Book clubs come and go.
They start with a shared love of reading and the desire to discuss a good book. Members may also want to venture outside of the genre they read most often.
They often end because members can’t commit to a day and time, whether because of other commitments or a lack of serious interest, or because of chatting that can dominate meetings in lieu of book discussions.
So how does one Tucson book club manage to continue to be strong more than 25 years after it began?
Words, Women and Wine is a book club that Dr. Susan Kalota has belonged to for at least 25 years. She has been involved in running it for 20 years and as of last year, it became a sponsor for the Tucson Festival of Books — the only book club to hold such a position as of the end of 2018.
About 15 women meet monthly in members’ homes to discuss the latest book, complete with a book-themed dinner.
Now that the club is a sponsor of the annual book festival, the group has a table at the Author Table Dinner the Friday evening before the festival, which runs March 2-3. Once the group knows which author will be at its table, they will read that author’s book or as much as possible depending on the length so they can discuss it with him or her.
The members also try to read the latest books of authors whose presentations they plan to attend at the festival.
While they don’t make a plan for the festival, the members do report back on presentations or workshops they found interesting. Kalota said she has gone to panels for one author and then decided to read something from another author on the panel whom she hadn’t heard about before.
Kalota doesn’t have a favorite genre, but being a member of a book club does broaden her reading horizons. The members are all women and come from a variety of professions including doctors, lawyers, therapists, nurses, accountants, a pharmaceutical researcher and other fields.
Membership is limited so discussion is possible at the meetings. This group spends the meeting time discussing the chosen book — chatting about other things is saved for times outside of book club meetings.
The women know several people who might like to join, but only once in the last few years have they invited a new member in when others have left or moved away.
While the Tucson Festival of Books is like heaven to these women who love to read, it does create one problem: Kalota still hasn’t read all of the books she bought at the last book festival, and another is coming soon.
