In October of 2023, I was meeting up with a girlfriend at a local boutique hotel to chat and read. We would literally order a drink, yap for like 30 minutes, and then read for 45 minutes – I would set a timer – and then we were back to the kiki.
It was like our thing.
I remembered seeing that they had hosted a silent book club in the past. So, during one of our chat and read sessions, I went to the front desk and asked about the book club on my way out. I was told they needed another host. I connected with someone who handled events, and a month later, I became Columbia’s official Silent Book Club host.
I love reading. Most evenings, I am the girl on the couch with a book. I’ve even managed to figure out how to read in tiny increments while playing some imaginary game with my toddler.
I love reading in community even more. I didn’t realize how important having this community – or a hobby – was to me and my mental health.
Trying to juggle home life, work, a social life, and raising a toddler, let alone a child whose abilities differ from others. I look forward to getting a standing respite for a few hours once a month. Not to mention the people I meet and all the books I get to discover.
If you don’t have a hobby … please get one. Regardless of the stage of life you are in, a hobby will do wonders for your energy.
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Okay, so now let me tell you about this special edition of the silent book club event that I curated last month.
My girlfriend Megan has a very cute office space for her life + style brand, Shades of Pinck. She often hosts small private events or gatherings at her office for her friends, which I am not going to lie are some of my moments because I get to wear an outfit and be cute with my friends for a couple hours.
Anyway… since I’ve been hosting SBC, I’ve wanted to curate a different vibe for the book club. Our monthly meetups are located in a hotel lobby, and it’s cute, but I can’t control the music or energy. We also occasionally meet up at our local art museum. I do get to control the music there, but again, most of the setup is already in place.
So, getting the opportunity to host book club the way I wanted to from beginning to end was everything.
Since my girlfriend's brand is centered around style and fashion, I wanted to set that vibe. During the arrival, I played 90s house music. I wanted to give it a 90s New York Fashion Week after-party vibe—even though I’ve never been to NYFW, I could have totally missed the mark, but the vibes were vibing.
Think Good Life by Inner City
OR
100% Pure Love by Crystal Waters.
When readers arrived, we had a bar cart full of goodies that catered to several preferred palates, including a simple but major hit mocktail – raspberry lemonade + tonic water. I got side eyes, double checking to make sure it was NA. One of my girlfriends said, “It’s giving skinny.” lmao
I also had sweet treats for folks to nibble. But my fav was the custom cookies! Wanted everyone to take something home with them to remember the night.
When it was time for our silent reading hour, it took a few minutes of me ringing my triangle bell to get folks to settle down – which is no surprise because, like I said, the vibes were vibing!
I switched to instrumental house music while we were reading.
As soon as 7p hit … ding ding ding, went my bell. I thanked everyone for coming to this special edition SBC and announced the afterparty starts now.
We had our final musical vibe switch. I pressed play on Gunna’s fukumean.
Our 30-minute after-party was precisely what we needed to end the night.
I want to do more curated book clubs like this. I had the best time, and I know my guests enjoyed themselves.
Would you come to my book club?