Social Sauna Book Club: Read • Sweat • Chat

Hello, I’m Kelly. I own Chapter 34, a little pink indie bookshop in Shoreham-By-Sea, and I’m a sauna addict. If there’s a horse-box by the sea, a converted greenhouse in the woods, or an urban yard with a surprisingly chilled sauna space I am there and I am involved. I also love a bloody good book. I love finding a new hobby, one that doesn’t involve screens or alcohol and I know I’n not alone in that.

Just like bookshops, every sauna has its own personality. Sometimes you feel like you can slip into blissful silence and just take is all in, sometimes it’s a chat-fest, and sometimes you’re the one laughing a bit too loudly with a friend (sorry, stranger in the corner but we haven’t seem each other in a while).

When Sauna Talk Turned to Books

Not long ago, I was sitting in a community sauna on my own here in Shoreham-By-Sea (I know there’s a Shoreham in Kent, I’ve seen it on the Trainline app!).  The conversation drifted — as sauna conversations often do — and before long, people were talking about what they were reading, what they’d recommend, which characters had stayed with them. I soaked all this chat in and couldn’t help feeling a sense of something to come. 

It was like the two worlds I love most had quietly collided. A week later, we hosted Emma O’Kelly in the shop with her book Wild Sauna, and the vibe was just the same — people enthusing about saunas and equally thrilled to talk about books.

Enter: Social Sauna Book Club

So here we are. The Social Sauna Book Club isn’t your average book group, it’s one that ditches the formal and embraces sauna brain.

I have tried reading in a sauna, it’s not great, you can’t really take a novel into a 90-degree sauna (unless you like the smell of melting glue). And don’t fret, nobody will be expecting a breakdown of the characters or asking you to prepare answers, no, no, no.

Instead, SSBC is sauna-friendly and social, more like our Bookshop Breakfast Social which we host at the shop on a Sunday morning, not your average book club, they are more relaxed, a chance to socialise with people you have something in common with, that thing being the book you’ve all been reading in the weeks leading up to the event.

You all read the same book, you turn up, and then you just… chat about what you’ve read.

Why Books and Saunas Work So Well

It might sound like an odd pairing, but books and saunas work together, both give you permission to slow down. Both offer community, whether you’re sharing a bench or a story, you’re connecting. Reflection, heat and words both open the mind in surprising ways.

At their core, they’re both rituals that leave you calmer, lighter, and just a little more yourself.

Our First Kent Gathering: October • Whitstable

We have 5 saunas booked for our first ever SSBC and one of them is happening in Kent at the gorgeous Sea Scrub Sauna in Whitstable Harbour. Honestly, it was an easy choice, If you haven’t been yet, Sea Scrub is wood-fired and custom built, positioned right by the sea at Whitstable Harbour, giving uninterrupted sea views.

Being so close to the water means you get the aesthetic, sensory, and emotional benefits of the seaside — the sound of water, the salt air, and in Autumn, the cosiness, the transition into sauna nights begins.

22nd October, 7pm • Book here: Social Sauna Book Club – Whitstable

The October Read - Night Swimmers by Roisin Maguire

Set in a small coastal town in Northern Ireland during the early days of lockdown, it follows three very different people drawn together by the sea and their need to move forward.

Grace — who swims naked and has no patience for tourist season — is unforgettable, and Maguire’s blend of humour, honesty, and place makes this debut novel feel bracing and restorative. Honestly, it’s the perfect sauna read: sharp, refreshing, and it lingers long after the last page.

Join Us

This is just the beginning. Each month, we’ll be bringing more saunas on board, more books into the mix, and more chances to combine two of life’s simplest joys: a good sweat and a great story.

So if you’re curious, book a seat. No need to be a hardcore sauna devotee or a professional bookworm. You just need a towel, an open mind, and a love of connection.

Because really, what could be better?

Read • Sweat • Chat