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I was reading Poets and Writers Magazine the other day, the “Inspiration” issue, and came upon an article about silent book clubs. Have you heard of them? I hadn’t but apparently silent book clubs and silent reading parties are a thing! I guess I don’t run in the right crowd or something and this trend slipped right by me.
Anyway, I think the silent reading party came first in Seattle in 2009. Since then has taken off around the world. The idea of the party is for a bunch of people to show up at a bar or other public place and they all sit around reading together for an hour or two. That’s it. You don’t have to talk to anyone and you can bring whatever you want to read.
The Silent Book Club started in San Francisco in 2012 and they have a website. The founder, Guinevere de la Mere, hosts regular reading parties, publishes a blog, curates an international Silent Reading Book Club event calendar, and offers tips on how to start a club of your own. I checked out the club list and it appears one is starting up in the Twin Cities in February. It is being held at a cafe in Minneapolis and in March it will be held in St Paul. Very democratic to switch back and forth between cities! I’d love to go but it is going to be on the night I usually lead a group bike ride. February is a few weeks away yet so who knows, perhaps something will change and I will be able to make it.
Silent Reading Parties turned up in the pages of the New Yorker back in 2014. I don’t generally read the magazine. I’m so uncool. But it strikes me that this is the best sort of party ever for reading introverts like myself.
Have any of you heard about this? Or maybe you have attended a silent reading party or a Silent Book Club meeting? If so, do share! If not, would you go to an event if one were hosted in your area?
What an intriguing idea. I think I would enjoy something like this, as I often find myself lingering over a solo lunch because I’m not at a good stopping point in the book I was reading while I ate. Every so often I notice two or three other people doing the same thing and the experience is almost as if we were already in one of those silent book clubs. Completely the opposite, a Rice University professor friend of mine and I started a two-man book club back in November (meeting once a month) where we exchange books and explain why we want the other to read what we brought to the meeting. We also exchange thoughts on the books we finished from the previous meeting. We met today and he left me with a band new copy of the Whittaker Chambers classic “Witness” about the Alger Hiss espionage trial. It’s not something I would have ever picked up on my own…and it’s 700 pages long.
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Sam, there is definitely a sense of companionship reading in public with others even when the “gathering” wasn’t planned. Your two person book group sounds great! I hope Witness is a good book, 700 pages is a real commitment!
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That’s awesome! I’d heard of silent book clubs and wondered if one would start up in the Twin Cities (I’m in Bloomington). I might have to check this out, especially since it’s going to be at a café. Hanging out with fellow readers in a place with food (and maybe hot chocolate and comfortable seats?) sounds like a winning combination. 🙂
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Or not… just Googled it and they’re meeting on Wednesday nights, which is my choir practice night at church. *sigh*
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Lynda, maybe we could persuade the organizer to look at other nights? I see there aren’t any RSVPs yet, so maybe if I go to this first one in February I can let her know there is more interest if we look at other nights.
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That would be awesome, thank you! I’ll watch out for further word of another night. And the choir doesn’t sing during the summer months, so even if the organizer wants to stick with Wednesdays, I could still come during June, July and August.
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Amanda, that would be awesome! I’m booked on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at least through the winter. Come spring and summer that will change. but if they tried a different day I would make a big effort to go.
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Lynda, cool! Too bad you can’t make it either. Hopefully we can both go another time!
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No! I had not heard about silent book clubs or silent reading parties, but like a previous commenter, I am intrigued by the idea. I guess need to renew subscription to Poets and Writers. I am going to check around and see if this trend is happening anywhere in my area. We are not exactly cutting edge where I live, but maybe someone is doing it. If not I may host one myself.
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Carol, I find Poets and Writers hit and miss and probably wouldn’t read it if I didn’t get free digital access through my library 🙂 But doesn’t the reading party sound great? If no one in you area is doing one, you could start one up yourself!
