Sometime between Covid lockdowns, I went to an undisclosed local bar in Prenzlauer Berg on my own. It’s actually one of my favourites. That night, it was busy inside but not packed, so I bought a beer, got out my book and started reading. I wanted the novelty of being out of the house without the pressure of company, the good vibes of a bar without the need for small talk, the lure of my book without the distraction of Wi-Fi. It didn’t take long before a bartender came to collect my glass with a snarky comment about taking up a table. Something like, “Great place to read a book.”
I really don’t think that if I’d been on my phone or having a cigarette or staring into my glass that it would have triggered the same reaction. It wasn’t that I was on my own, it was that I looked pretentious, performative, attention-seeking by choosing to do something that I could be doing at home in public. Yet the rules feel so arbitrary. After all, people do read in public all the time. Cafés are game. Trains, fine. Parks, great. Even outside a bar feels a bit more acceptable than inside. Why? Who knows.
I haven’t read a book in a bar much since then. It’s a shame though, because anyone who reads knows that you remain at least half-aware of your surroundings, and that those surroundings add to the moment. We don’t always want to limit ourselves to the sofa or a patch of grass. Whether or not it’s okay to read in a bar might be up for debate, but thanks to the surge of reading meetups that have taken over Berlin, more and more people are celebrating reading in public – and they’re starting to inspire me.
Reading groups are nothing new. Meetups like Silent Book Club have been going since 2012. The self-proclaimed ‘happy hour for introverts’ hosts weekly silent reading sessions at the Bode Museum and W66 Café. But more recently, spaces like Refuge Worldwide have been making it cool. Now it’s reading time with ambient DJ sets. Reading Room was inspired by reading parties in New York that take reading out of its assumed context and bring it to places with actual happy hours. If surrounding yourself with strangers and some good music without being forced to talk all the time sounds like an ideal evening, you’re not alone. I think that’s most people’s favourite thing about clubs. But if partying isn’t for you, reading parties might be.
Reading in public doesn’t (necessarily) need to be performative, no matter where you are.
Pausify, too, has been central to Berlin’s book reading scene for a while. Multiple times a week, you can stop by with your book, say a quick hello to your fellow nerds and enjoy a 60-minute quiet read in peace. They celebrate reading as an act of wellness (they’re even on Urban Sports) and the events usually take place at EDGE Grand Central Berlin, a cosy office space by Haupbahnhof. Recently, Pausify brought book reading to Neulich, not least to expand the drink choice beyond tea or coffee. It was a popular choice, combining the candlelight snugness of a Berlin bar with reading – and if you get buzzed and stay out talking about literature late into the night, even better.
So what does all this mean for the solitary reader? Can I read alone in a bar yet? Of course, in super chill places like Wohnzimmer, a café-bar-hybrid like Kaschk or a listening bar like Kwia, it’s not unusual to see someone reading alone. But as Berlin’s reading movement takes books out of their usual contexts and puts them in new ones, I bet you’ll see it more and more. Reading in public doesn’t (necessarily) need to be performative, no matter where you are. Sometimes you just need a moment to yourself, and reading always has hit that soft spot of alone-time-with-a-crutch. At a party, why not? Mid BBQ, sure. At KitKat, read away! At the very least, let’s normalise it enough that I don’t have to deal with more judgy bartenders. After all, drinking alone and reading are two of life’s greatest pastimes. Why not combine them?
