Book With A Beer Chaser

The next meeting of the Twin Cities' most unusual and interesting book club is Tuesday, January 8. Books & Bars meets at Bryant-Lake Bowl, 810 W Lake Street, in Minneapolis. Doors open at 6:00pm; the discussion begins at 7:00pm.

January's book is Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. Gilbert, who works in what he calls happiness studies, explores the question of why humans as a group are so bad at predicting what will actually make us happy. A partial explanation: "When we have an experience . . . on successive occasions, we quickly begin to adapt to it, and the experience yields less pleasure each time," he writes. "Psychologists calls this habituation, economists call it declining marginal utility, and the rest of us call it marriage." To get the full story, you'll have to read the book, but you can read the first chapter here to get started immediately.

Books & Bars is not your typical book club. We provide a unique atmosphere for a lively discussion of interesting authors, fun people, good food and drinks. You're welcome even if you haven't read the book.

PS: Check out the StarTribune's article about Books and Bars. They loved it!