Try choosing your reading group books with a theme in mind. If you choose books several months at a time, you can think about ways to tie your books together. Discussions then include comparisons among all the books you've all read, and are often more satisfying. The downside of this last theme is that it involves a lot of research by the book choosers. We'll be adding book lists to the resources section soon, so check back.
Most book groups meet at people's homes or in public places like bookstores and libraries.
If you meet in people's homes, I suggest scheduling the place of your meetings well in advance. Someone always calls and cancels at the last minute, but at least most of the time people will stick to the schedule. I type up a schedule for the whole session, which runs from September through June and mail it out in August or pass it out at the September meeting. It includes the book names, authors, meeting dates, times and places. Many authors have their own web sites with biographical information, interviews, editorial comments on their books and more.