THINKING ABOUT STARTING A READING GROUP?

What type of books do you want to read? This should be decided on in advance. If your group is drawn together by a common desire to read -- for instance -- Science Fiction, then the process will be easy. If not, then assess your group's goals, and establish the types of literature you wish to read.

Ask a few friends. Three or four people is enough. Meeting once a month is a typical arrangement, but of course it will depend on members' schedules. Allow at least two or three hours for discussion. You would normally talk at least that much to catch up on events. This time you will have a more compelling focus for conversation.

Decide if your group would like to discuss books over hors d'oeuvres (and wine!) This is always more fun. Each month another member can play host to the gathering and provide the refreshments.

Upon selecting a title, you can ask the person who recommended it to find out more about the author. You may even find the author has a Web site and e-mail. Go to the publisher's Web site to see if there is a reading group guide and print it out. For instance, at HarperCollins.com, you can search Reading Guides by Title, Author, and Subject.

There are thousands of questions you can ask about a book, but the best one to get the ball rolling is: Does the book work? If so, why? Were the characters rendered fully? Were they real? Did the writer create an atmosphere that you could visualize? Was there a narrator? Was there a point? Were you inspired?

Disagreement is good! It will spark the greatest of conversations, and can often lead to an understanding of more potent and complex issues.

There are many different criteria setup by individual groups in regard to how many people should read a selected book. We highly recommend that everyone in the group read the book. It will make for a much livelier and fulfilling discussion. Become part of HarperCollins' Reading Community! To receive Readers' Roundtable, a monthly newsletter full of updates about the latest guides available online, Invite the Author updates, and special offers, please sign up.