Book clubs bring together lovers of reading

Author Deborah Sharp wraps a turquoise scarf around her neck trying to channel her title character from “Mama Does Time.”

Usually when Sharp gets into Mama’s character by speaking with a southern drawl and drinking pink wine. But on this day, the former USA Today reporter turned author is talking to members of the Newcomer’s Book Club in a Dothan living room. To get them in the mood, Sharp pulls out a collection of colorful scarves for members who aren’t wearing their own — a nod to her character’s signature piece of clothing.

This is the second time Sharp has spoken to a book club. After her first experience, the author knew she preferred the laid-back interaction over large conferences.

“I loved it so much; it’s so much more casual,” Sharp said.

In today’s world when books can be downloaded from the Internet straight to someone’s iPod, there are still those who enjoy a good, old-fashioned page-turner. And book clubs still bring those who love reading together.

Sharp’s appearance at a recent Newcomer’s Book Club is not typical of a meeting. The author is married to member Helen-Sue Kemp’s nephew and made the stop in Dothan as part of a trip to Birmingham from Sharp’s home in central Florida. As the discussion of Sharp’s first book unfolds, there are the expected questions — Does she model her characters after people in her life? How did she get started? How did she get published?

“We love to read,” Kemp said. “One thing I really like about it is we get quite a variety. There are many books I would have never picked up.”

Funny books, serious books, fiction, nonfiction, plays, Chinese books, local authors and redneck romps like Sharp’s book are all on the reading list. The Newcomer’s Book Club meets monthly in a member’s house with someone serving as moderator. Every six months, members suggest books and the top six are chosen for reading.

“You learn so much about the different people as well as different styles of writing,” Kemp said.

Members of book clubs said it’s the discussion of the books as much as reading that draws them to the groups.

Barbara Minsky teaches business graduate courses at Troy University’s Dothan Campus. She’s a member of two book clubs — the monthly Newcomer’s club and a weekly morning book club that meets at the Houston-Love Memorial Library.

A ferocious reader, Minsky joined the Newcomer’s club in 2000, not long after it started.

“It forces me to read things I would normally not read,” Minsky said. “Just discussing things we’ve read with other people raises new things.”

The two book clubs couldn’t be more different.

At the weekly Thursday-morning meeting, the group gathered around a conference room table at the library. Because they meet weekly, they read shorter works — short stories, poetry or essays. The group is using an anthology from the Great Books Foundation that features work by Isak Denison, Leo Tolstoy and even the Declaration of Independence.

On this Thursday, the discussion surrounded an essay on studying written by Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega Y Gasset. The essay delved into the weighty idea of how we gain knowledge and what is true knowledge. The members didn’t necessarily like the essay or agree with the philosopher’s thoughts, but the camaraderie between the members was clear.

Member Penny Viot moderated the essay discussion. She’s likes the weekly meetings because it’s more of a study group.

“I read to learn,” Viot said. “A lot of people read for entertainment. I’m kind of a mixture.”

Houston-Love Memorial librarian Bettye Forbus attends a weekly evening book club. For her, it’s the fun of a college literature class without the stress.

“The value of this is the interaction — not reading in a vacuum,” Forbus said. “You can completely change your opinion about something after you hear what other people have to say about it.”

And everybody brings their own life experiences to the discussion, she said.

“Hearing the different people’s perspectives may either reinforce what you think or change your opinion 180 degrees,” Forbus said. “ ... It just broadens your horizon.”