Silent book clubs are happy hour for introverts
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios
No assigned reading. No forced discussion. Just you, your book and a roomful of fellow book lovers, quietly reading.
Why it matters: That's the idea behind "silent book clubs," gatherings popping up in cafés, restaurants, breweries and other places across the country.
Catch up quick: Co-founders Guinevere de la Mare and Laura Gluhanich launched the Silent Book Club in San Francisco more than a decade ago.
- What began as two friends reading at a bar has grown into more than 2,000 chapters in 62 countries. (Find your local chapter here.)
- "It became this really lovely little escape pod where you could put down your devices, and you could focus on books and human interaction," de la Mare tells Axios.
- She likes to call it "introvert happy hour."
Driving the news: Kelsey Jones saw the concept on social media and thought, "Indianapolis needs something like this."
- So, in April 2022, she started Silent Book Club Indy.
- "Like a lot of people, after the pandemic, I was looking for a way to get out and meet like-minded people and find a sense of community," Jones told Axios. "And I was over being in book clubs where I was assigned what book to read."
State of play: The club started with fewer than a dozen members.
- Last year, the largest gathering ever attracted nearly 400 readers when the club partnered with the Indy Indie Book Crawl.
- It regularly attracts upwards of 100 readers for its monthly meet-ups, which now require a free ticket to manage the interest that often outpaces the capacity at its rotating hosts.
How it works: BYO book.
- Any format — audio, e-book, magazines — any genre.
- Each meet-up, usually at a coffee shop, hotel or bar, starts with 30 minutes of quiet reading.
- The next hour is choose your adventure — socialize, swap book recommendations or continue reading quietly.
By the numbers: There are a dozen chapters in the Indianapolis area — from Boone County to Greenwood — and events are up 76%, according to Eventbrite.
- Attendance is up 20% over the last year.
What's next: Silent Book Club Indy is forgoing its usual December meeting for a holiday shopping event at the Whispering Shelf bookstore.