This month we're taking a road trip across the heartland of the United States, where we have just launched 10 new Silent Book Club chapters. Our literary travels take us through Ohio, Michigan, Kansas, Iowa, and Arizona—with a quick jaunt to New York City. (Just pretend we hopped on Bill Paley's private jet for that one.) In each of these novels, the setting plays a central role in the narrative, and even becomes a character of its own. Come along for the ride!

Curated by Silent Book Club founder Guinevere de la Mare

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

"Lydia is dead." With this revelation in the opening line of Celeste Ng's incredible debut novel, a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio must reckon with the loss of their beloved sixteen-year-old daughter. As the story unfolds from the point of view of each character, we discover that a tangled web of secrets, hopes, fears and truths can knit a family together—and tear it apart.

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides

In a quiet Michigan suburb outside of Detroit, five teenage sisters commit suicide, one by one, over the course of a year. Can you even imagine? Neither can the neighborhood boys, who collectively narrate the book from the distance of adulthood. Some twenty years later, these men are still haunted by the deaths and grapple with their inability to comprehend what drove these beautiful, enigmatic girls to kill themselves.

The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin 

Okay, we're kind of cheating with this one. But wait for it. This delicious novel imagines what it was like to be part of Truman Capote's circle in New York City during the 1960s. The story follows Capote's rise to fame with the publication of his masterpiece, In Cold Blood, still one of the most famous books ever to be set in Kansas. (See what we did there?) It's a complex portrait of an often caricatured author and the socialites he enchanted—and and was enchanted by—during the dying days of Manhattan society.

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel set in Iowa is structured as a series of letters that John Ames, and elderly pastor, is writing to his seven-year-old son. Ames has a heart condition and knows that time with his young wife and son is limited, so he tries to impart as much wisdom, spiritual guidance, family history, and thoughts on life as he can during his remaining days. (Read this with a box of tissues handy.)

Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver

In Barbara Kingsolver's writing, place is a character unto itself. In Animal Dreams, a woman returns to her hometown, a tiny canyon village in Arizona, to care for her ailing father. Weaving together flashbacks, dreams, and Native American legends from the Southwest, Kingsolver masterfully explores the interconnectedness of love, family, and our ties to the land.

*This post originally appeared in the Read it Forward newsletter.

When I saw this post from Rainbow Rowell asking readers to help defend her book, Eleanor & Park, from censorship, I was surprised. My first reaction was, "Wait, they still do that?" And during Banned Books Week, of all times? Of course this was naive, and once I thought more about it I realized that when I think about banned books, I always frame it historically in my mind. Catcher in the Rye, Brave New World, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple, Go Ask Alice—these titles always appear on lists of banned books, and somehow that made it easy for me to dismiss this kind of censorship as a thing of the past.

When I stop to think about it, though, I can remember religious groups being up in arms about Harry Potter because MAGIC, and parents getting riled up about John Green because OMG TEENS AND SEX. I rolled my eyes over the outrage surrounding Twilight because THE OCCULT. Really? We're worried about our kids becoming sparkly vampires? Come on, they're joking, right?

I owe librarians and authors an apology. I haven't been taking them seriously enough in their fight to protect our right to read. I've spent most of my career making books and getting them into the hands of as many readers as possible. Books are my passion. It's more than what I DO, it's who I am. Until today, Banned Books Week for me has been an endcap at a bookstore, a poster at my library, and a hashtag on Twitter. I didn't realize there was anything I could—or should—do about it.

But I can, and you can, too. We can email the National Coalition on Censorship and help them defend Eleanor & Park, and every other book on the list. They have an email address: ncac@ncac.org. They use testimonials from readers to mount their defense of challenged books. If there's ever been a time to stand up for diversity, and tolerance, and minority voices, it is now. I encourage you to read Rainbow Rowell's post. It opened my eyes and made me realize that I am accountable for my privilege to read.

—guinevere

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.

This Saturday is Independent Bookstore Day! 400 bookstores across the country are celebrating, with author appearances, events, and exclusive books and art items for sale on this day only. Neil Gaiman coloring book, anyone? 

In San Francisco, Silent Book Club will be pouring free mimosas at Green Apple Books on Clement Street from 10:30-11:30am. Come say hi, pick up some Bookstore Day swag, and raise a glass to books!‪

And if you're in NY, don't miss the first annual Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl. Visit five or more stores for a chance to win prizes, including gift cards to some of the sponsoring stores and free books. Silent Book Club will be crawlin! Let us know if you'll be in the neighborhood so we can swap swag and hi-fives. 

Give it up for indie bookstores! 

—guinevere

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?