Introducing the Silent Book Club of Atlanta

Shh, we’re reading. If you’ve been to Atlanta, Georgia, you’ve probably seen something very unusual. Groups of people reading silently to themselves.

Although it may seem strange, these meetings are actually a way for people to read and socialize, according to Atlanta Magazine. This is part of a growing trend of Silent Book Clubs (SBCs).

Sophia Griesenauer, a volunteer, discovered the concept online and started a chapter in Atlanta in 2023. “I wanted to bring together a community of readers to reinvest in Atlanta,” she told Atlanta magazine. Since then, the SBC chapter has held meetings at popular locations around the city about three times a month.

What is a silent book club?
The global organization has more than 1,000 chapters that adults of all ages come to read, according to a release sent to Goodnet. The first chapter was founded in San Francisco in 2012 by two women, Guinevere de la Mare and Laura Gluhanich, and the idea really took off and is now fostering this love of reading and connection in 50 countries.

Like all other chapters, the Atlanta SBC has a dedicated reading time and people are free to read whatever they want, including books, magazines and Kindles, reported Atlanta News First. But we absolutely don’t talk.

The Atlanta chapter typically has between 130 and 170 people. It is increasingly appreciated by participants. “With a space where I can read quietly with others, sort of like a side play, I can finish this Toni Morrison book,” Danielle Clarke, an SBC Atlanta reader, told Atlanta News First.

Once the reading session is over, people can move around and socialize or not. “As a new reader, I thought it would be special to step into this space with my books and hopefully meet some new people,” said Spencer Bonner, another SBC Atlanta reader.

Resurgence of book clubs
Silent book clubs are part of a new resurgence of old-fashioned book clubs, where everyone reads the same book and gets together to discuss it. But these new reading clubs also have a particularity, according to Dazed. This renewal is led by young people.

Generation Z friendly book clubs are popping up all over the world. This is because this generation has a love affair with all things books and this has led to a revival in bookstores Also. On Tik Tok, #BookTok went viral with over 220 billion views.

In this digital world where people work long days on computers, book clubs are a way to make real human connections offline. And there are few commitments other than reading the book.

“I wanted to connect with my friends in a context that didn’t rely on spending and the book club provides at least one inexpensive social opportunity per month,” one book club regular told Dazed.

Some book clubs are thematic, such as Greenhouse Book Club which is aimed at environmentalists who come together to discuss issues and ideas in a collaborative setting. It started as a small, intimate gathering and has now grown to over 200 participants.

“I was exhausted and stopped reading so many articles and books about the environment, but I thought I would like to start again, perhaps in a social setting, because there is nothing such as social pressure to read,” said Issey Gladston, one of Hothouse’s two founders.

Other book clubs focus on sociopolitical and economic issues while others read literature. What they all have in common is that they give people a sense of community and belonging, which everyone needs.

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