Why is Minnesota such a hotbed of book clubs?

The only thing Minnesota readers like more than their book clubs? Talking about them.

With all the writers, publishers and stores located here, as well as the Little Free Library movement starting just across the state line in Hudson, Wis., it makes sense that Minnesota is a book club stronghold. In a study this year, both Minneapolis and St. Paul were ranked in the top 16 U.S. cities for book lovers and both were in the top 10 for book sales and stores per capita.

Lots of those books are being purchased by club members — 5 million of us in the United States. The movement was propelled when Oprah Winfrey launched her book club in 1996, although Minnesota, of course, already had tons of pre-Oprah groups. If you're looking to join one, you can search the Twin Cities meetup.com, where you'll find at least six dozen, including Black Lit BookClub, Only Murders in the Book Club and Making Sense of God Book Study.

When we asked local clubs to spill the beans about how they work, we heard from more than 80, including Best Book Club Ever, a name at least 79 other clubs are sure to dispute. Members told us how they pick books, what subjects they embrace or avoid (some love political debate, others stick to mysteries) and how they coached each other through breast-feeding woes, took field trips and grieved at funerals together.

Wrote Jon Lewis of his all-male group, "We had a collective trauma a few years ago, and learned that we are comfortable talking about uncomfortable things with each other."

You don't have to be in a book club to know bonds that deep don't come easily, which is why some groups have been together half a century, with multiple generations of readers who have become as loyal to each other as they are to reading. And, even though "book" may be right there in the name, that's not all the clubs are about.

Yes, a club called What Anoka Is Reading Now tackles a new title each month but what's really happening, wrote founder Jenni Hill, is this: "We have created a community."

Readers' thoughts — from people who belong to as many as four clubs — offer a peek at how different from one another Minnesota clubs are, and how much they share.

Who's in?

Many Minnesota book groups, maybe even most, are all-female. But there are all-male clubs, one whose members are four male/female couples, at least one composed entirely of librarians and one in Anoka whose members all identify as part of the LGBTQ community.

We heard from groups that formed during the pandemic as well as three that have been around more than 50 years (members of the Original Book Club, formed in 1972, wonder if they helped kick off the craze, but online sources say clubs/salons have been around for centuries).

Why are they so durable? As Brooke Nelson wrote, "It's time blocked out to spend with people I enjoy. It also forces me to read books outside of what I would choose myself."

Membership tends to shift as people move or leave for other reasons. The Beer Drinkin' Ladies' Book Club has been together long enough that they're now welcoming children of original members.

Clubs have formed from people who found themselves in the same senior living complex, working together in an intensive care unit, in a '70s "feminist consciousness-raising group" or, in the case of Booknerds, when co-workers who liked to discuss mystery novels over lunch all got laid off at the same time.

Dorsey & Whitney has a book club for employees interested in diversity/inclusion issues. Many stores sponsor clubs. In fact, Emily Bergslien of St. Paul's Next Chapter has found that clubs which focus on manga graphic novels and science fiction/fantasy are a great way to attract younger readers to the store.

As numerous as book clubs are in Minnesota, many don't have openings for new members. Jeanne Perkins took an if-you-can't-join-'em-beat-'em approach and started her own club in response to a frustrating phenomenon: "Over time, several friends had described how much they enjoyed the camaraderie and friendships in their book clubs. This would be followed by the statement that they had no room for new members. "

What to read

Some clubs focus on, for instance, the New York Times' annual list of the year's 10 best books, Booker Prize winners or Ramsey County Library's prepackaged "Book Club in a Bag" program. Speaking of libraries, some clubs only read books that are readily available there. Others set different limitations — only paperbacks, or only books shorter than 350 pages.

If it's published, there's a club somewhere that reads it. The Well-Read Dragons will tackle almost anything — as long as it has to do with Wales. The Sci-Fi and Fantasy Club reads exactly what its name spells out. The Body Count Book Club sounds ominous but its name comes from the mysteries the recently disbanded group read — not the murders they committed.

To avoid anyone murdering anyone, many clubs steer clear of political or religious titles. Others welcome intense disagreements, including R.C. Falsani, who noted of George Saunders' Booker Prize-winning novel: " 'Lincoln in the Bardo' (loved by the English majors) was 'pistol whipped' verbally by a number of members."

