Cinderella at the book selling ball!

As we packed our 24 assorted bags into the back of our platinum-colored Texas Cadillac, I was on cloud nine. Fast forward to that first stop in Oklahoma City. We drove most of the day to get there and when we arrived, it was colder than a witch's tit, pardon my French. First thing, my Oklahoma Sooner red cowboy hat complete with tiara blew off my head headed toward the freeway. Pulpwood Queen Elizabeth Stokes sprinted to catch the little sucker and no harm done, just one nice long black skid mark under the brim. I slapped the hat on to keep my hair from whipping in my face. Onward book soldiers.

My first reading, I read the one scandalous story in the book. Scandalous meaning it had the "s word." No biggie, right?

The only male in the audience came up to me right after my book talk and reading and told me how much he enjoyed my talk. He also told me he had written a book too that was an overview of all the world's religions. Have you guessed? Yes, he was a minister. I noted to myself, you must rethink the reading.

Tulsa was just fantastic then onward to Wichita, Kansas just an hour from my hometown. As we pulled into the parking lot of Watermark's we all got a rush as women packed in cars were pulling in in droves all wearing tiaras. How cool was this going to be --- and it was! The bookstore sold out of books, and asked, "Did I have some perhaps with me?" Are you kidding, I thought? I brought two cases, just in case. They wanted them all. I handed them over thinking this book tour is going to be so cool. Here it's just the beginning and we are selling out.

The next stop was the brand spanking new library in my hometown of Eureka, Kansas. I was on pins and needles thinking who in the world might show up. Classmates, people from church, I could hardly wait, only one problem. The library had not known they were supposed to order books. I am now thinking, man, I wish I had those two cases of books.

No problem as I just pre-sold the books and promised everybody I would get them, sign them and send them back to them when I got home. Everybody was so nice about it that when I got home I donated signed books to those who helped, the library, the schools, and the museum. I also found out I was the only published author from my county.

Now in the midst of all this I am staying in pretty swanky hotels, courtesy of my publisher and also staying with friends. Again, pretty swanky digs. My best friends from home own the Teichgraeber ranch. Move over, J.R Ewing. It made Southfork look like the ranch hands' bunk house.

I was getting use to, "Would you like valet parking?" One hotel in St. Louis even asked if we would like our Texas Cadillac detailed. They even had an in-house theater that ran first run films. All the girls were dying to see "The Kite Runner." I wanted to see it again as saw a preview screening at Southern Independent Bookseller's Convention in Atlanta. After my booksigning that evening, we were too pooped to go.

Onward to Blytheville, Arkansas with crosswinds whipping us back and forth even in our loaded down Texas Cadillac. I was hanging on for dear life to the steering wheel as semis blasted past us. We named the G.P.S. device in the car Ruby Magnolia. Only we kept calling it our U.P.S. As in "Check the U.P.S. Kay, I think we should be there by now."

We barely made it into town in time for the booksigning so the girls told me they would get my stuff, and that I should run on ahead. Run I did. Pulpwood Queen Joyce Smith --- 71-year-old Joyce Smith --- was right behind me. With her big hair with tiara bent to the wind, wearing my faux leopard full length fur, my leopard cowboy boots, and pulling my leopard rolling suitcase, she was quite a vision. Right as she got the store, a young man with a child on his shoulders bundled for a blizzard, ran up to Joyce.

"Excuse me ma'am, is there someone I can call for you. You shouldn't be out in this weather all night." She yanked the suitcase into the bookstore perturbed. She wasn't sure if he thought she was a lady of the night or homeless. We laughed until we all about wet our pants. Well, maybe I did, just a little bit.

Now at every book store, I also did big hair makeovers courtesy of Raquel Welch HairUWear "Put on Hair Pieces." You see, I am not your typical author. I also own the only Hair Salon/Book Store in the country, Beauty and the Book. My book, The Pulpwood Queens' Tiara Wearing, Book Sharing Guide to Life is my story of my life in books.

It is also the story of Beauty and the Book and The Pulpwood Queens Book Clubs, which I started with six women here in East Texas. Today it is the largest "meeting and discussing" book club in the world! Move over Leonardo DiCaprio, "I'm the Queen of the WORLD!" Well, the book world that is. Well, after Oprah then maybe Queen of the Pulpwood Queens Book Club World. Hard to explain how this all happened in one blog so you will just have to read the book.

