Book Clubs Melbourne

March Book Club + The Matildas Asian Cup 2026 Watch Party

**At our March book club, learn about the forces behind the rise of women's sports and why it matters.** We will be reading and discussing *Girls Don't Play Sport: The game-changing, defiant rise of women's sport, and why it matters*, followed by a watch party for the first game of the Women's Soccer Asian Cup of 2026, where the Matildas take on the Philippines. **About the book** Chloe Dalton, the founder of The Female Athlete Project and Olympic gold medalist, shines a light on the interlinked quagmires of respect, opportunity, representation, and pay that continue to stall the progress of women's teams around the world. **What you will learn** * Why we should all care about women's sport * How it has evolved and where the future could be * What we need to do to embrace the untapped potential that it has We will start the book discussion at 6:00 p.m, and kick-off for the game starts at 8:00 p.m for those who wish to stay behind to watch the Matildas take on the Philippines in the first game for the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026 Purchase link: [[Girls Don't Play Sport: The Game-Changing Defiant Rise Of Women's Sport and Why It Matters](https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Chloe-Dalton-Girls-Don't-Play-Sport-9781761068751)] If you've RSVPd and are not able to make it, please let us know 48 hours in advance.

Melbourne Horror Book Club

Come and join our friendly group of horror fans to discuss books and movies over dinner and a drink. All welcome! I kindly ask that you purchase a meal and a drink to help cover the room costs. We discuss two books and a movie, you don't need to read them all to attend. We meet in the dining rooms on the left hand side of the Mail Exchange. Contemporary novel House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski https://www.penguin.com.au/books/house-of-leaves-9780385603102 Classic novel The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Film The Thing

Book swap brunch meet up

SILENT BOOK CLUB @ FITZROY GARDENS

Let's make the most of daylight savings to do more of what we love. Bring your own book, read in silence, and we'll gather afterwards for a chat about what we enjoyed. **ITINERARY** 11am: Meet at the lawn outside Kere Kere Green Cafe next to the visitor information centre at Fitzroy Gardens. Find a cosy spot to read. Depending on the weather, you might want to sit inside the cafe or take your book for a meander around the park. 12.15pm: Meet back on the lawn to chat about your book. 1pm: End of event. [OPTIONAL EXTRA] For those who are not too tired, we can go for lunch together after the event. **Note:** Feel free to bring your deck chair / picnic mat, whatever you need to feel comfy. Coffee and lunch can be purchased from the cafe. If you're running late, look for us at 12.15pm on the lawn outside Kere Kere Green Cafe. There is an organizer fee of $5 for this event. You can bring cash on the day or PayID me at 0403 413 056 (Serena Low). **Getting there:** The closest train stations are Jolimont (2 min across the road) and Parliament (10 min walk).

Pride Inside Book Club - March Meeting - Changing Planes

February Book of the month - White Nights

Book Club: [White Nights](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1772910.White_Nights) by Fyodor Dostoevsky Step into the quiet glow of sleepless streets and fleeting connection in White Nights, Dostoevsky’s tender, introspective tale of longing and imagination. Set over four luminous nights in St. Petersburg, the novella follows a solitary dreamer whose carefully constructed inner world is disrupted when he meets Nastenka, a young woman caught between hope and heartbreak. As their nocturnal conversations unfold, White Nights explores the fragile beauty of human connection—how intimacy can bloom suddenly, how love can be imagined as much as it is lived, and how solitude can both protect and imprison us. Dostoevsky captures the ache of yearning with remarkable sensitivity, tracing the line between fantasy and reality, courage and retreat. Quiet yet emotionally resonant, White Nights is a meditation on loneliness, romantic idealism, and the moments—brief but transformative—that leave an indelible mark on our inner lives. It asks what it means to truly see another person, even if only for a night. Discussion Points: How does the dreamer’s inner world shape his understanding of love and connection? In what ways do the “white nights” function as a metaphor for emotional intensity, impermanence, or illusion? How does Dostoevsky portray loneliness—as a refuge, a wound, or both? What role does honesty (or the lack of it) play in the relationship between the dreamer and Nastenka? Is White Nights ultimately a story of heartbreak, growth, or quiet hope—and why?

