BookIns

BookIns comes to the Aberdeen Art Gallery on Saturday 24 October, a half-hour session that asks you to bring along your favourite book. The format is simple: everyone reads aloud and simultaneously, so you're reading your own choice of text while other people are reading theirs around you. It's a group reading event, but not in the way you'd expect — the whole thing is built on the idea of taking reading into places not usually associated with the written word.

There are three things at play here. First, you bring a book you actually like, so you're not reading something assigned. Second, you read it aloud, which changes how you experience the words. Third, you do it at the same time as everyone else, so the room fills with a low hum of overlapping voices rather than one person taking the floor. The organisers describe it as a way to meet other readers, take part in a piece of art, and enjoy a book in a very different way than you usually would.

The session is run by soundfestival, which they describe as Northeast Scotland's 'generous, all-inclusive' celebration of new music. Their whole programme is shaped by the theme of attentive listening, and this fits right in — it's as much about what you hear as what you're reading. If you're usually the type to read in silence, this is a chance to hear reading as a collective, social thing instead.

It runs from 12.00 to 12.30pm at the Aberdeen Art Gallery, so it's a short, midday commitment. Entry is pay what you can, so you can chip in whatever you're comfortable with. Just remember to bring a book you're happy to read aloud.