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My boyfriend and I tried to go to one of the Silent Book Club events in Brooklyn back in October but the person organizing it didn’t realize that the back room of the bar where she told everyone to meet was having a comedy open mic thing that same night – oops. So we just got food and beer and sat at a table in the front of the bar by ourselves, reading. One woman asked if we were there for the Silent Book Club and then said she was just going to go to the comedy thing rather than try to read in the slightly-noisy front room of the bar. So, yeah – not a great success, but I’d be curious to try again in the future!
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Heather, oh that’s a shame! If you decide to try one again I hope you have better success.
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I have never heard of this but it sounds like the best thing ever in the history of humanity. I love reading in public but I hate talking to people. And one of my 2017 goals was to join a club! I’m definitely going to look into this.
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Elaine, heh, well this could be the perfect club! It’s definitely my kind of party 🙂
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I may have to try the Twin Cities one! I love this idea, and I like Common Roots so an excuse to head there every couple months sounds lovely.
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Ok….I am officially clueless, but I had no freaking idea that something like this was happening!! I am never “with it” even in the “geek’s club”. But I must say this is very interesting and a perfect club for people like my flatmate who really are introverts and do not like talking much.However, honestly in a bar or a restaurant surrounded by folks, there is NO WAY I will NOT talk…I mean I will read, but I will HAVE to talk! So I may drive the other members up the wall and be banned even before I get started! LOL!
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cirtnecce, don’t feel bad, I just found out about it too. From reading around about it, some clubs let you talk quietly to others, some allow talking at the beginning, and others are absolute silence at all times. So it all depends. I think a little talking has to be allowed, I mean, I have to be able to ask you about your book and how you like it!
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I love this idea in theory, but in practice I have never gone into Seattle to attend. Because I am lazy.
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I would only go to a silent reading party if one was generous in its policy towards scoffs, snorts and chuckles!
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Ian, I agree with you on that! One needs the freedom to make at least a little noise while reading!
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Shay, heh, I totally understand the lazy!
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What a wonderful idea. To be in company of like minded people, if only for a little while. Reminds me of sitting in a old library or church, hundreds of years old. You go there not just for the beauty of the places but for those vibes and feeling of being connected.
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anita, yes, I think you put your finger on it exactly! It’s that connected feeling, being in community, that is so appealing 🙂
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I don’t know how I’d feel about actually having to drive somewhere to meet with other people to read silently together… but some of the fondest memories I’ve had involve reading peacefully with friends in a holiday cottage.
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MarinaSofia, so you’ve had your own silent reading party and didn’t even know how trendy you were 🙂
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I think I like this idea. I kind of get it. I often sit in a café to write my journal. But reading is such a solitary thing, and it’s kind of nice to sit propped against pillows – if you’re lucky with a cat or dog for company – and just wallow in a book. Part of me thinks why would I ever need other people to read?
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thewonder, well you wouldn’t need other people around to read, but reading is so often a solitary undertaking that sitting around with a bunch of other people who are also reading offers its own kind of comfort. I’m with you on the pillows and the furry animals though. While I think a now and then reading party would be fun, not something I would do all the time.
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My public library held a similar event a couple of years ago, except it wasn’t called a “silent reading party”. It was the same set up, and I adored it. However, the turnout wasn’t great. Perhaps it works in bigger cities?
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ravingreader, oh what a shame the turnout wasn’t that good. Maybe if the library tried it again? There could have been circumstances that kept people away?
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Wow, I’d never heard of such a thing. I really wondered if it was a joke. I do like to read in cafés, so I guess I am having a club meeting on my own.
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smithereens, now all you have to do is invite other people to read at the same cafe as you and you will have a party! 🙂
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While I don’t mind reading in public and take a book with me almost everywhere, I much prefer reading at home in my own comfy chair.
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jenclair, I can totally understand that!
