GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — It’s not often you see a book in a bar. Then again, it’s not often you meet up with a group to be silent, either.
Kara Murphy, the Grand Rapids woman behind it all, leaves you expecting the unexpected.
Her day job is piloting drones, taking videos for networks like HGTV. On the side, she's the organizer for the Silent Book Club, and the mother of a 12-year-old.
"It's been an exciting ride," Kara said.
Though, it's a ride that keeps her away from one of her favorite hobbies — book club.
“I get busy being a mother, and I work full time as well and I’ll have this book and I’ll think ‘Oh my gosh, I didn’t have time to finish it and people are gonna talk about it and ruin the ending.’”
With Silent Book Club chapters all over the nation, she's the one who first brought it to West Michigan.
“If you went to a regular book club and you had your nose buried in a book that you were supposed to finish, people would look at you like ‘what are you doing?’”
It was a way for her to make the rules. A true introvert, she left socializing optional.
“You don’t have to talk to anyone, you can just be out and about reading, but you’re in the company of other people," she explained.
Even the reading material is up to you.
“You can be anywhere, in any book, you just show up and continue reading," Kara said.
Member Janay Richardson, who reads five to six books a week, says it's all the good parts of book club.
“I am a homebody, so I don’t go out a lot," she said. "My routine is very structured, but I threw it off today to hang out with my sister and do something I would do at home.”
Her sister, Amber Kinnell, says it's a way to keep her focused on books.
“I haven’t read a book in years with my kids being so little, so getting away means I am going to read," she said.
It may be odd to hear the sounds of pages turning in the bar. But just wait until the end of the night when books are turned over for conversation, and the best part of silent book club isn’t the silence at all.
“It’s an introvert’s happy hour," smiled Kara.
Silent Book Club meets once a month. The next outing is in August. View the details and keep up to date on their future meetings on their Instagram page here.
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