This interview is with Lynn Ketelsen from "The Lunch Bunch: Food for Thought" of Coon Rapids, MN. Read on to learn more about this group.


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

A: The Lunch Bunch: Food for Thought. We have been meeting for 3 1/2 years.

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

A: 15 total members, usually 5-8 per meeting attend. We have one guy in our group! We range in age from late-twenties to early-50's.

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

A: We meet the second Tuesday of each month with the exception of July. We meet in an open conference room over our noon hour at work.

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

A: We each bring our own lunch.

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

A: Whoever picks the book leads the discussion. Generally we use guides, but once in a while we write our own questions. We have a rotating list for book selection. Not everyone wants to select, so it does not include everyone in the group.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: A wide variety: classics, historical fiction, current fiction, anything but
bodice rippers are fair game! The only rule that we have is that the book must be available in paperback or have approval by the group to select a hardcover book. See attached reading list.

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: Each person chooses a book that they are interested in or have had
recommended to them. We try to have 1-2 books selected at any given time in addition to our current read.

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

A: The Other Boelyn Girl, Angry Housewive Eating Bon Bons, and To Kill a Mockingbird

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: We keep things moving, the discussions and insights are great. Taking turns leading the discussions is good. We take time to catch up with each other during the time that we actually are eating our lunches. We have had potluck lunches or ordered in catered lunches. Food is VERY important!

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

A: Be open-minded to all book choices --- you may be very surprised at the different books that you will enjoy (or at least enjoy the discussion!) Keep a running list of all the books that you have read. Keep it simple and fun --- make sure to touch on a variety of styles and types of books.

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

A: We were fortunate enough to have the author of Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons, Lorna Landvik, visit our group. We met in the evening and had hors d'oeurvres, desserts, wine and coffee. We had special invitations made (we had a few guests attend that evening!), and party favors made: book marks and wine glasses with book wine charms attached. Ms. Landvik entertained us, signed our books and answered our questions for almost three hours! It was a VERY memorable evening!!!

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

A: We are all co-workers at a commercial printing company who enjoy reading. The club has introduced us to books that we would never have read on our own --- and most often, we have enjoyed them all (for various reasons!) We have many discussions that involve very personal matters. We've gotten to know each other on a much deeper level than just "co-worker."

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