224 upcoming · 66 cities · updated 19 Oct 2026
Reading is the one hobby you can do in a room full of strangers without having to perform. Book clubs, poetry evenings, author talks and silent reading meet-ups — picked from city open data, all easy to walk into on your own.
New to it?
Everyone brings their own book, sits together in a café, bar or library, and reads quietly for about an hour. Afterwards there is a short, optional chat about what you are reading. It is the gentlest way to be around people: you share a room and a ritual before you share a word.
City by city
Toronto (41) · Vitoria-Gasteiz (24) · Helsinki (13) · Barcelona (11) · Chicago (10) · Brive-la-Gaillarde (9) · Espoo (8) · Madrid (8) · Paris (8) · Rouen (6) · Bologna (5) · Tolosa (4) · Villeneuve-d'Ascq (4) · Arrasate / Mondragón (3) · Foix (3) · Nantes (3) · Taipei (3) · Vantaa (3) · Bordeaux (2) · Geneva (2) · Kaohsiung (2) · Lisbon (2) · Lyon (2) · Pamplona (2) · Rennes (2) · Salamanca (2) · Zaragoza (2) · Zarautz (2)
Also one event in: Altsasu, Avignon, Belfort, Bougival, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Carouge, Changé, Cologne, Dampierre-en-Burly, Dornbirn, Draguignan, Fontenay-le-Fleury, Gallneukirchen, Getxo, Hazebrouck, La Ferté-Macé, Le Pouliguen, Lille, Linz, Magny-les-Hameaux, Maisons-Alfort, Mendaro, New Taipei, Plentzia, Portes-lès-Valence, Ramonville-Saint-Agne, Rezé, Roques, Rousson, Saint-Aignan-Grandlieu, Saint-Christol-lez-Alès, Saint-Dizier, Saint-Louis-de-Montferrand, San Sebastián, Saïx, Sopela, Tainan, Vöcklabruck.
Next 14 days
12 events across all cities. Check the official page before you go — times and rooms can change.
A monthly poetry gathering in a bookshop near Príncipe Real, held under the waxing moon: poets, readers and artists from other fields mixing with the spoken word. This edition marks the cycle's first anniversary with a sound installation by the musician Noiserv in the garden, carrying recorded voices of poets from the past year.
A short lunchtime reading in the '35 literary stories' series at Cologne's interim Central Library, with the poet Crauss from Siegen and the Iraqi poet Kadhem Khanjar. Free entry.
In the seaside village of Plentzia, on the estuary north of Bilbao, the book club meets at the Goñi Portal culture house to talk about «La chica del lago», the thriller by Mikel Santiago. The session is free and held in Spanish. A small reading circle is a gentle way to meet locals and practise the language over a shared story. «Club de lectura: "La chica del lago" (Mikel Santiago)» Starts 18:15, ends about 19:30. Source: Kulturklik — Basque Government / Open Data Euskadi (CC BY 4.0).
On the third Wednesday of each month the Manning branch takes its Weird Book Club to the Midwest Coast Brewing taproom to talk about strange and speculative fiction and non-fiction. This month's pick is «The Icepick Surgeon» by Sam Kean, about scientists whose obsession turned sinister, and you are welcome even if you have not finished the book. It is a free library programme with a small free RSVP, and a taproom table full of curious readers is easy to join alone. «Weird Book Club at Midwest Coast Brewing: The Icepick Surgeon» Starts 18:30, ends about 19:30. Source: Chicago Public Library events.
An evening organised by Barcelona's African and Afro-descendant community: music, dance, literature and food celebrating African cultures. A warm, open festival — a great place to meet new people.
The Argentine horror writer Mariana Enriquez talks with writer and critic Jorge Carrión about her new essay book on darkness and Latin American history. Free — arrive early.
At the Okendo culture centre in Gros, the surfers' neighbourhood of San Sebastián, Ana Merino leads a midday literary gathering on «El móvil», Javier Cercas's sharp early novel about a writer who will stop at nothing for his book. The tertulia is free and held in Spanish. A small reading circle is an easy way to meet locals and practise the language over a shared story. «Tertulias literarias: "El móvil" (Javier Cercas)» Starts 12:00, ends about 13:30. Source: Kulturklik — Basque Government / Open Data Euskadi (CC BY 4.0).
A two-hour reading and discussion workshop around Clara Janés's book on the humanist, poetic side of the physicist Erwin Schrödinger and his link to Galileo. Science and literature at the table — a good place to talk with curious people.
This month the 'Club de las Lecturas Verdes' talks about fungi through Merlin Sheldrake's 'Entangled Life' (La red oculta de la vida). A book club is one of the easiest ways to meet people — come even if you haven't finished the book.
Want to start a book club, a game club or a language café, or cook food from your own culture in the library kitchen? Jumbo library introduces its volunteer programme — a good way to build a circle of people in a new town. Free.
The best-selling novelist Marcos Chicot talks about his historical thriller set in ancient Greece, part of a free autumn lecture cycle. Bring your questions — and maybe meet fellow readers.
Restored silent short films with live musical accompaniment at the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute in Xinzhuang, New Taipei — just in time for Halloween.
Nothing near you?
Create a free invite, share the link, and let other readers find you. The whole host kit:
How it works
A meet-up where everyone brings their own book and reads quietly together for about an hour, then talks for a few minutes if they want to. There is no assigned book and no homework, so you can come alone and leave whenever you like.
Yes, almost everyone does. Public book clubs, poetry readings and author talks are built for strangers: the host opens the conversation, and having read the book is often optional. Arrive early and say it is your first time.
Create a free invite on party.comealone.app with a café or library as the place, set 60 minutes of silent reading and 15 minutes of talk, ask people to put phones away and bring any book, and finish at a café.
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