After a four-hour daily phone habit and constant work emails left her mentally exhausted, a friend suggested a reading party—also known as a Silent Book Club. What began as a low-pressure experiment at a café with about a dozen attendees became a recurring rou
After 5 p.m., her phone would keep buzzing—long after the workday was supposed to end. Endless emails had left her mentally exhausted and craving something more balanced, especially an evening routine that didn’t make her feel constantly available.
She tried to fix it the way many people do: with effort. She went to the gym after work. but most days she ended up canceling because she was too tired and the idea didn’t sound fun. She also attempted to make regular happy hour plans with coworkers. That didn’t stick either, and she didn’t want her social life to revolve around alcohol. Instead, she spent most evenings on the couch, doomscrolling on Instagram, waiting for her husband to get home from work.
Then came the moment that sharpened everything. After checking her screen-time settings, she was horrified to see she was spending an average of four hours a day on her phone.
Her friend offered a different kind of solution: attend a reading party, or a Silent Book Club. She had seen people around the world post about these low-pressure events where attendees read independently and silently. then discuss what they’ve been reading afterward. It sounded strange at first—turning a solitary habit into a group activity—but she was willing to try.
The reading party she attended started near her with a café session. She went with a copy of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” As she arrived. she worried she would be the only person there. She wasn’t. About a dozen people were spread out at tables in the back corner. each with books in hand. coffees nearby. and no phones in sight.
A woman smiled and scooted over so she could sit beside her. She pulled out her book, ordered an oat-milk latte, and tried to start reading. What followed wasn’t immediate focus. She kept getting distracted and couldn’t get comfortable in the chair—shifting side to side. rereading the same page three times because she kept looking up at the sound of the espresso machine or someone walking by. She wondered how long she could possibly stay there, resisting the urge to grab her phone to check the time. Everyone else’s phones were away, and she didn’t want to be judged.
After about 20 minutes, she finally got comfortable enough to dive in.
The group read, uninterrupted, for one and a half hours. Then the woman who organized the event got everyone’s attention and said the reading part had finished. She motioned for them to go around in a circle: introduce themselves, and share what they were reading.
After that, attendees chatted with the people beside them. The conversations flowed naturally. They all liked reading and had already set time aside to be there. which made it easier to break the ice. She learned the girl next to her was a big Bukowski fan. and it felt good to talk about favorite works.
When the event ended, people began to leave. She liked not feeling pressured to trade Instagram handles or phone numbers with anyone. She thanked the host and said she’d be back.
She left feeling refreshed and calm. Instead of looking down at her phone during her walk home. she enjoyed the beauty of her neighborhood—people walking their dogs. chatting in cafés. But the pull of the habit wasn’t gone. A buzz in her bag snapped her out of the moment. Her hand shot into her purse and grabbed it. She laughed when she saw she had no important messages—only a promotional email about a sale at Ikea. She hadn’t missed anything.
She doesn’t call it a magic cure. It didn’t make her never reach for her phone, and it didn’t instantly erase stress after work. What it did do, she said, was help her connect with others and herself in a more present way.
Now she’s been attending these parties every other week or so for about six months. It has gotten easier to get comfortable, stay focused on the page she’s reading, hold onto the post-reading conversation, and feel less tempted to grab her phone.
And when she’s truly desperate to know what time it is, she says she just looks at the watch she’d forgotten she owned.
burnout social activities Silent Book Club reading party phone addiction screen time mental health routine cafés “The Handmaid’s Tale” oat-milk latte