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This is my kind of party! It looks like I missed an NYC event in November, I’ve signed up to hear about the next one. 🙂
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Emily, doesn’t it sound like fun? If you go to one you have to post about what it was like! 🙂
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I think this would make me feel extremely self conscious!
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Victoria, really? Hunh, never thought of that angle!
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I read the same article and thought, “Well, that’s interesting!” I’m not sure I’d be into social reading, but I like the idea of supporting readers and writers.
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Jennifer, it is interesting. I’m willing to give it a try and go from there. Could be fun could be a big whatever 🙂
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I have not heard of silent reading parties, but I have been to a ‘normal’ party and pulled out my book so I could get on with reading it – but I don’t suppose that counts!
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piningforthewest, heh, no, I don;t think that counts! 😀
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I’ve heard of this sort of silent reading in schools. They let the kids read for a certain period of time, each reading whatever they want and the whole class remains silent as they read their own thing. As for these adult silent reading clubs, I’m not sure the purpose of it if you’re reading in a coffee shop with ambient noises around. Do they talk at all after reading?
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Arti, oh yes, I’ve had friends and coworkers with kids talk about reading time at school which I think is really great. I think the purpose of adult silent reading clubs is to spend quiet time doing the thing you love that is often solitary in the company of others who are also doing it. Talking depends on the clubs, but it seems that most of them allow you to talk quietly to one another especially at the beginning and end of the meeting.
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I might go, because sometimes it’s nice to get out but not have to make idle chatter with people you don’t know well.
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Jeanne, yes, I agree! I think that is part of the appeal, a change of scene but also sharing time with other readers who you don’t even have to talk to and no one will think you rude!
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I have got to find if there’s one in my city. I love the idea of this! I mean, I love my regular book club but I think this would be fun too. I’d love to see what other people are reading.
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Iliana, I know, right? I’d love to see what other people are reading too! I ope you find one in your area. If you do and you go you have to report on it! 🙂
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This is so interesting! There’s only one on the site for the UK but if one was scheduled closer to me I’d definitely go.
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bookishdragon, maybe you and a friend could put one together? Wouldn’t take much organizing I’d think, just set a date and do a little advertising. 🙂
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Darn–no Omaha chapter. Such a pity as it is one of the few social events I think I could be happy about going to on my own! I love this idea. There is nothing like reading with others in companionable silence. At least I would imagine it must be so…. (Thanks for sharing the link!).
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Danielle, you should totally start one! Maybe your library cuold sponsor one somewhere on campus? Or your public library? How fun would that be?
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What a fascinating idea, though I wonder about the point for me of going somewhere to read and not talk to anyone? Is it just the idea that you commit a time to reading? I reckon I’d be the sort who’d be so fascinated by what’s going on that I wouldn’t actually read much myself. I’m easily distracted when I’m out amongst other people.
This is not intended as a criticism. I love the idea and it is clearly gaining momentum which has to be a good thing.
Hmm. I just remembered that my daughter once said that the man for her was probably at home reading. How would she ever meet him. Is this the way? But if you can’t talk?
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whisperinggums, I think talking is allowed before and after and because you know, we’d all want to ask each other what they were reading and what is it about and is it good, that kind of stuff that readers always want to know! I think the point of the parties is that reading is often such a solitary thing, that to gather together as a group just to read creates a sort of companionship for a little while. Plus it makes readers more visible 🙂
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Thanks Stefanie. Yes I can see that, and love the idea, though I feel it wouldn’t work for my extrovert personality. However, maybe I should suggest Daughter Gums arrange one in her city for those not interested in Tinder and Speed dating!
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Oh my goodness I just found your blog post and it has been a delight reading all the comments. Thank you for sharing Silent Book Club with your readers, and I hope that some of them will start up chapters in their home towns! To answer the question posed by some of your commenters, we definitely talk at the meetings. I love hearing about what others are reading. And I’m a pretty chatty introvert, so I would never make it two hours without talking. 😉 Thanks again, Guinevere
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