{"id":3937,"date":"2019-02-20T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dream.press\/?post_type=customer-spotlight&p=3937"},"modified":"2025-09-01T10:35:55","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T17:35:55","slug":"silent-book-club","status":"publish","type":"customer-spotlight","link":"https:\/\/news.dream.press\/news\/customer-spotlight\/silent-book-club\/","title":{"rendered":"Bibliophiles, Unite! Meet the DreamHost Customers Behind Silent Book Club"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The idea originated from a heady combination of desperation and inspiration. Now, it reaches more than 30,000 people\n worldwide, even garnering a recent nod from Oprah\u2019s magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meet Silent Book Club, the low-maintenance option for introverted readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The premise for Silent Book Club is simple. Instead of bowing to the pressures of traditional book clubs (does speed\n reading the day of an event sound familiar?), a group of like-minded people can meet up in a public place solely to\n read, relax, and enjoy the downtime (imbibing encouraged but optional).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The club, which uses <\/a>DreamHost<\/a> for its web hosting needs, began with a couple of friends in\n 2012, namely Laura Gluhanich and Guinevere de la Mare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De la Mare was in the throes of toddlerhood with her two-year-old son who didn\u2019t like to sleep, and she needed an\n occasional escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a working mom, there is no \u2018off\u2019 switch. You have to demand downtime and carve out time in your schedule for\n self-care because no one is going to hand it to you unbidden,\u201d de la Mare says. \u201cLounging in bed and reading for hours\n on a rainy morning is a lovely fantasy but simply not an option with a toddler in tow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One evening she met Gluhanich at a bistro in between their San Francisco apartments, and the two began chatting about\n how nice it would be to be able to show up to a book club meeting and just read and drink wine \u2014 no homework\n necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the next few years, the pair met up sporadically with local friends at wine bars to read. In 2015, Gluhanich,\n de la Mare, and Kristin Appenbrink launched <\/a>silentbook.club,<\/a> and bibliophiles began latching on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clubbing with Friends<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Silent Book Club, which boasts more than 50 chapters worldwide, is really all about sharing a low-maintenance way for\n individuals to enjoy reading their own book \u2014 together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUntil Silent Book Club, I never found a book club that stuck,\u201d de la Mare says. \u201cI have been part of a YA book club,\n a \u2018Read Women\u2019 club, and a couple others. The constant thread through them all is that I was usually stressed out that\n I hadn\u2019t finished the assigned book and anxiety-ridden that I wouldn\u2019t have anything smart to add to the discussion.\n And don\u2019t get me started on hosting\/snack duties. Just, no.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Providing people with an alternative book club has been rewarding for its founders, especially when they hear about\n how it has improved lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/strong>It\u2019s really delightful to hear from community members on how SBC has impacted them,\u201d Gluhanich\n says. \u201cThey\u2019ve rediscovered their love of reading, they finally found a book they loved that was shared in the group,\n they\u2019ve connected with a new part of their identity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And despite the lack of conversing, there is a lot of bonding going on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/strong>I love seeing the same faces month after month. I\u2019ve met so many people and made lasting\n friendships with people who have been coming to SBC for years,\u201d de la Mare says. \u201cWhich is funny to think that you can\n become such good friends with people who get together once a month to not talk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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