Comic Book Clubs Melbourne

SILENT BOOK CLUB @ STATE LIBRARY

Welcome! **HOW TO FIND US** We'll be at Guild Cafe inside the State Library. Guild Cafe is opposite Readings bookshop closest to the Russell St entrance. If you enter from the main entrance on Swanston Street, you will need to walk right through the foyer and public reading area, up one flight of steps, enter the Redmond Barry Reading Room and walk through the glass doors out the other end - and you'll find the Guild Cafe (and Readings bookshop). The concierge in the foyer will be able to help you find your way. **ITINERARY** 11am: Meet at Guild Cafe. Choose your seat. Order a drink to support the cafe. (They have a range of sweet and savoury snacks.) Enjoy your book. 12.15pm: Let's chat about what we read, what we loved, and why. 1pm: End of event. [OPTIONAL EXTRA] For those who are not too tired, we can go for lunch together after the event. **COST:** 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 Melbourne Central and State Library.

Pride Inside Book Club - July Meeting - Braiding Sweetgrass

Book swap brunch meet up

July 2026 - The Land in Winter

Hello book lovers, Our book for July is The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller. December 1962, the West Country. Local doctor Eric Parry, mulling secrets, sets out on his rounds, while his pregnant wife sleeps on in the warmth of their cottage. Across the field, funny, troubled Rita Simmons is also asleep, her head full of images of a past life her husband prefers to ignore. He's been up for hours, tending to the needs of the small dairy farm where he hoped to create a new version of himself, a project that's already faltering. But when the ordinary cold of an English December gives way to violent blizzards, the two couples find their lives beginning to unravel. Where do you hide when you can't leave home? And where, in a frozen world, can you run to? **Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2025** **Winner of the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction** **Winner of the Winston Graham Historical Prize 2025** https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781529354300/the-land-in-winter--andrew-miller--2025--9781529354300

Fateless, Imre Kertesz (Nobel 2002)

After enjoying a Hungarian (Krasznahorkai), last meeting, we are rolling straight onto another! Kertesz won the Nobel "for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history." *Fateless* (also called *Fatelessness* in another edition) fits this theme. It is about a young boy from Budapest and his experiences in concentration camps. The dispassionate narration of heart-rending events and the character's struggle in adjusting to cruelty and back to kindness is "astonishing". There is also a film adaptation (Alex) from 2005. 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.

The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon

Crime and Wine July Meetup!

For July we’ll be doing a Christmas in July book swap! Bring a wrapped [used] book to swap with others. Don’t forget to wear your Christmas cheer! I ask that you please only RSVP if you are absolutely committed to attending, and please update ASAP if you decide not to attend. This means that everyone who really wants to come can join us! RSVP OPENS SATURDAY JULY 11th AT 12PM. *Please note the PayPal fee to join is to cover MeetUp admin app costs.

Yarra and Botanics Walk discussing 'There Are Rivers in the Sky' by Elif Shafak

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 'There are Rivers in the Sky' by Elif Shafak. The blurb: **"From the Booker Prize finalist author of *The Island of Missing Trees*, an enchanting new tale about three characters living along two rivers, all under the shadow of one of the greatest epic poems of all time.** In the ancient city of Nineveh, on the bank of the River Tigris, King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia, erudite but ruthless, built a great library that would crumble with the end of his reign. From its ruins, however, emerged a poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh, that would infuse the existence of two rivers and bind together three lives. In 1840 London, Arthur is born beside the stinking, sewage-filled River Thames. With an abusive, alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, Arthur’s only chance of escaping destitution is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a leading publisher, Arthur’s world opens up far beyond the slums, and one book in particular catches his interest: Nineveh and Its Remains. In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a ten-year-old Yazidi girl, is diagnosed with a rare disorder that will soon cause her to go deaf. Before that happens, her grandmother is determined to baptize her in a sacred Iraqi temple. But with the rising presence of ISIS and the destruction of the family’s ancestral lands along the Tigris, Narin is running out of time. In 2018 London, the newly divorced Zaleekah, a hydrologist, moves into a houseboat on the Thames to escape her husband. Orphaned and raised by her wealthy uncle, Zaleekah had made the decision to take her own life in one month, until a curious book about her homeland changes everything." Goodreads rating: 4.35 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).

