The members of the Brown Bag Book Club of Plano, TX meet once a month at their local library and are encouraged to bring their own lunches to promote a laid-back and relaxed atmosphere. In this interview, Peter Jackson and Cynthia Jensen --- the Public Services Librarians who also serve as moderators --- underscore the importance of reading a balanced amount of fiction and nonfiction, while selecting titles that broaden their members' personal and societal perspectives. They also describe how they supplement each meeting with outside materials and share ideas for themed snacks to keep things light.

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

A: The Brown Bag Book Club is one of the clubs sponsored by the Plano Public Library System. Its name is derived from encouraging participants to bring their lunch to the meetings. The club has been in existence for approximately five years.

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

A: The Brown Bag Book Club generally has about 12-15 participants, with a slightly higher ratio of women to men. The ages of the members vary, encompassing adults in their 20s up to senior citizens.

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

A: The Brown Bag Book Club meets at the Christopher A. Parr Library (one of the five Plano libraries) once a month, excluding December.

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

A: Participants are welcome and encouraged to bring their lunch. The librarian coordinators also provide snacks such as cookies and pastries.

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

A: One of the librarian coordinators leads the discussion. He or she often uses supplemental sources, including reading group guides, magazine articles, transcribed interviews and video documentaries.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: The Brown Bag Book Club strives for a dynamic mixture of fiction, nonfiction and biographies. Many of the titles have appeared at some time on bestseller and other critically acclaimed lists.

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: Selected titles for discussion are decided by group vote twice a year.

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

A: Popular fiction titles have been The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. Interesting discussions for nonfiction titles have been The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, The Radioactive Boy Scout by Ken Silverstein and Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: First of all, we keep a relaxed and informal setting conducive for vibrant discussion. Second, we try to select titles that offer an engaging theme and widen our perspective of society and ourselves. Whenever possible, the librarian coordinators include supplemental information (such as videos and articles) to enhance the discussion. And, of course, providing delicious snacks always keeps the mood light and festive.

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

A: I suggest reading a balanced mixture of fiction and nonfiction. I also recommend that the members choose books that are not too recent. It is preferable that the selections are available in paperback, and there are enough circulating copies available at the local library. This helps to ensure that participants will be able to obtain the book in time for the discussion.

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

A: We sometimes try to bring snacks that reflect the theme of the book we are discussing. For instance, when we discussed River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard, we brought gummy worms to reflect the fact that members of that ill-fated Amazon expedition sometimes had to eat whatever they could find to survive.

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

A: We have been in existence for five years and still attract new members on a regular basis. During one of our discussions for The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman, members from another book club in Allen, TX, arrived to join us for that meeting.

© Copyright 2001-2012, ReadingGroupGuides.com. All rights reserved.

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.

Back to top.