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Dotters Book Club

The Dotters Book Club was started in the winter of 2017, when Elizabeth de Cleyre was new to Eau Claire and wanted to make some friends. Becca at Red's Mercantile graciously offered to host it at the shop, and we quickly outgrew the space. Friends were made, and the idea for an indie bookstore was born! 

For 2017, we read fiction or nonfiction written by a female author each month. We created a reading recommendation guide based on our 2017 Book Club Reads.

For 2018, we read books written by authors of color. Unfortunately, women and minorities are wildly underrepresented in publishing. By varying our reading habits, we're expanding our worldview and perspectives, and showing publishers that there is a demand for narratives as diverse as the globe itself. We created a reading recommendation guide based on our 2018 Book Club Reads.

For 2019, we read books by women, translated books, and books by authors of color. Here are the books that we read:

FEBRUARY 2019: History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund

MARCH 2019: Any Man by Amber Tamblyn

APRIL 2019: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore

MAY 2019: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

JUNE 2019: The Emissary by Yoko Tawada

JULY 2019: Hotel Silence by Audur Ava Ólafsdóttir

AUGUST 2019: A Kind of Freedom by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton

SEPTEMBER 2019: Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot

OCTOBER 2019: If You See Me, Don't Say Hi: Stories by Neel Patel

DECEMBER 2019: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

In 2020, we diversified our genres. We read essays, novels, and memoir.

FEBRUARY 2020: The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays by Esmé Weijun Wang

MARCH 2020: Severance by Ling Ma

APRIL 2020: Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay

MAY 2020: Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottam

JUNE 2020: Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi

JULY 2020: The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Story by Kao Kalia Yang

AUGUST 2020: A Map Is Only One Story: 20 Writers on Immigration, Family, and the Meaning of Home edited by Nicole Chung and Mensah Demary

SEPTEMBER 2020: She Would Be King by Wayétu Moore

OCTOBER 2020: Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden

DECEMBER 2020: The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border by Francisco Cantú

We enjoyed the way genre shaped our discussions in 2020, so we'll continue to explore essays, fiction, and memoir, focusing on BIPOC writers.

FEBRUARY 2021: All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks

MARCH 2021: Sabrina & Corina: Stories by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

APRIL 2021: A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott

MAY 2021: Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century edited by Alice Wong

JUNE 2021: These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card

JULY 2021: Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob

AUGUST 2021: The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

SEPTEMBER 2021: Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washington

OCTOBER 2021: The Yellow House: A Memoir by Sarah M. Broom

DECEMBER 2021: The Mountains Sing by Nguyên Phan Quê Mai

Members of our Book Club voted and here are our choices for 2022:

FEBRUARY 2022: The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale

MARCH 2022: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

APRIL 2022: The Magical Language of Others: A Memoir by E.J. Koh

MAY 2022: What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon

JUNE 2022: The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson

JULY 2022: Dog Flowers: A Memoir by Danielle Gellar

AUGUST 2022: The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee

SEPTEMBER 2022: The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

OCTOBER 2022: Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir by Ashley C. Ford

DECEMBER 2022: Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

Members of our Book Club voted and here are our choices for 2023:

FEBRUARY 2023: White Negroes: When Cornrows Were in Vogue...and Other Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation by Lauren Michele Jackson

MARCH 2023: Sula by Toni Morrison

APRIL 2023: Tastes Like War: A Memoir by Grace M. Cho

MAY 2023: White Magic: Essays by Elissa Washuta

JUNE 2023: Last Summer of State Street by Toya Wolfe

JULY 2023: Poet Warrior: A Memoir by Joy Harjo

AUGUST 2023: Seen & Unseen: Technology, Social Media, and the Fight for Racial Justice by Marc Lamont Hill & Todd Brewster

SEPTEMBER 2023: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

OCTOBER 2023: Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land by Toni Jensen

DECEMBER 2023: Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuaysi

Members of our Book Club voted and here are our choices for 2024:

FEBRUARY 2024: Reclaiming Two-Spirits: Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal & Sovereignty in Native America by Gregory D. Smithers

MARCH 2024: Assembly by Natasha Brown

APRIL 2024: Local: A Memoir by Jessica Machado

MAY 2024: Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution by Elie Mystal

JUNE 2024: A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt

JULY 2024: How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler

We have Dotters Book Club Subscription Boxes!

If you'd like to follow along with what we're reading each month, find us on Instagram @dottersbooks. If you'd like to join us in Eau Claire, email us at dottersbooks@gmail.com.