Book Drives Berlin

Writing Group Berlin ✍️ | FIRST DRAFT — Write Your Book Together

Hi, I’m Khushboo Sangwan, a left-handed creative writer and project manager living in Berlin. I’ve always dreamed of writing a book. 📖 But somehow, life keeps getting in the way. Work, responsibilities, other plans, and suddenly another year has passed and that first draft is still sitting somewhere in your head. 💻 I know how difficult it is to stay consistent when you’re doing it alone. ✍️ So I decided to stop waiting for the perfect time and create the kind of writing group I wished I had. And I’m not going to sit there and tell you what to do while you write. I’ll be writing my own book with you. 📕 Every Saturday, we’ll meet for focused writing time, take a couple of short breaks, and then spend some time talking about what we’re working on, helping each other through creative blocks and figuring out what comes next. 📚💡 I’ll also help you look at your book like a creative project. We can talk about planning, timelines, accountability, Notion, finishing your first draft and, eventually, how to start thinking about literary agents and getting published. 📑 Our first session 15:00 Arrive & settle in 15:10–16:00 Writing sprint ⏳ 16:00–16:10 Break 💛 16:10–17:00 Writing sprint ⏳ 17:00–17:10 Break 💛 17:10–18:00 Writing sprint ⏳ 18:00–18:30 Discussion, brainstorming & support 💬 This is completely free. I’m starting this because I genuinely believe that we can finish our books if we stop trying to do it alone. I want to see your first draft in your hands six months from now. 🍀 And I want mine there too. 📖 If you’ve been dreaming about becoming an author and you’re serious about finally doing something about it, come join me. ❤️ Bring your laptop. Bring your unfinished story. Bring the idea that’s been sitting in your head for years. Let’s write our books together. And let’s see if, six months from now, we can call ourselves published authors. ✍️

@ No. 52 (w/ ForEveryone) - A cozy book swap and chat meetup!

We’re happy to collaborate with the non-profit ForEveryone and the No. 52 Cafe for this next book swap! If you’re looking for some workshops or events check them out [here](https://foreveryone.berlin/). The "classical" bookswap is simple: *We meet in a café and put the book(s) we brought down on the tables. - We go around to browse and discuss the books with one another while sipping coffee or hot chocolate, or eating cake. *We write our names down on any books we’d like to take home (post-its and pens provided). - At the end of the evening, negotiate any books that are contended and take a new-to-you book home! Books/happiness shared are books/happiness multiplied! A Bookswap is 10 times better than a Book Club because you can talk about ALL the books instead of just one! This is a great way to give your books a new home and make room for new books: that book you feel guilty for not having read even though it's been sitting on your bedside table for the last 5 years, the book you liked but didn't love, the book you loved so much you want everyone to read it, the book you somehow own three copies of, that book you absolutely hated even though everyone else loves it, and so on. Moreover, you will meet fellow readers, get a new book or two, and several book recommendations. We’ve often had readers experience books they wouldn't normally buy and enjoy it. GROUP EXPECTATIONS for PLEASANT SWAPPING *Please bring a book! It's not that you bring one you take one, but do try your best to bring something. - Books stay on the tables, open for sharing, until you are ready to leave so that everyone can have a look. We are notably not first come first serve. Please wait until you are leaving to bag the book. *If two or more people want the only copy of a book, negotiate. Maybe one of you reads it first and then gives it to the others. Or perhaps they have found another book instead. Or leave it to fate and toss a coin. The best part: now you have found somebody whose taste you can really admire. In any case, please don't walk away with a book with several names on it without letting the others know. These negotiations are fun and easy, so don't shy away from a book because there's already a name on it, and feel free to put your name on as many books as you find interesting. It's not that you bring one you take one; you may take as many as you can negotiate. - Political discussions with consent: make sure the people you are talking to would like to have a political discussion with you. *Please respect this space as first and foremost a community for connecting readers over their love of books and reading, stories, and narratives of all sorts. Please be respectful of tastes and opinions. - If something is bothering you, please reach out to the organizers, and we'll do our best to resolve it. *Lastly, don't expect your book back. It will find a new home. If you love it, let it go. Major LANGUAGES (and genres) of this meetup: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian; Fiction, Non-Fiction, Serious Reading, Light Fun, “classics", Krimis, Booker winners, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Self-Help and more. You never know who can read what languages, and there's no accounting for taste. We are a delightful and international group of readers. We look forward to swapping with you!

