Book Swaps Sydney

May Books and Bevvies

**Welcome along to Books & Bevvies** — a casual book swap + drinks social in the Sydney CBD. This is *not* a book club with homework. It’s a simple, low-key way to meet people, chat about what you’ve been reading, and walk out with something new. **How it works** *Bring a book you’re happy to part with - Pop it on the swap table when you arrive *Mingle, chat, and swap recommendations - When the swap opens, take a book that catches your eye! *Stay for a drink and a conversation after **What to bring** - 1 book (any genre, any reading level) **Good to know** *All genres and reading levels are welcome - No fee, but please purchase your own food/drinks from the venue - The venue relies on accurate numbers for staffing. If you can't make it please change your RSVP. Repeated no-shows = removal from the group. **Where we’ll be** We’ll be in the **Market Street Garden Bar**, with a table full of books and bevvies.

JUNE BOOK –'Theo of Golden' by Allen Levy

The Bay BookClub - The Daily Stoic 📖

Get ready for the first meetup by the Bay Run on the benches next to the Waterfront Green Amenities. 📍 Please see location pin You don't need to have read the book, come along and meet like-minded people, have meaningful chats and make new friends. We'll be discussing and taking notes on 'The Daily Stoic' by Ryan Holiday. (Optional) BYO: 📖 book 📓 journal & pen 🥤 drinks / snacks

'A Little Lumpen Novelita' by Roberto Bolano

Please join us for an afternoon of wild discussion about a dark but short modern classic! We usually have about 12+ participants as most come from outside of Meetup :)

The Tempest - William Shakespeare (1611)

Here at Really Old Books we've so far covered The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey, two poems with unknown or apocryphal authors - so I decided it would be good to choose a play whose authorship is beyond doubt. The Tempest is Shakespeare's last solo play - after writing it, Shakespeare gave up the theatre and joined up with Christopher Marlowe and Francis Bacon, forming a band called The Real Shakespeare. (Will on drums, Marlowe on bass, Bacon lead guitar. Emilia Lanier joined later as a vocalist.) According to my Arden Shakespeare edition, The Tempest "has been a play for all eras, all continents and many ideologies." It is richly ambiguous in its characters and has been a source of inspiration for painters and writers alike, as well as being one of the central texts in the development of postcolonial theory. As residents of Britain's sixth favourite colony this should be of interest to many Australians. It also features a shipwreck, so it should be of interest to Odyssey fans. I haven't read it before so I can't vouch for how homoerotic Prospero and Caliban's relationship is, so for Gilgamesh fans my recommendation is less certain. I wrote a more serious and straightforward event description earlier but the Meetup app decided to delete all my hard work, so here we are. Come one, come all! Let's enjoy a major work of world literature that doesn't have quite the same name recognition as a Hamlet or Macbeth, but stands proudly beside them as one of Shakespeare's very best works. Feel free to find the play in bookshops or on Project Gutenberg, or I'm sure you can watch it for free on YouTube or elsewhere too.

Queer Reads

Reading list for 2026: * Feb: Queer Heroes of Myth and Legend by Dan Jones * Mar: Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin * Apr: Invisible Boys by Holden Sheppard * May: In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado * Jun: Just by Looking at Him by Ryan O'Connell * Jul: Pageboy by Elliot Page * Aug: Milk Fed by Melissa Broder * Sep: Jack Charles: Born-again Blakfella by Jack Charles * Oct: * Nov: * Dec: Carol by Patricia Highsmith

Book discussion: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adam

Published in 1979, *The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy* is Douglas Adams’s inventive blend of science fiction, satire, and philosophical comedy. When Earth is abruptly destroyed to make way for a hyperspace bypass, the unassuming Arthur Dent is swept into a cosmic journey that is as absurd as it is strangely revealing. Guided by the eccentric Ford Prefect and an ever-expanding cast of improbable characters, Arthur navigates a universe governed less by logic than by chance, bureaucracy, and deeply questionable intelligence. Beneath its wit and surreal humour, the novel playfully examines humanity’s search for meaning in an indifferent cosmos. Irreverent yet oddly profound, *The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy* asks whether the universe has any inherent order at all, or whether, in the face of chaos, the only sensible response is curiosity, humility, and a good sense of humour.

