A study explored what an outside-the-classroom, authentic literature discussion involved. Three book club discussions (involving a leaderless group consisting of members of varying professions meeting monthly to discuss fiction and nonfiction reading selections) were audiotaped, transcribed and coded. Results indicated that: (1) when allowed to address any issue in the discussion of a text, the book club members spoke for a slightly longer time than is common in classrooms; (2) as the discussion moved along, respondents spoke for increasingly longer periods of time; (3) disagreement between members were never hostile and rarely direct; (4) several times during discussion, members requested affirmation of opinions or ideas; and (5) discussants responded with engagement in three key ways--descriptive text talk, parroting characters' words or thoughts, and placing words into characters' mouths or minds. Findings related to secondary literacy education suggest that students may benefit from a chance to develop group discussions and relationships surrounding texts, and they may benefit from and enjoy a chance to explore their own and each other's ideas without direction. (Contains 15 references.) (RS)