Silent Book Club - Manila, Reading Session

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Today, I joined SBC-Manila’s silent reading session at Podium’s The Book Nook.


First time for me to attend, though I’d long been lurking on the Discord server and, like a shy teenager, have always wanted to join one of the silent reading events. 

I tried signing up to one of them before, but apparently, slots go quickly, and I never made it to before sign-ups closed. 

Was lucky enough to get a slot for this one, though!

This particular session was hosted by kutingtin, who I don’t think I’ve ever met personally, but know through IG and Discord. (We’ve met now.) 

Have to say, Tin was a consummate host, well-prepared with constant and complete updates before the event, and a clear program during. 


There was an intro, then we dove right in to the 1hr silent reading portion. And yes, everyone silently read for one hour. I think there were 30 or so people who participated! 

After 1 hr of silent reading, we broke up into groups for half an hour of talking about what we were reading. Had a lovely discussion in my small group! Learned a few things about Japanese cinema from some of my group mates (we got around to it bec someone was reading THE MEMORY POLICE and WE’LL PRESCRIBE YOU A CAT, both from Japanese authors.).

The others in my group read LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY and VALIS by Philip K. Dick. 

And these were all the books that were read in today’s session.


Here is what I read…(read up to page 83. Joe Sacco mentions the sweet tea he gets served a lot, so I got the urge for a teh tarik.) 

I also had a really nice conversation with Alexis from Book Nook, who told me they actually have regulars. People who come more or less daily at a specific time, sit down to read a book, maybe take a break for lunch, and come back to read some more, and maybe leave in the early afternoon. It honestly sounds like a person who can do this is soneone who’s retired, but really, I’m all for retirees—and anyone—finding a place where they can borrow a book and read it in peace. In fact, when the group started leaving, I saw a parent & child, and a couple of other people eagerly take the seats we left and start reading their books. 

Perhaps more on the Book Nook later, but for now, hello again, from Coffeespoons.

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