Glenda Smith is the spokesperson for The Gresford Book Club of Gresford, NSW, Australia. In this interview, Glenda explains how this laid-back, all-female group maintains a relaxed atmosphere during their meetings and shares how they plan to use a blog to supplement their discussions. She also describes the club's active participation in the community, as well as with the CWA, a large women's organization in Australia.

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

A: We simply call ourselves The Gresford Book Club --- based in the village of Gresford, NSW, Australia. We are in our 4th year.

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

A: We have up to 10 members, with a hard core of 4-5 at most meetings. A few men were approached, but none took up the offer, and the members seem generally comfortable now to be “women only.” We are mostly middle-aged; half are retired, half are still working; most of us are very active in the community.

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

A: We meet once a month on a Saturday afternoon at the local CWA (Country Women's Association) Hall.

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

A: We have afternoon tea at our meetings. It used to be random, but now we have a roster of who is responsible for providing it.

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

A: We don't have a set leader, but as a high school teacher I tend to try to keep the discussion on track. We don't use reading group guides, but I have provided a generic outline to help provide focus --- i.e. questions for the reader to ask herself on character, style, genre, etc. as she is reading.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: We read all kinds of books, from biography to fiction, classics to bestsellers, international to Australian.

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: Word of mouth, recommendations, publishers' reading lists, the literary sections of newspapers. We try to choose books a few months ahead so people can find or borrow the books. If they're currently popular, it can be hard to borrow from a library.

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

A: The Secret River by Kate Grenville, The Shark Net by Robert Drewe, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Small Island by Andrea Levy, and many others.

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: We take a relaxed approach with lots of chat before and after.

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

A: Create a blog that can be used for follow-up, reminders, observations and organization. We have one, but so far it's not being used fully.

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

A: We originally decided to meet in the CWA Hall as one of our members was president at that stage and suggested it as a way of avoiding having to host it privately. Instead of contributing a fee to cover costs incurred in using the hall and make insurance easier, we decided we'd all become members, as a few already were. As a result, the membership of the CWA has received a healthy boost; some of the members have taken on executive roles in the CWA and have been to state conferences; and the book club has become their “cultural activity.” There has been a significant ripple effect.

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

A: One of our members suggested starting a library in the hall, and it has taken off brilliantly. All of the books and bookshelves have been donated (and there is no shortage!), and new shelving material was funded by the CWA and built with donated labor. Now, it is a viable community library (other public libraries being in larger towns a half-hour drive away). The borrowing is supervised by a CWA member who is not in the book club, but opens the hall once a week for craft activities and borrowing. It's become a definite community asset.

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