What is the Silent Reading Party?
It’s a two-hour party designed to be the perfect atmosphere for reading. It’s much easier to turn off your phone and read for two hours if everyone else is doing it too. Plus, there’s live piano music specifically arranged and performed to set the mood but not be distracting.
So nothing happens? Why don’t people just read at home alone where it’s quiet?
It can be hard to turn off Netflix or tune out social media and focus on a book. This party creates some healthy peer pressure. Plus, the food and cocktails at the Sorrento are delicious.
Is there a food & drink minimum?
Yes, there’s a food & drink minimum of $20 per person.
What kind of music is performed?
Our resident musician Paul Matthew Moore plays very mellow arrangements of Erik Satie, Radiohead, Duke Ellington — you name it — as well as his own original compositions.
So Paul plays for two hours straight without taking a break?
He does. And he makes it look easy. He's very gifted.
Do some people end up just listening to the music and staring into space?
Yes. You may put down your book and stare into space at any time.
Do I have to live in Seattle to attend?
The in-person party takes place in the Fireside Room at Hotel Sorrento, so if you want to be in the same room with the piano, you need to be in Seattle, yes. But there is also a “virtual party”—a live broadcast of Paul’s performance over Zoom—that you can attend digitally from anywhere.
Isn't it weird not talking at the in-person party?
If you are only used to social events where talking is encouraged, it takes a second to get used to. But only a second. It's actually pretty fun—and a relief—to go to a party where small talk is not allowed.
Will there be any talking?
Only briefly, when the inventor and host of the party, Christopher Frizzelle, announces the literary birthdays of the week during a pause in the music 10 minutes in.
What kind of books do people read?
Anything! Whatever they feel like on that particular day. Novels, nonfiction, mysteries, histories, biographies, self-help, poetry, dystopian sci-fi, Us magazine, The New Yorker, children's books, Moby-Dick…
Wait—Us magazine?
Sure! Does Us magazine still exist? Point is: It doesn't matter what you read. The point is setting aside time for reading and then actually doing it.
Does anyone read Kindles?
Yes. In fact, someone brought a Kindle to the very first reading party. This person just so happened to be the drummer in the band the Presidents of the United States of America.
What's the coolest thing that's ever happened at the silent-reading party?
There’s a couple who fell in love coming to the Silent Reading Party. He chose to propose to her during a reading party. It was so romantic, and everyone applauded when she said yes.
How did this party get started?
Three colleagues who were all critics at The Stranger circa 2005—book critic Christopher Frizzelle, film critic Annie Wagner, and theater critic Brendan Kiley—decided one night after work that instead of going home to read by themselves in their own apartments, that they wanted to keep hanging out. They all had reading to do that evening, so they decided to sit together while getting their reading done. They went to Brendan’s apartment, since he had a lot of chairs. On the way, they stopped at the store and bought whiskey, cheese, chocolate, and figs. They had so much fun not being alone while getting reading done that they started doing this regularly after work.
When did it become a party open to the public?
In 2009, Hotel Sorrento was celebrating its 100th anniversary, and they hired Michael Hebb to curate programming. Hebb asked Frizzelle if he had any ideas, and Frizzelle told him about the reading parties he used to have after work with Annie Wagner and Brendan Kiley, which stopped happening after Brendan moved out of his apartment and Annie moved to Chicago. Frizzelle proposed to Hebb a public version of the reading party, to take place in the Sorrento’s Fireside Room, with its mahogany walls, fireplace, and baby grand piano. The Sorrento agreed to try it—and it was so popular they asked for it to become a regular thing.
Isn’t there a line out the door for the Sorrento party? I tried to come once and couldn’t get in!
Yes, there used to be a line out the door before the party even started, and people would dash across town in rush-hour traffic to try to be early enough to snag a seat… but now advance reservations are required, so there’s no mad rush anymore.
Was the party popular from the very beginning?
The first party in 2009 was fairly crowded, but it wasn't until this piece about the party at the Sorrento went viral on Reddit that we started seeing packed rooms with a line out the door. In 2014, the novelist Gary Shteyngart wrote in Travel + Leisure that "it's the best reading series in Seattle," which also helped get the word out.
Are there reading parties in other cities, too?
There are. The idea caught on, and has been replicated in cities around the world, but we did it first in Seattle, and we do it best. For example, most other parties don’t have live music.
When did the Zoom broadcast of the party start?
During the pandemic, when we couldn’t gather in the snug confines of the Fireside Room, we transitioned the party to a Zoom event, still with Paul performing live. In 2020, the New York Times attended the Zoom version of the party and called it “mesmerizing.”
How do I find tickets to the Zoom party?
How do I find tickets to the in-person party at Hotel Sorrento?
May children attend this party?
The Zoom version of this party is all-ages. But the Sorrento party is 21+. The Fireside Room has a bar in it.
Do I have to be reading the whole time?
Of course not. Sometimes it’s just so relaxing you find yourself melting into your chair. It's like meditation.