Joni Walter, a library employee, is the facilitator of the “Cover to Cover Book Discussion Group” in Nappanee, IN. In this interview, Joni talks about the club’s “Free-for-All” meeting each December --- in which members reflect on the books they read that year and select titles for the following year --- and how great discussions are often initiated by books that the group is not fond of.

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

A: We are called the “Cover to Cover Book Discussion Group.” We have been meeting since August 2003.

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

A: Our membership varies. We average eight members throughout the year, though we average 12 requests for the books.

We are all women at this time, though we have been joined by men from time to time depending on the book we are reading.

We vary in age from 20 to 80.

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

A: We meet at the library on the second Sunday of every month from 2-4 PM.

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

A: We do bring snacks to the December meeting. It is called our “Free-For-All.” At that time we are free to discuss all the books we have read that weren't in the discussion, and at that meeting we discuss the books we have read throughout the year that we enjoyed and decide on the next year's selections.

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

A: We have a library employee, Joni Walter, who leads the discussion. We use reading group guides, when available, but only if the discussion lags. The longer we meet, the less need we have for the guides.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: We alternate between fiction and nonfiction each month.

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 the next year's worth at our December "Free-for-All" meeting. At this one we each bring in food and discuss all the interesting books we have read or would like to read. At the end of the meeting we choose what we will read for the upcoming year. Some are books one or more of us have already read, some are taken from suggestions found online by other reading groups and some are books sent to us by publishers.

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

A: Some of the best discussions we have had are about books most of us disliked. The most interesting thing is that rarely do two people agree about what they disliked. We also have had great discussions about books that most of us weren't sure we really wanted to read and then found that we absolutely enjoyed them!

Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman was one we weren't sure about and found that all of us really enjoyed it.

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: It's the nature of the people in our group.

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

A: Don't take yourselves or the discussion too seriously.

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

A: Three of our members are former nurses, so it was a wonderful discussion when we read Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking. It really enhanced her story for the rest of the group.

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

A: We are a group of people who love books, love to read and love to discuss. We have formed friendships with people we might not normally have gotten to know, and for this we are all extremely grateful.

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