My current book group has achieved impressive longevity.  It began in 1985 and shows no signs of faltering.

Before that date I had taken part in two other groups.  Though I did not retain notes on either of them, I believe they both began in the nineteen seventies and ended in that same decade. Our current group reconfigured itself many years ago, after some tension over religion and politics.

Those who have studied book groups estimate that, throughout the country, they have reached more than 250 thousand in number. To my amazement, some eighty percent of groups are made up entirely of women.

That’s not true of our group, although women are in the majority. Our total is thirteen members, with all of us at least middle-aged.

Most of our participants are better readers than I. I count this as an advantage, since I profit from their insights.

That’s what makes this group of special value to me. Our discussions help me to reach a deeper understanding of familiar writers like Jane Austen, or new ones like Per Petersen or Jennifer Egan.

Of course, members frequently find fault with parts of the books we have read.  As highly experienced readers, my friends know how to quarrel with an authors choices. Again, that makes me appreciate being a member.

Members usually know enough not to monopolize the discussion.  If they do, we have warm enough relationships to know how to reclaim the floor.

It probably helps that most, if not all, of our members come from the same spiritual/religious tradition. I hope this does not make us too similar. It may help that many of us seem to have become quite critical of that tradition.

We vary our reading between fiction and nonfiction. Often that also involves our following a particular theme.

But we feel free to depart from this scheme.  The book chosen for this month, for instance, is Sargent’s Daughters: the Biography of a Painting, a work very different from most other choices.  Its author, Erica Hirshler, is an art historian,, but this work is notable as social history as well.

Members of our group show tolerance toward those who may not have read the chosen book. I like members to feel confident enough that we honor the person who offers opinions nonetheless.. Such eccentricities are not unknown even in academic communities.

These activities prove to me that many Americans are aware of the value of coming together socially.  In particular, by recognizing how many benefits there are in using one’s brain, we take pleasure in improving our intellectual scope.

More seriously, the book group for me is a part of a community of value shared by all of us.  As the oldest member, I take special pleasure in association with friends a whole lot younger. And that advantage allows me sometimes to comment on history that I have lived through but others have not.

As my 2001 column on this subject observed, “of all the devices that enhance the experience of getting old, social networks rank among the most important.” These words, written more than a decade ago, still express some of my view of aging.

From George Vaillant, a favorite guru of mine, comes this advice: “Life ain’t easy. Terrible things happen to everyone. You have to keep your sense of humor, give something of yourself to others, make friends who are younger than you, learn new things, and have fun.”

We observe these approaches by laughing often, sharing ourselves, cultivating friendships, continuing to learn, and enjoying one another. Sounds to me like a pretty fine approach to later life or any other stage.