
Do you believe friends should be seen and not heard? Join a silent book club!
At my elementary school, we had something called Silent Sustained Reading (SSR), a time during which we all sat around the classroom reading whatever books we wanted in a silent and sustained manner. It turns out, you can recreate the experience as an adult—not just by reading quietly wherever you are, as I had previously assumed. No, you do it by joining a “Silent Book Club,” a group of people who get together and read quietly in a location. That’s it! Apparently the Silent Book Club, also known as “Introvert Happy Hour,” is a widespread phenomenon, with more than 70 chapters around the world. Sometimes there’s also talking, before or after the reading.
Honestly, it sounds pretty nice, unless you happen to be in a chapter full of loud swallowers, in which case you should probably just stay home.
[h/t NPR]

Jessie Gaynor
Jessie Gaynor is a senior editor at Lit Hub whose writing has appeared in McSweeney's, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and elsewhere. Her debut novel, The Glow was published by Random House in 2023. You can buy it here.