During a weekend spent in New York, Karen Rossi's then-nameless book club of Wilbraham, MA was dubbed "The Players' Wives" by a couple of NYPD officers.  In this interview, Karen describes the details of this humorous event and shares how she and her fellow members take full advantage of the social aspects of each meeting. She also explains how the group has adjusted the structure of their discussions to take some of the pressure off the hostesses and recalls an early "horror story" that has since become an ongoing joke among these 12 lively women.

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

A: We are called The Players' Wives. We have been meeting every month (except July and August) for 8 years. It must sound like there could be a salacious story involved in our naming. There is a story of how we became known as The Players' Wives, but it’s more funny than scandalous:

We thought about names in the beginning. Nothing seemed to fit. It came up now and then during our first year, and no consensus was made. We were "Book Club" and that was that.
    
Our first trip as "Book Club" was to New York, and we were excited. A weekend of shopping, theatre and sheer bliss in the city was what we all needed. We arrived in the city through Grand Central. Off the train and in the city clad in black leather jackets, looking pretty hot. The hustle and bustle of the terminal had us all giddy as we strolled through with our luggage rolling behind. We needed help finding The Grand Hyatt, so we made our way to two of New York’s finest. Directions were promptly given and we excitedly headed out. As we were walking away, one of the policemen yelled out, "Hey, are you the players' wives?" "No," we replied, chuckling and not really sure what they were talking about. It didn't take long for us to realize that there was a World Series game being held that night between the Yankees and the Atlanta Braves. The police officers were asking if we were "the players' wives." How cool is that!!! From that moment on, our name was not in question. It had been bestowed upon us, and boy, were we flattered.

So many images from this episode bring a smile to my face. A dozen black leather jackets...what sheep! The fact that none of us knew it was a World Series weekend. The China Club, getting lost and losing luggage, to name a few! Needless to say, the weekend was a bash. Good friends, great times and hysterical memories. That's our story and we're sticking to it!!!
 
Q: How many members do you have? How many men, how many women? What age are most of your members?

A: We currently have 12 members who are all forty-something-year-old women. Forty is the new twenty!

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

A: We meet at each other’s house once a month on a rotating basis. We do not meet in July and August, and December is our Holiday party, when we have our annual trivia contest.

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

A: The hostess provides whatever food and beverage they prefer, usually wine and appetizers.

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

A: We used to have the hostess lead the discussion, and yes, we did use reading group guides on occasion. We changed this over the past few years --- we start each meeting by having everyone write down a question, drop it into a basket, and then pass the basket around. This takes some of the pressure off the hostess and allows for anonymous questions to be posed.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: Anything, no rules here. It is up to the hostess to pick a book of choice.

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 set the yearly calendar in the fall every year so we all know what month we are hosting. Whoever is scheduled for the next month must come to the current month’s meeting with their selection. We try to select a paperback book whenever possible.
 
Q: What were some of the best discussions or favorite books the group read?

A: There have been so many: The Red Tent, Memoirs of a Geisha, I Know This Much Is True, The Poisonwood Bible.
 
Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: Lots of wine. No, seriously, our book club is not academic or intellectual. We are friends who support each other through life’s challenges and joys. Book club is a social event for all of us, no pressure. We relax, discuss a good book and socialize with friends --- that’s our secret to keeping it fun.

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

A: Set up some guidelines to follow.
Make your best effort to read the book.
Make your best effort to attend, but if you can’t make it, call the hostess.
Stay on topic.
Pick good “discussion” books.
Have fun!

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

A: We have no real horror stories, but early on, we had a heated discussion about a woman in one of our books and the discussion led to if we thought she was a “good mother.” This can be a touchy subject. The discussion got heated, testy and a bit uncomfortable for a number of reasons. Invariably, each month, someone slips the question in our basket: "Do you think she was a good mother?" And we all laugh. I could go on and on. We pay dues each month and use the money to go on trips about every 2 years. Most years, we go to New York City, but this past year we went to Boston. We always have a ball. We won a contest one year and Anthony Bourdain, author of Kitchen Confidential, called our book club and we got to ask him questions and talked to him for about an hour. It was very enlightening and interesting, we were starstruck!

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

A: We have a website that we use to post our upcoming books, member info, yearly schedule, pictures and lots more. Check it out: http://geocities.com/playerswives.

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