Book Group Picks

I love the way my book group picks its books. One member selects each book without any input from the other members. The only requirement is that no one, not even the picker, may have read the book. This accomplishes two things. First, we all come to the book fresh. Second, the selections remain eclectic becuase they don't have to appeal to the mainstream of the whole group. This way, we get to be surprised by books we probably wouldn't have read otherwise.
The group has been together about two or three years now. The most surprising pick for me as a reader was Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I didn't think I would like it, but I really loved it. Then I read Pride and Prejudice, which I loved even more.
Well, the months and books have gone by again, and on Thursday, I get to pick our next book. Hooray! It's so fun turning over different possibilities in my mind to arrive at the perfect book. Sometimes, I try to think of picks that would freak out my fellow members: "For our next book, we will read Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition." But that's really just a little joke for my own amusement, I would never purposefully torture them.
This time, I've decided I'm going to pick a book from my own bookshelf that I have not read yet, and there are quite a few contenders ... I will post my pick here on Friday after I announce it to my group.