----Kathy L. Patrick

Monday Kathy and her Queens drive onto Memphis, home of THE King to continue their book tour adventures. Tune in to read more about the glamorous life on the road.

You Don't Have to Like the Book

I met Debra Linn a year ago when I was in Miami when she asked me to speak at a Book Club Mixer that Books & Books, one of my favorite bookstores, was hosting in Coral Gables. I leapt at the opportunity and found myself part of a fabulously fun afternoon with close to 200 book club members. We repeated this experience last October with a Book Club Twister Mixer where Debra again wowed me with her creativity in pulling together an event for readers from clubs all over the South Florida area. I have let her know that I will hop on a plane to do events with her any day, any time. And it's not just because I swoon over the pool at the Biltmore which is close to the store. It's because it's a treat to be with someone who loves book clubs and books so much.

You don't have to like the book.

The toughest part of being in a book club is choosing the book. Well, other than finding a date when everyone can meet. But once you've found that elusive time without work, spouses, children or basketball tickets, then you want to talk about something other than work, spouses, children or basketball tickets. Like, say, the book.

The book needs to join the conversation, too. Not in audiobook fashion. It just needs to say something, about anything. Some books, as entertaining as they may be, just won't get you through the hellos. Some books are too familiar, some too similar.

It's so easy to fall into the comfortable fit of international-women-in-distress novels. These make for some of the best book club books as they are engaging, enlightening, entertaining. Still, after a while, A Thousand Splendid Suns bleeds into Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which bleeds into Memoirs of Geisha.

Branch out. Take a risk. And know that an unpopular book can make for the best discussion. Once we free ourselves of having to, you know, like the book, the possibilities are endless.

Now, you don't torture yourself or your fellow book-clubbers. Don't choose a book knowing you won't like it. Suffering through the book doesn't make the experience more worthwhile. This isn't school. This is fun. Really.

Don't read something just because it's good for you. Read because it will give you something to talk about. When book clubbers don't like a book, boy oh boy, do they have a lot to say.

And now we've got ourselves some genuine book club fun.

Last month, I chose The Gathering, Anne Enright's Man Booker prize-winning novel, for Books & Books' ready-made book club meetings. Out of the 25 total participants in two meals-and-meetings sessions, one person --- count 'em, 1 --- liked the book. And that includes the facilitator. But every single woman (yes, all the participants are women) liked the discussions.

Most started out demanding to know why I had chosen this book and then regaling the group with examples of how difficult it was to fight through it. I chose the book, as I do all the books for these meetings, to create variety. I like to have at least one non-American author in the bunch (we announce the dates four sessions at a time); it had just won the Man Booker Prize; it was a different sort of story than the others I chose; and two fellow booksellers, whose taste I trust, had been recommending it left and right. There was method to the madness.

This explanation did not make them happy --- until they started talking. They had more to dig into, more varied opinions of the book. They disliked it in different ways and in discussing those differences, they started to find merit, aspects they did like. One person's torturous paragraph is another's artful symbolism, and in between, comes a greater understanding of a character. The facilitator, who had to read the book twice to find anything he enjoyed in it, found paintings to illuminate the book's Biblical allusions.

And the discussion kept rolling. In the end, there still was just that one book-clubber who enjoyed The Gathering, but they all enjoyed the book club gathering.

---Debra Linn

How the Internet Has Changed Book Clubs

Jennifer Hart loves book clubs. She is in two book clubs and writes a terrific blog called bookclubgirl.com. We get together whenever possible to talk books, book clubs and life. We have shared time on panels and at conferences and I always find these conversations enlightening. Her comments here are spot on about how the internet enhances the book club experience.

I'm not saying anything revolutionary when I say that the internet has changed the way book groups interact with books and authors, but really, if you're in a book group, think back to the many ways your discussions have changed over the past ten years or so.

I joined my first book club about fifteen years ago. When Amazon launched in 1995 the height of our internet usage was to print the book descriptions out from their site to help us decide what book to read next. Now we rely on the internet, sites like ReadingGroupGuides.com, publishers' websites and e-newsletters and numerous book blogs to choose the books we'll read. And once we've chosen a book, we have instant access to reading group guides, author essays and interviews, reviews and excerpts online.

