Silent Book Club's 10 Largest Chapters

A decade of community, connection, and quiet moments shared — and a few gatherings so big, they could fill an entire park or beach. These are the chapters that have drawn the largest crowds and built the biggest followings around the world.

Over the past ten years, Silent Book Club has grown from a small idea among friends to a global movement with more than 2,000 chapters in 60+ countries. While every group carries its own rhythm, these ten chapters have shown just how far a simple act — reading together in silence — can reach.

From Georgia, USA to Indonesia to South Africa, these are the readers turning cities into libraries and strangers into friends.

10. Los Angeles, California, USA — 6.5K followers on Instagram

Organizer: Kari

In a city known for its bright lights and busy schedules, Los Angeles has created something quietly extraordinary. “It is one of the best feelings,” Kari said. “Oftentimes, Los Angeles has the reputation of not being a city that reads. But there is an abundance of history in the city of writers, readers, and indie bookshops.”

From book swaps and potlucks to “blind dates with a book,” LA’s chapter reflects the creative pulse of its city — vibrant, curious, and always up for connection. “It’s awesome to hear the dichotomy between the quietness of our reading hour and the boisterous chatter and laughter afterward,” Kari said.

With four meetups a month across Greater LA, this chapter shows what it means to build a big city community — one page, one reader, one neighborhood at a time.

9. Orlando, Florida, USA — 6.6K followers on Instagram

Organizer: Ashley

For Ashley, Silent Book Club Orlando began as a lifeline. “SBC came at a time when I needed community the most,” she said. “Now, seeing familiar faces each month feels like home.”

That warmth turned into momentum. Orlando’s one-year anniversary became a full-scale book fair featuring local authors, indie shops, and hundreds of readers celebrating together. This year, the chapter even earned Best Reason to Pick Up a Damn Book in the Best of Orlando Awards.

From a craving for connection to a citywide celebration of stories — Orlando proves that joy is contagious.

8. Seattle, Washington, USA — 6.7K followers on Instagram

Organizers: Dustin & Stacy
✨Also one of our longest-running chapters ✨

Seattle has been reading together since 2016, making it one of Silent Book Club’s original pillars — and one of its most recognizable.

Organizers Dustin and Stacy have built a community as timeless as it is beautiful. Their gatherings embody the city’s creative, bookish spirit, and their stunning social designs have helped shape Silent Book Club’s visual identity worldwide.

Rain or shine, Seattle’s readers keep showing up — a quiet reminder that even in the busiest city, there’s always space for stillness, story, and connection.

7. Indianapolis, Indiana, USA — 7.2K followers on Instagram

Organizer: Kelsey

Indianapolis has quietly become one of the Midwest’s strongest reading communities — so strong, in fact, that it caught the attention of local media. Earlier this year, WISH-TV highlighted SBC Indianapolis in its feature “How to Make New Friends in Indy as an Adult.”

The piece celebrated Silent Book Club as “a space to read together without pressure,” showing how Indy readers are redefining connection in a city that values authenticity and warmth. The chapter’s steady growth reflects exactly that — a welcoming, easygoing space where anyone can pull up a chair, open a book, and belong.

6. Denver, Colorado, USA — 8.6K followers on Instagram

Organizers: Jake, Austin, and Jenn

Set against the backdrop of the Rockies, Denver’s readers gather in cozy breweries, bright cafés, and indie bookshops — wherever there’s space to read and breathe.

“All readers are welcome! Digital, audio, physical — bring them all,” the organizers shared. There’s no assigned reading, no pressure, just an hour of quiet connection and community. Their free, BYOBook events support local businesses and invite readers to simply show up as they are — books in hand, ready to unwind together.

5. Johannesburg, South Africa — 17K members on Meetup

Organizer: Ana Maria
✨Also one of our longest-running chapters✨

When Johannesburg first met in 2018, organizer Ana Maria expected a few curious locals — not a full house. “I remember panicking because people kept coming and we were out of chairs,” she said. “We weren’t ready for that much reading enthusiasm!”

Hosted ever since by the Goethe-Institut, the group’s gatherings mix deep conversation with laughter and surprise. “We’ve discussed everything from religion to cannibalism,” she joked. “Every time, we leave with more ideas than we came with.”

With members from across Africa — and even virtual guests from Singapore and Mexico — Johannesburg has become a hub for open-minded readers unafraid of big questions.

4. MoCo, New Jersey, USA — 27.8K followers on Instagram

NEW EDITION! One of Silent Book Club’s fastest-rising chapters.

Organizers: Nicole & Kate

MoCo is what happens when a good idea goes viral — and then becomes something even better.

After one of their posts took off online, their next beach meetup drew more than 400 readers — perfectly calm, perfectly silent, perfectly SBC. Organizers Nicole and Kate were stunned by how naturally serene and connected it felt. “In true SBC spirit, it was perfectly orderly, chill, and calm and, well, silent,” Nicole said.

Inclusivity and accessibility are the backbone of MoCo’s success. “We greet everyone who comes in, and we try to be really friendly and take our time speaking to members, especially those who come alone or are shy,” Nicole explained. Attendees wear color-coded bracelets — green for social, red for solo — and the group provides detailed accessibility guides for every venue.

