Each month, Carol Stickney of Sparta, NJ gets together with some of her co-workers at Kittatinny Regional High School to form “The KRHS Book Club.” Carol expresses the group’s interest in books with a cultural theme, thus their reading selections have included Water for Elephants and The Glass Castle. Occasionally, guests from other countries will participate in their meetings. She explains that, coming from a variety of backgrounds in education, each group member adds a unique perspective to the discussions.

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

A: We are called “The KRHS Book Club,” KRHS for Kittatinny Regional High School. We’ve been meeting for about five years. We are primarily people who work at the high school or did (retired), but it is open to others also.

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

A: We have eight core members, two men and six women. Ages vary from approximately 30-65+.

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

A: We meet once a month at a local restaurant after school.

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

A: Yes, we do. We order from the menu with some getting just a light fare such as an appetizer, soup or salad and others getting a dinner.

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

A: We use reading group guides if the book has one. I generally lead the discussion, but everyone contributes. No one in our group has any trouble talking!

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: We read a variety of books. We like the book club because we read books that some of us might not have chosen otherwise, and yet we enjoy them.

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: People bring suggestions on what to read. Sometimes we choose just a month ahead and sometimes two months if two books are suggested that everyone is interested in reading.

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

A: We all liked The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, In the Time of the Butterflies, The Other Boleyn Girl, A Fine Balance and many others too numerous to mention. We like books that give insight into other cultures and to other ways of living such as Water for Elephants and The Glass Castle did.

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: It’s a great group and we just enjoy getting together.

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

A: Select a variety of books so you stretch your interests and knowledge. Select books you might not read otherwise.

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

A: No horror stories. One member brought each of her babies to the meetings for their first year while she was home on maternity leave so she wouldn’t miss meetings. We have had guests from other countries (such as Kenya) come when they are visiting with one of us, and we enjoy talking with them about their country and families and similarities and differences in our lives. This year we are trying different restaurants as the one we met in the past years was sold this summer, much to our distress.

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

A: Since we come from a variety of specialties (history, science, English, library science, special education) in the education field, the information and thoughts each person brings to the discussions give a wide perspective on and insight to each question posed.

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