LitClub:  Bookheads
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

HERE'S WHAT THIS group says about itself: "We are Beautiful, Multiple-cultural, Professional, Strong, Down to Earth Muslim, Fun Women." And what do you know—they live up to their own press.

You started out as friends, right?
Yes, we've been friends for awhile, some since college days—and some as far back as elementary school.

What made you start a book club?
Amina thought it would be fun, so she contacted all of us us through Facebook and email...and that's how we got together for our first meeting. That was in October, 2012.

What's wonderful is that a few, who didn't think they wanted to read, began reading—just so we could all be together!

Great story—needing (to belong) leads to reading! So what have you been reading lately?
Here are a few of our titles from the past year:

Reading Lolita in Tehran  ♦  Buddha in the Attic  ♦  When the Spirits Dance Mambo  ♦  Hearts We Lost  ♦  Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man  ♦  The Color of Law  ♦  Accused  ♦  The Governor's Wife  ♦  Breath, Eyes, Memory ♦ Fifty Shades Trilogy ♦ The Husband's Secret ♦ The Hundred-Foot Journey ♦ Dowry Divas ♦ Love Comes Later.

How do you select your books?
We make it a sort of game. At each meeting, everyone gets a gift. The person who gets the same gift as those who've already chosen books is the person who gets to choose the next the book.

And lots of themed dinners to go with your books?
Right. We always have ethnic food to fit the books we read. For Buddha in the Attic we had Japanese food; for Breath, Eyes, Memory we had Haitian food; Puerto Rican Food for When the Spirits Dance Mambo, and Tex-Mex for The Color of Law. And even though none of us liked the book, we had the author of Dowry Divas join us. (She wasn't happy with our criticism.)

What about outside of your regular meetings?
We have held a community dinner for the month of Ramdan, the Islamic month of fasting.

Any rules?
Other than punctuality? No!