Senior Read Too Book Club
Celebrating 15 Years of Reading, Conversation & Community
Fifteen years ago, a group of readers at the West Philadelphia Senior Center and the Free Library Of Philadephia started something that has lasted far longer than anyone may have expected.
They started reading together.
Since 2011, the Senior Read Too Book Club has brought members together to talk about books, authors, characters, history, relationships, mystery, family, and life. Some books were favorites. Some sparked disagreements. Some surprised us. And some stayed with us long after the meeting was over.
Through it all, the club kept going.
As we celebrate 15 years, we thought it would be fun to look back at the books that have been part of the journey.
Looking Back: Our Reading Journey
2011
- May — Aretha: From These Roots — Aretha Franklin & David Ritz
- June — The Help — Kathryn Stockett
- July — A Million Little Pieces — James Frey
- August — Money Can't Buy Love — Connie Briscoe
- December — Killing Willis — Todd Bridges
2012
- January — Dreams from My Father — Barack Obama
- January — Silver Sparrow — Tayari Jones
- January — The Debt — Randall Robinson
- February — Sisters and Lovers — Connie Briscoe
- February — Shaq Uncut — Shaquille O'Neal
- March — The Shack — William Young
- May — The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo — Stieg Larsson
- September — Nothing Lasts Forever — Sidney Sheldon
- October — Gone Fishing — Walter Mosley
- October — Cross Fire — James Patterson
- November — The Trace — Patricia Cornwell
2013
- January — The Dante Club — Matthew Pearl
- February — I, Michael Bennett — James Patterson
- March — Fifth Born — Zelda Lockhart
- April — The First Lady — Carl Weber
- May — Satin Doll — Karen E. Quinones Miller
2014
- February — The Price of a Child — Lorene Cary
- March — A Fool's Paradise — Nancy Flowers Wilson
- April — Mom & Me & Mom — Maya Angelou
- May — Cross My Heart — James Patterson
- June — The Justus Girls — Slim Lambright
- October — The Warmth of Other Suns — Isabel Wilkerson
- November — Daddy's Gone A Hunting — Mary Higgins Clark
2015
- January — Orphan Train — Christina Baker Kline
- March — Cause of Death — Patricia Cornwell
- April — Jam on the Vine — LaShonda Katrice Barnett
- May — Gone Girl — Gillian Flynn
- November — Hope to Die — James Patterson
2016
- February — We Are Who We Say We Are — Mary Frances Berry
- March — If There Be Pain — Gloria Mallette
- April — Cold Mountain — Charles Frazier
- October — Their Eyes Were Watching God — Zora Neale Hurston
- November — Sleeping with Strangers — Eric Jerome Dickey
- December — The Book of Harlan — Bernice L. McFadden
2017
- January — The Measure of a Man — Sidney Poitier
- February — The Heart of a Woman — Maya Angelou
- March — The Girl on the Train — Paula Hawkins
- April — The Burning Room — Michael Connelly
- May — My Life, My Love, My Legacy — Coretta Scott King
- June — Another Brooklyn — Jacqueline Woodson
- July — The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross — Craig Seymour
2018
- The Wrong Side of Goodbye — Michael Connelly
- Home Sweet Murder — James Patterson
- Year of Yes — Shonda Rhimes
- Me Before You — Jojo Moyes
- A Higher Loyalty — James Comey
- Halsey Street — Naima Coster
- The Untelling — Tayari Jones
2019
- Two Little Girls in Blue — Mary Higgins Clark
- Red Sparrow — Jason Matthews
- An American Marriage — Tayari Jones
- We're Going to Need More Wine — Gabrielle Union
- Cross the Line — James Patterson
2020
- January — The Color of Water — James McBride
- February — Leaving Cecil Street — Diane McKinney-Whetstone
The COVID-19 Pause
Like so many organizations and community groups, the Senior Read Too Book Club had to take a break when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
The West Philly Senior Center and the Free Library of Philadelphia closed, and in-person meetings paused from March 2020 through early 2022.
It was a difficult time for everyone. But the club eventually returned, and the books started coming back too.
