"What if reclaiming your time could be a little rebellious, and not loud?" asked Books & Books in Coral Gables, Fla. "Once a month, The Reading Party gathers us around a simple proposition: come as you are, bring a book (or don't, we have plenty to choose from), and read together in companiable silence for 45 minutes. Then we break the silence.
"Handwritten prompts open the floor. Wine and light bites flow. Conversations wander. Strangers become friends. Book clubs are born. Someone inevitably says, 'How have we never done this before?'
"Hosted by our very own Alyssa Expósito as part of the Books & Books Literary Foundation, The Reading Party is our small act of resistance against the feeling that our screens are priority. For 45 minutes, we turn to one of the oldest technologies, the book. We read. We breathe. We pay attention. And then we stay awhile and talk about it.... Come for the reading. Stay for the people."