Silent book clubs — the introverts’ best-kept secret?

I won’t lie — I’d never heard of this global phenomenon until one launched last weekend in Porto, the city in Portugal that I now call home. A post had popped up on Instagram — the algorithm knows me soooo well! — and since I can never say ‘no’ to a book-related event, and because I like being around fellow book-lovers, I thought, ‘why not?’.

Clearly I am not alone.

Silent Book Club currently has 6.7k followers on Facebook and is a ‘global community of book lovers’, with clubs — or, more perfectly, ‘chapters’ — in over 500 cities in 50 countries in 6 continents as well as online. It was started in San Francisco in 2012 by two friends, Guinevere de la Mare and Laura Gluhanich, who just wanted to ‘enjoy books, friends, and drinks’ without the pressure of reading an agreed book and then trying to think of something clever or interesting about it. For someone referred to by her husband as a ‘book group tart’, this notion holds considerable appeal! I love reading, and I like hanging out with other readers, but if you’re a diligent member of a traditional book group, it often means you don’t read what you’d personally choose to read. And if you belong to more than one group (ahem), well…

So what was it like?

Part of the Silent Book Group approach is to meet in local cafes, bookshops, other independent businesses as a way to support local communities, so Porto’s inaugural chapter took place in the basement of a cafe that had perhaps underestimated the number of reading aficionados who’d attend, and sadly had already run out of brownies when I arrived.

Undaunted, I ordered my ‘meia de leite’ and went down to the basement where around 15 or so people were already sitting at differently-sized tables — the big kitchen-style number for the less introverted, small round tables with armchairs for 2 for the more so. I found a seat between two of the smaller occupied tables and sat down, trying not to disturb the intense reading that had already got underway in this corner. A couple of readers offered a quick, welcoming glance before reverting to their pages, but I knew instantly that I had entered an inner sanctum where reader and book should not be disturbed by anything (other than the waitress arriving at intervals with the drink orders). The hosts gave simple instructions — we would read for an hour, undisturbed, phones on silent, until they announced the hour was over, and then we were free to talk, or leave, as we pleased.

To tell the truth, I found it hard to focus at first. I felt self-conscious sitting among strangers engaging in an activity that is normally very private and very personal. Was my page-turning disturbing anyone? Was I breathing too loudly? A kind of out-of-body awareness meant that the sound of Miles Davis wafting down the stairs, surrounding our group of earnest, lip-biting readers, felt a little too parodic. I started to wonder why I hadn’t just parked myself on a bench if what I was after was an hour of undisturbed reading, but then the reading itself took hold. It’s like anything social, I suppose. Those first few moments, your antennae are out, picking up every sound and movement, on high alert in this never-before-experienced… experience. But then you find the rhythm. And a pleasure in the understanding that everyone is there because they love doing the same as you — reading books that interest, provoke, distract, arouse, delight, transform, enlighten, or simply just accompany you through your day.

Silent book clubs are billed as how introverts socialize — the ‘Introvert Happy Hour’ as de la Mare calls them. At the hour’s end, our books were photographed while a few of the less introverted made conversation. A fair few others just happily packed their books and left with barely an upward glance.

Did I enjoy it? I did. Dedicating time to just one thing, and only one thing, with all (or at least most!) distractions kept at arm’s length was precious. Smartphones, conversation — forbidden. Just you and your book going wherever it and your imagination want to take you. It all felt very pure. Like being a kid again, left to your own devices in the local library. I left feeling a little as I do after a yoga class: light, tranquil, energized. But with the added bonus of being able to add 50 pages to my reading progress on Goodreads, and the knowledge that I am not alone in this new city.

If you want to find out if there’s a silent book club operating in your area, or if you want to set one up yourself, check out Silent Book Club.

And if you’re a silent book clubber, want to share your thoughts, or just want to say ‘hi’, I’d love to hear from you in the comments! (For the real introverts, a little clap if you enjoyed reading this will do just fine 🙂).