Jean S. Robbins of Lee (Durham), NH talks about her book club, "The Course That Never Ends." Twelve years ago, a group of teachers participated in a language arts course, where they talked about assigned reading, student writing and what was happening in the classrooms. When the course ended 1 1/2 years later, several wanted to stay together --- so they decided to form a book discussion group as a way of continuing their friendship. Read on to learn more about this "neverending" alliance.

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

A: Our group is called "The Course That Never Ends." We have been together for eleven years.

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

A: We are a group of 10 women, ranging in age from 30-75.

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

A: We meet once a month at my home because I'm the only one not working full time.

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

A: Oh, do we eat! We tie our menus into the setting of the book we're reading. Each month we sign up for what we'll supply for the next meeting. It's easy to find ethnic recipes these days on the Internet.

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

A: Sometimes the discussion just flows; sometimes we use reading group guides. We have also used role sheets described by Harvey Daniels in his books about literature circles.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: A motley collection.

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: Two of our members work part time in bookstores so they always have suggestions, but we all get our two cents in. During the summer months we go out to eat and visit a local bookstore where we select books for the next several months. When that list has run out, we choose from members' recommendations, usually for a couple of months in advance.

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

A: That is the toughest question. There have been so many over the years. We often find that a book no one particularly likes leads to a productive discussion, such as Smilla's Sense of Snow. Favorites quickly coming to mind as we talked were In the Time of the Butterflies, The Da Vinci Code, Where the Heart Is, The Persian Pickle Club, The Things They Carried, One True Thing, The Poisonwood Bible, The Red Tent and The Secret Life of Bees.

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: We like each other. We take "field trips." The last three summers we've been to the Stratford Festival in Canada, Shakespeare in the Park in Boston, MA and the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood, and performances by Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, MA.

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

A: It's good to have a common thread of interest. Our members are all teachers. However our life experiences, religious and ethnic backgrounds, and individual talents are different. These personal differences help us shed light on the stories we read.

Take time off from the routine. For our December meetings we each read a children's/young adult book and report on it. We also have a Yankee Swap and cookie swap at that time.

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

A: In response to the "Artful Artist" role sheet developed by Daniels, one of our artistic members produced some hilarious drawings.

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

A: Twelve years ago I retired as principal of an elementary school and was invited by an English Dept. professor at the University of New Hampshire to facilitate a language arts course for classroom teachers that would be held in their school after the students left. I worked with the teachers to ascertain their wishes and needs, and we designed a course to help teach writing, grades 1-12. We met for 1 1/2 years, once a month, to discuss assigned reading, talk about what was happening in classrooms, share student and personal writing, etc. At the end of the course several wanted to stay together. A book discussion group was suggested as a means to continue our friendship. Of course, there have been changes since then, as people have moved away and others were invited to join. We've been together through births, marriages, deaths, divorces, etc. together.

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