How essential silent book club has become

As each new meeting draws near, I find myself downright craving the peace, warmth, clarity and community of our neighbourhood silent book club. Today’s was another fine, cozy, restoring and heartening get-together with friends and books.

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In just a few short months, the silent book club has evolved in some wonderful ways, into a comfortable and truly satisfying groove for those of us who not only love to read, but love to discuss what we’re reading and learn and get tantalizing recommendations from others. We’ve got regular attendees coming month after month, so we need to spend less time explaining the concept (although, of course, I’m happy to do that when we do have newcomers). Once refreshments are in place (yay, Press – your coffee and chai lattes and baked goods are fabulous!), we launch right in to …

  • Recaps of previous reads – Not only do we bring the circle up to date on what we were reading at the previous meeting and how it turned out – good, bad or indifferent – but we now mention other things we’ve read in the mean time. This meeting, one attendee admitted ruefully that she had a “bad reading month” because she got too wrapped in some TV binge watching … and then she proceeded to rhyme off an impressive list of titles she read anyhow, even with the siren song of Netflix tempting her.

  • Praise and challenges – The group has developed a level of familiarity with each other as readers that not only are we sharing our reading triumphs and enthusiasms, but we’re now feeling sufficiently comfortable to share our challenges, disappointments and criticisms, too. It’s encouraging to be able to discuss where we’re hitting stumbling blocks in our reading, such as encountering interesting subject matter that is couched in problematic fashion. Getting advice from empathetic fellow readers on how to soldier on or know when to spell one book with another and other approaches is very gratifying.

  • Sharing and acquiring booksIndian Horse by Richard Wagamese has changed hands several times since this book club started. Stranger by David Bergen is now travelling from one reader to another. A couple of Louise Penny books have been purchased on a club member’s recommendation. Did I mention that the setting for our meetings is a cafe set inside a vinyl record and bookshop? Club members need only stroll mere feet from our table to act on recommendations from the group.

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As always, Milo keeps an eye on the silent book club … and our scones.

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Here are the books the members our silent book club meeting read and/or discussed today. (Yes, there is a bit of an Irish theme happening here, in tribute to St. Patrick’s Day!)

It’s only a month until it’s silent book club again!

Interested in starting your own silent book club? Or are you in the Toronto area and maybe interested in checking ours out? If I can help or offer insights, please feel free to contact me.

4 thoughts on “How essential silent book club has become

    1. bookgaga Post author

      Thanks so much, Rick. I would say the group has both expanded and deepened, if that makes sense.

      Reply
  1. Laura Frey

    I am so into this!! I don’t trust people to pick books for me, usually, and I always have some reading project on the go, which has dissuaded me from joining traditional book clubs.

    Reply
    1. bookgaga Post author

      Laura, I’m so pleased to hear that this style of book club appeals. It really celebrates the joy of reading without pressuring folks to read a specific book, be specifically prepared, etc, etc. If you need more details on our group or maybe how to start your own, feel free to message me at vicki@bookgagabooks.ca.

      Reply

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