When Ann Smith could not find a book club in her area, she decided to start one on her own. She began “Books, Brunch and Friends” six years ago with four women she had met through the Internet. Since then, the group has expanded to include 15 members. In this interview, Ann shares some memorable moments with her group --- including a chat with author Connie May Fowler --- and explains how group discussions can build lasting friendships.

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

A: We have just recently chosen a name for our group: “Books, Brunch and Friends.” I started our group back in July 2002 with four ladies I met over the Internet. I couldn't find a book club in my city so I decided to start one on my own.

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

A: Currently, we have 15 members --- all women and the ages range from 20s to 50s. Presently we do not have any men in our group, but we are open to having men in our group.

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

A: We meet every second Sunday of the month at local restaurants for brunch.

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

A: Since we meet at restaurants there is always food at our meetings.

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

A: I usually lead the discussion and try to keep everyone focused on the book and discussion questions. But sometimes we are guilty of veering off track of the book and start to gossip. Yes, we do use reading group guides when available. I email the guide to everyone prior to the meeting so that the ladies can peruse the questions at their leisure. I also provide copies of the questions at the meetings.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: Our group reads all genres of books (fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, biographies and women's literature). We are open to anything.

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: Every member is assigned a month so that they can select their book and a restaurant of their choice. This is a lot of fun; it's like having two clubs in one --- book club and restaurant club.

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

A: Some of our favorite books are Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden,Expecting Adam by Martha Beck, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards, The Red Tent by Anita Diamant and Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: We really don't have to try to make things fun. Our idea of fun is reading and discussing great (and sometimes not so great) books, having a great brunch and making great friends. That's how I got our book club's name: “Books, Brunch and Friends”!

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

A: My only advice is to have fun and enjoy making new friends in your group. I look forward to each meeting just so that I can see my wonderful friends

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

A: Our group had two great opportunities in the past. Our first was when our book club won a contest (a book for every member and a chat with the author by phone) through ReadingGroupGuides.com with Connie May Fowler. We won 12 copies of The Problem with Murmur Lee and we had a great discussion with Connie.

Our second opportunity was just this past November 2007. One of our members is friends with Pam Jenoff, author of The Kommandant's Girl. This member (Kristin) arranged for Pam Jenoff to attend our meeting for a wonderful discussion, and Pam also signed everyone's copy of her book. Pam is a truly exceptional person and author.

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

A: We are just a group of women who came together through the love of books, and we all managed to become great friends in the process.

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