
BADC Book Club
I hope this online informal book club will encourage you to read more. Reading enriches our lives in so many wonderful ways. As Dr. Seuss has taught us; "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." For 2023, I picked classics that were already on my shelf. Although I have picked a book for each month, go at your own pace or rearrange the order. Join our FB BADC Book Club to discuss the monthly picks, give reviews, ask questions and meet other bibliophiles. Be sure and check out the store for bookmarks and accessories that go along with each book as well!
2023 Book List

JANUARY
The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien
Bilbo Baggins enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling farther that the pantry of his hobbit-hole in Bag End. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard, Gandalf, and a company of thirteen dwarves arrive on his doorstep to whisk him away on a journey to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon...

FEBRUARY
Wuthering Heights
Emily Brontë
A widely acclaimed classic of English literature, Wuthering Heights is the one and only novel written by Emily Brontë initially published under her pseudonym Ellis Bell. Wuthering Heights is the name of the farmhouse where the story unfolds. Although celebrated as a tragic love story, the book's core theme is the destructive effect of jealousy and vengefulness both on the jealous or vengeful individuals and on their communities.

MARCH
Captains Courageous
Rudyard Kipling
In Captains Courageous, a spoiled rich boy is literally swept away — dashed overboard from an ocean liner. Luckily, young Harvey Cheyne is rescued by a passing fishing vessel. As it turns out, Harvey's apparent misfortune in tumbling from a life of pampered luxury into the humble company of a fishing schooner becomes a blessing in disguise. Compelled by the captain to earn his keep, Harvey loses his affectations as he learns the rewards of an honest day's labor amid the gruff and hearty companionship of the crewmen, who teach him to be worth his salt as they fish the waters off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.

APRIL
The Winter of Our Discontent
John Steinbeck
Ethan Allen Hawley, the protagonist of Steinbeck’s last novel, works as a clerk in a grocery store that his family once owned. With Ethan no longer a member of Long Island’s aristocratic class, his wife is restless, and his teenage children are hungry for the tantalizing material comforts he cannot provide. Then one day, in a moment of moral crisis, Ethan decides to take a holiday from his own scrupulous standards. Set in Steinbeck’s contemporary 1960 America, the novel explores the tenuous line between private and public honesty.

MAY
The Secret Garden
Frances Hodgson Burnett
Follow Mary Lennox from India to Yorkshire, England, and watch her grow from an over-privileged girl who has never tied her own shoes, to a caring young woman. In her adventures, Mary meets a young man who can converse with animals, discovers and solves the hidden mystery of a secret garden, and helps her sick cousin to recover. Guided by a remarkable red robin, through her deeds and work she grows right along with this very special garden.

JUNE
Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe
The only survivor of a terrible shipwreck, Robinson Crusoe finds himself alone on a deserted tropical island with little but his wits to rely on. The castaway is able to retrieve some supplies from what remains of the ship, but he has to create a place to live as well as tools to hunt and build with. He must adapt to a new life that is more difficult than he ever could have imagined.

JULY
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain
Mark Twain created the memorable characters Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn drawing from the experiences of boys he grew up with in Missouri. Set by the Mississippi River in the 1840’s, this tale is a follow-up to his original book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Huckleberry takes off on a raft down the Mississippi with Jim, a slave seeking his freedom. They run into two con artists, the Duke and the King, as they drift southward, and Huck reunites with Tom Sawyer near the end of the book. The book exposes attitudes prevalent at the times.

AUGUST
Around the World in Eighty Days
Jules Verne
Called Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours in French, Around the World in Eighty Days was published in French and English in 1873. It is one of Jules Verne’s best-known and acclaimed novels. The intrepid adventurer Phileas Fogg of London, along with his French valet Passepartout, attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager set by his friends at the Reform Club. Their trip is further complicated by Phileas becoming a suspect in a robbery.

SEPTEMBER
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
When Elizabeth Bennet meets Fitzwilliam Darcy for the first time at a ball, she writes him off as an arrogant and obnoxious man. He not only acts like an insufferable snob, but she also overhears him rejecting the very idea of asking her for a dance! As life pits them against each other again and again, Darcy begins to fall for Elizabeth's wit and intelligence and Elizabeth begins to question her feelings about Darcy. But when Darcy saves her youngest sister Lydia from a scandal, Elizabeth starts to wonder if her pride has prejudiced her opinion of Darcy. Through this tale about two warring hearts, Jane Austen weaves a witty satire about life in eighteenth century England.

OCTOBER
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson's masterpiece sprang from the darkest recesses of his unconscious—during a nightmare from which his wife awakened him, alerted by his screams. Stevenson's enduring classic tale of the mild-mannered Dr. Jekyll and the drug that unleashes his evil, inner persona—the loathsome, twisted Mr. Hyde, demonstrates an exceptional understanding of the personality's inner conflicts—and remains the irresistibly terrifying stuff of our worst nightmares.

NOVEMBER
The Pilgrim's Progress
John Bunyan
The story chronicles the epic adventure of a man named Christian who leaves his home in the City of Destruction and begins a life-long quest to the Celestial City. Set against the backdrop of a hazardous journey, this powerful drama unfolds as Christian’s adventures lead him into fascinating lands and encounters with interesting people who either help or hinder his progress along a narrow way. With a gallery of memorable characters and visits to colorful places, Bunyan’s allegorical narrative describes one man's extraordinary adventure on his journey to faith.

DECEMBER
A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens
Carol tells the story of a bitter old miser named Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation into a gentler, kindlier man after visitations by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Yet to Come.The book was written at a time when the British were examining and exploring Christmas traditions from the past as well as new customs such as Christmas cards and Christmas trees