We decided to choose some books which had been improtant to us during our childhood, early adulthood and currently.
The last category was the hardest as we have the time (allegedly) to read more widely now we are no longer working!
The childhood books were revealing as two of us grew up in homes without books ( I am one) and relied on the library which we devoured as we got older. We recalled the classics like Peter Pan and one of us had a book of her childhood fairy stories from the attic which she read with great amusement . We had enjoyed Enid Blyton, various boarding school stories (begging to be allowed to go) and most notably Swallows and Amazons. we decided that was because it was so beyond any of our own experience and the children had so much freedom.
In mid life one of us preferred factual books but the rest had wide tastes, historical fiction, crime novels, American classic and Black womens fiction (The time of Virago and The Womens Press for me)to include but a few.
These days some of us belong to book clubs and appreciate the chance to read books we would not normally choose. With only 5 of us there the meeting could have gone on even longer so we will repeat a similar event when the rest are not all away.