Some books take us on a journey, while some cities seem to have been written about many times before. And, every now and then, something extraordinary happens: like the opportunity to delve into the pages, feel a novel breathe around you, discover a city as if it were a living text that unfolds before you.
This Autumn, The Book Club Experience invites you to explore Stockholm like never before — through the eyes of Lola Akinmade Åkerström’s unforgettable characters. Inspired by her novels In Every Mirror She’s Black, Everything Is Not Enough, and Bitter Honey, the tour blends literature, hidden history, and the city’s vibrant streets into a journey that’s as much about reflection as it is about discovery.
Walking inside the pages
The Book Club Experience is a full-day tour (approx. 10:00 – 17:00) that transforms Stockholm into an open book. Together, we’ll move through iconic and unexpected places – but always with a literary lens:
- Mariatorget and Hotel Rival → a neighborhood with a hotel featured in Lola’s books, wherein questions of belonging, visibility, and intimacy quietly surface
- Monteliusvägen → a breathtaking viewpoint that mirrors moments of distance and reflection reminding us how perspective shapes the way we interpret both cities and ourselves.
- Gamla Stan → the medieval core of Stockholm, where official history stands tall, but where unspoken and forgotten narratives linger between cobblestones.
- Grand Hôtel and Berns → symbol of elegance and luxury that, in literature and in life, reveal how appearance and reality often diverge.
- Kungsträdgården, T-Centralen and Hötorget → metro stations turned into public galleries, alive with art and diversity, echoing the layers of community beneath the city’s surface.
- Hötorgshallen → a bustling food market where different flavors and voices weave together – much like the mosaic of identities that Lola’s characters embody.
Each stop on this experience blends place, text, and conversation. It’s less about sightseeing and more about listening, sensing and allowing the city to speak to you in its own way.
When stories step into the streets
What makes this experience special is its soul: it’s not just another guided tour, it’s a book club experience stretched across a city. Here, guests aren’t just observers; they’re part of the narrative. We’ll explore short stories together about the Afro-Swedish experience, share impressions about the characters and plot twists in the novels, and discover how the city’s voice resonates with guests’ own lived histories.
Reading, in this context, stops being a solitary act. It becomes a communal journey – shaped by dialogue, listening, and by the city itself.
Words that guide the way
The Book Club Experience is inspired by the novels of Lola Akinmade Åkerström, whose work has brought Stockholm into the global literary spotlight. Through her stories, we see the city not only as a beautiful landscape, but also as a place of complexity – a meeting ground for identity, belonging, and contradiction.
A meaningful lens
Created in collaboration with Afrosvenskarnas Riksorganisation (ASR), this project also shines a light on diverse voices within Swedish society. Stockholm is richer, more multicultural, and more layered than a postcard image might suggest – and this experience seeks to honor that truth.
Because when you read inside the place where a story unfolds, words carry new weight. A sentence becomes a memory. A passage turns into a landscape. A reflection echoes more deeply because the city itself is present.
This is more than a cultural activity. It is an invitation to seek transformation. A day to pause, to listen, to walk slowly. A day to meet Stockholm in an intimate, thoughtful, and inspiring way.
A small circle, a shared journey
To keep the experience intimate, capacity will be very limited. We want each group to feel like a small community of readers and fans, connected not only by their love of Lola’s books, but by the act of walking and reflecting together. This is not an event for the masses. It is a closely personal, shared moment — a temporary community that will breathe life into literature and the city for one unforgettable day.
Turn the page with us
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Are you ready to read Stockholm with your own two feet? The Book Club Experience – wherein Stockholm becomes an open book – is the place to start!
Written by Laia Olivella de Barros