Happy 10th anniversary to Silent Book Club, the global community that turned reading alone together into a worldwide phenomenon. What started with two friends in a San Francisco bar is now a global movement with thousands of chapters. Join us as we look back at our growth and milestones over the last decade!

Growth & Milestones

2012 - Silent Book Club founded by Laura Gluhanich and Guinevere de la Mare in San Francisco. How it all started...

2015 - We launched our website (silentbook.club), established a national organization with chapters in San Francisco, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles, and coined the taglines “Introvert happy hour” and "BYO Book." 

2016 - Word of mouth and social media help us grow to 20 chapters, with regular meetups added in Seattle, Columbus OH, Orange County CA, Jacksonville FL, and our first international chapters launching in England (Andover, UK), Australia, and India (Bangalore). Photo above: We team up with Green Apple Books in San Francisco to pour mimosas to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day.

2017 - The literary press takes note. Poets & Writers magazine and LitHub publish articles about Silent Book Club, and O, The Oprah Magazine sends a photographer to San Francisco to include us in a feature on book clubs. Italy, Canada, and South Africa join in from abroad to bring us to 40 chapters worldwide.

2019 - An NPR story goes viral, taking us from 70 chapters in August 2019 to 180 chapters in 20 countries by the end of the year. Susan Cain, the author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking writes, "It’s just the most amazing thing to see the introvert revolution literally remaking the way we organize society — this time, the world of book clubs." 

2020 - When Covid hits, there are more than 260 chapters in 30 countries. Silent Book Club starts hosting online meetups and virtual events to connect authors who can no longer go out on tour with readers who are stuck at home. The New York Times praises “the intimacy and sense of communion” Silent Book Club’s virtual sessions offer during lockdown.

2021–2022 - Dark days of pandemic. Some chapters go on hiatus or shut down, but many more survive! 

2023 - After two years of isolation, people are desperate to reconnect in person. Silent Book Club provides a welcoming space for readers to find community. The Wall Street Journal publishes a front-page article about Silent Book Club, and a video from a West Seattle meetup goes viral on Instagram and TikTok with 3 million views. We double in size from 300 to 600 chapters in 50 countries.

2024 - The tipping point. Silent Book Club continues its meteoric rise, adding 1,075 new chapters in 2024. Good Morning America, CNN, The New York Times, National Geographic, NPR, and Time report on the rising trend of Silent Book Clubs among Gen Z and millennials, with Eventbrite reporting a 223% increase in Silent Book Club events on their platform. By the end of the year we have 1500+ chapters in 55 countries. 

2025 - Silent Book Club celebrates 10 years of reading with friends! Our movement has inspired a new generation of readers, with the BBC reporting a 460% increase in Silent Book Club events in the UK from 2024 to 2025. We work with volunteer organizers, libraries, bookstores, and small businesses to host 2,000 local chapters in 61 countries… and counting! More than a million readers worldwide bring their own books to meet in person and read together every month (or more!), and dozens of new chapters join our global community each week. Even Oprah gets excited, inviting SBC onto the Oprah’s Book Club podcast to discuss the phenomenon.

"We're witnessing a remarkable renaissance in literary gatherings across the country. Book clubs have evolved far beyond traditional living room meet-ups into dynamic community experiences. What's driving this surge is a genuine hunger for authentic connection—particularly among younger generations. Our data shows that 95% of Gen Z and millennials prioritize in-person exploration of their passions, and literature has become a powerful anchor for these connections. On Eventbrite, we're seeing everything from Silent Book Clubs to mystery fan meetups and even read-and-run clubs, transforming reading from a solitary activity into a shared cultural experience."

— Roseli Ilano, Head of Community & Trends Expert at Eventbrite