Barley & Font | A Gentlemen's Book Club — Kokomo, IN

Barley & Font is a gentlemen's book club founded in Kokomo, Indiana. Good books, bourbon, and reading jackets — first Tuesday of every month.

Barley & Font | A Gentlemen's Book Club — Kokomo, IN

Barley & Font is a gentlemen's book club founded in Kokomo, Indiana. Good books, bourbon, and reading jackets — first Tuesday of every month.

Born in Kokomo, March 2023

Beer, bourbon, and bound pages

Monthly Meetings

Gentlemen's Gentleman

Reading Jackets

One chapter today. Many tomorrow.

Recent reads & ratings

— Book of the Month

Status

Now reading

Chapter One

Barley & Font began when Santos Salinas and Ryan Minick gathered a handful of men in Kokomo, Indiana — not all friends at first, deliberately so. English professors and construction workers, mortgage lenders and retired veterinarians, united by one thing: a desire to read more, together.

We are a gentlemen's book club with a simple rule — every title must feature a male protagonist. No self-help. Just fiction and narrative nonfiction worth arguing about over bourbon and beer at a local restaurant on the first Tuesday of each month.

We wear reading jackets — think smoking jackets — open each meeting with wins and challenges from the month, then dive into the book. When conversation stalls, the Gentlemen's Gentleman has questions ready. When it ends, we rate the book 1–5 and announce next month's pick.

The Ritual

First Tuesday of every month at a local restaurant — except July, when we tackle the year's longest read over a 60-day window. Ideal group size: 8–9 members, 6–8 in attendance. Attendance encouraged, never required.

The Gentlemen's Gentleman selects 11 books for the year and guides discussion with prepared questions.

Smoking-jacket tradition. Dress the part. It sets the tone before page one.

Growing the Club

We currently have one chapter in Kokomo but want to grow — additional markets or new clubs in the area. Every chapter reads the same 11 books chosen by the Gentlemen's Gentleman, meeting in their own groups on their own schedule during the first week of each month.

Barley & Font | A Gentlemen's Book Club — Kokomo, IN

Barley & Font is a gentlemen's book club founded in Kokomo, Indiana. Good books, bourbon, and reading jackets — first Tuesday of every month.