Quiet Place Book Club: Books for every time of need

Posted on 9 October 2020

The University of York’s Department of English and Related Literature is hosting virtual book club meetings where literature lovers from around the world can discuss books together.

The Quiet Place Book Club is hosting virtual book meetings each month

The Quiet Place Book Club began life on Instagram, but during the Covid-19 pandemic it has been reaching out to readers in the virtual space for live discussion around themes related to their ‘book of the month.’

Mental wellbeing

Professor Helen Smith, Head of the Department of English and Related Literature, said: “It’s clear that a great many people have been finding in solace in reading over these past months, whether they’re reading to escape and imagine things differently, or to get to grips with the difficult issues that confront us.

“People are finding reading to be of enormous benefit to their mental health. It’s a rewarding way to fill the time, it gives them a valuable break from the screen, and it lets people reach out and make connections through the pages of a book and the words of its author. There’s a longstanding understanding that books and reading can be therapeutic, reaching back to the Greeks and Romans.

“With this in mind, we are very pleased to be able to bring our book club to a wider community, and readers around the world, sharing our passions for literature and discussing how the books we choose have moved us or helped us think differently in some way.”

Thought provoking

One book is announced each month throughout the year on the Quiet Place Book Club Instagram and Twitter accounts, where readers can also find details of how join the live book club discussion via zoom.

Experts in the Department of English and Related Literature provide comments and thought-provoking questions to encourage debate and guide shared reading.

Ella Barker, a PhD student in the Department of English and Related Literature, who runs the book club, said: “Bringing together such a wide range of readers from across York, the UK and beyond allows us to find solace and collectively share in the joys and occasional difficulties of literary fiction.

“We pride ourselves on choosing innovative works of fiction and non-fiction that encourage us to go beyond our own limited experiences as individuals.

“This month we are looking at graphic novels by reading Killing and Dying, a collection of short stories by Adrian Tomine, which tackles the anxieties of contemporary living.”