Jeanne Nott is a member of “The Observatory Place Book Club,” which was started by the residents of a new complex in Denver, CO. In this interview, Jeanne talks about the benefits of being in a small group, some of the memorable books they have discussed together and the surprising ties each member has to the nearby university.

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

A: The name of our club is “The Observatory Place Book Club” and we have been meeting for about seven months.

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

A: We are a small group of five members, one man and four women. Ages are 60 and over.

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

A: We meet once a month at different members’ homes.

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

A: Yes. The person who is hosting the meeting supplies coffee and dessert.

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

A: We appoint a facilitator for the meeting, and he or she leads the discussion. We usually use reading group guides.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: So far we have read Body & Soul, Death Comes for the Archbishop, A Woman in Charge and The Senator’s Wife.

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: When we started the group, all of us sat down and talked about what we liked to read. We chose our first four books at that meeting.

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

A: We read The Senator’s Wife and followed it with A Woman in Charge. The discussions were quite interesting comparing the different characters (both real and fictional).

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: It has been fun with this group since we all just met and live in the same new complex. Every condo is different, and it has been fun getting a tour of each place.

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

A: We were disappointed that more people didn’t sign up, but we have found that the smaller group allows us to have more time to share.

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

A: Our complex is located across from the University of Denver, and we have found that we all have ties to the University in one way or another. A couple of us are wives of professors, and others are graduates of Denver University or have children or grandchildren who have or are attending DU.

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