1634 On a ship headed for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, religious renegade Anne Hutchinson organized a female discussion group to examine sermons given at weekly services. Eventually condemned by the Bay Colony's general assembly, the gatherings inaugurated a tradition of women's analytical discussion of serious texts.

1727 Benjamin Franklin organized a prominent Philadelphia literary society composed of 12 members, called the Junto. The group met weekly to discuss moral, political, commercial and scientific topics of the day.

Late 1760s Hannah Adams, who went on to become the first American woman to earn a living through writing, joined a reading circle in her village of Medfield, Mass. The circle read and discussed the belles lettres and shared their own poetry and prose writing.

1778 Hannah Mather Crocker organized a similar female reading society in Boston that studied science and read the belles lettres. Crocker took the radical position of asserting that formal study of science and literature was more suitable to women's dignity than the frivolous activities that society deemed suitable.

Early 1800s Various groups of women in New England began meeting regularly to discuss serious poetry, nonfiction and publications of the day.

1826 The first American lyceum was founded, launching the lyceum movement. Lyceums were voluntary local associations that sponsored lectures and debates on current issues. They attracted such speakers as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, Daniel Webster, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Susan B. Anthony. By 1834 there were roughly 3,000 lyceums in the Midwest and Northeast.

1827 In Lynn, Mass., the Society of Young Ladies is established, initiating the formation of African-American women's literary societies in cities throughout the Northeast, including Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Providence.

1840 The first known bookstore-sponsored discussion club in the United States began meeting in Margaret Fuller's Boston shop. Fuller's "Conversations" seminars for women used the Socratic method to examine philosophical questions.

1866 Sarah Atwater Denman started a women's study group in Quincy, Ill., that came to be known as Friends in Council. The group, which met in Denman's home to read aloud and discuss literature and philosophy, is the oldest continuous literary club in America.

1895 The Cadmus Club, a male reading group, was founded in Galesburg, Ill. The club held regular meetings, hosted lectures and shared knowledge of book-making and book history. Other male book clubs founded at this time include the Grolier Club in New York, the Club of Odd Volumes in Boston and the Rowfant Club in Cleveland.

1900 Around the turn of the century, women's literary societies were thriving. Progressive Era reading groups arose from women's reform groups, church groups, the National Council of Jewish Women and the American Association of University Women.

1926 Harry Sherman founded the Book-of-the-Month Club, a mail-order business that offered customers a new book each month. An Editorial Board of Judges was responsible for recommending and promoting only the most noteworthy books in any category.

1927 Samuel W. Craig established The Literary Guild, a competing mail-order book club. The Literary Guild offered lighter reading selections than the Book-of-the-Month Club, whose titles were deemed more literary.

1950s The Great Books movement swept the country. The movement was started in 1929 by Robert Maynard Hutchins, who developed a curriculum based on a canon of famous Western works of literature and philosophy. In 1947, the Great Books Foundation was founded and the Great Books Program developed. In 1952, Great Books of the Western World was published in a 54-volume series by Encyclopedia Britannica. By the end of the 1950s, more than 50,000 readers were registered with the Great Books Program, and countless others were following the curriculum.

1974 The Book-of-the-Month Club launched its Quality Paperback Books offshoot.

1980s Discount chain bookstores made books more widely available, diminishing the need for mail-order book clubs.

1984 Helen Hooven Santmyer's "And Ladies of the Club" became a national best-seller after being chosen as a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. Centering on members of a longstanding book club, Santmyer's novel inspired the formation of book groups across the country.

1996 Oprah Winfrey launched her televised book club, creating a massive book-club boom across the nation. The trendy book-club explosion she spurred continues today.

Late 1990s Online book clubs emerged as an alternative to traditional face-to-face groups. Members of clubs no longer needed to meet regularly at an appointed place and time.

Early 2000s Book-group activities became more and more encouraged and mediated by publishers, book retailers and libraries.

Today It is estimated that there are more than 5 million book club members in the United States. Most clubs have 10 or more members. 70 to 80 percent of clubs are all-female.