LitClub: Ladies of the Lake
South Lake Tahoe, CA, and Zephyr Cove, NV


LAKE TAHOE, one of the most beautiful spots on earth, is home to this active group of women. What else could they call their book club but Ladies of the Lake?

What got you together?
We all enjoy reading good books and like to discuss with others what we read. Plus, it's a great way to get together and bond with friends.

You're pretty new.
Right, we started in March, 2012. So we're just coming up on our first anniversary, and we already have 12 members.

And you're also avid tennis players?
Yes. We play throughout the year on different teams for the U.S. Tennis Association of Northern California. So it's fun to get to know each other off the court and discuss something other than tennis.

Tell us what you've read this year.
Here's our list...
Unbroken
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
Visit from the Goon Squad
Fifty Shades of Grey
Open by Andre Agassi
Shanghai Girls
Immortal Life/Henrietta Lacks
Cutting for Stone
Hunger Games
A Christmas Carol by Dickens

You also have a rating system.
After discussing a book, each member rates it on a 1-10 scale in three separate categories:

1. Did you Enjoy the book?
2. Would you Recommend it?
3. Does it have Literary Merit?

One of our members averages the results and announces them at the December meeting.

And the winner...?
Unbroken was the favorite—the survival story was amazing. We also enjoyed Dickens's A Christmas Carol.

You have lots of fun with book themes. Want to tell us what you do?
The discussion leader is also our hostess, and its up to her to come up with a different way to present the questions.

• For Open, we wrapped the questions around a trophy.
• Our Shanghai Girls questions were put into decorative Chinese take out boxes.
• For The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the hostess (who is also a nurse) put questions in test tubes and labeled them with our members' code names (using the HELA idea). We had to use surgical tools to remove the questions from the test tubes.
• The Cutting for Stone questions were buried inside of a pumpkin (flesh, seeds and all); we took turns fishing them out with surgical gloves. (See photo.)
• For Fifty Shades, we put discussion questions into condoms. [Had to save this for last! —Ed.]

How about your "Man Month"—what is it?
Beginning this year we will have one month when we include our spouses and significant others. We're referring to it as our "Man Month."

How do you choose your books?
We choose all our books at the end of the year, at our December meeting. Whoever nominates the book will host the meeting and lead the discussion.

The December meeting—held at a local restaurant—is when we exchange wrapped ornaments and wrapped books. We also learn how we rated the past year's books. (See above.)

Finally, how would you describe your club?
We're a physically active and diverse group of women looking for fun wherever we find it, especially in the great outdoors. When not in book club, we enjoy different outdoor activities (besides tennis)—Skiing, Snowshoeing, Cross Country Skiing, Kayaking, Hiking, Fishing, Swimming, Mountain Biking, etc.

Most important, we take care and support each other and our community. We're so grateful to live in such a beautiful area as Lake Tahoe!