Launch: No Small Talk at Metis — our new non-fiction book club
About the event
Some conversations deserve more than small talk. That's the whole idea behind our new English-language book club: a room where we skip the weather and get straight to the books — and the questions — that actually matter. No Small Talk at Metis is a non-fiction reading group for people who like to argue (kindly), think out loud, and leave a little changed. We'll read the essays, reportage and ideas shaping the world right now — politics, society, history, the present moment — and talk about them properly, over a drink, in good company. This is our launch evening. Come meet the club, the hosts and your fellow readers, find out how it'll work, and pick up the first book together. No preparation needed for this one — just curiosity and an opinion or two. Whether you're a lifelong non-fiction reader or someone who's been meaning to read more of it, you're exactly who we're hoping to see. Our first book: *One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This* by Omar El Akkad — winner of the 2025 National Book Award for Nonfiction. A searing, deeply personal reckoning by the novelist and journalist with the war on Gaza and the moral failures of the West, taking its title from his own words that went around the world in October 2023. We'll dig into it together at our first full discussion on Sunday, 18 October. The book is available in the shop, so you can pick up your copy at the launch. Hosted by the team behind Metis. 📚 In English 🗓 Sunday, 27 September · 17:00 (launch) — first discussion: Sunday, 18 October 📍 Metis Books & Café · Gleimstraße 21 · 10437 Berlin (Prenzlauer Berg) 🎟 Free — no ticket needed. We just kindly ask that you order something to eat or drink while you're here: it's what keeps these evenings, and the bookshop, alive. RSVP here so we know how many seats to set out. New faces always warmly welcome — and yes, small talk is allowed for the first five minutes.
