Kay Richard of Gardner, Massachusetts enthusiastically talks about her book club, The Ladies of the Club. She advises other groups to plan field trips in order to grow closer and escape the rigid structure of typical book club discussions. When an author visited them on one such excursion, graciously accommodating Kay's request, the women were ebullient. The Ladies of the Club exemplifies an incredibly close-knit group of female book lovers.

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

A: We are called The Ladies of the Club only because when I was first putting the group together, I used that as a greeting for the original correspondence. The group has been together since the fall of 1998, but the members have changed over the years.

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

A: We recently lost some of our original members at the end of 2004. Only two original members remain, and only four in the group. At our meeting this past Wednesday, we agreed to put some effort into recruiting two more members for next year. Our ages are 42, 47, 53 and 59, all women.

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

A: We meet on the second Wednesday of every month. Prior to 2005, we met in our homes, each taking a turn hostessing the group. Since January, we have been meeting in local restaurants. We enjoy both.

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

A: Yes, we've always had meals. At the very beginning, it was just snack type foods. Then as the years progressed, we began having a full dinner at the meetings. It was the responsibility of that month's book leader to provide the meal. We have one vegetarian and always prepared meals without meat for her. SHE, however, always cooked a meal with meat for us. :)

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

A: The person who chose the book is responsible for leading the discussion and bringing us back if we wander off (and we DO wander off). We use guides whenever they are available.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: We try to read a variety of books --- fiction, nonfiction and the classics. We've never read sci-fi or romance, but have read a horror novel or two, usually by Stephen King. Mostly, we stick to bestsellers and classics. This year, we are trying a play: Brighton Beach Memoirs.

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: At our December meeting, which we've decided will remain at someone's home, we choose all of our books for the year. I keep a running list of whose "turn" it is to host, by month, and that person throws out a couple of suggestions and we decide on which book as a group. Our December meeting is also our Christmas gathering and we exchange small gifts. Usually, the hostess decorates and "goes all out" with the table settings, etc. We LOVE Christmas book discussion!

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

A: We loved The Hours by Michael Cunningham, The Pull of the Moon by Elizabeth Berg, and The Shipping News by Annie Proulx. Our best discussions were on the books Pope Joan, The Poisonwood Bible, Lolita, A Prayer for Owen Meany (also a fav), The Red Tent, and Prodigal Summer.

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: Twice a year (spring and fall) we go away for a Book Club Weekend. One of our members has a house on Newfound Lake in New Hampshire, another has a cute cabin on a pond in Warwick, MA. We always enjoy our weekends together by shopping, sleeping in, sharing wine and, of course, eating. We take turns cooking meals and have breakfast out our last morning together. On Saturday evening, we have book discussion.

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

A: Plan field trips together...go used book shopping, antiquing or something. We go to book signings together and include each other in other fun or family gatherings. One of our members will be 60 next week and her son called me and asked for the addresses of the book club members so that he could send us all invitations to her surprise party. People identify us as a "group" and as such we tend to be invited together.

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

A: We have shared so much over the years that it would take pages and pages to tell it all. We've had grandchildren born and sons deployed to Iraq and deaths and new love and health scares...life has happened and we've shared all of it.

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

A: I once attended a book signing alone. Joan Anderson, author of A Year by the Sea, was at Tatnuck Booksellers in Worcester. It was a small group and instead of standing at a podium and talking AT us, she had the booksellers arrange the chairs in a circle so she could talk WITH us. It was so comfortable and she was so personable that I approached her with a request to attend one of our meetings. She said yes and I made up an elaborate story to the group about taking our group weekend in May to the ocean on Cape Cod rather than the lake in New Hampshire since we were reading A Year by the Sea. We rented a small house owned by a co-worker with easy access to the ocean. We had a luncheon meeting that day and Joan arrived with gifts (t-shirts) for all of us. We had the BEST time with her, discussing her book and just having girl chat. She was GREAT! After she left, we put our new t-shirts on (navy blue with white lettering that says "An Unfinished Woman") and walked the beach.

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