Who We Are

There are 20 ladies on the SdelleS mailing list but only half of them are active members. Here is a bit about each of us, starting with the original members [at least, those who gave me info to add!].




Heather - Book Club Founder and unofficial leader ... I started this club back in the summer of '05 because I am a reading addict and am always looking for people to discuss my books with me. I love to learn (and to teach) so researching authors, themes, etc. is a perfect fit for me. My favorite thing about SdelleS is our discussion time ... you know, those great discussions where everyone has an opinion and a strong desire to share it. That doesn't happen with every book, but when it does, I'm in my glory! A little about me ... I've been married since '98 and have a son who was born in '02. My favorite things to read are historical fiction, true stories and the sci-fi/fantasy of Robert Jordan, David Eddings, Orson Scott Card, Frank Herbert, JRR Tolkien and the Dungeons and Dragons series. In addition to reading, I'm an avid scrapbooker and family historian.


Kara - original club member, Heather's college friend



Carrie - original club member, Heather's childhood friend



Nicole - original club member, Heather's sister



Steph - original club member, sister to Kara ... I joined SdelleS for some self-care time, girl time, and because I love to read (well, usually). My favorite thing about book club is that is gives me time with family & friends & always good food. A little about me ... I am a fun-loving thrill seeker but have a busy schedule. So books are a way for me to get a quick thrill when I can't jet off to another state or country for a reality thrill (like volcanoes and scuba diving...). It is also time for me to just be me, to take off the hat of being a professional and wear the hat of being a fun-loving, spiritual woman with my family and friends.


Bev - member since 2005, Kara & Steph's mom


Nancy - member since 2006, Bev's friend ... I joined SdelleS for the love of reading, conversation and friendship. My favorite thing about the club is that we are a diverse group of women who bring an array of experience and personality. Each has a story and we are sisters in heart, hence our chosen book club name! Our meetings are serious, yet FUN and always interesting. The themed meals make the meetings enjoyable to plan. A little about me ... I am a 51 year young woman, Fancy Nancy is my name. My interests include knitting, stamping, party planning, cooking, gardening, shopping (treasure hunting and bargain shopping), spending time with family, traveling and helping others. I love anything that sparkles and yes, I admit, I read Martha Stewart Magazine and follow her show. Cannot help it, she does have great ideas!



Annette - member since 2006, Heather & Nicole's mom


Amber - member since 2006, Heather & Nicole's friend



Anna - member since 2006, Carrie's friend ... I would often read books and not finish them, so I hoped that being in a book club would give me the extra nudge to finish books. My favorite things about the club are meeting some pretty amazing women and all the great FOOD and laughs we share. Hmm, not sure what to tell you about me. The great thing about our book club is we get to know each other and share a lot of ourselves and our lives with each other. Some things that may surprise everyone about me:

1. I took Opera lessons (I love to sing, but not opera)

2. I love taking language classes, most recently I took Russian

3. I wish I could be a professional dancer (not with a pole)... ha ha ha...

4. My passion is to have enough money to oversee an Orphanage and guarantee that every child will receive the BEST care and feel loved until a family adopts them. Thus the reason I selected Russian as my recent language class (they have the most horrible Orphanages in Russia and the government has restricted help for decades).

Joan - member since 2007, invited by Heather


Jessica - member since 2007, started attending in 2008, invited by Carrie

Kelli - member since 2007, started attending in 2008, invited by Carrie

Welcome to Storie delle Sorelle

Welcome to the blogging homepage of our book club, Storie delle Sorelle. This site is meant to help our club share ideas about our books, and to hear from new and interesting people as well.

A little about our club ...

I formed the club in May of 2005 after trying unsuccessfully to find an existing group to join. Rather than bemoaning the lack of established - and welcoming - clubs, I decided to start my own. So I emailed every woman in my address book and found a few that were interested. We started off with about 5 members. By encouraging members to bring friends and invite random people, our group has grown steadily; currently we have 11 members who attend meetings and another 9 on our mailing list. We are all women, and although there is no official rule against inviting men, we enjoy our time away from husbands/boyfriends/etc. and will probably never have men in the group.

About our name ...

The girls wanted an interesting name that described who we are. After much debate, we came up with Storie delle Sorelle, which is Italian for Stories of the Sisters. We like to think that we connect to each other through books and also through our own stories, forming a bond akin to family. There was no particular reason for choosing an Italian name except that it sounded good!

How we choose & rate books ...

At first, we nominated a list of books and voted on those titles but this became unwieldy as we added new members. So now each member gets a turn to choose any book she likes and everyone has to read it. I really thought this would be a bad idea because I thought I'd end up reading lots of books I didn't like. But in reality it has been great. The entire group benefits from reading a wide variety of books that we might otherwise have voted down. After reading a book, each member give it a rating between 1-10 (10 being the highest). I then average out the scores announce the official rating to the group.

When & where we meet ...

Our rule of thumb is to allow one week for every 100 pages in the book. That usually results in monthly meetings but not always. At the moment we are meeting exclusively on weekends to allow more people to attend. We usually meet at member's houses and everyone brings food to share (sometimes based on a theme from the book). In the summer we occasionally meet at an outdoor restaurant for Happy Hour where we drink 1/2 price margaritas and share lots of 1/2 price appetizers.

A note on audio books ...

We are very open to the use of audio books. One member uses them exclusively and the rest of us use them as needed. We feel that they give a different and valuable perspective on the book - sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. We don't feel that using audio books is cheating. Instead it is a way to keep us with the group when needed, and to fit great new books into our busy lives.

About us ...

My name is Heather, and I'm the official head of the book club (aka the Book Club Madam). It wasn't meant to be this way, but I don't mind. I'm the one who comes up with the discussion questions, background on the author, and any other pertinent info for each discussion. Our active members include:

• Annette - my mother
• Nicole - my sister
• Kara - my college roommate
• Stephanie - Kara's sister
• Bev - Kara's mother
• Nancy - Bev's friend
• Carrie - my childhood friend
• Amber - my high school travel friend
• Anna - Carrie's friend
• Kelli - Carrie's friend
• Joan - a woman I met in the thrift store :)

There will be more posted about each of these women, probably some time in November '07.

About this blog ...

I intend for this blog to be a place to share ideas on our current book selection. I'd also like to find other book clubs in our area to meet up with on occasion. SdelleS members are free to post whatever they want to this site, provided that it relates to the topic. Random readers are also welcome to post comments but I ask that they be relevant, timely, and not offensive in any way.

Thanks for reading!

PS. Thoughts on new members ...

We are open to new members, but that doesn't mean that we'll take just anybody. At this point everyone in the club is either an original member or was invited by an original member. We would like to add new viewpoints and opinions to our group however we have to be careful; most of our meetings are in our homes and we don't invite just anyone there. That's not to say we absolutely won't accept new members, but it will be done on a case by case basis. I'm also happy to give advice or help you start your own book club.