In addition, if, while reading the book, you want more information, with a few quick keystrokes, you can find out more about virtually any subject. Carol once told me that she dares any book group who reads Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan not to look up Chinese foot binding online. Indeed, in my book group there were two members who did that, and brought printouts to the meeting. Seeing those pictures certainly drove home the torture that those women endured and enhanced our discussion (while making our stomachs turn).

You can also find book group discussions online, should you decide you either need more on a particular book (or you just don't want to leave the house). Witness the recent one held on the blog EverydayIWritetheBook about Lionel Shriver's The Post-Birthday World.

And now using the internet, you can take the concept of an author calling into a reading group --- a practice made popular by book group favorite Adriana Trigiani --- and broadcast it over the airwaves. Using the site BlogTalkRadio, Jamie Saul, author of the novel Light of Day, called in to a reading group in New York to discuss his book and not only did they have a wonderful discussion, but the entire conversation was streaming live on the site for others readers to listen to and it's archived on the site to be enjoyed at any time. (spoiler alert in the discussion!).

This was such a wonderful way for a group to connect directly with an author --- and let others in on the great discussion they had. I'd love to hear how others are using the internet to enhance their book groups --- both in terms of choosing books and how they talk about them.

---Jennifer Hart , bookclubgirl.com

Not Your High School Classics Discussion

After our meeting this month, the members of my book club agreed: we had one of our best discussions in a long time, if not in our 12-year history. The book that elicited such an enthusiastic response? The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton's breakout 1905 novel about a well-to-do young woman who, after losing both of her parents and the family fortune, finds herself dependent on the benevolence of rich friends to remain in high society.

The richness of the story and the varied issues it touches on made great discussion points --- the mindset of the main character, Lily, her motivations, and whether she was self-destructive or naive. Opinions varied about whether or not the story was slow at times, who liked Lily, and who was less sympathetic to her situation. Worthy of discussion alone is the poignant --- and ambiguous --- ending, which The New York Times reported on last November. A letter written by Wharton was recently found in which she sheds light on Lily's actions.

Another topic we touched on was the role of women in Old New York society and Lily's apparent reluctance to wed during a time when women were raised, as she says, "to be ornamental" and making an advantageous marriage was the highest aim. Interestingly, one of the most provocative questions raised was one that can't really be answered. What would the astute and intelligent Lily have been able to accomplish if she were living today? And what would she think of the freedoms that women have?

This is one of the reasons I enjoy reading classics --- not only to visit a bygone era like Wharton's Old New York, a world she knew well and describes in vivid detail, but for how these stories can put the present in perspective. This month, in addition to The House of Mirth, I read on my own Wharton's lesser-known novel, The Glimpses of the Moon. Written 17 years after The House of Mirth and a bestseller when it was first published, it unfolds the romantic misadventures of a young couple with no money, but the right social connections. It's much lighter in tone than its predecessor but does share some similarities, notably a main character reliant on the hospitality of well-to-do acquaintances.

For groups who want to take on two classics, The House of Mirth and The Glimpses of the Moon will make a perfect pairing --- and could result in a conversation twice as compelling.

--- Shannon McKenna Schmidt

Click here for a discussion guide to The House of Mirth.

Preserving Wharton' Legacy: The Lenox, Massachusetts, estate where Edith Wharton wrote The House of Mirth and other works, which is featured in the forthcoming literary travel book, Novel Destinations (coming in May 2008) is in danger of closing. A fundraising campaign has been launched, and $3 million needs to be raised before March 24, 2008. Pledges can be made at http://www.edithwharton.org/, and they won't be called in unless the monetary goal is reached.

Taking A Book Club on the Road

Since 2002, Gina Wyszynski and the Chicks Picks Book Club from Houston, Texas, have made it an annual tradition to take a reading group getaway, and in this blog posting she shares some stories about their travels. Whether the destination ties in with a book's theme or is simply a fun, new backdrop for a discussion, as Gina and her fellow members have discovered, a change of scenery can be a book club boost.
---Carol Fitzgerald

When our founding member, Teri, suggested the idea of going on weekend trips once a year, I thought she was crazy. I didn't think anyone would go for the idea, but we took a poll among our members and the idea was well received.

