Claudia A. Gentner of Glen Rock, NJ talks about her book club, the Claremont Road Bookgroup. She and her fellow members simply love their group, calling it "a reliable friend" that has been with them "through thick and thin." In fact, one member who moved to a lake community an hour away still drives down to their regular meetings. Read on to learn more about this dedicated group of women.

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

A: We're the Claremont Road Bookgroup, aka The Depression Book Club by the local bookstore because we used to read mostly depressing books. We think we've probably celebrated our 20th anniversary, but nobody's quite sure.

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

A: We are 11, all women, and ages range from 35 to 75. At one time the age range was even broader, but we lost our oldest member, Del Reddington, a few years ago. We miss her still.

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

A: Once a month on the second Thursday at 8 pm, rotating among our houses. Our husbands and kids disappear when the book ladies appear. One member has moved to a lake community an hour away, but she still drives down to our regular meetings and hosts a summer dinner meeting from her wonderful lake perch. December is always a festive dinner meeting at a different restaurant.

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

A: Of course we eat. A couple of years ago we added wine to dessert and coffee. It's the hostess's responsibility to provide refreshments. Strange word in this day and age: "hostess." Nevertheless, that's what we call her.

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

A: The Discussion Leader is the previous month's Presenter and she reads a biography of the author as well as excerpts from critical reviews. After she kicks off the discussion it usually takes on a life of its own. Once in a while we use a guide if it's published in the book.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: Good fiction usually, often by women authors, and an occasional nonfiction selection. Our selections used to have to be available in paperback, but since our local libraries joined together in an online consortium and they have a union catalog online, it's easy to borrow multiple copies of the same hardcover book from our library consortium. Even so, some of us still buy the book. At least one of us has a bookcase of "book group books" lining her living room wall.

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: At the beginning of each year, we prepare a schedule and everyone in the group must be a Presenter, a Discussion Leader, and a Hostess at least once. At each meeting, the Presenter brings three books -- preferably three she's already read -- and pitches them to the group. We vote on one. The Presenter morphs into the Discussion Leader the following month.

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

A: We don't agree on much so a favorite book is difficult to recall. One of the best discussions recently was Ella Minnow Pea, an epistolary novel. We like Barbara Kingsolver, Wallace Stegner, Sue Miller, Wally Lamb, Pat Conroy, Anita Shreve, Alice Hoffman, and many more.

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: It never occurred to us that they wouldn't be!

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

A: Don't take yourselves too seriously; just do it.

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

A: We had a couple of Mormon ladies in our group for a while years ago. One of them had a lot of children and she had a van that carried 13 people so she "volunteered" to drive the book group to NYC to see Dustin Hoffman in "Death of a Salesman." It was a brutally hot evening in the summer. The van overheated on the approach to the Lincoln Tunnel while waiting for an accident to be cleared in one of the tubes. We got out of the van, made friends with a Port Authority policeman, and when the accident cleared, he escorted us through the tunnel with his red light spinning and his siren blaring, right to the theater. So we made the 8:00 curtain with a minute to spare! Afterwards, we wrote to his supervisor to commend him.

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

A: I doubt this is unique, but it's certainly noteworthy: We all love our book group. It's been with us through thick and thin, a reliable friend that helps us mark the days and weeks and months of our lives.

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