On a recent Sunday afternoon, dozens of people explored the Margaret Mitchell House — the historic Atlanta property where the author wrote “Gone With the Wind,” now refashioned as a museum. Between engaging in conversation and sipping drinks, many of the guests were hoping to strike up a friendship, reports BritPanorama.
About a half hour into the gathering, the lively atmosphere transformed into the hush of a library. For the next hour, pages turned until silent reading time made way for more conversation. After all, a book is just the icebreaker at a local meeting of the Silent Book Club, which has events all over the world.
Silent Book Club meet-ups — and similar online or IRL gatherings such as reading parties and BookTok — are gaining in popularity. They play a part in an informal movement to get more people interested in reading for pleasure, which has been in decline over the past 20 years in the United States, according to a 2025 study that analyzed American Time Use Survey data from more than 236,000 participants.
“It’s a great way to meet people, make friends, and take time away from the hustle and bustle of life and just sit down and read,” said Aiden Quayle, who attended the Atlanta meeting. “Party is definitely not the right word, maybe like a hangout.”
This low-key vibe offers a healthy way to reset in the age of the endless scroll. Leisure reading is beneficial because it allows the brain to “decompress” by absorbing information that isn’t tied to a particular purpose, said Sam Helmick, president of the American Library Association.
With depression, stress, and sleep anxiety on the rise in the US, Jessica Bone, lead author of the 2025 study, noted that building reading habits is “potentially even more important right now for supporting people dealing with those things.”
Why reading is good for your brain
Bone, a senior research fellow in statistics and epidemiology at University College London, indicated that these events might not necessarily mean more adults are leisure reading, which can include physical and e-books, magazines, and newspapers. However, structured time set aside at gatherings such as the one in Atlanta appears to encourage attendees to read more.
These gatherings signal a trend of reviving a culture of reading for pleasure, Bone said. “Maybe it’s just that those kinds of things are encouraging people who already read to read different kinds of books… or to kind of read for longer,” she added.
Developing a reading habit can broaden vocabulary, boost knowledge, and stimulate the imagination. Reading once or more per week is associated with a reduced risk of cognitive decline for older adults, a 2020 study found.
Regular reading promotes health; it reduces stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms while supporting better sleep. The habit has even been linked to increased longevity — a 2017 study showed more time spent reading is associated with lower mortality rates.
As an added bonus, reading — despite being an individual activity — develops empathy, according to Helmick. “Regardless of age… it supports lower anxiety, higher socialization factor and the ability to navigate the world without having to pay the tuition of life experience,” they said. “It gives you a wider variety of life and experience and allows you to enjoy those narratives and those experiences without actually having to live them.”
Bring books, magazines, podcasts to a reading party
Reading Rhythms also hosts reading parties in cities around the world. The get-togethers aim to create community, and attendees can purchase tickets online.
As cofounder John Lifrieri puts it, the gatherings are “book agnostic,” meaning any reading material is welcome.
“We’ve seen people come with a corporate finance textbook that they’re kind of interested in,” Lifrieri said. “We’ve seen people pop in headphones for the hour experience and listen to their favorite audiobooks.”
However, while reading online and on devices “count” as reading, Bone cautioned that “it’s possible they might be getting kind of more distracted by notifications or other content,” leading to reduced reading time.
Additionally, reading via social media or online hypertext can lead to a dopamine cycle rather than allowing the brain to relax, Helmick explained. In a dopamine cycle, the brain releases dopamine in response to rewarding experiences, reinforcing the behavior and requiring more to achieve the same level of satisfaction.
Lifrieri concurred, noting that despite being format agnostic, Reading Rhythms promotes a “gentle no-screen policy.” This approach emphasizes how reading can serve as an antidote to the instant gratification cycle prevalent in today’s society, where attention spans are reportedly declining.
How to jump into reading
At the Silent Book Club gathering in Atlanta, members noted their rediscovery of a love for reading, even amid busy schedules. “This is a good way to kind of set aside time each week to actually read,” Quayle said.
Building reading habits as an adult is often more challenging than as a child, Bone said, but it can certainly be achieved. Lifrieri, who once found reading difficult as a child, now chooses to read before bed instead of scrolling through his phone. He reported improved sleep quality since adopting this practice.
“It’s a great way to help me go to sleep, actually calm my brain down from all the craziness that’s on my phone,” Lifrieri noted.
Even Helmick, the president of the American Library Association, admits to not reading as much as desired. They suggest setting aside reading time during late night or early morning to disconnect from daily distractions.
For selecting books, Helmick mentioned checking out multiple titles at once. “Don’t feel bad about checking out multiple books and then not finishing them, or even starting them and saying, ‘This doesn’t work for me and moving on to the next,’” they advised. “There’s really no moral compromise in saying this is not a book for me.”
Read like a child: Don’t set requirements
Choosing books at the library or a bookstore, Neuman advised adults to adopt a child-like curiosity. “Very often, they’ll be interested in a particular topic,” she noted. “They want to see a video. They want to see a movie, and they want to read about it. These cross-media connections are really important.”
Curiosity serves adults well too; for instance, an interest in cars can spark reading about them. It’s crucial not to impose heavy expectations on leisure reading, Neuman cautioned. Setting quotas can detract from the joy of reading.
“When we talk about time, we’re de-emphasizing the sheer joy of reading,” she said, emphasizing that it’s never too late to start reading in any form. “Just read whenever you get the chance.”
Helmick stressed that developing a reading habit varies for everyone, suggesting that individuals find what works for them and embrace it. “By the end of a couple of weeks, you typically have a reading habit right under your belt,” they remarked.