Our first getaway was in 2002 to Las Vegas. Since I'm a frequent Vegas-goer and familiar with the city, I thought this would be the easiest trip to plan. Nine women in Vegas had a great time, as you can well imagine. We went by limo to the airport, dined in fancy restaurants, hit the spa and the pool, shopped, gambled, saw the fabulous show "O" and, of course, discussed our book selection for the month, The Lovely Bones. The next year we decided on a road trip to Galveston, Texas, where we relaxed and talked about Ann B. Ross' Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind.

In 2004, eight members went to New Orleans. I got everybody Mardi Gras beads and off we were on the plane where the flight attendants and passengers asked us who we were. We must have made quite an impression as some passengers indicated that they wanted to tag along with us for the weekend. Brenda wanted to read a book that went along with the city and selected Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire. We took a walking tour of the city and a vampire tour with a real vampire. We dined at Emeril's Restaurant and took a Cajun cooking class, which was a blast!

For our 2005 trip to San Francisco, I chose Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club. We had a wonderful discussion at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant Postrio. We toured the city and also took a side trip to the Napa Valley. Getaways followed to Boston in 2006, where we took historic-themed walking tours, visited the beautiful Boston Public Library, and discussed The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards, and to San Antonio in 2007, with the book choice of the month Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants.

Next up on our travel agenda? A trip to the Big Apple in August.

From English Teacher to Book Group Facilitator

I had the pleasure of meeting Esther Bushell last fall at a luncheon that was held for Alan Drew, the author of Gardens of Water. She told me that she was a longtime reader of both ReadingGroupGuides.com and Bookreporter.com. I invited her to lunch at our offices where she shared stories of her role as a book group facilitator. Her keen knowledge of books --- and how to moderate discussions of them --- made me immediately invite her to blog for us. -- Carol Fitzgerald

Nobody ever says, "Hi, Esther. How are you?" Everyone does say,"Hi, Esther. What are you reading? What are you recommending?" For forty years, I was an English teacher in Greenwich, Connecticut, first at a junior high and then at Greenwich High. My students always associated me with grammar and literature, and to this day, they remember my phone calls to their homes when we studied nominative case pronouns. I would call and say, "Is this Susan?"and Susan was expected to say,"This is she," or "It is I." The kids in this town also knew that I battled to include To Kill a Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye, Much Ado about Nothing, In Cold Blood, Ragtime, Montana 1948, and A Lesson Before Dying into the schools' curriculum.

As I approached retirement, my adult students, many of whom were in book groups, would call to ask me to lead a book group discussion about The Catcher in the Rye. About that same time, a young woman from the dot com industry, Jenny Lawton, bought an independent bookstore, Just Books, in Old Greenwich, and we became fast friends. The confluence of readers going to Just Books to buy books that I was recommending prompted Jenny to suggest that I offer a series of book discussions about the classics, on a subscription basis. Thirteen people signed up to meet six times a year, in the evenings, to discuss Hamlet, The Canterbury Tales, and other great works of literature. In November of 2003, I attended the tenth Greenwich High school reunion of the Class of '93, and there I reconnected (in the ladies' room) with Avideh Bashirrad, a marketing manager at the Random House Publishing Group. When I told Avideh that I was leading some book groups, she invited me in to lunch and talk with her --- and to her, too, I attribute many of my ideas for expansion and certainly steady, loyal support and exposure.

Now, of course, I lead many (if I counted, I'd have a heart attack!) book groups, some of a monthly basis, some on a bimonthly schedule, and some just once or twice a year. I also lead discussions at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Riverside, at the First Presbyterian Church in Greenwich, and last year, I led a series for Jewish Family Services of Greenwich.

Research and discussions with Avideh and Russell Perreault at Vintage/Anchor motivated me to begin a modified GREENWICH READS! In the fall of 2006, Russell expedited the appearance of Julie Otsuka, author of When the Emperor Was Divine, to speak at the Perrot Library in Old Greenwich. Just Books, Too, sold books at the event, and we deemed it a success for the community. Now I am beginning to work on a similar event for the fall of 2008.

One of the popular events that I love to do are birthday parties. I've done several adult birthday parties where I come in to discuss books, suggest titles for their book groups, and then answer questions. I attend these events armed with bibliographies and lists!

Of particular interest to me now is the burgeoning interest in couples' book groups. This is a tough audience: even though we'd like to think that literary fiction is not necessarily gender specific, we do know that men and women often are attracted to very different books. Some successes with couples' book groups have included To Kill a Mockingbird/In Cold Blood; five tales about love and marriage from The Canterbury Tales, and T.C. Boyle's, Tortilla Curtain.

