Heather Johnson is the head of "Storie delle Sorrelle," aka "Stories of the Sisters," from Glen Burnie, MD. In this interview, Heather shares details about this fun and devoted group of women, who have been known to attend meetings wearing crazy hats or themed clothing, participate in discussions via conference call and give "book reports" during hectic months. She also describes the club's diversity in both age and reading material, explains the amount of extensive research they do on the author and title before each meeting, and sheds light on how they decided upon their unique name.

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

A: Our name is "Storie delle Sorrelle," which is Italian for "Stories of the Sisters." We wanted a name that reflected our identity and our goals, as well as something that sounded good. One of our members even had tote bags embroidered with our group name made for each of us. We have been meeting since May 2005. 

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

A: We have approximately 15 members, give or take. All are women and range in age from mid-20s to late-50s. 

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

A: We usually meet once a month, but that varies. Our rule of thumb is to give one week of reading time for every 100 pages in a book (so a 500-page book gets 5 weeks). In the winter we meet at each other's homes, and in the summer we meet at an outdoor Mexican restaurant for Happy Hour.

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

A: Our meetings ALWAYS involve food. At our summer meetings, we all chip in for appetizers at the restaurant. In the winter, the hostess prepares the main course and everyone else brings an appetizer, dessert, salad, etc. We usually try to follow the theme of the book in choosing what food to eat.

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

A: Heather Johnson is the head of the book club. She does some background research on the book and author before each discussion. She uses reading group guides and her own list of questions for part of the discussion, but leaves things open for other comments/questions as well.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: We read just about anything. There are no limits on what types of books can be chosen. 

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: After trying several different methods for choosing books, we came up with one that works for us. We drew names from a hat and used that list to decide who chooses the next book. We usually choose one at a time, but in the summer (or other busy times of year) we will choose the next 2-3 books at once.

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

A: Some of our most interesting discussions were about East of Eden by John Steinbeck, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley and What Our Mothers Didn’t Tell Us by Danielle Crittenden. Our group was very polarized in its opinions on these books, which made for very heated and interesting discussions.

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: The girls in our group are a fun bunch, so we don't need to put much effort into having fun! But we do some crazy thing sometimes, like after reading The Secret Life of Bees we all wore crazy hats to the next meeting (like the ladies in the book) and dressed up in Japanese garb for our meeting on Memoirs of a Geisha.

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

A: A bit of research into the book, author, etc. can add so much to your discussion.  For example, after understanding the spiritual beliefs of Marion Zimmer Bradley, we were able to see how her personal beliefs influenced the content of The Mists of Avalon. Another example is Memoirs of a Geisha --- there's lots to know about the author, the character the novel was based on and the fallout from the novel's release. The research can be done quickly, but we feel it's vital to the discussion.

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

A: Our girls hate to miss meetings! During one meeting, I called from my vacation in California and was put on speaker phone in the middle of the table so I could be part of the discussion. At that same meeting, another girl was home with the flu, and she also called in and was put on speaker phone. Needless to say, we all had a great time trying to hear each other and figure out who was talking!

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

A: One unique thing about our club is that we have two mother-daughter groups. We also do several unique things. We rate every book we read.  Each person gets a vote, using a 1-10 scale. Heather keeps a master list of our votes and our score for each book. Also, when we get overloaded with reading, we do a book report night instead. Each person reads whichever book they want and, at the meeting, gives a brief summary of the book and her opinions on it. If you don't have time to read, you can just report on a book you've read in the past. Oh, and one other unique thing --- several of our members use books on tape/CD when they are extra busy but don't want to miss out on the current book.

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