Kate added, “We believe in coming as you are — be it solo in sweatpants or with newfound friends. We’re all just out here doing the best we can, and SBC gives us a bit of a touchstone for that.”

From sold-out “side-quest” events like their planetarium meetup to trolley bookstore crawls that filled up in seconds, MoCo has redefined what large-scale reading together can look like — inclusive, intentional, and effortlessly cool.

photo: @jillkc113

3. Jakarta, Indonesia — 30K followers on Instagram, 500-reader meetup!

Organizer: Hestia Istiviani

“Never ever in my wildest dream was to bring over 500 readers to read in silence together in Jakarta's public park,” said Hestia, the founder of Silent Book Club Jakarta.

The chapter’s origin story is as personal as it is powerful. “I hosted Silent Book Club Jakarta because I was heartbroken after an awful break up in 2019 and I keep doing our monthly meetup,” she shared. What started as an act of healing became a thriving literary movement.

When COVID-19 hit, Jakarta’s readers didn’t stop. “COVID-19 was not an obstacle, because I could still host it online through ZOOM,” Hestia said. “As Silent Book Club Jakarta grows, I see more various readers. Not only my friends, but also participants who are younger and older than me.”

The group now fills public spaces with hundreds of readers every month — a testament to what happens when vulnerability turns into community. “I really love how this community turns into something I am comfortable being with,” she said. “I wish, through our silent reading session, I could spread how reading is a totally fun activity to do!”

2. Cape Town, South Africa — 35K followers on Instagram

Organizer: Shawn 

If you ever wander through a Cape Town park and notice an uncanny quiet among hundreds of people, you’ve found Silent Book Club.

“I’m always impressed by how kind our readers are at each gathering,” Shawn said. “Often, many of them are attending for the first time and don’t know how we operate, but we have enough regulars who help set a precedent and vibe for the newcomers.”

The chapter’s readers have seen it all — barking dogs, curious passersby, chatty waiters — and they take it all in stride. “I’m always ready for some crisis to happen,” Shawn laughed. “But I’ve never had to deal with any because our readers just handle it. I love that!”

His favorite sight? The look on strangers’ faces when they realize they’ve stumbled into a crowd of 300 people, all reading in silence. “It must be slightly eerie,” Shawn admitted, “but it’s also so fun. We’ve even recruited a few people who just happened upon us in the wild.”

Cape Town is proof that peace doesn’t depend on silence — it grows out of kindness, curiosity, and the quiet understanding between readers.

1. Atlanta, Georgia, USA — 43K followers on Instagram

Organizer: Sophia

In Atlanta, silence feels electric.

“It’s always a wild and thrilling experience to walk through a room full of readers at the Atlanta chapter meet-ups,” Sophia shared. “It’s still so awe inspiring that readers want to attend and that they enjoy the community building so much, it’s to the point where we’re out of seats, readers are sitting on the floor, pulling camping chairs out of their cars, or even standing to read.”

Atlanta has become a literary heartbeat for the South — with meetups hosted across breweries, hotels, bookstores, and even the historic Margaret Mitchell House. “The spaces we’ve had the opportunity to visit and read at have helped define us,” she said.

Sophia’s intentional approach to connection sets the tone. “It’s about creating small experiences inside such a large one,” she explained. “Readers could be anywhere, but they choose to spend those hours with us. That’s incredible.”

In less than two years, Atlanta has hosted nearly 100 gatherings and inspired more than 60 new chapters across Georgia. What began as a leap of faith has turned into a statewide movement — one that continues to grow, one quiet page at a time.

Special Mention: Nashville, Tennessee, USA — 5.7K followers on Instagram

A rising star on our radar, Silent Book Club Nashville has quickly become one of the city’s most talked-about new communities — even earning a spotlight on NewsChannel 5’s Talk of the Town.

Each month, readers gather in local cafés, bookstores, and parks for an hour of quiet connection. Organizer Ali described it best: “It’s a quiet place for people to come together and just enjoy reading.”

In a city known for its music, Nashville’s readers are proving that silence can strike its own beautiful chord.

What We’ve Learned Along the Way

• Big doesn’t mean loud. Even among hundreds of people, the heart of Silent Book Club stays the same: open books, open minds, and a shared moment of calm.

• Small gestures matter. Behind every packed meetup is an organizer who showed up early to move chairs, someone who offered a smile to a first-timer, or a reader who left an extra bookmark for the next person. Those small, human moments are what make Silent Book Club feel like home.

• Silence connects across continents. From a park in Jakarta to a beach in New Jersey, a library in Johannesburg to a café in London, the ritual is always the same: people arriving quietly, opening books, and finding belonging in stillness. That shared rhythm is what turns a simple idea into a global heartbeat.

To our organizers — the ones who open the doors, reserve the tables, and make room for everyone — thank you for building something extraordinary.

And to every reader who has ever joined a meetup, carried a book into a crowded café, or sat in companionable silence beside a stranger — you are the story.

You’ve shown that when we gather to read, silence becomes something extraordinary. Thank you for making the world a little quieter and a little more connected, one page at a time. 

Here’s to the next decade of reading together.