[2][3] The club selects a "book of the month," which Variety reporter Jonathan Bing said "has an unusual amount of clout.

Pat Conroy, author of The Prince of Tides and South of Broad, was a keynote speaker at the 2010 conference.

[6] Conroy returned in 2011 and was joined by 40 other authors, including New York Times bestsellers Fannie Flagg, author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe, Jamie Ford, who penned Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, and Jeannette Walls, whose first book, The Glass Castle, stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for 100 weeks.

[citation needed] In a February 2010 article, the Texas Observer described the weekend as "fast becoming one of the most important literary events in America.

Then they cited the club's reading choice of The Dive From Clausen's Pier that "sent sales skyrocketing.