We had three things in common: We all lived in the same West Toledo neighborhood, we were all moms, and we loved to read. So began the Old Orchard Moms’ Group Book Club.

A decade later, some of us have moved from the ’hood and our kids are no longer babies. But one thing remains constant — book club.

We’ve wholly committed to this once-a-month gathering, shuffling schedules and finding babysitters. "I get so much fulfillment from book club," says Tammy Alexander, a charter member. "When we talk about the book, we relate our life to the book. We share a lot."

Book clubs have been around since way before Oprah. For centuries, women have found their voices in literary clubs, according to Elizabeth Long, PhD, author of Book Clubs, Women and the Uses of Reading in Everyday Life (272 pages, $25, University of Chicago Press).

"They learned to read, write, be confident public speakers," she says. Women in these groups became instrumental in public reform movements to build libraries and playgrounds and fight against child labor.

The vast majority of book clubs today are composed of women, says Long, a Rice University sociology professor who attended more than 40 Houston-area book clubs while doing research.

Though most book clubs no longer focus on social issues, they still fill a void in women’s lives. "Book clubs give them companionship and a way to connect with other women at a level of depth and intimacy," she says.

When I first went to book club, I barely knew the other members. Conversations began with "How are the kids?" or "How’s potty training going?" But as we chatted about the books each month, about the characters and their struggles, we dove into much more serious waters.

"We’ve been open and vulnerable. There’s a huge level of trust," says Stacey Rees, who helped found the group.

My book club buddies and I have been through a lot together — surgeries, career changes, struggles with children. "[Book club] was such a saving grace for me," says Erin Tatchell, who went through a painful divorce a few years ago. "Two hours at book club would rejuvenate me so I could deal with the rest of the month."

Our diverse group represents four countries. We own businesses and have careers. Some of us stay at home with our children. The diversity makes the conversations all the richer.

We choose books and express viewpoints the others might not have even thought about. When we read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert I was flabbergasted that many of my friends hated the part of the book I loved the most: Gilbert’s travels through Italy. They thought that part highlighted her self-centeredness. I wished I could be there with her, savoring gelato and long meals with good friends in the land of my ancestors.

Politics and religion, two topics that are off-limits at most polite gatherings, are fair game for us. One member once described her upbringing as a Jehovah’s Witness; another talked about what it’s like being Jewish in Toledo.

Sure, we get off course. Sometimes our meetings are more about catching up than about the book. But always, at our core, is what brought us together in the first place: books. When we were putting together a list of the books we’d read in our 11 years, we were struck by how many of our choices were testaments to the power of words in the characters’ lives.

Just as books and learning were a way out for Francie in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, one of our favorite selections, discussing books became a way for me and my friends to get away from our crazy lives for a few hours once a month.

We laugh when we think about what book club will be like when we’re in our 80s. Large-print versions, here we come!

First Published August 21, 2011, 4:00 a.m.