Even the most extroverted person may feel intimidated when entering a new environment by themselves. But at Denver’s Silent Book Club, there’s an immediate feeling of kinship among strangers, all who decided to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon inside reading books at Shop at MATTER.
“Don’t let the idea behind Silent Book Club misguide you,” said Rick Griffith, co-owner of Shop at MATTER. “It’s only quiet for part of it. People are talking, sharing and being in community for the other parts.”
At Silent Book Club, there is no assigned reading. Per the organization’s website, participants are invited to “BYOBook (bring your own book)… read in quiet camaraderie… and socialize after an hour of sustained reading—or not!” It’s a club without members; while most events require registration, all are free and open to the public.
Silent Book Club is affiliated with an international network of over 1,000 silent book clubs and counting worldwide. The Denver chapter coalesced in 2017 and has since amassed nearly 7,300 followers on Instagram and almost 5,000 on Meetup. Silent Book Club’s growing popularity in Denver mirrors a nationwide trend ushered in partly by the pandemic lockdown, where people seek community even when engaging in solitary activities like reading.
At the September 14 event, 15 people showed up. Chairs were positioned in an inner and outer circle around a table strewn with free stickers and bookmarks in the shop’s event space. Paige, Mary and Ryan opted to sit in the inner circle and a scene unfolds much like the one outlined by Griffith.
The trio exchanges greetings, names and titles of the books they’ve each brought to read. Paige, who is attending Silent Book Club for the third time, is reading a cowboy romance called “Heartless” on Kindle; Mary, a first-timer who read about Silent Book Club online, has a copy of “First Lie Wins,” a thriller made popular by Reese Witherspoon’s book club; and Ryan, also new to Silent Book Club, is beginning to make a dent in Haruki Murakami’s “Hard-Boiled Wonderland at the End of the World.”
“I like to read but never have the time,” Ryan said, pointing to the placement of his bookmark and its proximity to the book’s front cover. When he heard about Silent Book Club from a friend, he thought he’d check it out and get some chapters in.
After half an hour passes, MATTER co-owner Debra Johnson kicks off the silent portion of the event. “Read!” Johnson said enthusiastically to the group. “Or knit or whatever you came to do!” Johnson has previously observed book clubgoers engaged in quiet activities such as knitting and letter writing. All introverted hobbies and pastimes are welcome.
Aside from two Kindles and one laptop, Denver’s Silent Book Club is a near-device-free zone. Hardly anyone appears to glance at their phones for a time check, let alone text or doom scroll. An eclectic playlist is put on shuffle at a low volume. Some whispers are heard from the front of the shop, which remains open during the event. Shop at MATTER, located in the Ballpark district, is just one of several host locations for Denver’s Silent Book Club.
“It seemed like a really fantastic mission for us to participate in because you know you’re comfortable when you can just sit and read,” Griffith said. “We’re interested in people transmitting that kind of comfort and experience; we’re interested in people being together; we’re interested in lots of things that are communal, even if it’s quiet.”
Meetings have occurred at Trellis Wine Bar in Park Hill, Improper City in RiNo, Kochi Cafe in Hale and other local establishments around town. According to the organization’s website, silent book clubs around the world aim to promote small local businesses like the ones that host them. Outside of Denver proper, there are two other chapters in the metro area: Centennial and Parker. Beyond the metro area, local offshoots span the Front Range from Colorado Springs to Boulder to Fort Collins.
An hour whizzes by, and upon conclusion, book clubbers are invited to remain in the space and discuss what they’ve read and their individual experiences in a collectively silent space. Paige, Mary and Ryan discuss the progress they made in their books. Ryan shares his thoughts on his first book club experience.
“It felt peaceful,” he said. “It was interesting to be around other people who are reading.”
Before the event ends, Paige, Mary and Ryan are joined at the table by Prashant Gupta. A scientist with a PhD in math, Prashant had spent the last hour reading “A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence.”
“I’ve attended several silent book clubs; I don’t know how many,” Gupta said. “I like late-night coffee shops, community spaces, being amongst people.”
Several attendees expressed learning about new titles as a motivation for attending Denver’s Silent Book Club. Prashant took his main motivation a step further. “I don’t just like to see what people are reading; I like to ask them why they’re reading what they’re reading,” Gupta said. “That tells you a lot about a person.”
Follow the Denver chapter’s Instagram and Meetup accounts to stay updated on future Silent Book Club meetings. Learn more at https://silentbook.club/.
