Book Group #15 The Cyber Book Group

32 Candles by Ernessa Carter.    

Upstate by Kalisha Buchanon.      

Indulgence in Death by J. D. Robb.         

The Twelfth Card by Jeffrey Deaver.    

Game Change by John Heileman.       

We are a cyber book club--our discussions are online--with members from all around the country. The titles we choose must be available in print form and as audiobooks, and they must have something that appeals to all members.The discussion leader rotates amongst the 24 women members. We meet twice a month.

Book Group #14 The Mysteries-Only Group

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey.      

Victoria Vanishes by Christopher Fowler.    

The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin.         

Scary Stuff by Sharon Fiffer.                           

Rather than all of us reading the same book and discussing it, each member of this mysteries-only group presents her selection of a book, giving background material, author information, and so on without, of course, dropping any spoilers on 'whodunit.' Each presentation is supposed to last about five minutes. So the discussion ratings above are not exactly like what  the other book groups have provided. They represent members' reviews of good reads. There are 15 members--all women, with many retired librarians and teachers. We meet every other month on the first Sunday. We eat and visit for about 15-20 minutes (and laugh a lot) then get down to the presentations which the hostess usually kicks off. Only rarely does more than one member choose the same book to review. Best advice for other groups is to try to hold to a reasonable time limit for the presenter/commentator.

Book Group #13

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman.    

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus.        

Same Different as Me by Ron Hall                     

The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields                   

These are some selections at the South Branch Book Group where a staff member hosts the discussion. Most books read are Oprah's picks and from the New York Times Best Seller lists; only one Nobel Prize author was read. For a successful group, I suggest you open up the title selection process so that everyone has input into what is read and discussed. Make sure everyone has a chance to speak by limiting the time someone can comment. We are a mixed group that meets once a month.

(For more info on the Evanston Library branch book groups, see survey responses #2 and #5).

Book Group #12

Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.    

The Marble Faun by Nathaniel Hawthorne.    

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.    

Moby Dick by Herman Melville.    

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.    

The focus of our group is Great Books, versus, for example, current best sellers. Our discussion leader is a former member of the Shimer College faculty. Best discussions result when everyone has read the book, listens actively, and grounds his or her comments in the text. We select books by group consensus. We are a small, coed group of 4 to 6 members that meets monthly.

Book Group #11

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner.    

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman.    

The Land Remembers by Ben Logan.    

Deep Creek by Dana Hand.    

Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem.    

This group is not afraid to tackle challenging fiction, but we do like a good story and sympathetic (or at least convincing) characters. A larger moral perspective doesn't hurt either. Most of us are over 50, and themes of loyalty, love, loss, duty and friendship resonate now more than ever. Deep Creek, for instance, generated one of the most stimulating discussions I've ever had about the meanings of America at its best and its worst. The host of the meeting leads the discussion, and usually has starter questions from author websites and book club guides. We find our selections mostly from newspaper and magazine reviews, sometimes word-of-mouth suggestions. We are a coed group of 12 that meets once a month.

Book Group #10

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner.    

So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell.    

The Pickup by Nadine Gortimer.    

Washington Square by Henry James.    

Author, Author by David Lodge.    

This group likes to read standard classics. It's a coed group, all of us are over 60, We meet monthly. The leader role rotates through the membership. We usually have 12 members at a meeting. When we take suggestions for our reading list, we avoid "way out," postmodern novels.