SILENT BOOK CLUB breaks the barriers of a traditional book club where there's no pressure to finish a certain book, no pressure to socialize and no pressure to do anything but read! Silent Book Club is just that: a silent gathering of readers in Dorothy once a month with an option to follow our highlighted reads and an option to chat with our book club curator - or to keep on reading!
During a Silent Book Club Sundays, Dorothy will be playing instrumental music at a slightly lower volume than normal and will keep the lights at a key higher than usual. Due to the dark nature of our bar we encourage anyone to bring reading lights! Silent Book Club lasts all night: 6-11pm. Arrive early for seating and happy hour from 6-7pm.
Our Silent Book Club is hosted & curated by Charlie! Charlie is a writer, bookseller, and pop culture enthusiast who lives in Logan Square with their (cool as fuck) fiancé, Beth and (demonic) cat, JJ Peppers Convenience Store. A Chicago native, Charlie knows there’s no place like (or better than) home. When they’re not in the photo booth at Dorothy or FaceTiming their friends to talk about fanfiction, they like to go out for Italian ice, visit the garlic couple at the farmers market, and howl at the moon.
For October - December Charlie has curated book suggestions which you're welcome to explore, bring to the bar or completely ignore and read whatever you want. :) Shop from our Bookshop.org Wishlist and support Semicolon, Chicago's largest Black-woman owned bookstore and gallery.
OCTOBER
Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde
Homie by Danez Smith
NOVEMBER
Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community by Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy and Madeline Davis
The Town of Babylon by Alejandro Varela
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
DECEMBER
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Darryl by Jackie Ess
Alongside our event we will have pop up guests with us, including:
OCTOBER: Expand the Classroom will be hosting a queer book swap with us!
NOVEMBER: Chicago Library Foundation & Chicago Public Library will be with us promoting One Book, One Chicago, renewing library memberships, changing names on library cards and more!
DECEMBER: Ukrainian Village Mutual Aid will be with us offering information on how you can give back to folks our neighborhood.
Dorothy is 21+ and requires physical ID for all to enter. Dorothy is also ADA accessible with elevator access on Campbell Ave. If you are a guest who requires elevator access, please wait by the black doors on Campbell Ave and call our staff to assist: 773-770-3799