I am paid per person. When I first started out, I would be paid at the end of every discussion. Now I am paid either once or twice a year, still per person, but it means that if someone doesn't show up for a discussion, I am not financially penalized. After all, my preparation is for everyone.

People know me as the book person, and I love my new identity and my second career. In addition to reading significant books, many in galley form sent by publishers, I've also made many new, interesting friends. My world has expanded and my life is full of reading adventures.

What am I recommending? A Pigeon and a Boy by Meir Shalev and Evan Fallenberg Shalev; Before I Die by Jenny Downham; Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins; Gardens of Water by Alan Drew; and Old Filth by Jane Gardam.

Book Discussion Groups at the Office If You Start One, They Will Come

Avideh Bashirrad is a "book person" whose recommendations I trust. She knows my taste and when she hand selects me a book from her list at Random House, I know I am going to enjoy it. We all know people like this. One day when we were having lunch she told me about a book group that she had started over at Hearst publications. Knowing that this was an idea that could translate for many of our readers I asked her to do a column about it. And yes, in full disclosure this really struck a chord with me since I never was one for the company sports team or yoga classes (memories of being picked last in gym die hard), but I would have loved a way to share something outside of "work" with my office mates. ---Carol Fitzgerald

I was chatting with some friends about the tendency in us all to covet the perks of others. For instance in book publishing we sometimes take for granted the bountiful supply of free books within our reach. We sigh with envy when friends who work in other industries, fashion for instance, get perks like free accessories. But the consensus among my friends was that having unlimited access to books was the ultimate score. They were especially enamored of the notion that I read for work, and sit in meetings to discuss books with colleagues.

Well, I do a whole lot more than that, but it occurred to me that my friends were describing a book group. If that's what they envy for the workplace, why not start one? Companies offer activities like softball teams and yoga Tuesdays, and they may as well add book discussion to the mix.

I decided it would be an interesting experiment to take outside of my own company so I approached the mega magazine publisher Hearst, producer of popular magazines like Cosmo, O, and Good Housekeeping. Their gorgeous new building towers just a block from the Random House offices where I work. When I contacted their Human Resources department they loved the concept. We met a few times to discuss the process and format and dates. Soon after, they sent a company wide email inviting all Hearst employees to join the group. Within a week 50 people had signed up and we were on our way.

I picked a debut novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings for our first discussion. Kaui's novel The Descendants was one of my favorite reads that summer. It's a funny and dramatic story about an unconventional family trying to stick together while they cope with tragedy. (I've always had a soft spot for dysfunctional family stories and this fit the mold in a way that's totally bold and fresh).

I was a little nervous about the first meeting (what if nobody shows up?) but we got quite a crowd and a range of personalities...some were recent college grads and others were Hearst veterans...we even had some men (shocking). We split into small groups for the discussion and I learned some people adored this book and others were lukewarm on it. Everyone was completely engaged though, and our time together flew. I forgot I was working. After all, I had orchestrated this event in part to introduce our author to new readers.

A few months later we met again to discuss our second book, Gardens of Water by Alan Drew. It's a haunting story about two families --- one American and the other Kurdish--- whose lives are forever changed in the aftermath of an earthquake. In an interesting twist we had almost an entirely new group of attendees. My first thought was that people defected after our first meeting. But my contacts at Hearst assured me the turnover was a result of choosing such a different book. Well that makes sense...people come if it appeals to them and the upside is that we get to meet new readers with fresh perspectives each time.

I think a company sponsored book group can be a beautiful thing --- a meaningful way for colleagues to interact. Plus it's the kind of perk that makes people feel good about where they work.

At the end of both sessions I asked our members to answer a few questions, like what they liked and didn't like and what we could do it differently next time. Why, I wonder, didn't I do that with my own book group 8 years ago to prevented our disbandment? Wait, I remember...because we were all friends and nobody wanted to play the role of the bossy mom to keep conversations on track, prepare an agenda and a process for selecting books. That's the beauty of letting someone else organize for you. If you're feeling like your company is low on perks, or even if you just like the idea of being in a book group, I think you should suggest it or take the initiative to start one at work. From my experience if you build it, they will come.