GULFPORT, FL \u2014 Gemma Fountain has always been an avid reader and, as an adult, wanted to find a low-pressure way to connect with other bibliophiles. <\/p>\n
While a traditional book club would seem like the obvious answer, she knew it wasn\u2019t the right fit for her. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m introverted, but I wanted community,\u201d Fountain told Patch. \u201cI\u2019ve always thought it would be really cool to get together with people and read. But I don\u2019t want a book club. I don\u2019t want to be told what to read. I don\u2019t want to be on a schedule. I don\u2019t want to discuss a book. I just want to get together with people and read in silence. Then I Googled it and found out it was a thing.\u201d <\/p>\n
Fountain was pleasantly surprised to discover Silent Book Club, a global community with 2,000 chapters in more than 60 countries. (Learn more about Pinellas County chapters below.)<\/p>\n
The club\u2019s concept has people meeting to read together \u2014 silently \u2014 in person and discussing the books they\u2019re reading. <\/p>\n
Fountain learned that there is a St. Pete chapter that meets sporadically, but wanted to organize meetups a bit closer to home for her in Gulfport. <\/p>\n
About two years ago, she connected on social media with Heather McGowan, another Gulfport resident interested in organizing local Silent Book Club meetups. <\/p>\n
She was too busy, at first, to host any meetups, but helped organize the Facebook page and events. And for a while, McGowan met regularly with other readers on Thursdays, 4 p.m., at Gulfport Brewery, though these have petered off. <\/p>\n
Then, Fountain\u2019s schedule opened up and \u201cstill looking for community,\u201d and in November, she decided to host a Sunday morning Silent Reading Club meetup at the Salty Pup in Gulfport. <\/p>\n
The gathering \u201cis very structured,\u201d she said. \u201cWe meet at 8:30 [a.m.] and from 8:30 to 9, we chat, about books, about our week. At 9 a.m., the conversation ends. I set an alarm for 10 and everyone reads in silence for an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fountain added, \u201cIt\u2019s good for people like me who are chatty. At 9 o\u2019clock, everyone knows it\u2019s time to stop talking. And if you really don\u2019t want to converse, you can arrive later.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the course of a few months, the group has grown, and now, she wants to spread the word about Silent Book Clubs.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal is not that I necessarily want people to come to Sundays; I would love for people to be like, \u2018This sounds like a really cool concept, but I can go on Fridays at 8 p.m. closer to my house. I love this idea, but Sunday doesn\u2019t work for me,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cThen, they can host it and let me know and I can add another meetup to our calendar. I would love for people to create their own.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silent Book Clubs are ideal for those who are looking for something that \u201cis not a typical book club,\u201d Fountain said. \u201cPeople have felt they wanted to have a book community, but they don\u2019t have time to read often or have learning disabilities that make reading really slow and they couldn\u2019t keep up with a typical book club. They felt more discouraged than included, so they find this really encouraging. They love the community without the pressure.\u201d <\/p>\n
Personally, the Sunday meetups are a highlight for Fountain, who also brings her 11-year-old daughter to them. <\/p>\n
\u201cI save my Sunday book so I have something to look forward to each week,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Learn more about Silent Book Club chapters in Pinellas County:<\/p>\n
Mid Pinellas Silent Book Club<\/a>: next meetup is April 22 at Pee-Pa\u2019s Garage Craft Brewery, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.Mum\u2019s the Word Silent Book Club<\/a>, St. Petersburg: contact the group for upcoming meetupsSilent Book Club Dunedin<\/a>: meets Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin on North Beach from 6 to 8 p.m., April through August; 5 to 7 p.m., March, September, and October; and 4 to 6 p.m.; January, February, November, and December.Silent Book Club Gilded Page Bookstore<\/a>, Tarpon Springs: next meetup is April 12, 4:30 to 6 p.m.Silent Book Club Gulfport<\/a>: meets Sundays, 8:30 to 10 a.m., at the Salty Pup in Gulfport<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GULFPORT, FL \u2014 Gemma Fountain has always been an avid reader and, as an adult, wanted to find…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-220471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}