Barbie Martin of Vincennes, Indiana reveals the origin of her book club's name, Upsilamba. Although there is no bookstore in their immediate area, this doesn't prevent Barbie and her fellow members --- who are all high school teachers --- from enjoying great books and having insightful discussions about them.

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

A: We started meeting a year ago in May. We actually were just having dinner together before high school graduation, and we started talking about books and decided to start a book club.

We call ourselves the Upsilamba Book Club because one of the first books we read was Reading Lolita in Tehran.

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

A: We have seven people in our group --- six women and one man. We have two members in their 30s, two in their 40s, and three in their 50s.

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

A: We meet once a month at each other's homes. The May meeting will always be at a local restaurant before graduation since that is how we started. One other time we met at a local winery for a wine tasting with our monthly meeting.

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

A: We always meet at dinner. Whoever is hosting provides the main dish and drinks with everyone else bringing sides and desserts. We usually do simple things like soup and sandwiches. A couple of times we just ordered pizza.

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

A: We are all outspoken, so no one leads specifically. We haven't used guides in the past.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: We read mostly fiction, but occasionally nonfiction. We read everything from "beach trash" to classics. We've read Footprints of God, The Good Earth, Digital Fortress, Losing Julia, Reading Lolita in Tehran, and The Poet.

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 pick six books at a time. When it's time to select, we all bring suggestions and go from there. We always pick several because we don't have a bookstore in town, so we have to drive an hour away to the closest one or order online. It's easier with more than one book instead of month by month.

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

A: Our favorite as a group has been The Poet by Michael Connelly. We often disagree about our other selections, but we all agreed this book was just a good page-turner.

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: Gossip and alcohol.

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

A: Don't take yourselves too seriously, even when you're reading a serious book. Don't put down other opinions. Always read the book!

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

A: We are high school teachers --- three English teachers, two history teachers, one special education teacher, and one German teacher.

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