Tracey Cuomo is a member of the “East Hill Book Group” in Cortlandt Manor, NY. In this interview, Tracey talks about some of the group’s memorable discussions and activities, as well as what makes being in a book club a “guiltless pleasure.” She also shares that her group is planning a charitable “baby shower” for one of the characters they are reading about.

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

A: The “East Hill Book Group” (most charter members live on East Hill). We started in January 2005.

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

A: We have 12 members --- all women 40 and above, except for two in their 20s.

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

A: We meet the last Wednesday of the month in one person's home (same person).

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

A: We keep it to snacks and usually try to coincide to the theme, time and area of book. The food is mostly provided by the hostess, sometimes different members bring. We have used The Book Club Cookbook for many ideas.

For example, for Dean & Me, a memoir about Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, we had champagne and a tuxedo cake.

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

A: We use the reading group guides and take turns "leading." If there are no questions, we get creative. Seabiscuit had us in a mock "horse race" with questions about the host. Winners got ribbons and a wreath of flowers.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: We've read everything --- memoirs, fiction, mysteries, fantasy, science fiction and the classics.

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: Everyone puts in a few choices and we pick from a "hat" for the next month.

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

A: The Time Traveler’s Wife, Pride and Prejudice, The Birth of Venus, The Secret Life of Bees and The Kite Runner.

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: I throw in some games sometimes with silly little prizes. Who doesn't love a take home gift?

For The Secret Life of Bees I gave out honey with the Black Madonna on it.

We had a local high school English teacher come for our "bring your favorite poem or poetry," and she led the discussion and helped decipher poems.

Every July we have a "mother/daughter" group and read a book suitable for all, like Fever or Founding Mothers.

For this month's Where the Heart Is, we are having a baby shower for Novalee and donating the gifts to homeless/in need mothers.

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

A: The sky is the limit; have fun with it, but try to keep focused, or sometimes it can become a session about kids and husbands. We don't allow that for too long, unless it really fits in with the book.

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

A: Not really horror stories, but once only three people showed up, and of them only two read the book --- THAT one should've been postponed. There was lots of food left over, and the meeting was over before it started.

Some of our book choices were made in naiveté, and some members were rather shocked at some of the content --- these discussions led to lots of laughs and blushes. But now we've grown so close, and everyone really looks forward to meeting and seeing each other, having a good time and stretching the comfort zone of what would normally be picked off the book shelf.

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

A: Some of these women were almost strangers, but now we are truly friends and have helped each other in times of frustration and need (kids off to proms, college, re-coups after surgeries, deaths in families, etc.). And since we are doing something to "improve our minds," it is a totally guiltless pleasure.

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