Nancy J. Baker wrote of her Nancy Baker Shower Group (the members met at a wedding shower), "We always have enthusiastic book discussions, the best of which take place when there is at least one person who strongly dislikes the book and another for whom it is a fantastic read."

Titles that popped up on several clubs' diss lists include Sheila Heti's "How Should a Person Be," "Lincoln in the Bardo" and Jack Kerouac's "On the Road."

The latter title, recommended by a member's spouse, led to a no-husband-suggestions rule for Beer Drinkin' Ladies', according to Cindy G. Benton: "It took several years for us to get to the point that we can mention the title of that misogynistic, dated, hedonistic 'book' in passing, without fist fights breaking out."

Some clubs rotate hosting duties and let the host choose the books. Others meet in December to select everything for the next year. Linda Sainsbury's group, in Hutchinson, Minn., chooses 11 titles collectively but everyone reads something on their own in January and reports back on it.

Getting started

Surprisingly, talking about the book is a subject of controversy. Most clubs insist they do, although Nelson — who's in three — said there was a "scandal" in a less task-focused one that led to a breakaway group whose members pledged to actually read the books. Jon Lewis' club is called the RTFB club, its name an acknowledgment of its lone rule: Read the [Expletive] Book.

Some clubs devote a set amount of time at the beginning of meetings to personal chat before they shift to the book. A few clubbers wrote that they'd love help in figuring out how to kick-start discussions of the month's title.

A shillelagh gets things going with a literal bang for Minnesota Authors Book Club — which Tadhg B. Mac an Bhaird acknowledges can be "slightly startling for nearby patrons" when the Anoka group meets in public places. (As its name implies, it has read more than 150 books from writers who include William Kent Krueger and Louise Erdrich.)

Another club gets things going with a simple question everyone addresses: "Did you like the book?"

Is there wine?

Several groups have a designated wine selector, either because they try to sync with the books or because someone has a knack for it.

There will certainly be beer at Books and Bars, the large, social-media-connected group that meets at Urban Growler in St. Paul (founder Jeff Kamin also notes that the brewery's food is "great — and made by someone else"). Three Twenty Brewing Co. in Pine City, Minn., hosts a monthly book club. Not surprisingly, beer appeals to the Beer Drinkin' Ladies' but the group is open to abstainers, as well.

Food can range from a bag of chips to a full meal, themed to the book. One club says hosts can expect beefs if the evening doesn't include a mandatory bag of M&Ms.

Finishing up

Beer Drinkin' Ladies have codified a number of easy-to-follow rules, including, "You must come to book club unless you're dead."

But what if someone hasn't read the book? Some clubs keep a journal, so those who didn't get to the latest title — or who couldn't come — know how the discussion went. As a way to make sure everyone gets to participate, another ends by asking each member a question that's inspired by the book but can be answered even if they haven't read it.

Before the evening ends, a couple of clubs ask everyone to rank the month's book on a scale of 1-10, while RTFB shifts the focus to how readers interacted with the book by asking everyone to choose which character they'd like to have a drink with.

For many clubs, the experience goes beyond talking about books. They've hiked Machu Picchu together, consoled each other at funerals, toured the sidewalk poems in St. Paul, buried (and unearthed) time capsules, become freelance breast-feeding coaches and raised money for charities. Some even have merch, including engraved wine glasses, personalized bookmarks and tote bags.

Local groups have hosted writers who include Krueger, Lorna Landvik and August Wilson but 9-Bees is marking a book club holy grail, according to member Melinda Gau: "In 2023 we have the absolute privilege to be reading a novel written by one of our members!"

Through collective trauma, individual triumphs and tragedies and virus-forced Zooms, clubs stayed together. And although the pandemic was tough on book clubs, many told us that those awkward Zoom sessions — and the volumes discussed in them — were a way of "traveling" until they could gather again in person.

"We have expanded our outlook due to the experiences of each other and due to the books we have read. We have walked in another's shoes through literature," wrote Sheilagh Lynch Johnson. "A book has taken us further than any of us could have imagined."

Recommended book club reads

Minnesota book clubs have so many recommendations for you! Authors mentioned most frequently include Louise Erdrich and Zora Neale Hurston but five titles that clubs told us were almost universally beloved were:

"Lessons in Chemistry," Bonnie Garmus

"Killers of the Flower Moon," David Grann

"The Dutch House," Ann Patchett

"The Lager Queen of Minnesota," J. Ryan Stradal

"The Warmth of Other Suns," Isabel Wilkerson