The Trolley Problem: Would you kill the fat man?

Chances are you've heard some version of this before, but it's worth revisiting. A runaway trolley is hurtling down the tracks toward five unsuspecting workers. You're standing on a footbridge above, and beside you is a large man. If you push him onto the tracks, his body will stop the trolley. He will die—but the five will live. Would you do it? What if pushing him saved a hundred people? This is no idle riddle. Our responses to this famous thought experiment (and many variants of it) reveal how we weigh consequences, rights, and intentions, and how our moral intuitions can clash with our moral reasoning. Moreover, these choices matter in the real world. From foreseeable risks to civilian lives in military action, to public‑health decisions about allocating scarce vaccines, to autonomous vehicles deciding who to save in a crash, trolley problems offer an accessible way to confront the hard edges of moral decision‑making in the modern age. Let's dive in. ***Primary Reading: [An Introduction to the Trolley Problem](https://1drv.ms/b/c/adb4f7488b2eef0a/IQCJWblmfROdQ57-BP0B6yCtAarIwZk1SPyFG157nZiDWN0?e=hjP4jO)*** (document prepared for this discussion) ***(Optional) Book: Would You Kill the Fat Man? The Trolley Problem and What Your Answer Tells Us About Right and Wrong (2014) by David Edmonds*** For this meetup, we’ve prepared a 40-page guide that introduces the Trolley Problem, its philosophical significance, and what neuroscience has learned from using it to study moral decision-making. The guide includes sixteen scenarios, each probing different aspects of moral thinking: How do we weigh consequences against rights? Does intention matter more than outcomes? Do personal relationships override impartial calculation? When is it acceptable to use one person to save many? These scenarios reveal the complexity of our moral intuitions and will form the heart of our discussion. Hopefully the prepared guide will leave you wanting more. If so, David Edmonds' *Would You Kill the Fat Man?* is a wonderful next step. Edmonds traces the fascinating history of the Trolley Problem, interviews philosophers who've wrestled with it, and explains the competing moral frameworks with clarity and wit. It's highly readable and brings real depth to these abstract dilemmas—but it's entirely optional. The guide has everything you need for our discussion. As always, we strongly encourage you to do the reading before attending. This will enrich both your experience and our collective discussion. We’ve also put links below on further resources on the topic. So join us for a drink (and optional meal) at 6:30pm on Monday, 1st June, on the 2nd floor of the Keg & Brew Hotel in Surrey Hills (i.e. up two flights of stairs). The venue is conveniently located near Central Station and the Light Rail. We look forward to seeing you there! P.S. Please adjust your RSVP if you have indicated that you will come but are no longer able to do so. This is courteous to other people if there is a waitlist. \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- These are just optional links to consider. Feel free to pass on other useful links in the discussion section. **Videos** * A TED-Ed explainer on basic trolley problems: [Would you sacrifice one person to save five? (5 mins)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg16u_bzjPE&t=1s) * Michael Sandel starts his famous Harvard justice lecture course with some trolley problems: [ Justice: What's The Right Thing To Do?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBdfcR-8hEY) * Podcast with David Edmonds, author of our book, on trolley problems: [Philosophy Bytes - Trolley Problems](https://philosophybites.com/podcast/david-edmonds-on-trolley-problems/) * Podcast with Prof Joshua Greene, a pioneer on applying neuroscience to the trolley problem: [Trolleyology with Dr Joshua Greene (1.22 hr)](https://www.alieward.com/ologies/trolleyology) * TED-Ed on self-driving car scenarios [The ethical dilemma of self-driving cars (4 mins)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixIoDYVfKA0) * A real-life version of the trolley problem staged with unsuspecting participants!: [The trolley problem in real life (35 mins)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sl5KJ69qiA&t=158s) * For fans of *The Good Place*, you’ll remember the ever-indecisive philosophy professor Chidi facing a real life trolley problem: [The Good Place – The Trolley Problem (3 mins)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtRhrfhP5b4) * If you want to brush up on your utilitarianism and Kant’s categorical imperative, see these two Crash Course Philosophy videos: [Utilitarianism: Crash Course Philosophy (10 mins)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a739VjqdSI) [Kant & Categorical Imperatives: Crash Course Philosophy (10 mins)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bIys6JoEDw) **Written** * A nice easter egg for anyone who has read down the page this far (from the Utilitarianism.com website): [Would You Kill the Fat Man?](https://www.utilitarianism.com/trolley-problem.pdf) * Encyclopedia Entries: [Wikipedia - The Trolley Problem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem) [Wikipedia - Dual Process Theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_process_theory) [Britannica - The Trolley Problem](https://www.britannica.com/topic/trolley-problem) * A Conversation piece on AI systems and trolley problems [The self‑driving trolley problem](https://theconversation.com/the-self-driving-trolley-problem-how-will-future-ai-systems-make-the-most-ethical-choices-for-all-of-us-170961) * If you want to play with some moral dilemmas in autonomous vehicle crash scenarios and see how your choices compare globally: [Moral Machine - Moral Decisions and Machine Intelligence](https://www.moralmachine.net/)

