The first hour
We gather
For the first hour, we socialize. This part is entirely optional. If you'd rather skip the small talk and get straight to your book, you can jump right into reading.
Twice a month, readers from all over the Tri-Cities gather at a beloved local spot with whatever book happens to be on their nightstand. We talk for a while, and then, together, we fall quiet and read. It's the simplest thing in the world, and somehow it feels like magic every time.
Everything happens through Bookclubs: it's where we post each gathering, and where you can reserve your spot so our host venue knows how many readers to welcome. Reservations aren't required, but they're always appreciated.
Reserve your spot on BookclubsAny format is welcome, whether that's physical, digital, audio, or something else entirely. Every gathering follows the same gentle rhythm, whether we're tucked into a wine bar in Kennewick or a cafe in Richland.
The first hour
For the first hour, we socialize. This part is entirely optional. If you'd rather skip the small talk and get straight to your book, you can jump right into reading.
The second hour
Then we read quietly together for an hour. A comfortable hush settles over the room, and everyone disappears into their own story.
In the fall of 2023, a small group of about ten or twelve book lovers found each other and tried something a little unusual: sitting together in a local business, reading separate books, perfectly content. Word traveled the way good news does in a place like the Tri-Cities, and today our community counts several hundred readers, with thirty to fifty of us showing up to any given meetup.
We've kept the things that made it work from the beginning. There's no assigned reading and there never will be, because we think the book you're already in the middle of is the right book. There are no membership fees, because reading alongside neighbors shouldn't cost anything. And we gather, deliberately and happily, at small local businesses: the cafes, pubs, wineries, and shops that make this corner of Washington feel like home.
Bookclubs is home base for reservations and event details. For everything in between, from photos of recent gatherings to news about where we're headed next, find us here.
Meetup announcements and glimpses of our reading life around town.
@silentbookclub.tricitiesWe typically gather on the second Thursday and fourth Sunday of each month, and the venue changes each time. We announce every meetup on Instagram, so that's the place to see where we're headed next.
Reserve a spot on our Bookclubs page: that's the one place where every meetup lives, and it helps our host venue prepare for the right number of readers. If you'd rather just appear at the door with a book under your arm, that's wonderful too.
Whatever you're reading right now, in whatever form you love reading it. If it holds a story, it belongs at our table. Audiobook listeners, just bring headphones along.
Never. There are no dues and no fees of any kind. Since we gather at local businesses, ordering a coffee or a glass of something is a lovely way to thank the folks who give us a room to read in.
Only as much as feels right. The first hour is there for those who love a good bookish conversation, and the second hour is quiet for everyone. Plenty of our members come precisely because nobody will make them mingle.
It is. We're the Tri-Cities, Washington chapter of Silent Book Club, reading with neighbors from Kennewick, Richland, Pasco, West Richland, and all across the Mid-Columbia.