I have always enjoyed a good read. I have a preference for the non-commercial brand of books. These are the books with the matte, not glossy book covers, often stacked on tables rather than being placed on shelves labelled with best seller ratings.

My reading was a solo endeavor usually to pass time in airports and on airplanes during that long ago time when I was a consultant and business traveler. My book selections were sometimes influenced by Oprah’s reading list and other times by what I found stacked on those airport bookstore tables. I tended toward contemporary fiction about family dynamics and coming of age stories and those books with a dash of plausible science fiction.

Becoming a member of a book club did not occur to me until I moved to South Carolina. Book clubs abound. It seems they are especially popular among residents of the “private community” (read “retired”) set. The appeal for me was less about the books and more about spending time with like-minded, competent and intelligent women. I hit the jackpot! For the past three years I’ve been a member of The Booker’s Dozen Book Club and have loved every minute of it – even the books!

At the end of each year during our holiday party we review our book selections and cast votes for the top three favorites. The 2014 booklist, from January to November, is:

1. The Round House – Louise Erdrich
2. Under the Wide and Starry Sky – Nancy Horan
3. A Land More Kind Than Home – Wiley Cash
4. Defending Jacob – William Landay
5. Wild – Cheryl Strayer
6. A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway
7. And the Mountains Echoed – Khaled Hosseini
8. The Circle – Dave Eggars
9. The Tilted World – Tom Franklin
10. The Boys in the Boat – Daniel James Brown
11. The Good Lord Bird – James McBride

The top three favorites were, in order of preference:

1. The Boys in the Boat
2. The Round House (this was my selection so I am very happy!)
3. Wild and A Land More Kind than Home (tied)

As you can see this is a very diverse reading list – topics ranged from a women assaulted on a Native American reservation (The Round House), to Silicon Valley cultish culture (The Circle), to an Olympic gold medal rowing team (The Boys in the Boat), to a 1000 mile walk on the Pacific Coast Trail (Wild) and much in between.

Feel free to choose from the list and enjoy!