The Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo
ReadingGroupGuides.com interviews
special reading groups around the world, spotlighting a different group
each month. We hope that you enjoy reading about their experiences and
might find some new ideas to try with your group. If you belong to a group
that you think should be spotlighted, click here to answer our interview questions.
Many thanks to Susan
Braun and Deena Risman of the Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo, for
sharing her book club with us.
Q.
Does your group have a name and a theme?
A.
The name of the group is the Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo's Women's
Book Club and the group is a program of the Women's Education Committee
of the Jewish Federation. The group selects and discusses books that have
Jewish themes or deal with Jewish issues.
Q. How long has your group been in existence?
A. The group has been in existence for several years.
Q. How many members do you have? How many men, how many women?
What age are most of your members?
A. The group has approximately 40 members --- this varies a little
from year to year. As its name implies, it is a women's group
and ages range from the 30's to the 80's.
Q. How often and where do you meet?
A. The group meets seven times a year, every five to six weeks, from
September to June. We meet in a conference area at the Weinberg Campus,
Buffalo's Jewish Seniors Complex.
Q. Do you eat at your meetings?
A.
The group meets on Tuesday mornings, and the Federation staff brings bagels
and spreads. Coffee and tea are also served.
Q. Who leads the discussion? Do you use reading group guides?
A.
The discussion is led by one of the two volunteer co-chairs of the book
club.
Q. What kind of books do you read?
A. Books read cover many aspects of Jewish life --- fiction and
non-fiction. The list this year includes The Last Jew; China
Dreams; The Nazi Officer's Wife; The Bee Season; Black,
White and Jewish; I'd Rather Laugh; and Julie and Romeo.
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. Books were chosen on a meeting to meeting basis for years, but
we are now holding a meeting of all participants in late summer and
selecting all of the books for the upcoming year at one time.
Q. What were some of the best discussions or favorite books the group
read?
A. All of our discussions are interesting and lively, even when
the majority of the participants are negative about the book. As an
example, today's book was The Bee Season, and despite the fact
that several of the women said they did not care for the book, the discussion
of it was extremely insightful and interesting.
Q. How do you keep things fun?
A. Our co-chairs both have a sense of humor, as do our book club
members. Keeping things fun just seems to take care of itself.
Q. What advice would you give to other reading groups?
A. Keep the sessions informal, be very open to all opinions, try
to start and finish on time, endeavor to find co-chairs who are dedicated
to the project (such as ours are).
Q. Is there anything else unique or noteworthy about your group that
you would like to share?
A. Groups such as our book club give highly intelligent women, who
may not be active in the workplace at this time, an opportunity to exchange
ideas on issues relevant to their lives, their community, and the international
scene. The history lessons alone that these women bring to the table
make the sessions worthwhile, but they bring much, much more. I hope
these answers are helpful. The Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo's
Women's Education Committee sponsors several programs each year, and
the Book Club is only one of which we are very proud.
ReadingGroupGuides.com interviews
special reading groups around the world, spotlighting a different group
each month. We hope that you enjoy reading about their experiences and
might find some new ideas to try with your group. If you belong to a group
that you think should be spotlighted, click here to answer our interview questions.