February 2026 - James

Hello book lovers, Our book for February is "James" by Percival Everett When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond. Brimming with nuanced humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim's agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. *James* is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first-century American literature. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/173754979-james

The Atom Station, Halldor Laxnuss (Nobel, 1955)

We have almost scheduled this author a few times and been indecisive on which book, based mainly on length and plot. Step in our resident expert on the author (PhD no less) who recommended this one both on length **and** plot. Sometimes it's tough to get a book up in this club! The Guardian (hacks) think we may be disappointed compared to Independent People, but then go on to say there's a lot to like in this satire. A drunken Icelandic PM allows the Yanks to build a nuclear power station. Enter Ugla, a country girl now working in an MP's house, the family turns out to be drunken, demented, self-destructive. The author's "rich" humour and humanism shines, but frankly you had me at "satire". I look forward to a robust discussion. And we may also need to read Independent People another time to compare. Since starting this book club a few years ago we have formed a nice core membership. If you haven't come yet, please look out for the books on the table, pull up a chair, order a wine and join us. We like to hear what everyone has to say and enjoy the conversation, we're not cliquey at all! Oh, and to defray the Meetup monthly bill I will accept gold coin contributions or wine if you want to pay for multiple in one hit. I hope to see everyone again at this one with some new faces.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel

The Gathering, Anne Enright (Booker, 2026)

Enright is an Irish novelist and as The Guardian points out, The Gathering ticks a lot of the related cliches. This is a Catholic childhood misery memoir (albeit fiction), appropriate for St Patrick's Day. But that is where the cliches end. A reflection on the past and how it affects the present the novel tackles what it means to be a wife and mother, and is an attempt to "stare down love and death". Effective writing, genuinely funny and with the odd cup of tea, this book seems to have stood up despite and beyond Angela's Ashes. Since starting this book club a few years ago we have formed a nice core membership. If you haven't come yet, please look out for the books on the table, pull up a chair, order a wine and join us. We like to hear what everyone has to say and enjoy the conversation, we're not cliquey at all! Oh, and to defray the Meetup monthly bill I will accept gold coin contributions or wine if you want to pay for multiple in one hit. I hope to see everyone again at this one with some new faces.

Yarra and Botanics Walk discussing 'The Emperor of Gladness' by Ocean Vuong

We'll meet at the spot where Fed Square meets the Princes Bridge over the Yarra (near the pedestrian crossing closest to the river from Flinders St, on the Fed Square side). We'll walk for about 6km along the Yarra River, through the Botanic Gardens and back along the river to Federation Square for a coffee after the walk. This month, we're reading and talking about 'The Emperor of Gladness' by Ocean Vuong The blurb: "**Ocean Vuong returns with an achingly beautiful novel about chosen family, unexpected friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive.** One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to alter Hai’s relationship to himself, his family, and a community at the brink. Following the cycles of history, memory, and time, *The Emperor of Gladness* shows the profound ways in which love, labor, and loneliness form the bedrock of American life. At its heart is a brave epic about what it means to exist on the fringes of society and to reckon with the wounds that haunt our collective soul. Hallmarks of Vuong’s writing – formal innovation, syntactic dexterity, and the ability to twin grit with grace through tenderness – are on full display in this story of loss, hope, and how far we would go to possess one of life’s most fleeting mercies: a second chance." Goodreads rating: 3.93 How does a walking bookclub work? Like a normal bookclub, we talk about the book, what else we're reading, have read, or want to read (as well as a few tangents into life outside literature!) but we do it while walking around Melbourne and then over a coffee. We often split into smaller groups as we walk, but we also regroup through the walk. Should I read the book beforehand? The conversation will be more interesting if you do, but you can still come along if you haven't finished it yet! Do I need to bring anything? **Comfy** walking shoes, drinking water, some money for coffee or a bite to eat after if you wish. No need to bring the book unless you want to. No shows No shows (RSVPing yes and not attending) mean the group waits unnecessarily for those who are not coming, thinking you are running a little late. It’s absolutely fine to change your rsvp for any reason up until the walk begins, and you don’t need to leave a comment, send a message or give a reason, but if you don't click that 'change rsvp' button, you may be removed from the group. Membership Fee Did you know that while it is free to attend most events, Meetup charges organisers about $600 a year to organise a group? Members of the Walking Book Club are asked to pay a membership fee of $10 per year (not per event) to help cover this cost. When you join the group, you'll be automatically given a three month trial so you can see what the group is like, without needing to make any payment. If you would like to continue attending events after this, please follow Meetup's instructions to pay the $6.50US/approx $10AUD fee once per year (or contact group organisers if you would prefer to make payment using paypal, payID, cash or bank transfer).

Book 147: Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton