Sistas Are Reading from Northern New Jersey
This month's interview is with LaVosha Payne, President of Sistas Are Reading from Northern New Jersey. Read on to see 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 name of our group is Sistas Are Reading. We have been going strong for 4 years now.
Q: How many members do you have? How many men, how many women? What age are most of your members?
A: We have 14 beautiful women in our group. No men. The age range is from the youngest, which is 26 to the oldest, which is 38.
Q: How often do you meet? Where do you meet?
A: We meet the last Sunday of each month. We meet at different members' homes each month. During our anniversary (September) and Christmas we have our meetings at a restaurant.
Q: Do you eat at your meetings? Who brings the food?
A: Yes, we definitely eat at the meetings. Sometimes we have just chips and dip and at other times we have a full-fledged Sunday dinner. It all depends on who is hosting that particular month because some members just love to have a big spread and others just like to keep it light. Our members pay a $5.00 monthly membership fee and whoever is hosting that month will use their membership fee to purchase whatever they like (not much with $5.00 but it helps!). It is really great to sit with everyone and have a good time and enjoy a discussion at the same time.
Q: Who leads the discussion? Do you use reading group guides?
A: In the beginning, we had one facilitator who would oversee the discussion but somehow it did not work out. So I facilitate the meeting where I have everyone go around and take turns indicating if they enjoyed or not enjoyed the book. After that is done, I have everyone's name in a bag and whoever's name I pull out first will start the discussion about that month's book. Each person gets a turn to give their opinions about the book, but of course, others jump in to give a rebuttal or to agree. It gets heated at times but it is lots of fun!
Q: What kind of books do you read?
A: We read books by and about people of color. We read fiction, nonfiction, autobiographies, mysteries and thrillers.
Q: How do you choose your books?
A: What we do is we have a bag full of names of books and authors. We pull three book titles out of the bag. Our Vice President keeps a book with all of the review and descriptions of each book that is in this bag. She will read all three descriptions of the books first. Then everyone votes. Majority wins. Sometimes members will come to a meeting with a book title in mind that the will request to be read for next month. For example, I had read Child of God by Lolita Files and the next meeting I requested that we
read the book because it was excellent. Well, we read it and everyone loved it. Sometimes that works, other times, it doesn't. One time a member suggested for us to read True to the Game by Terry Woods. The majority of the club members hated it!
Q: What were some of the best discussions or favorite books the group read?
A: In my opinion, one of the best discussions I think we've had as a group was when we read Living Blood by Tananrive Due. The discussion topics ranged from one realm to the next and it was the first time that I could remember that every member enjoyed the book (for Child of God one member did not enjoy the book). The book took us on a journey and we were willing participants to travel right along with the author. Since then, we've read everyone of Tananrive's books. She even emailed us to give us a background of her vision for Living Blood. We are eagerly anticipating her new book.
Q: How do you keep things fun?
A: We are involved in quite a few things. We have several events that we host every year. One of them is our Annual Valentine's Day Brunch. That is one of the group's favorite! We also have our annual Memorial Day Bowling Bash and our annual Ski Trip Getaway every January. It helps us learn how to work as group and to be active in the community at the same time. We also do community projects with local groups such as United Way of Passaic County and NJ Foodbank. One dance is raised money for United Way's
Wishbook for kids that would not have a Christmas.
Q: What advice would you give to other reading groups?
A: The best advice I can give is that if there is any tension in the group work it out. Tension hinders everyone in the group from being open. Also, when it comes down to decisions, voting is always the best way to go. If the group is large, have an executive board and meetings with just the executive board to decide on different issues. Have bylaws or writtin rules so that everyone knows what to do and what is expected without it being a surprise. Lastly, participation is key for success.
Q: Do you have any horror stories, amusing anecdotes, or other special tales to tell?
A: We had two incidences where authors of books that we were reading that month were to call in via conference call and discuss the book. Well, one particular author, I won't give the name, was to call us during on 3rd anniversary because we read their book for that month. We waited, and waited. Never called. We were all disappointed because we had taken a trip to Atlantic City for that anniversary so we had been excited to speak with her. I will give you the name of the book which was Sex & the Single Sister.
Q: Is there anything else unique or noteworthy about your group that you would like to share?
A: One year when we hosted our Valentine's Day Brunch, we had two authors, Karen Quinones Miller (Satin Doll) and Slim Lambright (Justus Girls) come and speak to the audience. It was such a wonderful opportunity for us. They were great with the audience! Also, we were featured in Black Expressions Book Club newsletter and website with our picture and once that happened we received letters from all over! It made us feel so good and we were honored.
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