2022
- March — The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey — Walter Mosley
- September — Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song — Katherine Krohn
- October — The Whistler — John Grisham
- November — The Night She Disappeared — Lisa Jewell
- December — Whitney Houston: The Voice, the Music, the Inspiration — Narada Michael Walden
2023
- January — Glory in Death — J.D. Robb
- February — Ella Fitzgerald — Katherine Krohn
- March — The Night She Disappeared — Lisa Jewell
- April — 15th Affair — James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
- May — Jump — Larry Miller & Laila Lacy
- October — James Brown: I Feel Good — James Brown & Marc Eliot
- November — Where the Crawdads Sing — Delia Owens
- December — Six Years — Harlan Coben
2024
- January — The House of Wolves — James Patterson & Mike Lupica
- February — It Ends With Us — Colleen Hoover
- March — Ugly Love — Colleen Hoover
- April — It Starts With Us — Colleen Hoover
- May — American Queen — Vanessa Miller
- June — House in the Pines — Ana Reyes
- September — 12 Months to Live — James Patterson
2025
- January — Walking with the Wind — John Lewis
- February — Hard to Kill — James Patterson
- March — Resurrection — Danielle Steel
- April — The Women — Kristin Hannah
- May — Trial by Fire — Danielle Steel
- September — The Upcycled Self: A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are — Tariq Trotter
- November — Finding Me — Viola Davis
- December — The Last Thing He Told Me — Laura Dave
2026: Still Reading
Our 15th anniversary year
- January — Just As I Am — Cicely Tyson
- February — House of the Cross — James Patterson
- March — Alex Cross Must Die — James Patterson
- April — Uncommon Valor — Dawn Staley
- May — The Crash — Freida McFadden
- June — Kindred — Octavia E. Butler
A Few Favorite Authors Along the Way
James Patterson
James Patterson has been a longtime favorite of the club. His books have brought plenty of suspense, surprises, and conversation to club meetings over the years.
Tayari Jones
Tayari Jones has also been an important part of the club's reading history. Books such as Silver Sparrow, An American Marriage, and The Untelling gave members plenty to talk about, particularly around family, relationships, identity, and difficult choices.
Colleen Hoover
Colleen Hoover became a favorite during 2024, when the club read three of her novels: It Ends With Us, Ugly Love, and It Starts With Us.
Dawn Staley: A Philadelphia Favorite
Reading Uncommon Valor in 2026 was especially meaningful because Dawn Staley is more than a nationally recognized basketball star. She is a Philadelphia legend.
An Olympic gold medalist, Hall of Famer, and championship coach, Staley's story gave the club an opportunity to celebrate someone whose roots are right here in Philadelphia.
Freida McFadden
With The Crash, the club returned to the kind of suspenseful story that can keep readers turning pages and wondering what is going to happen next.
Octavia E. Butler
Kindred gave the club something different to think about. Butler's landmark novel opens conversations about history, race, identity, power, memory, and survival.
The Books Are Only Part of the Story
When you look at a list of more than a decade of books, it is easy to focus on the titles.
But the books aren't really the whole story.
The real story is what happened around the books.
It's the conversations.
It's somebody saying, "I didn't agree with that character."
It's discovering that another member saw the same story completely differently.
It's laughing about a scene everyone remembers.
It's sharing a personal experience that a book brought to mind.
Sometimes a book opens a conversation that might never have happened otherwise.
That is what makes a book club special.
Celebrating the People Behind the Club
Fifteen years would not have been possible without the people who helped make the Senior Read Too Book Club what it is.
We especially recognize Mrs. Gloria Persha, whose dedication has been an important part of the club's history.
We also recognize Marvin DeBose, "Mr. Philly Librarian," from the Free Library of Philadelphia, for his literary leadership, encouragement, and support.
And, of course, we celebrate the members of the Senior Book Club who have shown up, read the books, shared their thoughts, and kept the conversation going.
The names on a reading list tell only part of the story.
The people are the story.
Fifteen Years Later
The first book was selected in 2011.
Fifteen years later, we're still turning pages.
That's something worth celebrating.
There will be more books to read, more authors to discover, and probably more than a few lively disagreements about which books were great—and which ones weren't!
That's part of the fun.
Because the Senior Read Too Book Club has always been about more than reading.
It is about staying curious.
It is about learning from one another.
It is about friendship and community.
And it is about remembering that there is always another story waiting to be discovered.
So here's to the books we've finished, the books we've debated, the books we loved, and even the ones we couldn't wait to put down.
And here's to the next chapter.
Happy 15th Anniversary to the Senior Read Too Book Club!
2011–2026
Fifteen years of reading. Fifteen years of conversation. Fifteen years of community.
And we're not finished yet.
