Thanks to Pamela of O'Fallon, Illinois for sharing her group We're Booked with us.


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

A: Our name is "We're Booked," and our first meeting was September 2001.

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

A: We have 10 active members, all female in their late 20s to early 40s.

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

A: We meet at 7 PM every third Monday of the month at a member's home. We wrap it up around 10:30 or 11. No one is ever in a hurry to leave!

Q. Do you eat at your meetings? Who brings the food?

A: We eat finger food, wine, etc., which the host provides.

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

A: We usually print off a reading group guide and the discussion just naturally progresses. No one is responsible for starting it. Some in our group bring their books with passages marked that really meant something to them.

Q. What kind of books do you read?

A: We read popular titles and some classics. We have read for example:Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, She's Come Undone, Patty Jane's House of Curl, The Giver, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and The Corrections.

Q. How do you choose your books?

A: Several members of the group usually come with suggestions and when we only have one more selected to read, we usually agree on three or four more. Many of us buy our books online and it's more convenient to buy titles in quantity.

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

A: Our favorites tend to be books that are about strong women characters. The biggest flop was The Corrections. It was much too depressing, dysfunctional, and uninspiring for our tastes. Our mantra is we read to be entertained, not to add struggles or depressing moments to our lives.

Q. How do you keep things fun?

A: We tend to add members as we bring along people we are friends with. We started out as six close friends who often shared books we enjoyed and thought "Why don't we get together and read the same book at the same time so we can talk about it?" Since we tend to run in the same circles, have children relatively close in age, and live nearby, it isn't a challenge to keep it fun. We have a blast at every meeting. Most of us consider it cheap therapy!

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

A: Don't make it too complicated, start with a small group of friends, and let it evolve naturally. Pick an easy schedule (same day of the month each month) and stick to it. It's easiest to plan that way. I keep everyone posted via e-mail as to what we are reading, when the next meeting is and who is hosting.

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

A: My sister was in a reading group a few months before I started mine. (She is in Dayton, OH; I am in O'Fallon, IL) They had a contest to name their group and she asked me for suggestions. I came up with a few and they chose "We're Booked." When I started mine, I asked her if we could share their name and of course she had to say yes. So now, "We're Booked" has two chapters! Sometimes bookstores will give discounts to reading groups if you appear organized, so a name helps. We've not taken advantage of that yet.