{"id":40382,"date":"2026-03-06T10:26:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T15:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creemore.com\/?p=40382"},"modified":"2026-03-06T10:34:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T15:34:52","slug":"nottawa-bookstore-hosts-trendy-silent-book-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creemore.com\/v1\/2026\/03\/06\/nottawa-bookstore-hosts-trendy-silent-book-club\/","title":{"rendered":"Nottawa bookstore hosts trendy silent book club"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The silent book club is an introvert\u2019s dream, says Caleigh McKenzie-Greer of the Nottawa Cottage Bookstore.<\/p>\n

Located in the cottage behind Nottawa General Store, the bookstore was recently named New Business of the Year by the Clearview Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n

McKenzie-Greer and her husband both hail from Creemore, and had always dreamed of owning a bookstore as a retirement project. After several years in Toronto, they moved to Collingwood, and decided the time was right to pursue the dream.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the time we opened people were telling us they wanted a book club, but not necessarily a traditional book club,\u201d says McKenzie-Greer.<\/p>\n

She says many reported that the old book club model where everyone reads an assigned book then gets together to discuss it is very stressful for some people.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe they don\u2019t like the book that was chosen, or they didn\u2019t have time to read the book or prepare for the discussion so they were left feeling guilty,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

McKenzie-Greer says the silent book club is part of a growing global community which brings people together for quiet camaraderie.<\/p>\n

She says, \u201cOur format will be 30 minutes of fellowship followed by 45 minutes to read whatever you\u2019re reading, or do some other activity like writing, or painting. Then there will be time to discuss what you\u2019re reading, if you feel like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In essence, she says, it\u2019s about allowing people two hours to disconnect from the \u201cdumpster fire world\u201d out there. The club met for the first time Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For Emily Lloyd, the silent book club is about carving out time for herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI work all the time, so having a dedicated time for reading and community is important to me,\u201d said Lloyd, who has never belonged to a traditional book club but likes the idea of choosing her own book and just connecting with like-minded people.<\/p>\n

Kim Burton, has belonged to other book clubs and doesn\u2019t like being forced to read something she\u2019s not keen on.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd half the time, when you go to discuss the book it\u2019s just a lot of wine drinking and not much discussion,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to meeting new people, relaxing, and reading what I like.\u201d<\/p>\n

When they announced creation of the Silent Book Club, McKenzie-Greer says response was enthusiastic. \u201cWe filled up the first sessions within 18 minutes, and we have 30 people on a wait list,\u201d she said, adding that due to space limitations at the cottage, only 12 people can be accommodated for each session. \u201cAs the weather improves, we may expand to the patio and open it up to more people. We may also do things like a beach day book club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since priority was given to bookstore members, McKenzie-Greer says she expects most attendees to be local residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re expecting a real mixed bag of people, from younger people in their 20s and 30s to mid-career professionals and retirees. The real beauty of it is that we\u2019re bringing people together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plans are also in the works for a Grown-Up Book Fair at Side Launch Brewing in Collingwood on March 22. See nottawacottagebookstore.ca and Page 2 for details.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The silent book club is an introvert\u2019s dream, says Caleigh McKenzie-Greer of the Nottawa Cottage Bookstore. Located in the cottage behind Nottawa General Store, the bookstore was recently named New Business of the Year by the Clearview Chamber of Commerce. McKenzie-Greer and her husband both hail from Creemore, and had always dreamed of owning a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":456,"featured_media":40367,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/creemore.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/creemore.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/creemore.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creemore.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/456"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creemore.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/creemore.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creemore.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/creemore.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creemore.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creemore.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}