We're super excited to be teaming up with Read it Forward, an online community for readers created by Crown Publishing Group. Read it Forward publishes essays, book recommendations, interviews with authors, and more.

We kicked off our partnership with a story about how Silent Book Club might save your life, and once a month, we'll be sharing reading recommendations in their What We're Reading newsletter. You can find our first batch of book recs here, or sign up on Read it Forward to get the next installment delivered to your inbox. 

P.S. While you're poking around the site, don't miss their Book Club Appetizer podcast. The Spotify playlist they created for this episode is fierce.

Silent Book Club started with a couple of friends sitting at the bar of a little neighborhood bistro. We were both book lovers, and on that particular evening I was on a rant about book clubs. The pressure to finish the assigned reading. The discussion guides that read like essay questions from a high school English class. 

I read for pleasure. I love hanging out with friends who are book addicts like me, but, to quote Helen Ellis, I'm a grown-ass lady. I don't want to do homework. Wouldn't it be great, I mused, to have a book club where you could go to a bar with a book and a friend, order a glass of wine, and just read quietly? And with that, Silent Book Club was born.

On the last Monday of every month, we host meet ups in SF and NYC. But you don't have to live near an official chapter to join Silent Book Club. Everyone is welcome, and anyone can host a meet up. You just need a book, a bar, and a friend. Or, hey, maybe just a book, a cup of tea, and your PJs. Any time you carve out a quiet moment to read, you're following the tenets of Silent Book Club.

If you're interested in starting your own Silent Book Club chapter, we've gathered a few tips for you...

How to host a Silent Book Club

That's it! Put down the phone, pick up a book, and read, wine, repeat. Now, shhh. I'm reading.

— guinevere

Psst, have you signed up for our newsletter? Get event invites and member perks each month. Pass it on! 

• Because you like books.
• And you like reading with friends.
• But you never can finish the assigned book club book on time.
• Because everyone in your last book club loved David Foster Wallace and Jonathan Franzen.
• And they made you feel bad for loving Rainbow Rowell.
• Because reading a book in a bar is better than swiping right.
• Plus, people will think you're an intellectual rather than a 30-something drinking alone.
• And that cute bartender will ask what you're reading.
• Because you like getting book recommendations from people you know.
• And you don't feel like cooking dinner and giving the kids a bath.
• Because books and wine prevent Alzheimer's. Or something. Maybe.
• Because you're sick of everyone basking in the glow of their phones.
• Because "Silent Book Club" sounds better than "drinking on a Monday."
• Because, let's face it, don't we all just go to book club for the wine?