@ Anna Blume - A cozy book swap and chat meetup!

The "classical" bookswap is simple: * We meet in a café and put the book(s) we brought down on the tables. * We go around to browse and discuss the books with one another while sipping coffee or hot chocolate, or eating cake. * We write our names down on any books we’d like to take home (post-its and pens provided). * At the end of the evening, negotiate any books that are contended and take a new-to-you book home! Books/happiness shared are books/happiness multiplied! A Bookswap is 10 times better than a Book Club because you can talk about ALL the books instead of just one! This is a great way to give your books a new home and make room for new books: that book you feel guilty for not having read even though it's been sitting on your bedside table for the last 5 years, the book you liked but didn't love, the book you loved so much you want everyone to read it, the book you somehow own three copies of, that book you absolutely hated even though everyone else loves it, and so on. Moreover, you will meet fellow readers, get a new book or two, and several book recommendations. We’ve often had readers experience books they wouldn't normally buy and enjoy it. GROUP EXPECTATIONS for PLEASANT SWAPPING * Please bring a book! It's not that you bring one you take one, but do try your best to bring something. * Books stay on the tables, open for sharing, until you are ready to leave so that everyone can have a look. We are notably not first come first serve. Please wait until you are leaving to bag the book. * If two or more people want the only copy of a book, negotiate. Maybe one of you reads it first and then gives it to the others. Or perhaps they have found another book instead. Or leave it to fate and toss a coin. The best part: now you have found somebody whose taste you can really admire. In any case, please don't walk away with a book with several names on it without letting the others know. These negotiations are fun and easy, so don't shy away from a book because there's already a name on it, and feel free to put your name on as many books as you find interesting. It's not that you bring one you take one; you may take as many as you can negotiate. * Political discussions with consent: make sure the people you are talking to would like to have a political discussion with you. * Please respect this space as first and foremost a community for connecting readers over their love of books and reading, stories, and narratives of all sorts. Please be respectful of tastes and opinions. * If something is bothering you, please reach out to the organizers, and we'll do our best to resolve it. * Lastly, don't expect your book back. It will find a new home. If you love it, let it go. Major LANGUAGES (and genres) of this meetup: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian; Fiction, Non-Fiction, Serious Reading, Light Fun, “classics", Krimis, Booker winners, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Self-Help and more. You never know who can read what languages, and there's no accounting for taste. We are a delightful and international group of readers. We look forward to swapping with you!

Women’s Book Club: The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

This week we are discussing **Octavia E. Butler:** The Parable of the Sower. We look forward to seeing you! If you have book suggestions, would like to vote on our next reads, or join us for additional activities, please ask someone at the meeting to add you to our WhatsApp group. Just a heads up: **The cafe only accepts card payments for amounts over €10**, so you may want to bring some cash for smaller orders. **Also, if you're unable to attend, please update your RSVP so that someone from the waiting list can take your spot.**

„Liefern“ von Tomer Gardi (2026)

Hi, diesmal lesen wir „Liefern“ von Tomer Gardi. Hier Informationen zu Buch und Autor: https://www.klett-cotta.de/produkt/tomer-gardi-liefern-9783608502633-t-932 Wir treffen uns diesmal im Cafe Milagro in der Bergmannstraße. :)

Platform change, plz read below

Hi all, After some discussion, we decide to change our platform to Luma. The next two weeks will be our transitional period. Our meeting time and venue stays the same ;) Luma link: https://luma.com/ug6do2zv Agenda: 10:30-11:00 Arrival, ordering drinks, getting to know each other 11:00-12:00 Reading together 12:00-13:00 Share reading experience There is no books assigned. Just bring whatever you are reading for now. Please sign up only when you can join the event. Have fun!

September Sci-Fi #1.1: "Under the Skin" by Michel Faber (296pp)

September Sci-Fi #1.2: "Under the Skin" by Michel Faber (296pp)

Silent Reading / Creating Club at W66 (Saturday) [Luma to RSVP]

