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It鈥檚 a book-loving introvert鈥檚 dream: Show up for a meeting and chat with fellow attendees for half an hour. Open your own book; silence reigns for an hour. Half an hour more of socializing follows after that.听

That鈥檚 a Silent Book Club, the creation of two friends who share an unease with small talk and a dislike of homework. Guinevere de la Mare remembers talking with fellow founder Laura Gluhanich when they were neighbors in San Francisco several years ago. Ms. de la Mare had a meeting for a traditional book club coming up and wasn鈥檛 fond of the selection, which she never finished.

鈥淚 was really frustrated with the idea that I felt like I had homework as a woman in my late 30s,鈥� de la Mare says. The two agreed that their preferred book club would be outside their homes 鈥� they wouldn鈥檛 鈥渉ave to vacuum and prepare beautiful platters of hors d鈥檕euvres鈥� 鈥� and they could read whatever they happened to be reading at the time. No assignments.听

It was Ms. Gluhanich, according to de la Mare, who said, 鈥淭hat sounds awesome. Let鈥檚 do it.鈥�

Silent Book Club now has more than 50 chapters all over the world.

鈥淵ou can hang out with your friends and you can chat for a little while, and then when you hit that horrible moment of running out of small talk, you can just [say], 鈥極h, OK, now it鈥檚 time to read,鈥� 鈥� de la Mare says. 鈥淚 mean, it鈥檚 just such a dreaded moment.... It completely avoids the problem, ... and nobody鈥檚 judging you for it.鈥�

The all-volunteer organization started in 2012, but de la Mare estimates they鈥檝e doubled in size over just the last year. At first it was just de la Mare and Gluhanich and a growing group of acquaintances. Then a friend moved to Brooklyn and took their brainchild there.

Farther north in Toronto, Vicki Ziegler and about a dozen regulars have been meeting monthly for more than a year at a store called PRESS Books Coffee Vinyl. They wanted to support a local business, and meeting in a bookshop certainly has its advantages. 鈥淚f a book gets mentioned during the book club, you can literally turn around, reach up, and grab the book off the shelf,鈥� Ms. Ziegler says.

And there are a lot of recommendations among members. Ziegler says 鈥淚ndian Horse鈥� by Canadian writer Richard Wagamese has been read, and loved, by every member. They鈥檙e also generous lenders. This past summer, Ziegler lent a book that she hadn鈥檛 started yet. 鈥淚t鈥檚 actually making the rounds now. And so at some point I鈥檓 going to get to read it. But I hear it鈥檚 good.鈥�

The gatherings have been so popular that Ziegler has fielded requests from other members to meet more often.听

Kat Stone Underwood, public services librarian at Daniel Boone Regional Library in Columbia, Mo., says starting a Silent Book Club was 鈥渒ind of selfish鈥�: 鈥淚 wanted to join one, but we didn鈥檛 have one anywhere near us,鈥� she says. Ms. Stone Underwood was another person attracted by the lack of homework. 鈥淚鈥檓 very much someone who doesn鈥檛 like to read things that are assigned to me,鈥� she says. The library鈥檚 chapter usually attracts six or so attendees per month. Stone Underwood thinks part of the attraction is that 鈥測ou鈥檙e completely giving yourself permission to just read for an hour.鈥�

听

That notion was stressed at a recent Silent Book Club meeting at Trident Booksellers in Boston. When events and marketing听coordinator Caitlin Kling was pitched the idea of hosting a group, 鈥渨hat sealed it for me was the 鈥榮elf care鈥櫶齛ngle,鈥澨齭he writes in an email. She was also fully on board with the lack of assigned reading. 鈥淭he idea that we don鈥檛 set aside enough time to just sit down with a good book that we听really want听to read ... really resonated with me, and I loved that this would give people an opportunity to do that for at least an hour,鈥澨齭he says.

But it was that ever-potent mixture of chatting and reading silently that brought in first-time attendee Ashley Smith.

鈥淚've been trying to get out of the house more, and I love Trident as a store, and it sounds like a really cool idea,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 very introverted, so it鈥檚 a nice balance between being social and not.鈥�

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Columbia, Mo.听