“The audiobook walks allowed me to be social in a way that didn’t require talking to other people if I didn’t want to,” she says. “I had the option.”
The person responsible for that delightfully strange scene was Stephanie Pao, who owns The Fleuria, a mobile bookstore housed in a book truck. Pao has loved audiobooks since the cassette-tape era, and in July 2025, she invited her social-media followers to join her for a walk. She had no idea whether anyone planned to come. If five people appeared, she decided, it would be fun. As it turned out, 50 showed up. At a later event in Long Beach, nearly 200 people joined. “Reading is often such a solitary hobby,” Pao says. “But readers want to meet other readers.”
In a conventional book club, people read the same book by a specific date, then arrive prepared to say something reasonably intelligent about it.
At Pao’s events, people often spend about 30 minutes mingling before the walk. Then they put on their headphones and separate into faster and slower groups, each person absorbed in a different story. “Everyone can participate, no matter your book taste,” Pao says. When the group is small enough, she asks people to share what they’ve selected—and inevitably, someone lights up because another walker is listening to the same book or adds a new title to their list.
In the Washington, D.C., area, Morgan Menzies runs a similar group called Pages on the Path. Menzies moved to D.C. from New Jersey and wanted to make friends, so she started the group with one other person. Now, around 30 readers typically attend its monthly outings.
“There are like a thousand run clubs in D.C.,” Menzies says. But not everyone wants—or is able—to run. An audiobook walking club offers another route to the same basic destination: movement, fresh air, and potential new friends.
Part of the appeal of audiobooks is their efficiency: People can listen while driving, exercising, cooking, cleaning, or unloading the dishwasher. But Dinegar has also noticed that people are becoming more open about their enthusiasm. Listeners once admitted they loved audiobooks almost sheepishly. “It’s OK. It’s not a confession,” he would tell them. “You’re not alone.” Now, he says, those people are finding one another.
Why audiobook walking clubs make socializing easier
At Pages on the Path events, participants can talk with one another, or they can simply “press play and just be in [their] own world,” Menzies says. There are no forced introductions or icebreakers. Sometimes she’ll ask what everyone is listening to, who their favorite author is, or whether they’ve recently encountered a five-star book. “It’s fun to hear when someone loved a book and a different person hated that book,” she says.
At Hedberg Public Library in Janesville, Wis., young-adult librarian Gabrielle Draxler and programming librarian Amy Christian organize an audiobook walking club called These Books Are Made for Walkin’.
Once the earbuds come out, everyone has an obvious conversation starter: “What are you listening to?” That question can feel especially refreshing in Washington, D.C., Dinegar says, where strangers often lead with what you do and where you live. Talking about a book comes with “no baggage” and “no pressure.”
Dr. Mariah Stump, a primary-care physician at Brown University Health who specializes in lifestyle medicine, sees such walks as a form of “social prescribing”—connecting people with community activities that support their health and well-being. They combine several things known to help people feel better: physical movement, time outdoors, and contact with other people.
Of course, the headphones that make these clubs possible come with a risk: It’s easy to tune out more than intended. Listeners need to remain alert to traffic, other people, and changes in the terrain, Stump cautions. In other words: Enjoy the plot twist, but don’t let it make you miss the curb.
How to start your own audiobook walking club
If an audiobook walking club doesn’t exist nearby, “just start it,” Menzies says. If only one person shows up, congratulations—you’ve got a walking buddy. “There’s been a lot online about wanting a village, but not being a villager,” she says. “It takes effort to build a village.”
Partnering with a library can also help people access audiobooks for free. Hedberg brings Playaways, small devices preloaded with a single audiobook, along with earbuds and spare batteries. Patrons can also download digital audiobooks through library apps like Libby.
“You’re going to go out, you’re going to enjoy nature, and you’re going to listen to a book,” Draxler says. “Just do it. I think you’re going to find your people.”
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