With the disappearance of the original concept of the square, or what has been called the third space, people in big cities are looking for new places to meet or get to know people who are not in their immediate group. In this context, book clubs have multiplied in recent years, in many cases sponsored by bookstores, but there are also coffee shops, libraries and other cultural spaces. However, things have not stopped there: there have also emerged the so-called reading parties or gatherings of people to read together, and it does not have to be the same book.
Bardo Café
At Bardo during normal hours they serve specialty coffee, homemade pastries and cakes and natural wines, but after 7 p.m. at least once a month they become a reading club. This union of factors brings together almost everything that interests any Gen Z or millennial in 2025, giving this cafe a twist to a cultural space, which is in short supply in Imperial.
📍Location: Calle de Santa Casilda, 1 (Arganzuela)
Cervantes y Compañía
Cervantes y Compañía is one of the bookstores that has brought this concept born in New York of people meeting to read together, although each one has his or her own book. If you normally do this in a coffee shop or a park, here it is the same, but everyone has the same intention, so it is more conducive to end up sharing books, opinions and, why not, phone numbers.
📍Location: Calle del Pez, 27 (Downtown)
Late Space
Espacio Late is the physical dimension of Late Magazine, a Latin American journalistic project that opened its doors a few months ago in the capital and that Álvaro Caballero wrote about -in line with its philosophy, long, slow and hard- in RTVE: an open meeting place that is a bookstore, cafeteria and newsroom. And it proposes a renewed concept of book club far from the traditional one.
They organize, through Chats and Chapters, reading parties in which everyone brings their own book to read in silence and, afterwards, “share a chat, without rules, without obligatory readings”. Their first session, by the way, has been a success.
They also hold what they have dubbed “reading karaokes”: a time of the day when people who are there can read aloud 1 minute (200-300 words) of literature they have fallen in love with. In addition to all this, they have a Saturday story reading club and another one dedicated to Gramsci. You can find all the information on their Instagram.
📍Location: calle de San Hermenegildo, 5 (Centro)
La Anónima Librería
“Our main objective is to create a reading community and neighborhood network in the neighborhood“. That is the pillar on which the two book clubs of La Anónima Librería are based, and that is why it is not necessary to pay any fee to attend. They meet once a month, one group on Tuesdays and the other on Wednesdays, and the readings are chosen by the attendees -most of whom are women from the neighborhood- “freely and by vote,” the bookstore explains.
In addition, whenever possible, the authors attend to comment on the readings. To join, all you have to do is sign up on the waiting list from which they draw when a place becomes available, because the groups are fixed.
📍Location: Calle de Embajadores, 166 (Arganzuela)
Public Library Reading Clubs
The Public Libraries of the Community of Madrid offer reading clubs specialized in Arabic literature, essays for reflection or writers of the 21st century, as well as crime novel clubs and reading in other languages (English and French). There are options for all tastes and reading levels.
🔗 Consult specific dates and activities.
On the other hand, the libraries of the Madrid City Council also have a wide variety of reading clubs, mostly focused on general literature, contemporary narrative and classics. These are spaces that encourage the exchange of ideas and the discovery of new readings in a close and participatory environment.
🔗 Consult dates and specific activities.
Taiga Bookstore
Ciudad Lineal hosts a very tempting event for thriller lovers. On the first Thursday of every month the Thursday Crime Club meets at Taiga bookstore to talk about books like Rebecca or The Talent of Mr. Ripley. Julia García Felipe, an expert in comparative literature, sheds light on these classic mysteries.
To join the club you have to pay 10€ per meeting (and the book can be bought or brought from home). As the bookstore has a capacity of 15 people, it is advisable to reserve a place well in advance.
For those who are more into philosophical or film talks, there are other clubs and workshops at the bookstore. You can see the complete catalog of activities with the Taiga label here.
📍Location: Arturo Soria, 54
Bookake
The most curious name on the list also hides one of the most interesting proposals. Bookake is a book club to use, just as you imagine it, but that stands on two main pillars: a face-to-face part, formed by a group of 50 readers in charge of choosing books and commenting on them month by month; and a digital part, via Telegram or Instagram, open to everyone, which aims to bring the debate and conversation to many more people.
In addition to two main pillars, this club presents two different reading options each month to its followers: option A and option B. Each person chooses whether to read both, to choose only one of them or, why not, neither. To read out of obligation is like eating without hunger, a sovereign stupidity. And not every month one has the desire or the time to sit down with a good book.
Options, as you can see, are not lacking. They choose stories of all types and genres, although all of them usually have a feminist background or a LGTBIQ+ theme, in addition to organizing from time to time meetings with the authors themselves. If you’re interested, you can try the books chosen for this month and, who knows, maybe you’ll end up at one of the face-to-face sessions choosing your next read.
📍Location: It may vary but they usually meet at Tipos Infames bookstore, Calle de San Joaquín, 3 (Centro).
La Casa Encendida
La Casa Encendida, a cultural reference in the capital, also has its own book club. Or rather, its own reading clubs. This year, specifically, two groups in the mornings, one in the afternoons and one dedicated exclusively to crime novels.
The way it works is quite simple: in summer, places are open for these reading groups (all of them free) and, if you get yours, you have the right to attend all the literary meetings that take place in the next academic year, from September to June. In general, these meetings take place once a month and are usually the first Friday of the month or the last Tuesday or Wednesday of the month. Although, as you can imagine, this varies from season to season.
For this year’s book club there are not even half a place left, so we recommend that you keep an eye out in July because we will most likely open the enrollment for the 2025-26 course.
📍Location:Ronda de Valencia, 2 (Downtown)