Many times when people think of a book club, a very distinct mental image comes to mind: a group of people sitting around, talking about a book they all read. Sometimes there are questions or book rants, and sometimes everyone just uses the excuse of reading a book to have time to hang out with people with similar interests. However, that sort of structure does not work for everyone. Some people struggle with reading a book they hate, others find this feels entirely too much like homework.
And as a result, the Silent Book Club was born.
The two who went on to create the organization came up with the idea in 2012, after multiple attempts at doing traditional book clubs fell flat. And truly, they were brilliant for this premise. The goals of Silent Book Clubs are community: supporting local businesses, talking about books with people who are just as into them as you are, and getting an hour or two of reading time with people who understand exactly how annoying it is to be constantly interrupted. Not to mention, for any introvert who constantly gets criticized for not getting out of the house enough, you'll get to be with others who understand that struggle.
However, it's easy for an organization to have this as a purpose and for the meetings to turn into a social hour, so I wanted to check out my own Silent Book Club chapter to see what the vibe was. And in the two times I have gone, it has been some of the nicest reading experiences I have ever had.
Now it should be mentioned, that I came to the meeting yesterday to do some serious reading. I brought two books and my Kindle, as I was certain I was going to finish the first one and I wanted to make sure I would enjoy what I would be reading next. And I was not the only person to have two books and an e-reader! Where I had been slightly self-conscious about it, the fact there were plenty of others who had the same thoughts as me helped me know that I had found my people.
I got my coffee and my sandwich and immediately started reading. And for the most part, there was no talking! There were a few short and polite, "Can I sit here?" conversations at the beginning, and in the middle when everyone was taking a short break from their books, there was a nice conversation about what we were reading and the pros and cons of different e-reader devices. Honestly, that conversation made me want to give up my Kindle Paperweight for a Kindle Scribe with how many notes I take when I am reading. In addition, there was a competition to see if anyone could find the word of the day, in this case, "journal," in their books - and the first person to find it would win a gift card. But overall, we were all there to read. Each of us had our books, the coffee shop was playing relaxing music, and I left so much more relaxed than I had been when I first arrived.
Now, I can't say my local chapter will be the norm everywhere. However, I do encourage any introverted book readers to go see if you have a local chapter and check it out. It could be officially under the "Silent Book Club" banner, or it could be an unofficial one. Either way, I highly recommend going - it's a great way to go out and be social while being around people who understand how easy it is to be lost in a book.