Turning the page

At The Book Shop of Beverly Farms, reading never felt so good

As someone whose attempt to finish “The Power Broker,” Robert Caro’s 1,200-page classic, has now gone over the one-year mark, I could use a little advice on how to set aside time for reading.

And there it came in the latest newsletter from The Book Shop of Beverly Farms, in a P.S., no less: “We're doing this cool silent readalong thing in the Shop on June 25, at 5 p.m. Put it on your calendar.”

The ‘thing’ was a “Read 25 Day Silent Reading Party,” part of a national effort by author Gretchen Rubin and Bookshop.org to encourage people to read for at least 25 minutes a day in 2025. The Book Shop of Beverly Farms owners Hannah Harlow and Sam Pfeifle decided they’d do their part by inviting readers to come to the shop on June 25 to read together for 25 minutes.

Wendy Panchy had the best seat in the house.

So I walked into the shop on Wednesday lugging my doorstop of a book and was greeted by Hannah. The place is the definition of cozy, so the seating choices were limited to a comfy arm chair in that nook, a beanbag in this cranny, and a few folding chairs set up specifically for this event. The comfy chair was taken, and I knew I’d never get out of the bean bag once I got in, so I picked one of the folding chairs in the Young Adult/Middle Grade/Early Reader room.

I opened “The Power Broker” to my bookmarked page 897 (I’m getting there) and began to read. Hannah turned off the music that had been playing softly to set the atmosphere. Outside the window, a train pulled into the Beverly Farms station. I glanced at some of the children’s books on the shelves and started thinking “Bored Panda” might be a good step-down choice for my next book when and if I ever finish “The Power Broker.”

I started reading, and next thing I knew it was 5:40, well past the 25-minute goal. Turns out that reading during the day is much easier than my usual practice of waiting until I go to bed and nodding off in a few minutes. (It’s not Caro’s fault; “The Power Broker,” about New York master builder Robert Moses, is brilliantly reported and beautifully written.)

So I made my way out of the kids’ room to see who else might’ve been taking part in the session. Turns out there were only three others, but Hannah said that wasn’t bad because this was the first time they’ve done this and they weren’t sure anyone would show up.

Wendy Panchy told me she decided to take part because she’s seen more and more silent book club events on Facebook, including at breweries and beaches, but figured they’d attract mostly a younger crowd.

“When it was here I decided to come,” she said. “I live right around the corner.”

Wendy is a third-grade teacher at the Brookwood School and said reading is her favorite activity. She’s reading “The Shadows We Hide,” a mystery by Allen Eskens.

“It was so peaceful,” she said of the 25-minute session. “I hope they keep it up and it sort of catches on.”

The other two readers were Crystal Condakes and her son, Stefan Karlberg.

“I love books and I love reading,” Crystal said. “I’m a writer. I just thought it would be something we could do together at our local book store. I grew up in Beverly and I’ve been coming here my whole life.”

Stefan, 24, who was reading “Dance Dance Dance” by Haruki Murakami, said more people his age are getting into reading.

“There’s a whole corner of Tik-Tok called ‘Book Talk,’” he said. “There are a lot of book clubs for the 20 to 30 age range. It’s become a little more cool to be a reader. It’s a little more cool to have a library card.”

While everyone there would agree that reading is a reward in itself, it turns out there were even prizes. Hannah handed out a The Book Shop of Beverly Farms tote bag to Stefan, a gift card to Bookshop.org to Crystal, and a gift card to Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project to Wendy.

I walked out glad that I walked in and 20 pages closer to my goal.

It was a family affair for Crystal Condakes and son Stefan Karlberg.