Some groups gather in cozy living rooms, some among the shelves of independent bookshops or in local libraries, and some over a brunch table or a round of cocktails. But they all hold one item in common: a book.
Book clubs may have roots in the French salons of the 17th century and women’s groups in the late-19th-century United States. Today’s crop of reading discussion groups are using modern tools — like Meetup.com to organize and ChatGPT to hone reading lists — to achieve the time-tested joy of communal reading.
It’s estimated that somewhere around 5% of the U.S. adult population is in a book club, and that number may be growing. The New York Times reported that online event listings for book clubs increased by 24% on Eventbrite from 2023 to 2024.
The volume and variety of book clubs in Southwestern Pennsylvania is sufficient to support any type or style of reader, from to cookbook clubs to groups dedicated to discussing specific genres. “Silent” book clubs, in which people read together for a designated period and then chat, continue to rise in popularity.
“The book clubs do range in a lot of different topics,” said Shayna Ross, coordinator of adult services at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh system. In the Carnegie Library system throughout the Pittsburgh area alone, 33 book clubs meet regularly.
So many clubs have popped up in both public and private spaces that it can be hard to choose which to join. That’s why Samantha Hindman, 23, decided to organize the PGH Book Club Fair. The event will be held on Monday, Feb. 9, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Trace Brewing in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood.
“People are looking for more things to do that are in real life,” she said.
Michael Ploetz is the owner of Woolly Bear Books and Gifts in Carnegie, a shop that several monthly book clubs call home. He sees book clubs “bringing back that third-space element, which a lot of us have come to realize is super important.”
On the same pages
Lynda Simpson hadn’t intended to become the organizer of a book club. But after the covid pandemic, that’s exactly what she’s doing with Books n Brunch PGH.
The original organizer stepped down before the club even had its first meeting, so Simpson decided to take the reins. Her feeling was, “I read this book, I at least want to talk about it one time. So I took over.” For the past three years, the club has met every month, “except for one or two because of weather.”
Most every book club learns a similar lesson: It’s not necessarily hard to get people to sign up, but not so easy to get them to show up. The Books n Brunch PGH page on Meetup.com has more than 1,500 members; Simpson said each meeting averages 15 to 25 people in attendance.
While many regular readers turn to book clubs to talk about their favorite new story, a lot of people come at it from the other direction: searching for social connection and deciding to pick up a book instead of a pickleball paddle or bingo dauber.
Simpson, who is neurodivergent, struggled with rejoining the social world after the pandemic. “I think everybody was looking for a way to reconnect. I think that’s why book clubs have really taken off after covid.”
Ross said that many of the Carnegie Library’s book club members gravitate toward the groups to expand their horizons. “It’s designed to really bring conversation. If you all read a title together, you get to come and talk about your experiences with that, and you get to enhance your own experience by hearing other people’s perspectives as well.”
Cheryl Rhea, a librarian’s assistant at Jeannette Public Library, has been involved in the library’s book discussion group since it came together in late 2023. She said that the book club has an age range spanning six decades. “We have a young one who keeps hanging in there,” she said. “Most of us are in our 70s.”
What’s everyone reading?
Oprah Winfrey has proved to be a maker of bestsellers with Oprah’s Book Club, a feature on her show since 1996. After more than 120 chosen books, the massive movement of readers have torn through such titles as “The Underground Railroad” by Colson Whitehead and “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed. Not only did the “Oprah Effect” prove a boon for any author lucky enough to gain her seal of approval, Oprah’s Book Club also motivated other celebrities to promote reading.
Actor Reese Witherspoon launched the online Reese’s Book Club in 2017, focused on novels with women as central character; “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng and “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens are two typical picks. ABC’s “Good Morning America” has a monthly club that’s included picks such as “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus and “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig. Jenna Bush Hager’s “Today” show book club, Read With Jenna, combines new releases with tried-and-true favorites from “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros to Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.”
According to bookclubs.com, a site that hosts thousands of discussion groups around the country, the most popular selections of all time include “The Women” by Kristin Hannah, “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt, and “The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelides.
Ross said that those have all been popular titles for Carnegie Library book clubs, though many of their clubs read specific types of books, from classics to fantasy to even cookbooks.
Most book clubs will either select rounds of books by popular vote or designate a person to make the choices for them. Simpson is the decider for Books n Brunch PGH, and she has a lot of different desires to take into account when making up their reading list.
Using ChatGPT, she’s formed a list using the parameters of the book club, topics that she wants to avoid (the members, for example, don’t want to read books with animal cruelty) and the books that the club has historically liked or disliked. This method proved successful for last year’s slate of reads.
“I have to say, there was never a compete washout. We’ve had some heated debate on what we thought the authors should’ve done instead,” she said. “We love to rewrite a book.”
Among their most popular reads has been “Black Cake” by Charmaine Wilkerson.
Ploetz will give recommendations, if pressed, to the book clubs that meet at Woolly Bear Books and Gifts. “If they ask me for advice, I usually just think about books that have come out recently that have been getting good reviews or that I’ve been hearing about. But on their own, they’ve picked some pretty interesting books.”
In the libraries, staff members work with readers to either facilitate a vote or feel out what selections would best fit the members. For certain months, such as Black History Month in February or Pride Month in June, they ask staff to take that month’s theme into consideration when making selections.
“They bring that to their book club members and really welcome ideas,” Ross said.
Finding your fellow readers
Hindman compared the upcoming PGH Book Club Fair to an activities fair on a college campus. She’s been looking for a group of fellow avid readers with whom she can discuss books, and she’s seen similar demand from friends. “I noticed this year in particular, I was seeing a lot in my social media feed calling toward doing more in-person, analog meetups,” she said.
A Bloomfield resident, she approached the local Trace Brewing about hosting the book club fair and found them receptive. But soon after she announced the event publicly, she had to return to the brewery to ask for more space.
“Like 200 people have signed up,” she said. “It’s bonkers. And I’m so happy about it. It’s sightly overwhelming,” she said.
In addition to the community-hungry 200 individuals coming out to find a new club, more than a dozen clubs have also signed up for a table at the event. They include the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Lawrenceville’s Adult Book Club, Steel City Sword and Sorcery, PGH Silent Book Club and more. Clubs focused on LGBTQIA+ literature, books that are popular on TikTok and other specific focuses will be at the fair to find new members.
Many bookshops in the region run multiple book clubs of their own. Woolly Bear Books and Gifts has clubs devoted to horror, contemporary fiction, LGBTQIA+ reads and more. In Regent Square, Stay Gold Books runs six clubs, including a horror club, a cookbook club, an “Everything Is Fine” book club that discusses current issues and more.
Corey Wittig owns Stay Gold Books with his wife, Carrie. He handles the store’s horror book club, called “Stay Dead.” Each of the shop’s six clubs average about 10 attendees each meeting.
Wittig said that he hoped to build a community around the bookstore with clubs after they opened in 2024.
“There’s something about that conversation about a shared reading experience, a shared story,” he said. “It really brings people together.”
