On a weekday evening in Cairo, when most are racing home, stuck in traffic, or squeezing in one last coffee, an unusually calm activity is happening at a café in the city.
A group of strangers sits together with their books open and, for 20 minutes, no one speaks. Then the silence breaks. Chairs shift, pages close, and conversations begin.
This rhythm, 20 minutes of reading, a conversation break, repeated three times, is the foundation of Reading After Work, a community created by Asmaa Eltaher, a 29 year old technology professional who decided that reading deserved a fixed place in adult life, not just good intentions. The event is usually about two to three hours long in total.
“We read for one full hour, but it is split into three rounds of 20 minutes,” Eltaher explains to Egyptian Streets. “It is not full silence the entire time, only during the reading intervals. In between, people talk, reflect, grab a drink, or react to what they have just read.”
An Idea that Almost Did not Happen
Reading After Work started from a familiar frustration. Eltaher had loved books since childhood, read obsessively in college, and then, like many working professionals, reading slowly faded from her routine.
“As responsibility grows and work takes over, reading becomes harder to maintain,” she says. She tried setting yearly reading goals, carrying books to cafés, even switching to “useful” work-related reading. Nothing stuck.
The idea of reading with strangers crossed her mind more than once, but she did not act on it.
“I honestly thought no one would be interested. I thought it was a bit insane,” she admits.
What changed was a casual conversation with friends about books and busy lives. Someone suggested reading together instead of talking about reading. That was the push she needed. A week later, she hosted her first session in August 2025.
Not a Book Club and That is the Appeal
Despite first impressions, Reading After Work is not a book club and Eltaher is adamant about that.
“It is not about assigning a book or finishing chapters,” she explains. “Everyone brings their own book. It is about showing up.”
Participants might be reading novels, psychology books, business titles, memoirs, sometimes all at the same table.
After each 20-minute reading interval, participants break into conversation. The break could be as long as you want the discussions and conversations to be. They talk about what they are reading, and usually the discussion veers into life: work stress, relationships, fear, ambition, or the simple relief of slowing down.
What emerges is something closer to a gathering than a structured discussion. “You get the diversity of perspectives you would expect from a book club,” Eltaher says, “but multiplied, because everyone is reading something different.”
Quiet, But Not Awkward
The silence tends to worry first-timers. Sitting quietly with strangers sounds intimidating until it is not.
“I was afraid people would feel uncomfortable,” Eltaher admits. “But, it turns out silence can be comforting when everyone knows why it is there.”
One attendee once told her that it was their first time to go to an event alone. She did not know anyone. She did not even know what to expect, but books felt like safe company. By the end of the night, she was already planning to return.
Another unexpected outcome was the depth of the conversations.
“I did not plan for people to open up the way they did,” Eltaher says. “But they started sharing very personal things about loss, illness, relationships… I still do not fully understand why it happens, but maybe people feel safe enough.”
Those who do not want to speak are not pressured. Listening is participation. Silence, again, has its place.
Everyone is Welcome
Participants range widely in age and profession, but they share one common struggle: time. “It was born from a struggle, finding time to read while working,” she adds.
“So, at least everyone shares one thing: they are professionals who love books, and they do not have enough time for them.” Anyone could simply sign up to attend through the Reading After Work website.
The events range all over Cairo. So far, they have been held in New Cairo, Heliopolis, and Maadi.
One pattern Eltaher can not explain, but laughs about openly, is attendance.
“So far, it is mostly women,” she says, amused. “I genuinely do not know why. The men are very welcome.”
There is no policy behind it, no intentional targeting. It is simply how the community has formed, at least for now. The imbalance has become a running joke rather than a concern, and Eltaher is hoping this will shift as the concept spreads.
Letters, Reflection, and Slowing Down
In addition to weekly reading sessions, Reading After Work introduces monthly themes. One of the most personal is Letters of December, inspired by Eltaher’s habit of writing letters to herself every year.
“December is when I reflect on the year and think about what’s next,” she says.
“So, I thought, why not turn that into something collective, without forcing anyone to share?”
Participants write letters to past or future versions of themselves. Some read them aloud. Some keep them private. Others share anonymously. Choice is central to the experience.
“I Did not Know this Existed in Egypt”
For many attendees, the biggest surprise is simply that something like this exists at all.
Rawan, who discovered Reading After Work while scrolling on Instagram, says it immediately caught her attention.
“It was perfect, to be honest. I came across Reading After Work by scrolling through Instagram, and it grabbed my attention. I never thought book clubs were a thing in Egypt, and it made it even more likable that it was not a traditional book club at all,” said Rawan Hazem.
There is no pressure, no rigid format, just reading quietly and together with strangers.
That reaction is common. People arrive curious, skeptical, or tired, and leave calmer than they expected.
Making Time for the Mind
Reading After Work is still small by design. A growing group of regulars forms its core, with new faces slowly joining. Expansion across Cairo, and eventually beyond, is in the works, but Eltaher is careful not to lose what makes it work.
“We dedicate time to everything, sports, work, socializing,” she says. “Why not dedicate time to our minds?”
In a city that rarely pauses, Reading After Work is not asking readers to disconnect from life. It is asking them to sit with it, one page at a time.
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