Q-Lit Festival: Explorations Night

Q-Lit showcases, connects and empowers LGBTQIA+ writers and storytellers. Our Naarm festival is a mix of panels, showcases, mastercalsses and a queer book fair for storytellers and lovers of a story. 5:45 - Panel: Queer Media 7:00 - Panel: Unearthing the Sapphic Archive 8:45 - Showcase: Researching Our Culture https://www.q-lit.com.au/explorations-night Queer Media News from our community. Explore how queer media uplifts, warns, and unites our community, and why documenting today’s stories preserves our history forever. Hosted by Amy Middleton, with Mon Schafter, Patrick Lenton and Dean Arcuri. Unearthing the Sapphic Archive Australian women who lived and loved. Join host Sita Sargeant, with Sylvia Martin and Danielle Scrimshaw as they unearth hidden sapphic histories. From women shaping Australian cities to queer love across time, discover how these writers bring our ancestors into the light and share their stories to todays readers. Researching Our Culture Queer life through the lens of academics. Relax into the evening as academics share insights into LGBTQIA+ storytelling, activism, and identity. Whether you're a scholar or a curious mind, this night offers a thought-provoking deep dive into the research shaping our understanding of queer experiences Hosted by Damien O'Meara, with Dr Ebony Muller, Sam Stiegler, Geraldine Fela, and Meghan Aponte.

Q-Lit Festival: Opening Gala

Q-Lit showcases, connects and empowers LGBTQIA+ writers and storytellers. Our Naarm festival is a mix of panels, showcases, mastercalsses and a queer book fair for storytellers and lovers of a story. Opening Gala A night of our queer nostalgia https://www.q-lit.com.au/opening-gala Explore our moments of joy, reflection and desire at the opening celebration to our 2026 festival. From a first kiss and finding community, to the moments that scared us and the people who saved us. These are the beautiful, defining milestones that shape our queerness. Hosted by Aurelia St Clair, with Alex Creece, Anna Piper Scott, Caroline Elisabeth Cull, Dennis Altman, John Bartlett, Orlando Silver, and Yves Rees.

Babel by R.F. Kuang - Thursday 16 July 2026 Meeting

Paranormal Romance Book Club and Culture

Hi all, Welcome to the August Paranormal Book Club!! If you love books that are lighter and fluffier to read, with supernatural elements (magic, vampires, werewolves, etc.) then you will enjoy this group. After book club we head off and become a tourist in our own city, by attending an exhibition or some other cultural activity. For August, we are going to meet at Time Out Fed Square for book club, then head across to ACMI for a look at their free exhibitions. The play school exhibition we were originally thought about attending, will have concluded. I've included a link to the existing exhibitions and we can discuss which one we want to go to during the meet-up. [What's on | ACMI: Your museum of screen culture](https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/?what=exhibition&when_start=2026-08-23&when_end=2026-08-30) The books for Sunday 23 August 2026 are: An Ancient Witches Guide to Modern Dating by Cecilia Edward [An Ancient Witch's Guide to Modern Dating by Cecilia Edward | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/236810735-an-ancient-witch-s-guide-to-modern-dating) The Book Witch by Meg Schaffer [The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/238226952-the-book-witch) Stay for a spell by Amy Coombe [Stay for a Spell by Amy Coombe | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/238766958-stay-for-a-spell) If you would like to look at all the books that we have read so far, click [here](https://1drv.ms/x/s!Am2wjNpl1c1ijCNvt-hrWM8gPaem?e=riV48x). Finally, if you can't make it, please change your RSVP to a NO. Spaces are limited, so it will give other people a chance to attend. Happy reading until then!! 🤓