Escape book group.

How did the group get started?

Daniela (Dani) Guse runs an English bookshop (www.escapebooks.de) in Hanover, Germany, and has offered some English readings for adults. When a few customers asked her to offer a more "active" event (instead of listening to a reading, they wanted to practice their English conversation skills), she set up the first book club meeting in March 2006 with her American friend Jenny, who is temporarily living in Germany with her husband. The first book the group chose was Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. An easy and entertaining read, it didn't tackle sensitive issues that might have scared off potential members.

How would you describe your group?

The group size varies, depending on what we read and when we meet. Our ages range from the mid-20s to over 60, and we are Germans, Americans, Canadians, and others who have spent time in the United States. With an English teacher, a PR manager, a law professor, housewives, a hardware engineer, an environmental scientist, an employee of the university in Veterinary Medicine, and a librarian, we are an eclectic mix of people with different lives and ideas. We are very proud of our four regular male members, even if they have had some rough times with us while discussing female stereotypes in Ira Levin's The Stepford Wives or Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale! Before Dani founded the group, the members hadn't met each other before--but the love of reading English books has connected us all.

How does your group operate?

We meet once a month (usually the last Wednesday) at the bookshop. When we start at 7:00 p.m., the shop is already closed, so we have a nice atmosphere with all these books around--just for us. Dani or Jenny prepares the discussion, which means they have read the book at least twice and taken notes, developed questions, and acquired background material about the author and the book.

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What are some of the best books you've read?

With so many different people in our group, it is hard to reach a consensus on this question. Nevertheless, we very much enjoyed Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time because of its unusual narrator (an autistic child) and its interesting approach to dealing with autism. We also appreciated The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde for its careful construction and allusions to other literature. Since we've mentioned this book many times in our meetings, the thought-provoking The Handmaid's Tale seems to be our overall favorite book.

What books sparked the best discussions?

Coincidentally, three books by female writers (up until now we have read only five female writers) prompted outstanding discussions. The Handmaid's Tale, filled with symbolism, presented a different view of women from the usual Western perspective. Love by Toni Morrison also inspired a very lively evening--after we helped each other figure out the plot in some places. We talked a great deal about the significance of the number seven. Also, we had some very good discussions about Armistead Maupin's The Night Listener and The Eyre Affair.

What books gave you some trouble?

We had the most trouble with Peter Carey's My Life as a Fake. Because of its story-within-a-story construction, we had difficulty understanding the plot. A lot of us didn't finish the book: we were confused by the interwoven stories and the blurring between the real and the fake. The missing quotation marks also posed some difficulty.

Another book that troubled us was Toni Morrison's Love, though it raised thought-provoking discussion. The complicated plot, with all its female characters, and the nonlinear narrative were quite challenging for us. Sometimes we stumbled over the author's use of African American slang. Still, the book was absolutely worth reading.

What were your biggest controversies?

Compared with other book clubs Jenny has attended in the United States, our group seems very polite and not as opinionated. Well, according to the stereotype about northern Germans, we are an unemotional people and as cool as cucumbers! Joking aside, when you have to argue in another language, you often say less than you could using your native tongue. Limited vocabulary restricts your ability to express very emotional opinions.

We did argue about Lois Lowry's The Giver. When someone mentioned that it seemed to be a children's adaptation of George Orwell's 1984, some participants raised some of the same arguments that have placed this book every year in the ALA's list of the Top Ten Banned Books: its violence, its theme of euthanasia, and its general unsuitability for children. When a mother said that she would definitely recommend this book to her teenaged daughter, our discussion became even hotter--especially about the violent situations children see in the media today.

What advice do you have for other groups?

Just have fun. Even if you don't like the book, it is often very enlightening to hear what others think. We all had a lot trouble with Toni Morrison's Love, and Dani was very nervous: she worried about trying to address questions she couldn't answer because she didn't understand all of the book as well. Yet our discussion of the novel was one of the best we ever had. It is always interesting to catch deeper meanings in a work of fiction and to realize that more than just the surface meaning exists. Finally, just enjoy being with other book lovers!

SUBMITTED BY DANIELA GUSE HANOVER, GERMANY