It started 12 years ago as a mother-daughter book club designed to get children to read. Today, the children are gone, the books are more advanced and the club is still meeting, even if its members haven't gotten around to deciding on a name for it.

Three of the book club's original members, Karen Snyder, Amy Lavorini and Faith Barber, all of Butler, have been around for 99 books and a decade's worth of discussions.

Barber said the present book club grew out of the mother-daughter group she started in 2000 as a way to get children interested in reading.

“We did two summers. The moms had to come because of the children,” she said. “We read them the stories and had great discussions with those kids.”

After the group ended, she said, “I missed reading and the adult interaction.” She said she called Lavorini and it grew from there.

Over the years, the group has lost and gained readers. Presently, there are 10 members and nine former members. The meetings rotate among members' houses. The most recent was in the Butler home of Janet Barber.

The club meets 10 times a year but not in November or December because the holidays leave too little time to read.

The days of the meeting have shifted as children's activities forced scheduling changes. Right now, the book club meets on the last Sunday of the month. Generally, meetings last at least two hours.

Snyder has kept a journal detailing every book the club has read and discussed. The last was the nonfiction “Unbroken.” Next up, is Lisa Genova's novel “Still Alice,” which deals with Alzheimer's disease.

Books are suggested by members. They take a month to read and come up with questions for next month's meeting.

“I can't really wait to hear what somebody else has taken from a book,” Lavorini said.

Faith Barber added, “The hostess asks the questions, leads the discussion which can get veered off to different things.”

For example, the last book read, “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand details the World War II experiences of Louis Zamperini who was shot down over the Pacific in 1943 and survived 70 days in a raft and then two years of brutal captivity by the Japanese.

Lisa Brown said the book reminded her of her father-in-law who was in the Office of Strategic Services in World War II.

“He parachuted into China to train the Chinese to fight the Japanese,” Brown said. “He would never talk about the war.”

Lavorini said the book inspired her to read the journals her father had kept when he served as a coastal gunner in the Panama Canal Zone between 1941 and 1943.

“I'd started before and ‘Unbroken' gave me the impetus to keep reading,” she said.

Faith Barber likes the book club experience because “you get a new perspective and it forces you to read books you might not have tried.”

Club members are quick to list their favorite books. For Tracy Gullickson, it was Alan Brennert's novel of the Hawaiian leper colony “Molokai.”

Other club favorites included “The Red Tent,” “Hunger Games,” and “The Help.”

But a novel called “The Shack” still causes debate among the members, and a novel called “Valhalla Rising” was rated by members as “difficult.”

And the club took on “A Million Little Pieces” James Frey's memoir of his drug-abusing days, a memoir later exposed as largely fabricated.

“We read it before he was voted (onto Oprah Winfrey's Book Club), but it started a good discussion,” Lavorini said.

“This was his life but he exaggerated a bit, but it was so well written,” said Faith Barber.

And Harry Potter and the vampires of the Twilight series made an appearance on the club's list, said Snyder, because “We try to read the books that our children are reading.”

Members have come to appreciate more than just good literature.

Snyder said, “Over the years, we've formed friendships. Obviously for the love of reading, but I enjoy the fellowship.”

“We not only have great book discussions, but we talk about what our kids are going through. We've shared so many personal things really that something in the book triggers,” said Faith Barber.

“I got pregnant and had my book shower and all the club members showed up,” Snyder said. “Mia is going to be 10 and I can still remember it and I still have those books.”

Gullickson said her husband reads all the books selected by the club, and she's thought about a husband/wife book club meeting.

But maybe not.

Brown said, “I have eight children. The book club has a great sense of sanity, it's welcoming and delightful. I'm so thankful. I look forward to it.“

“At home they know I'm going to read my book now and they say ‘Go ahead, mom.' It's been a godsend.”

But why no name?

“We talked about it for 12 years and never settled on anything,” said Faith Barber.