Hull: Business booming for silent book club

Organisers of a silent book club in Hull say it has become so successful more meetings and new venues are being planned.

Silent Book Club is billed as “a global community of readers and introverts”, with more than 800 chapters led by local volunteers.

Ellie Crosby, from the Hull club, said it was for “quiet souls to come together” to sit and read quietly.

“It’s not like a normal book club,” she added.

Ms Crosby said: “Because of lockdown there are a lot of people with a higher level of social anxiety, and if you are an introverted soul the thought of going out and socialising can be quite scary anyway.”

However, she said the club was a place where book lovers could come and sit quietly and read together without having to “say anything clever or witty about the books”.

One attendee said she enjoyed the company, but conceded the idea sounded “a bit bizarre”.

Another said there was no pressure to socialise “if you aren’t feeling up to it”.

Others said it was a nice way to make new friends while enjoying a bit of peace and quiet.

Silent Book Club was founded by two friends, Guinevere de la Mare and Laura Gluhanich, at a bar in San Francisco in 2012.

The friends came up with the idea as a way of enjoying a drink and a read with friends without the pressure of “scrambling to finish the selected book and having something smart to say”.

Ms Crosby said the Hull group had now become so popular they were now looking to expand.

The club currently meets at the Brew café bar in Hull city centre fortnightly and on the second Sunday of the month at the Humber Street Gallery.

A first meeting at The New Adelphi Club is scheduled to take place on Sunday 28 April.

Ms Crosby said guests were welcomed with a “hello” before settling down to read.

At the end of sessions, she said they were free to stay and chat, but added that she had no desire “to set them any homework”.