Special Interest Group: Reading and Riding Book Club began talking literature on bikes; 30 years later they’ve trimmed down on bike rides but still meet monthly

Last week, a group of well-read women gathered at Erika Burden’s home. They dined on a rigatoni and ricotta casserole, served with homemade bread, and they talked books – specifically, “The Catcher in the Rye.”

For 30 years, members of the Reading and Riding book club have shared a monthly meal and enjoyed lively discussions about a selected book.

Cindy Sawyer, one of the group’s founders, described the evolution of the club.

“Six of us rode bikes together a lot,” she explained.

Their conversations almost always turned to books, so they began going out for cocktails or meeting for a meal at someone’s home to continue their bookish chats.

“We don’t ride bikes together much anymore, but there are still four original members.”

Angela Witter is one of them.

“We never thought the group would still be going 30 years later!” she said.

That’s a lot of books read – 350 of them by Sawyer’s count.

As members ebbed and flowed, they chose to limit the group to 12 to optimize conversation. Each year, a member picks a month to host. She chooses the book and provides the meal. The December meeting is reserved for Christmas shenanigans.

“It’s a group of intelligent women who are good listeners,” said Sawyer. “We just became good friends.”

Burden has been a member for 27 years and has chosen November as her hosting month for the past 11.

“Every once in a while, I pick a classic,” she said, explaining why they were reading “The Catcher in the Rye.”

“It’s been a long time since some of us have read it, and some of us have never read it.”

Typically, the hostess provides discussion questions, but this time, Burden asked the ladies to write a brief reflection on what stood out or resonated with them.

She particularly enjoys books that feature animals.

“’Water for Elephants’ stuck in my soul,” Burden said.

Of course, not every book is a hit with every member.

“I wish I’d never read ‘Room,’ ” she said. “It terrorized me!”

The group is registered at Auntie’s Bookstore, which gives them a 15% discount on their book club picks, but Witter said many of them get their books at the library.

She relishes the deep dive they take into their selections. One of her favorites was “Winter Wheat.”

“It’s a classic from the 1940s,” she said. “You had to use your imagination and really think about it.”

Sometimes the hostess will serve a meal or a dish related to a book.

“When we read a book about a boy on a farm whose grandma made apple cake, I made an apple cake for our meeting,” Witter said.

Sawyer recalled reading a book that featured Mardi Gras.

“Someone baked a king cake with a plastic baby in it,” she said. “That was fun!”

Maria Hatcher, a newer member, was grateful for the invitation to join the Reading and Riding book club.

“My best friend is a member, and when they had an opening five years ago, I joined,” she said. “I lost my husband during that time. I don’t know what I would have done without my bookie friends. Friendships are difficult to come by.”

One of the first books she read with the group was “The Great Believers.” The novel is set in 1985 during the AIDS epidemic.

“As a nurse, I was really caught by that,” Hatcher said.

“Starvation Heights,” the first book she picked for the group, also had a health-related theme. The true crime thriller tells the story of two sisters who travel to a sanatorium in the Pacific Northwest to undergo a revolutionary “fasting treatment.”

Before undergoing treatment, many guests opted to have a decadent “last meal.” When Hatcher hosted the book club, she served Parmesan-crusted halibut with risotto.

She laughed.

“I chose to go with decadent – bread and water wouldn’t have been much fun.”

The real fun is in the variety of books they’ve read over the years and the depth of the friendship they share.

And they’ve inspired the next generation.

“My 28-year-old daughter has watched me do this all these years,” Witter said. “Now, she’s started her own book club in Whitefish, Montana.”