Book clubs are a family affair for "Reading Between the Wines – The Oxford Edition." This group was founded by Madeline Lennon of Oxford, CT, and its roster includes her mother and two sisters; two more of Madeline's sisters simultaneously began their own chapter in Pearl River, NY, and the groups often swap recommendations and conduct joint discussions. In this interview, Madeline shares their tried-and-true methods of selecting books and fostering meetings that are both stimulating and enjoyable. She also suggests some fun "book night" alternatives and reveals how she encourages all members to participate in discussing and facilitating.

Q: Does your group have a name and/or a theme? How long has your group been in existence?

A: Our group is called "Reading Between the Wines - The Oxford Edition." We've been together as a book club for about three years. The majority of our members live in Oxford, Connecticut. I'm one of seven sisters and a founding member of our book club, which includes my 77-year-old mother and two of my sisters. I have two other sisters who live in Pearl River, New York and they founded the "Reading Between the Wines - Pearl River Edition" at about the same time. We're encouraging another sister who lives in St. Louis to continue the tradition.  

Q: How many members do you have? How many men, how many women? What age are most of your members?

A: We currently have about 12 members --- all women (although my 79-year-old dad is still trying to sneak into the group as he tends to read many of our books and loves to comment on them before the meetings! But we send him packing with the other husbands on our discussion night.) We range in age from about 45 to 83. We have two mother-daughter combinations as well as pending mothers-in-law, as their children are getting married in August!

Q: How often do you meet? Where do you meet?

A: We meet about once a month on Friday evenings. We also plan two Sunday brunches during the year, which offers a fun change of pace. When we read a book that becomes a movie, we try to have brunch on Sunday, discuss the book, then go to a late matinee showing of the adaptation. It's a fun outing!

Q: Do you eat at your meetings? What do you eat? Who brings the food?

A: Is the Pope Catholic? You bet we eat! And we drink some great wine, too. We don't plan one thing about the food or drink, and we always wind up with a fabulous feast. Everyone just brings 'whatever.' If you have time, you bake or make some great finger food. If you're plum out of time --- which happens to the best of us --- you grab a bottle of wine and enjoy the festivities with the group. We've never, ever been disappointed with our refreshments. Everyone just brings some finger food or wine and we have a splendid evening.

Q: Who leads the discussion? Do you use reading group guides?

A: Prior to the meeting, I go online and research some of the questions from the reading group guides. I then print out about 10-12 good questions that I think will stimulate some discussion. I also include about 6-8 "fun" questions that will generate a great deal of discussion and laughter. We cut up the questions, place them in a bowl in the middle of the table, and go around the room clock-wise. Each member picks a question, reads it to the group and leads that discussion. When that starts to wind down, the next member picks, and so on. We get a nice distribution of "real" and "fun" questions to keep the group lively. (For instance, our fun question might be about the lead character in the book: "If the book was made into a movie, what actor would you like to see play the lead role"?)

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: We read all kinds of books, though we do tend to read a lot of fiction. We do try to mix it up a bit by picking mystery, biography, classics, etc. We also try to read books that are in the library or are readily available. We also swap recommendations and books with my sister's book club in Pearl River. They will suggest a good book that they have read and give us several copies of it, and we'll do the same. So we tend to have good recommendations as well as an ongoing book swap.

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've tried it several ways and I think we now have a method that works pretty well. We schedule the meetings for the whole year from September to June (we go on summer hiatus) so everyone can plan accordingly. As the organizer, I generally pick the first book to get us going. I then do some research and have a list of about 15 books in various categories that might be interesting. At the first meeting, we choose a name out of a hat and ask that member to pick the next book --- either from her own personal recommendations or from the list we have available. That way, we know what book we're reading before we leave for the evening. We're just starting to plan for 2 or 3 meetings in advance and I think that helps as well.

Q: What were some of the best discussions or favorite books the group read?

A: The Glass Castle by Jeanette Wells was quite interesting as was A Million Little Pieces by James Frey (though much of the discussion came after the whole controversy following his confession on "Oprah"). We also really enjoyed the series of books that Joan Anderson wrote (A Year by the Sea, An Unfinished Marriage). My sister had contacted Joan Anderson and she had agreed to come to a book discussion at my sister's club in Pearl River. Both clubs were getting together for that evening, but unfortunately Joan had some family emergencies and we're trying to reschedule that meeting for this year. Wish us luck!  

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: We often go to movies or plays in place of a book night. We recently saw “Menopause the Musical,” which was absolutely hysterical. We also try to get together with the "Reading Between the Wines - Pearl River Edition" for a joint session. Recently, both clubs got together to go to New York City to see the television show "The View." We had a blast in the city and it was fun combining groups for a day. We exchanged some good book recommendations and had some impromptu book discussions on some common books we both had read.  

We also laugh a lot! We remember that the club is called "Reading Between the WINES" and we encourage our members to come to our discussion night even if they haven't read that month's selection. Sometimes, we'll get a member who just "comes for the wine" since they didn't have time to read the book, but after hearing our discussion becomes intrigued enough to finish it at a later time.

Q: What advice would you give to other reading groups?

A: We do like picking the questions out of the hat to keep the discussion lively. It also allows each member to act as the facilitator and be included in the discussions. No wallflowers in our book club!

Q: Do you have any horror stories, amusing anecdotes, or other special tales to tell?

A: No horror stories...we all just wish there was more time in our lives to read great books and enjoy the company of the women in our book club who so want to read between the wines!

Q: Is there anything else unique or noteworthy about your group that you would like to share?

A: The members in our group are so lively and so much fun. We have mothers and daughters, common mothers-in-law, sisters, twins, divorced mothers, single moms, married women, women with children, women with no children, nurses, bankers, teachers, professional women, retired women, sports enthusiasts, cancer survivors, and one member who we all believe is "our treasure" because of the blessings she brings to the group. (Victoria --- you know we are blessed because of you!)