RSVP on Luma: [https://luma.com/7e4f5ws9](https://luma.com/7e4f5ws9) Silent Reading / Creating Club is a gathering for people who enjoy focusing together in public. Bring a book, a notebook, a sketchpad, knitting needles, whatever you’d like to spend a quiet hour doing. All projects and all participants are welcome. We’re building a community of readers and creators who value depth, presence, and shared silence. The reading and creating isn't the real highlight, though, it’s in the people who return and make it feel like a familiar room. (Please RSVP “yes” only if you can make it, so we can save a seat for you and others on the waitlist.) Our Meeting Point is the **W66 Café**. There’s no entrance fee, but please order at least one item from the café and don’t bring outside food or drinks 🙂 No assignments, expectations, or pressure. Just a shared hour of intentional silence, followed by the opportunity for good conversation. 🕰 Our Agenda **10:30 – 11:00** Arrivals, ordering drinks/food, light social time **11:00 – 12:00** The Great Quiet Hour (Read. Write. Sketch. Code. Think. Sit.) **12:00 – 12:30** Optional socializing: share what you were reading or creating, or simply continue in quiet focus. ## 🏡 House Guidelines To keep this space calm and welcoming for everyone: • Silence during the focus hour (no calls or conversations) • Put cellphones on silent mode • If using technology, please avoid meetings or audio (headphones please!) • Arrive before 11:00 if possible to minimize disruptions

September Sci-Fi #2.1: "The Freeze-Frame Revolution" by Peter Watts (186pp)

August book selection: The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi

An undefined, unnamed war-torn country, a wife sitting next to her husband, lying in a coma. A monologue, deep, yet spare, almost to the bone. Hard topics, love and blame. Life... That's what our short August novel might bring. **About the book** The story follows a woman who cares for her husband, lying in a coma after being wounded. As she sits beside him, she begins to speak openly for the first time, revealing her deepest thoughts, pain, and secrets. She treats him like a “patience stone,” a mythical object that absorbs suffering, and through her confessions, she gradually finds her own voice and a sense of liberation. **About the author** Atiq Rahimi was born in 1962 in Kabul, he later moved to France, where he continued his work as both a writer and filmmaker. He writes in both Dari (Persian) and French, and his work often explores themes related to war, identity, and the struggles of individuals—especially women—in Afghan society. Rahimi’s writing style is typically **minimalist and poetic**, focusing on emotional intensity rather than complex plots. His storytelling is often intimate and symbolic, using simple language to convey deep psychological and political meaning. In addition to *The Patience Stone*, he is also known for other acclaimed works like *Earth and Ashes* and for adapting his novel *A Thousand Rooms of Dream and Fear* into a film **About the event: Commitment fee** To help ensure accurate attendance and make event planning sustainable, a commitment fee of **€2** is required to confirm your participation. Unfortunately, at a recent event, several participants registered but did not attend or provide any notice. As organizing these meetings requires time, preparation, and resources, this small fee helps encourage reliable RSVPs and attendance. The fee is **non-refundable** if you choose not to attend or do not show up. However, if the event is cancelled by the organizer or rescheduled to a date that prevents you from attending, your fee will be refunded promptly after the change is announced. For special circumstances, like waking up sick and having to cancel last minute, you can write me a private message and we'll transfer the fee to a next event you indicate. You can send the fee here: [https://revolut.me/angelicacorsi](https://revolut.me/angelicacorsi) Please include your MeetUp name in the payment note so I can identify your registration. If you can no longer attend, or if you prefer not to pay the commitment fee, please update your RSVP as soon as possible so your spot can be made available to others. Thank you for your understanding and support. **About the Location** We will meet in Merienda Haus, a wonderful cosy coffee shop offering Argentinean and Uruguayan specialities. I invite you to order something and enjoy their drinks and food menu :=)

Monthly Book Club Meeting - September

Dear Book Enthusiasts, For our September gathering, we’ll be reading ***The House on the Hill*** by the Italian writer **Cesare Pavese**. This atmospheric and deeply introspective novel explores loneliness, desire, memory, and the experience of war. Set in Turin during the final years of the Second World War, it follows Corrado, a solitary teacher who finds himself increasingly drawn into the lives of people around him as the city is transformed by violence and uncertainty. Through his perspective, Pavese creates a haunting meditation on isolation, responsibility, and the difficulty of truly connecting with others. 📅 Date & Time: Sunday, 13.09.2026 at 15:00 📍 Location: Audrey coffee, Holzendorffstraße 18, 14057 Berlin 💬 Fee: As always, a 3 € contribution after the meeting helps cover organization costs. As I mentioned in earlier announcements, due to personal reasons I will not be able to attend a few upcoming meetings. A lovely friend of mine — Tereza, who happens to be a connoisseur of literature, kindly agreed to moderate and host this gathering during my absence. I truly hope you’ll join me in giving her your support. I’m very much looking forward to hearing all about your discussion and to gathering together again soon. Warmly, Sofya