Meet the Bluestockings
The Bluestockings — a women's book club — have found a way to combine their love of books with fun excursions that build upon the stories they read and their authors.
Based in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, the members of the Bluestockings are celebrating their twenty-fifth anniversary this month, having read almost 300 books so far. That's a lot of history, memories, and incredible friendships! And they have some advice for your book clubs.
The Bluestockings book club at their December meeting
Where did the name come from?
The name Bluestockings comes from the historical Blue Stockings Society, a women's social and educational movement in England. It was founded in the early 1750s by Elizabeth Montagu, Elizabeth Vesey, and others as a literary discussion group, a time when it wasn't common for women to pursue education. The term "bluestocking" arose from the informal nature of the gatherings and the emphasis on conversation rather than fashion, but it eventually became a somewhat derogatory term for a woman seen as having too much "learned interest" or as being too intellectual.
Author Susannah Gibson, in her book Bluestockings: A History of the First Women's Movement, writes about the lives of these pioneering women who created salons to discuss ideas as equals and advocate for female education and public roles.
In the late 1800s, the term was brought back to focus on a woman's right to an education and to attend college. It also became part of the focus to get the right to vote, as described by Jane Robinson in her book Bluestockings: A Remarkable History of the First Women to Fight for an Education.
Twenty five years of reading
The modern-day Bluestockings book club has shared a quarter-century of reading good books, mainly in fiction, memoir, and historical fiction, with an occasional classic thrown in. They've kept a log of all their books and authors, and some of the authors they've read more than once include Ann Patchett, William Kent Krueger, Fredrik Backman, Ruth Reichl, and Elizabeth Strout.
Recent books read by the Bluestockings book club
The group that travels together …
In addition to reading, this group has traveled together, often to places related to the books they've read. Some of their travels have included Nashville, in the fall of 2019, for the book The Women's Hour — a destination to celebrate women's right to vote, as Tennessee was the last state to ratify. They've been to Montgomery, Alabama, where To Kill a Mockingbird is set, and the historic Selma civil rights march took place; Savannah, Georgia, for Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil; Chicago for the Jackie Kennedy exhibit; Santa Fe for a book on Georgia O'Keeffe; and Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to see Pearl S. Buck's home.
The Bluestockings in Nashville, TN
When Covid interrupted their in-person meetings, they continued to meet over Zoom and, since then, have taken shorter day trips together to places like the Julia Child exhibit at the St Paul Airport and the Frank Lloyd Wright house in northern Wisconsin for the book Loving Frank.
Bluestockings members range in age from their forties to their seventies — an excellent example of intergenerational friendships.
At their year-end December holiday event, they each sign up for the month they will host at their house and the book they'll read. Then a laminated bookmark is created with the yearly schedule and list of books, just like the annual program for the real-life Wednesday Club members.
Words of advice
For those of you in a book club or thinking of starting a book club, Bluestockings member Linnea Solem passed along these tips from the group:
1) To keep members engaged, read a variety of books, not all heavy ones, and include stories from different countries. Too many World War II books can get old!
2) At the beginning of the meeting, get an immediate reaction from everyone to the book: a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down. This can help to guide the discussion.
3) It's okay if not everyone has finished the book, but don't let that discourage the rest of the group from talking about the ending. Often, the way the book resolves can be one of the best parts of the discussion.
A circle of friendship
Over time, book clubs become more than places to discuss books; they grow into communities where long-term, meaningful friendships take root. For the Bluestockings, that has meant showing up for one another through life's hardest moments — a broken foot, a cancer diagnosis, the loss of fellow members, and the death of a husband. When you gather once a month over many years, a book club can quietly become the steadiest, most enduring circle of friendship in your life.