About
Silent Book Club meets monthly in Beacon
When it came time for chatting to cease, participants in the Beacon chapter of the Silent Book Club pulled out earplugs and headphones to block out background noise. Then the action began: Everyone started to read.
Typically held monthly, this meetup took place at Hudson Valley Brewing, but the group bounces around town and sometimes meets at Long Dock Park. "It's happy hour for introverts," says organizer Christina Hellman, who was reading The Night Guest, by Hildur Knutsdottir.
Created in San Francisco 14 years ago by two friends, the concept now has some 2,000 chapters worldwide. Unlike book groups that read the same title, "we have no rules," says Hellman. "You just show up and dive in, maybe buy some drinks. It's a BYO book club where you come and go as you like."
Like Write Today Beacon, a writing club in which co-organizer Lily Friedrich sets a timer for 20 minutes and everyone hunkers down, 20- and 30-somethings have found ways to socialize around the solitary.
The book club premise provides an informal, no-pressure atmosphere for word nerds. Hellman reads the room and goes with the flow as the group seesaws between reading and schmoozing.
Once in a while, the format changes. At Yappy Hours, there is no break to read, though people can of course pull out a book and find a corner at any time. On July 1, Hellman hosted the latest in a series of Listen & Craft sessions at the Salvation Army on Main Street, i.e., "listen to your audiobook while you puzzle, draw, knit, etc."
The club's catchphrase is "What are You Reading?" At Hudson Valley Brewery, Kelsey Butkiewicz dug into Kin by Tayari Jones on a tablet. Andrea Knox (Shadows in Flight, by Orson Scott Card) had moved to Beacon three weeks before the meeting, and Britt Rivera pored over Homer's The Odyssey.
Participants also goofed around on the balcony, gushing over passions like comics, VHS tapes, pinball machines and vintage computer games. Dave Taetsel (Truth of the Divine, by Lindsay Ellis) and Travis Bederka (Closing Time, by Joseph Heller) geeked out over the "janky curves" of analog televisions.
"I have many interests," says Bederka in a deep, dramatic voice, including polar exploration, the Roman Empire, European history from 1500 to 1800, 19th-century Germany and World War II.
Hellman, who was born and raised in Germany by parents from the Philippines, met and married an American serviceman and lives in Newburgh. The couple plans to relocate at some point, but "there have been many offers to host, so I'm sure the club will live on after I'm gone."
She first attended a club meeting in May 2024, a few months after Jessenya Alicea and DJ McErlean started it, and helped out with social media and logo design. "I've made friends with people I never would have met otherwise," Hellman says. "One member says that everyone she knows in Beacon is from the club."
The Silent Book Club meets at 6 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month at Savage Wonder, 139 Main St., in Beacon. Its next meetings are July 15 and Aug. 19. It will also meet at 10 a.m. on July 31 at Bank Square Coffeehouse, 129 Main St. See facebook.com/groups/silentbookclubbeacon or instagram.com/silentbookclubbeacon.
When it came time for chatting to cease, participants in the Beacon chapter of the Silent Book Club pulled out earplugs and headphones to block out background noise. Then the action began: Everyone started to read.
Typically held monthly, this meetup took place at Hudson Valley Brewing, but the group bounces around town and sometimes meets at Long Dock Park. "It's happy hour for introverts," says organizer Christina Hellman, who was reading The Night Guest, by Hildur Knutsdottir.
Created in San Francisco 14 years ago by two friends, the concept now has some 2,000 chapters worldwide. Unlike book groups that read the same title, "we have no rules," says Hellman. "You just show up and dive in, maybe buy some drinks. It's a BYO book club where you come and go as you like."
Like Write Today Beacon, a writing club in which co-organizer Lily Friedrich sets a timer for 20 minutes and everyone hunkers down, 20- and 30-somethings have found ways to socialize around the solitary.
The book club premise provides an informal, no-pressure atmosphere for word nerds. Hellman reads the room and goes with the flow as the group seesaws between reading and schmoozing.
Once in a while, the format changes. At Yappy Hours, there is no break to read, though people can of course pull out a book and find a corner at any time. On July 1, Hellman hosted the latest in a series of Listen & Craft sessions at the Salvation Army on Main Street, i.e., "listen to your audiobook while you puzzle, draw, knit, etc."
The club's catchphrase is "What are You Reading?" At Hudson Valley Brewery, Kelsey Butkiewicz dug into Kin by Tayari Jones on a tablet. Andrea Knox (Shadows in Flight, by Orson Scott Card) had moved to Beacon three weeks before the meeting, and Britt Rivera pored over Homer's The Odyssey.
Participants also goofed around on the balcony, gushing over passions like comics, VHS tapes, pinball machines and vintage computer games. Dave Taetsel (Truth of the Divine, by Lindsay Ellis) and Travis Bederka (Closing Time, by Joseph Heller) geeked out over the "janky curves" of analog televisions.
"I have many interests," says Bederka in a deep, dramatic voice, including polar exploration, the Roman Empire, European history from 1500 to 1800, 19th-century Germany and World War II.
Hellman, who was born and raised in Germany by parents from the Philippines, met and married an American serviceman and lives in Newburgh. The couple plans to relocate at some point, but "there have been many offers to host, so I'm sure the club will live on after I'm gone."
She first attended a club meeting in May 2024, a few months after Jessenya Alicea and DJ McErlean started it, and helped out with social media and logo design. "I've made friends with people I never would have met otherwise," Hellman says. "One member says that everyone she knows in Beacon is from the club."
The Silent Book Club meets at 6 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month at Savage Wonder, 139 Main St., in Beacon. Its next meetings are July 15 and Aug. 19. It will also meet at 10 a.m. on July 31 at Bank Square Coffeehouse, 129 Main St. See facebook.com/groups/silentbookclubbeacon or instagram.com/silentbookclubbeacon.