Linda Jackson is a member of the "Minga Suma Book Club" in Los Angeles, CA. In this interview, Linda explains the importance of both establishing goals and expectations for the group and selecting new members who are as dedicated to reading as the existing members are. She also talks about the club’s special get-togethers, such as their annual holiday dinner and awards ceremony.

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

A: Our book club name is “Minga Suma,” which means “To Read” in the Caribbean language of Patois. We’ve been together for eight years.

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

A: “Minga Suma” is made up of six female members

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

A: We meet monthly at the home of a member on a rotating basis

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

A: The host of the meeting provides the meals.

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

A: The host of the meeting leads the discussion and decides on the meeting agenda.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: We read books for all genres, including fiction, nonfiction, spiritual, mystery, thriller and romance.

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 plan our calendar out for each upcoming year at the end of the previous year. Each member hosts two meetings per year. The host decides on the book selection for the meeting they are hosting. The month prior to the meeting the host introduces her book and explains why she has selected the book.

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

A: We’ve read several books and have many favorites. Also, there were books that we collectively didn’t care for but they made for excellent discussions.

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: We are very honest about our opinions. We also try to incorporate the book with the theme of the meeting. Our discussions often lead to life experience discussions. We have an annual holiday dinner celebration where we have awards presentations for books from that year. We also have an annual club trip where we spend the weekend out of town.

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

A: Be yourselves. Be clear about the goals and expectations of the group. When selecting new members, be sure that they are as dedicated to reading as you are.

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

A: Over the years, we have had to revoke memberships and revisit our goals and expectations. We’ve learned a lot and purposely have a small membership base. We all look forward to our meetings because we know that it’s the one time that we’re able to be who we are, women (not mothers, wives, girlfriends), where we can bond together as sisters.

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

A: We started off thinking that we’d only read romance novels. We’ve evolved so much from where we began. We read very little romance but more spiritual and mystery books.

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