Monthly Archives: September 2019

Silent book club multiplication

San Francisco-based Silent Book Club founders Guinevere de La Mare and Laura Gluhanich were most recently featured in a wonderful piece on the NPR web site. Thanks to that fantastic coverage, lots of curious readers are googling “silent book club [city]” … and many more readers in the Greater Toronto Area are finding us. As a result, we arranged to do a doubleheader this month, with meetings on Saturday and Sunday at our favourite spot, Press …

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By doubling the number of meetings, at least for this month, we were able to welcome some new attendees, still have room for our ongoing members, and not compromise the quality of our gatherings – or blow out Press’ walls – with too large a group. We might be able to double up our meetings on occasion, but another way we can accommodate the enthusiasm for the silent book club experience is by helping others to start their own groups … and in that regard, we have some great news! A recent attendee at one of our meetings earlier this summer has started a group in the Mississauga area. Another regular attendee of our meetings is guiding a traditional book club of which she is a member to transition to a silent book club, and hers will be meeting in midtown Toronto. These groups are just getting off the ground, but if you’re interested in finding out more, please contact me for more details. Needless to say, we’re thrilled to see our group’s energy and enthusiasm spinning off into new groups benefiting more readers, local businesses and communities.

As always, before the silent reading portion of the meeting, we went around the table so everyone could offer highlights on their recent reading discoveries, delights and challenges. One fellow reader revealed that chancing upon Judith Kerr’s obituary in The Economist has opened some new reading pleasures that she and her children are sharing together. When I described part of the inspiration for Karen Solie’s latest poetry collection, The Caiplie Caves, another fellow reader nearly jumped out of her chair to insist she needed to read those poems, because she’s been to that part of the rugged coast of Scotland. Another fellow reader spoke with brief and moving eloquence about the joys of revisiting Alistair MacLeod’s short stories in Island. These moments and more are why the “non-silent” portion of our meetings seems to be as cherished as the silent portion.

The range and variety of books we highlighted, recommended, occasionally expressed dismay or disappointment about and devoted a concentrated an hour to … once again, the list is lush, delicious, lively, intriguing.

(Note: The list that follows now reflects books discussed in both sessions of our two-meeting weekend.)

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Enjoy our previous silent book club meeting reports and book lists here.

We’re pleased and honoured to have been interviewed about the silent book club concept and how to start a club of one’s own.

San Francisco-based Silent Book Club founders Guinevere de La Mare and Laura Gluhanich were most recently featured in a wonderful piece on the NPR web site (yes, National Public Radio, thank you very much!). Extensive and enthusiastic coverage silent book club coverage includes this piece in the February 2019 issue of O, the Oprah Magazine, describing the club’s genesis and extolling its virtues as the concept and clubs spread worldwide.

If you’re interested in starting your own silent book club or are in the Toronto area and perhaps interested in checking ours out, please feel free to contact me for more information.