A few people asked for more details about silent reading parties and what they entail, so I thought I’d write a post about my experience attending one in my city and how you can go to one in your city! 🙂
I first heard about these silent reading parties from a Bookstagrammer I follow whose city throws pretty epic silent reading parties once a month. They usually take place on a Saturday morning or afternoon at a fun bar in the city, and it looked like so much fun.
So, I did a quick Google search for silent reading parties in my own city and found one that a local literary society throws on the second Tuesday evening of every month. I bookmarked the date in February, thinking I’d go by myself and check it out. Buuuut… I chickened out in February. And also in March. And again in April.
Finally, I brought up this event to my book club, knowing if anyone was going to be as excited about attending something like this, it would be them. Most of them were interested, which filled me with so much glee. I knew I would be able to finally attend this event if I had a friend or two to go with!
I planned to go to the June meeting, and it was really fun! I’m glad I finally had the courage to go. Here’s what the event entailed:
Our silent reading event took place at a meditation center and started at 7:30pm. My friend and I got there maybe 10 minutes prior to the starting time and there were four people there: the host, the person who runs the meditation center, and two other women. We were instructed to sign in, take off our shoes, and find a comfortable place to sit. There were a few chairs scattered around the room, along with an assortment of large pillows and BackJack floor chairs. One woman was seated in one of the chairs, two other women were using BackJack chairs, and a man had constructed what is essentially a bed out of a bunch of pillows. My friend and I chose BackJack chairs along with pillows to rest our legs on. (Halfway through the event, I ended up adding a second pillow to rest in my lap and found it much more comfortable to read that way.)
We were asked to silence our cell phones and the man walked around the room with a basket to take them from us. My phone was in my purse across the room so I said it was already stowed away. My friend didn’t want to give up her phone (she didn’t use it, but she just felt better keeping it near her just in case), and they didn’t badger her to give it up. It was more of an encouragement if you wanted to be tech-free during these 90 minutes.
And then, the man rang a gong (yes, really!) to signal that we were entering the period of silence. Everyone stopped talking, opened their books, and started reading.
It was so calm and peaceful for those 90 minutes of reading. Nobody was whispering or checking their phones or walking in and out of the room. The only sounds were people turning the pages in their books or opening a highlighter to highlight a page they were reading.
I’ve mentioned before how I’m not the type to sit down for an hour or two and just read. I read in short snippets, 10-15 minutes at a time. The longest period I tend to read is when I read on my lunch break, but even then, I take breaks to play a game on my phone or scroll through Instagram for five minutes. With this silent reading event, though, I was forced to sit down and read for 90 minutes straight.
And it was glorious. I was shocked when the man rang the gong to signal that time was up because I wasn’t prepared for it to be over so soon.
After our silent reading period was finished, we went around the room sharing what book we were reading. I’ll admit I felt a bit out of my depth with the books these other people were reading; just… not the kinds of books I like to read and very highly literary. I felt a bit silly showing my Louise Penny mystery, even though I’m not ashamed of my love for cozy mysteries. It would have been really fun to shock this group with a romance title, though!
But that’s what our silent reading event was like! My friend and I have talked about having our own little “events” together every once in a while – just getting together on a random weekday evening and meeting in a park to read. But I also think I’ll return to this silent reading event again. I wasn’t able to make it to July’s event, but hopefully, I can go in August!
If you’re interested in checking out one in your city, I’d suggest doing a google search (“silent reading party + your city”) because that’s exactly how I found mine! You could also check out Silent Book Club, which has chapters throughout the world. Another option is to check Meetup.com to see if there are any silent reading meetups around you. (My city had one for a while, but it’s now disbanded.) If none exists where you are? Why not create your own? All you have to do is find a venue willing to host your event and spread the word!
Have you ever been to a silent reading event? If not, would you want to?
I did not realize these were a common thing! I googled and it doesn’t look like there is one in Minneapolis, at least not close to me. There was one at a big museum last November, though. I feel like most of my evenings end up being silent reading parties because I tend to go upstairs at 8-8:30 and read until 9-9:30 and I try not to check my phone during that time. I have my iPhone set to silence notifications from 9p-7a but I should change it to 8p-7a as then I would for sure not be interrupted during my nightly reading time.
I love this idea! Wish there was a chapter near me.
Neat!! I’m not sure communal reading is for me but love the idea and would def give it a go!
Aww, I bet they didn’t think twice about what you were reading! If they love to read they’d be happy to hear anyone is reading anything 🙂
I wonder how this would work for me, as I need to use my phone to look up words. I guess I’d have to bring a real dictionary too, ha! It sounds so relaxing though. I try to read for long chunks when I can – I can’t seem to absorb what I am reading when it’s only for a short while – funny how we are opposite!
I can’t wait to hear about your next one! And if you do it on you own with some book club friends!
SO darn cool. I love that you went to this. I tend to read in short snippets too, though I read for a more extended period at bedtime. I could use a phone-less 90 minute stretch like this because I am always distracted by my phone while reading. I’m going to look right now and see if I can find a nearby event.
That sounds like so much fun. I’ve never heard of those types of event, but I’d be up for it. I definitely tend to read more when I find longer stretches of time (maybe I should try your approach), so 90 minutes would sound ideal to get really emerged in your book.
Thank you for this! I was wondering how it worked – then saw an article in an (old) Oprah magazine, and your post, and now I want to do one! Nothing in my town (side note: ALL of the reading groups meet during the day in this town, during the work week! I have not been able to find one for “Saturday mornings with caffeine and books”… guess it’s time to start thinking about, well, starting it myself… :>)