Nigel Tattersfield and his group, The Gleaners, report from England. Despite their busy schedules, these (mostly female) schoolteachers and administrators meet three times a semester when the school day ends. Nigel and his fellow members suggest a relaxed atmosphere at meetings and books of real substance that are worthy of discussion.

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

A: We are The Gleaners and we started three years ago.

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

A: Most of our 20 members are women, myself excluded!!!

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

A: We are school teaching and administrative staff who meet three times a semester after the end of the school day in the apartment of one of our members who lives on the College campus, which is situated overlooking the picturesque C18th Georgian city of Bath in Southern England.

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

A: We share drinks and snacks before going home to our suppers between 6 and 7pm

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

A: I am the organizer, but whoever has chosen the book leads the discussion.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: We read all kinds of books from all over the world. We normally read literary fiction, but have read short story collections and historical fiction.

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: We are so busy that we must choose the title at least a month ahead of time so we can therefore plan the reading into our heavy schedules. Any member is free to choose.

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

A: The best discussions are when there is a real divergence of opinion or when members have not properly understood parts of the book and "glean" much from sharing of enlightenment, and we have particularly enjoyed sessions in which invited authors have been our guests --- one such notable occasion being the visit of Louis de Bernieres.

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: We keep it fun by always having a very relaxed atmosphere, loving the chance to talk grown up, but not "shop" as we inevitably do when we meet each other in the teachers' common room.

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

A: Advice to others is to always choose a book that has plenty of material for discussion and is worthy of the reading time taken and the giving up the hour of friends and colleagues time!

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

A: We simply do not know if we are unique and look forward to the opportunity afforded by this exposure to hear from many other groups, particularly those formed under the academic conditions that formed our group.

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