LitClub:  High Meadows Happy Bookers
Roaring Gap, North Carolina

THEY LINKED UP on the links, and now they're linked up through books. Meet the High Meadows Happy Bookers from Roaring Gap, North Carolina.

From golf club to book club (ok, that was lame): what turned you to books?
At first we were just looking for something to do together in the winter, but now we're a year-round club.

Tell us what you've read over the past year.
Here's this year's reading list:

Book Thief
House Girl
Boys in the Boat
Red Tent
When Lions Roar
Factory Man
All the Light We Cannot See
Elizabeth the Queen
Secret Keeper
Prayers for Sale

Any all-time favorites?
Where'd you go Bernadette by Maria Semple—after a string of dark WW 11 books, everyone delighted in the antics of the heroine.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay—we loved the back and forth writing style of the author.

One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus—we were all fascinated that an entire book could be based on a single sentence from our history.

How about particularly good discussions?
Wild by Cheryl Strayed—we were evenly divided in our opinions. Some felt her decisions were not based in reality, while others felt she gave an honest account of falling headfirst into an abyss and then realizing she had to do something before she reached a point of no escape.

What about disappointments?
When Lions Roar by Thomas Maier—about the Churchills and the Kennedys. The majority thought it was too much information, most of which we already knew. Plus, the writing style was pretty dry.

How do you run your club?
We hold a planning meeting in  December when members suggest books for the coming year. If you recommend a book, it has to be one you've already read. Then we vote on the books and send a notice out to everyone so we can begin reading the selections.

December is also when we schedule the homes we meet in. Whoever hosts the meeting leads the book discussion, which means researching the author and compiling discussion questions.

Once the planning part of the meeting is over, we enjoy a pot luck luncheon—Christmas themed, of course!

Any special club activities?
John Bassett, the subject of Factory Man by Beth Macy, lives in our area, so we invited him for dinner and to talk about his life and the book. We had 60 in attendance! (See photo, 3rd from top.)

[Bassett, a 3rd generation manufacturer of what was once the world's largest furniture producer, fought to keep factory jobs in the U.S. rather ship work overseas. —Ed.]

Generally, then, how would you describe your group?
We live in High Meadows, a golfing community in the mountains of North Carolina. Most of us are retired with grown children, and most of us have belonged to book clubs before moving here—a fact that's led to a rich variety of tastes in our reading choices.