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BOOK CLUBS INTHE DIGITAL ERABy Abigail ScottFor as long as books have existed, therehave been people gathering to discuss them.Where these discussions happen have alwaysvaried, from libraries, bookstores and livingrooms to most recently, digital spaces. Nomatter where or how people are gatheringto talk about books, the number of thoseparticipating in book clubs is on the risedespite concerns about the decline of readingin our digital era. According to the New YorkPost, it is estimated that more than 5 millionAmericans belong to a book club.The history of book clubs in America isuniquely linked to women wanting to createa place where they could voice their ownthoughts and opinions. According to theMinnpost, the first “literature circle” recordedin the United States was founded in 1634by Anna Hutchinson, a Puritan settler. Here,women gathered to discuss sermons andthe Bible. While Hutchinson’s group waseventually banned by suspicious Puritanmales, these gatherings served as a beginningto the tradition of women getting together toanalyze and talk about books.Margaret Fuller founded the first bookstoresponsored club in Boston in 1840, and bythe turn of the century, women’s literarysocieties were thriving. While women wereoften excluded from intellectual gatheringsand most colleges and universities untilthe mid-nineteenth century, participatingin these groups forged an accessible wayfor women to engage in discussions aboutliterary discourse. The modern book club thatis most recognized today started during the1980s, when discount chain bookstores madebooks more widely available. This diminishedthe need for the popular mail-order bookclubs that began when Harry Scherman, anAmerican publisher, created the Book-ofthe-MonthClub in 1926.Rose Lanczynski, a retired bank manager,spoke of the rising popularity of book clubsduring the 80s. Lanczynski said, “I’ve alwaysloved books. I can’t remember a time whenbooks weren’t an essential part of my life.Book clubs seemed like they were poppingup at a lot of public libraries at this time asthis setting seemed like the perfect place todiscuss literature with others.” However, asa mother to young children during this time,Lanczynski felt as though she was left out ofthis movement. She added:“When I finally found a book club in the areathat I could join, I couldn’t find time to attenda meeting. I was working full time and hadyoung children. While I had a strong desire totalk about books with others, actually going toa book club meeting seemed impossible.”Perhaps the most well-known book clubbegan in September 1996, which helpedbring the open discussion of books to morepeople than ever before. On September17th, 1996, Oprah Winfrey announced that“The Deep End of the Ocean” by JacquelynMitchard, a debut novelist at the time,would be her book club’s first selection onlive television. Calling it one of her all-timefavorite moments on television, Winfreysparked a surge of reading and discussion notonly among her viewers but throughout theUnited States.It seemed as though the books that receivedOprah’s sticker on the front of its coverjumped to the bestselling list, even thosethat had been published over fifty yearsago, including Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina,”which was first published in 1877. TheOprah Effect has resulted in the sales, acrossseventy book titles, to total around 55 millioncopies, according to Al Greco, a marketingprofessor at Fordham University. While notall of the picks have been without validatedcontroversy, such as the February 2020 pick“American Dirt,” the authors still have Oprahto thank for publicity.While Oprah Winfrey’s book club may beone of the most influential, the rise of digitalbook clubs have helped make them evenTHECURRENTMSU.COM 35