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Many thanks to Nancy Jacob in Cincinnati, Ohio who shares her FTL Book Club with us. Read on to learn how they make their book club a satisfying experience, and also where their cryptic name comes from.

Q. Does your group have a name and/or a theme? How long has your group been in existence?
A. FTL Book Club. We are named for the Lee Smith book, FAIR AND TENDER LADIES, which was our first book. We use the initials for our group. We've been together since February, 1997.

Q. How many members do you have? How many men, how many women? What age are most of your members?
A. We have 13 members, though there are 3 who almost never come. We are all women, our ages range from mid 30's to 70's, though with most of us in our 40's.

Q. How often do you meet? Where do you meet? Do you eat at your meetings?
A. We meet monthly, September though June, generally skip December and have a cookout with our husbands in July. We also have some sort of holiday party in early January where we exchange an inexpensive paperback book, generally one we really like. It can be new or used. We met in each other's homes but had a recent meeting at a local country club and may use that location as a back up for future meetings. Yes we eat. The host for the evening supplies the food, usually appetizers or desserts.

Q. Who leads the discussion? Do you use reading group guides?
A. A different person from the host leads the discussion. We will often use the reading group guides as a starting point. We like to use a discussion leader as it helps us stay on track. Generally the leader should have a list of questions to discuss and some information about the author. At two of our meeting we have brought in guest speakers to help us with our discussion. One was the daughter of Holocaust survivors after we read NIGHT by Elie Wiesel and the other was a professor from a local college when we read Michael Cunningham's THE HOURS.

Q. What kind of books do you read?
A. Generally novels, though we will usually do one classic a year, one biography, one book of short stories, one about or by African Americans and one Jewish related book. As an example of the last two categories for the upcoming year in November we will do Joseph Berger's DISPLACED PERSONS: GROWING UP AMERICAN AFTER THE HOLOCAUST, and in February, Beverly Daniel Tatum's WHY ARE ALL THE BLACK KIDS SITTING TOGETHER IN THE CAFETERIA?

Q. How do you choose your books? Do you choose one new book at each meeting, or do you choose the books for a number of meetings ahead of time?
A. We chose our books once a year at our June meeting. Everyone comes with suggestions, reviews and information on availability, such as if in paperback or available at the library. We discuss everyone's interest and then try to pick based on some of our categories. We have one member who keeps us update on the NY Times book reviews. Some members are more vocal than others. We do try to pick books that we might not read otherwise and that are not necessarily bestsellers. We also like to make sure the books are available at the library. Our local librarian orders the books for us and then each member is responsible for picking up and returning her book. This keeps the cost down and no one is required to buy a book they might not want. Occasionally we will all buy a paperback. We also then schedule the meetings and pick the discussion leader. This may change as the year goes on though. We distribute a calendar of our meetings and books. We then stay in touch by email of any changes. Many of us will see each other throughout the month either socially or through school- or church-related activities.

Q. What were some of the best discussions or favorite books the group read?
A. We have had some great discussions, including THE HOURS, Barbara Kingsolver's THE POISONWOOD BIBLE, Toni Morrison's PARADISE, NIGHT, Loung Ung's FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER, John Irving's A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY, FAIR AND TENDER LADIES, Louis de Bernieres' CORELLI'S MANDOLIN, Ernest J. Gaines' A LESSON BEFORE DYING, Edith Wharton's HOUSE OF MIRTH, Virginia Woolf's MRS. DALLOWAY, Katharine Graham's PERSONAL HISTORY and Anne Lamott's TRAVELING MERCIES.

ReadingGroupGuides.com interviews special reading groups around the world, spotlighting a different group each month. We hope that you enjoy reading about their experiences and might find some new ideas to try with your group. If you belong to a group that you think should be spotlighted, click here to answer our interview questions.