Silence is golden for South Africa’s book lovers

Unlike traditional book clubs, where members read and discuss the same book, silent reading clubs are less structured and stress-free. 

The pressure to quickly finish a book and have something profound to say at the next book club meeting is set aside. Whether you are an avid reader or beginner, silent book clubs offer alternative spaces to read for enjoyment at a bookshop, restaurant, train and even in a park.  

“Silent reading clubs are an introvert’s paradise,” says Griffin Shea, the owner of Bridge Books. 

“Our Silent Reading Club events create a public and shared space to read together. We create a quiet and safe space in a busy city where readers can focus on books they are enjoying.”  

Through his bookstore in downtown Johannesburg, Shea has hosted a few events inviting bookworms to read silently and build a community. 

“We all struggle to make time for reading because life gets busy. Our Silent Reading Club puts reading time on the calendar, makes it a little social and allows us to get together to do something we enjoy.” 

The rise of the global movement was prompted by the founding of Silent Book Club ® by friends Guinevere de la Mare and Laura Gluhanich in San Francisco in 2012. Silent Book Club ® is a global community of readers and has 2 200 chapters in more than 60 countries, among them South Africa. 

Though there are local branches or “chapters” such as the Cape Town Silent Book Club and Jozi Silent Book Club, Shea is part of South African organisers doing it their way, separate from the global network.  

Organiser Ntokozo Ndlovu is also following suit. After being inspired by Chika Onyeani’s Capitalist Nigger, Ndlovu established The Web Foundation in 2015, an NPO focused on sport, arts and education. One of the initiatives under the education pillar is Siyafunda Sonke Silent Reading Sessions. 

Hosting their first session at University of KwaZulu Natal Centre for Creative Arts in 2024, Siyafunda Sonke Silent Reading Sessions have hosted seven sessions across four provinces. And they are not slowing down any time soon, as they held a session this past weekend at Exclusive Books in Centurion Mall, Pretoria. 

As I entered the venue, attendees, including children, were nose deep in books such as Dudu Busani-Dube’s The End; Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions, The Powerful and the Damned by Lionel Barber and children’s title Disaster at Gogo’s Spaza by Salamina Mosese. 

“Unlike a book club, Siyafunda Sonke encourages participants to read different books of their own choice,” Ndlovu explains.

Similar to Shea, Ndlovu aims to create a community of people who enjoy reading but sometimes lack the time to incorporate reading into the hustle and bustle of life. 

“This initiative will allow those individuals to intentionally take time to come and read in the company of fellow readers. Creating interactive platforms where members share their reading experiences and encourage one another to read for pleasure.” 

Benefits of silent reading clubs and reading culture

In a country marred by notions of low levels of reading among certain communities, what benefits do silent reading clubs offer? 

“The data doesn’t support the narrative that we have low levels of reading and we should stop telling ourselves that,” Shea argues. 

As a bookstore owner, Shea knows the reading culture all too well. He cites 2023’s National Reading Barometer that shows South Africa has low levels of book ownership, “however 78% of the population reads for enjoyment”. 

A third of South Africans, Shea adds, read books more than once a week. “The data shows that people are much more likely to share books than to buy them.” 

In conjunction with their other initiatives such as Siyafunda Donate a Book and Siyafunda Bookshop in Brooklyn Mall, Pretoria, Ndlovu and his team have also made some observations. 

Through Siyafunda Donate a Book, where they establish libraries in rural and township schools, Ndlovu noted that adults do not read as much as they should, including for pleasure. 

“Life can get overwhelming, trying to manage careers or businesses and parenting. People do not have enough time to dedicate even an hour to reading a book for leisure. Most people are forced to engage in some level of reading if they have to study to prepare for an exam for instance,” says Ndlovu. 

Siyafunda Sonke Silent Reading Sessions, Ndlovu says, are more than just reading, “it’s interactive, by using books to extend conversation for new concepts and ideas”. 

He added: “Literacy underpins growth in various aspects of our lives and is central to our development as a nation. The creation of a reading culture therefore becomes one of the integral elements in our project of nation-building.” 

Due to no strict assigned reading, as is the case in traditional book clubs, silent book clubs allow attendees the liberty to bring a book of their choice, which is one of the main benefits of a silent book club. Another benefit is that discussions are optional.

“Our format doesn’t work like a book club in that way. People can informally discuss before or after the reading time. For us, the point is that you don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. It’s really time for reading, not discussing.” 

Ndlovu, however, encourages reflections after their sessions. After an hour or so of reading, he set the tone by reflecting on Dr Emmanuel Taban’s The Boy Who Never Gave Up. Other book lovers attending reflected on The Diary of CEO by Steven Bartlett, Zakes Mda’s Black Diamond, Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes, Zibu Sithole’s The Thing with Zola and Palesa,  Flower of the Forest by Khutso Swafo. 

Ndlovu says the benefits of silent reading clubs are to promote regular reading habits of diverse genres, “facilitate intellectually stimulating discussions and create an engaging environment where members can discuss and reflect on different books”. 

Shhh … How to join and how long is the session? 

In my high school days, as an introvert and a bookworm, reading required absolute silence, particularly in the early hours of the morning when the world was sleeping.

As I grew up to be an educator and book reviewer, apart from going to the library, reading in public spaces such as a café, train or the library has also become pleasurable. The idea of reading in silence among strangers connected by the love of words is gold to the soul.  

As I sat in the bookstore among fellow readers rereading Onke Mazibuko’s Canary, I felt the connection, my soul was home. The mall’s weekend shopping noise slipping through the door didn’t deter the mission. A random line from Mazibuko’s pen even set me further at ease: “We must learn to live in chaos. Only then can there be any kind of internal peace.”

Silent book clubs generally welcome all types of readers with any book, including e-books, audiobooks, textbooks, comic books and even magazines. The aim is to read. Apart from purchasing coffee and snacks at the venue, there is usually no membership fee or subscription. 

The events typically follow a similar structure of three or five hours, depending on the attendees.  Bridge Books’ Silent Reading Club is usually a two-hour session. Siyafunda Sonke Silent Reading Session is three-hours, entailing an hour of silent reading, an hour talking about the book and an hour for socialising.  

“You just show up. People can bring any book they want and, of course, we encourage everyone to buy more books from the shop,” Shea says. 

Silent reading clubs are a global movement and South Africa is not left behind. These alternative clubs ease the stress for a fellow club member to give in-depth character analysis and debates about the plot. Or the temptation to plagiarise reviews on Goodreads due to member’s failure to do their “homework”. Silent reading clubs are relaxed shared spaces of reading in silence among a like-minded community. 

Bridge Books will host their Silent Reading Club session on Saturday, 28 March, in Johannesburg.  Siyafunda Sonke Silent Reading Session will take place on Saturday, 11 April at Exclusive Books, Rosebank, Johannesburg.