Chapter Chat
Carrin Mahmood from White Bear Lake, Minnesota talks about her group, Chapter Chat. Members have a wonderful time, but they are serious about reading; even those who originally came to socialize are "reading up a storm." Read on to learn more about this group and a scarf-related incident that no member is likely to forget.
Q: Does your group have a name and/or a theme? How long has your group been in existence?
A: Chapter Chat --- 6 years in its current form, 11 years all together. We started in 1992 at our church, with about 20 members. When it got down to two of us meeting every month, we knew we needed to revise! Two of us knew we wanted a book club to work, so we sat in on some successful ones in the area and restructured!
Q: How many members do you have? How many men, how many women? What age are most of your members?
A: All women (8-15, depending on the month), 30s-50s
Q: How often do you meet? Where do you meet?
A: We meet once a month (First Thursday!) We rotate between members who either open their home or arrange a location.
Q: Do you eat at your meetings? What do you eat? Who brings the food?
A: We keep it light, typically dessert and a beverage (serving wine seems to have helped attendance). The hostess provides the treats. We emphasize to keep it simple and not to make it a competition. If we meet at a restaurant, everyone is on their own!
Q: Who leads the discussion? Do you use reading group guides?
A: We rotate the discussion leadership role. Although everyone hosts a book club, some are more comfortable volunteering for discussion leader. Some look up questions if they can find them, while others make them up!
Q: What kind of books do you read?
A: We choose approximately 6-9 months at a time. Our goal for the year is to include works from the following categories:
Classic Fiction
Biography
Mystery
Children's classics
Balance between male and female authors
Historical fiction
Bestsellers
Award winners
Local authors
We strive for paperbacks!!
Q: What were some of the best discussions or favorite books the group read?
A: Several come to mind:
- Pope Joan --- we were able to do a conference call discussion with the author.
- East of Eden --- our discussion leader started with a "literary topic" review quiz, which was fun since most of us hadn't thought about onomatopoeia since high school!
- Peace Like a River
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- Stones From the River
- A Girl Named Zippy
Q: How do you keep things fun?
A:
- Somebody almost always comes in character, or brings something related (great swing music for The Greatest Generation, etc.).
- Sometimes we choose locations that reflect the book that has been read.
We read a LaVyrle Spencer novel because it was set in a local yacht club, and then we met there. We even spoke to the daughters of some of the original boat designers. Recently we met at a restaurant on the Mississippi to discuss The Last Girls.
- When we met for The Kitchen Boy, the hostess was dripping in "diamonds" and her husband ushered us all down to the basement for a "family picture". (Funny, in a sick sort of way, if you've read it!)
- One member makes us bookmarks for many of our "reads" with the book title, author and location of that month's book club.
- When we discussed The Persian Pickle Club, we met around a quilt rack as if it were an old-fashioned quilting bee. A kind soul let us work on her quilt.
- Of course the best was Dying for Chocolate, a culinary mystery. Everyone made one of the recipes. (Recipes? Good! Book? Didn't matter --- the chocolate and company were good!)
Q: What advice would you give to other reading groups?
A:
- Always, Always, Always stick to a consistent night. Once you start fudging with the dates and trying to meet everyone's schedules you lose people, hurt feelings and cause confusion!
- Have some sort of rules so that the group knows you are serious. Ours are few but essential: You don't have to finish (or even read) the book to attend, but know that the discussion will go on as if you had. No holding back for surprise endings. Everyone gets to talk, but no one has to talk! Most books need to be available in paperback. (Few biographies ever make it to paperback but are readily available at the Library.)
- Have a secretary (manager, PR person, whatever you want to call them) who will write up a list and schedule of when and where.
- Meet in homes as often as possible; it makes it personal. Rotate responsibility of hosting (keep it simple, but have fun!).
- Designate a "must discuss" time. We absolutely talk about the book for an hour, usually longer, before we socialize.
- Make sure everyone gets a chance to suggest a book.
- Don't rate the books! It tends to halt discussion and the person who suggested the book feels responsible for a bad one!
Q: Do you have any horror stories, amusing anecdotes, or other special tales to tell?
A: One of the funniest incidents was when one member wore scarves on her head for the discussion of Girl With a Pearl Earring, imitating the cover. Another member who hadn't attended in a while but wanted to get back into the swing of things came without reading the book. Not recognizing the scarves as a costume from the cover, she was furious at us because that "scarf girl" was going through chemo and we hadn't told her.
Q: Is there anything else unique or noteworthy about your group that you would like to share?
A: Though we are great friends, we are really committed to seeking out great literature and talking about it. When you stick to it, it is amazing that even the "non-readers" who just came for the socialization are now reading up a storm.
Back to top.
