Karen LeClerc is a facilitator of "The Read and Feed Tome-Head Society" in Troy, IL. In this interview, Karen describes how her group has developed in terms of membership and organization over the past six years. She believes that with all the different book clubs out there, every reader can find a niche in a group that works well for them. "The Read and Feed Tome-Head Society" does not overemphasize structure, and keeping things "simple," explains Karen, has been both an attraction and a deterrent to members over the years.

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

A: The Read and Feed Tome-Head Society. We have been together six years.


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

A: We have 12 members --- all women. We are mostly 50ish.


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

A: We meet monthly at various locations (restaurants, homes, bookstores).


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

A: Yes, we eat! We don't have a theme meal to go with the book. If it's at someone's home, we usually each bring something. At restaurants we order what we like.


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

A: I usually begin the discussion and then we go from there. We are pretty informal. We may get a question or two from a guide but mostly go with whatever is brought up.


Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: We read fiction --- mostly bestsellers and some faith-based books.


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 choose by members’ suggestions. We don't choose ahead --- we go month to month.


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

A: Color Me Butterfly was a good book --- we had an author call-in on that one. We also enjoyed The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.


Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: Just meeting with each other is always fun for us. Some meetings we might discuss the book for a few minutes and then off we go on another tangent! We have gone to movies that have been made from books, and we are going to a play in January (Tuesdays with Morrie).


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

A: Keep it simple! That works for us. If someone in the group needs to talk about something other than the book that night, so be it. We have had folks leave our group because it wasn't structured enough for them --- oh well. Each person has to find their own niche in a group, and if they can't find a group that works for them, start your own reading group. There are always folks looking to join a group of some type.


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

A: Not really. We just have fun being with each other. Each meeting is filled with laughter, food and a good book (most of the time). Our one big mistake was The Bible According to Mark Twain --- not a good choice for us. Usually someone likes the book --- no one got past the first chapter.


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

A: When we originated we ranged in age from 10-76. We chose our books carefully then. We started out reading The Chronicles of Narnia. The older member of our group has died and the youngest member now is old enough that she doesn't want to be seen always in a group of "old" women (she'll come around).

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