Courtesy of Lisi Robison

Seated: Lisi Robison, Katherine Walker. Standing: Nancy Chapin, Adrienne Goldstein, Liz Frankl, Linda Webb, Cabell Yewell.

Books are what bring this group of friends together each month. At least that is why they call it a book club meeting. However, it is because of the friendships and the sharing of their own stories that the women really carve out this time to be together.

At a time when everyone is busy, and many communicate via technology, these women find pleasure in good, old-fashioned face-to-face conversation. They linger over a glass of wine, a dinner inspired by the book they have read that month, and one another's words. No cell phones are answered. No texting is done under the table.

On the first Tuesday of November, Lisi Robison hosted the book club that has met for over ten years now. Robison remembers she and Ann Trinkle (who is not present tonight), decided they needed mental stimulation between grocery shopping and diaper changing when their children were little. Neither could remember the last book they had read other than parenting books. A book club seemed like the perfect solution to provide intellectual stimulation, and adult conversation. Friends Linda Webb and Adrienne Bloss agreed, and the book club was born.

"Nobody really knows who came into the group when," Webb says, "but we've all known each other a really long time. Some of us grew up together. It doesn't matter how it began -- we are all friends."

Members have been together through marriages, divorces, births, adoptions, career changes, children going off to college, illnesses, and major diseases.

The 11 women have shared the ups and downs of life by staying connected at least once a month at their meetings. Many of them touch base in between meetings as well, but if they don't, they know they can count on telling their stories when they gather together.

Tonight, as they come from their various jobs as nurses, business owners, lawyers, moms, and college professors, they spend time complimenting clothing and haircuts, and laughing about the costume party many of them attended a few nights earlier. They tell stories about their husbands, boyfriends, and children.

The talk turns to the book Robison chose this month, "The Billionaire's Vinegar," by Benjamin Wallace.

Discussion of the book, a true story of a 1787 bottle of Bordeaux that was supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson and sold for $156,000 at auction, has the ladies speculating about what is true about the wine and the man who auctioned it. They wonder about wine enthusiasts who would be willing to pay so much for a bottle of wine.

While this book was nonfiction, selections have included books from all genres.

Some books that stood out for sparking discussion include "Eat, Pray, Love," by Elizabeth Gilbert and "Loving Frank," by Nancy Horan. Club members agree that one of the best things about being in the book club is seeing people whose company they enjoy and with whom they can have lively debates.

Their advice to others who might want to start a book club?

"Bring in people you like and have them invite others," says Robison.

"Don't let it get too big," adds Cabell Youell.

"Or too serious," Bloss concludes.

Whatever they read, this group of women will make time to discuss it. They will make time for each other. They will make time to connect.