Philosophy Discussion: Nietzsche's Human, All Too Human

We will be meeting to discuss Nietzsche's 1878 work *Human, All Too Human: A Book For Free Spirits.* This works marks a turning point in his philosophy. Written after his break with Richard Wagner and growing distance from Arthur Schopenhauer, the book abandons grand metaphysical claims in favor of a more skeptical, psychological approach. In a series of sharp, aphoristic reflections, Nietzsche examines morality, religion, art, and human relationships—not as expressions of timeless truths, but as products of historical development, habit, and human need. Often seen as Nietzsche’s “free spirit” phase, *Human, All Too Human* offers a more restrained and analytical voice than his later works. It draws heavily on Enlightenment influences and raises a central question: what happens when we subject our highest ideals to critical, historical scrutiny? Because of the books aphoristic style it is very accessible for those less comfortable with longer texts while still being full of philosophical insight and depth. As you read it may be helpful to focus in on certain aphorisms and note them down for group discussion. This meeting will take place Monday, June 1 at 7 PM at the UTS Library 61 Broadway, Ultimo NSW 2007 on Level 3. The meeting is open to all.

Short Story Club: 'In My Country' by Thomas Ha

Short Story Club is a reading club for time-poor people who love speculative fiction. Just like other clubs we read the story and discuss it... though expect to go deeper into craft as writers. This session we're reading Thomas Ha's 'In My Country', a 2026 Hugo, Nebula and Locus Award-nominated story. This is available free to read through [Clarkesworld #223](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ha_04_25/) and its [audio version](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/audio_04_25e). Meet at 2pm for a preliminary chat (use the time to order food/drink if you like) and we'll start the main event at 2.30pm. No need to bring anything but your thoughts, having read the story. *Image credit: Clarkesworld #223 by Thomas Brissot*

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Meeting at the usual place, The Shakespeare Hotel, 200 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills, on June 4, 2026, at 7.00pm, we will be discussing To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This is the most recent 'classic' we have discussed in the group. Published in 1960, the novel is a cornerstone of American literature. Set in Alabama during the Great Depression, the story is narrated by 'Scout,' a young girl who grows up while observing the racial politics of the Deep South. Scout's father, Atticus Finich, is appointed to defend a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Despite evidence showing that Tom could not have raped her, the all-white jury convicts. There is a vast industry discussing this novel. The still photo shows the characters Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson from the 1963 movie (available on youtube). The format of the meeting is that we chat about the book in a focused way for about an hour. Then the meeting formally ends. Almost everyone stay behind to chat more about the book and other things bookish.

Cultural Exchange Night for International Friends @The Art Syndicate Surry Hills

Join us at the Art Syndicate for a fun and engaging Cultural Exchange Night where international and exchange students, expats, and community members come together to celebrate diversity and forge new friendships. This event is perfect for anyone looking to connect with people from different parts of the world and learn about various cultures. The venue offers an all-NSW drinks menu with wines, beers, spirits, non-alcoholic beverages and snacks in a cozy and relaxing setting. As we are a small venue: RSVP's ESSENTIAL! We are looking forward to seeing you! Your hosts, the friendly staff at the Art Syndicate