Book Swaps Sydney

Bring your own book club

Bring yourself and your book. 1. Shoes off, kettle on. 2. Read quietly for an hour with soft lo fi music at low volume 3. Have a biscuit 4. Chat for 15 minutes at the end See you every month. *Note: this is my home, so please be respectful in the space.*

July Books and Bevvies

Welcome to **Books & Bevvies** — a casual book swap and 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** One book, any genre and any reading level. **GOOD TO KNOW** The venue relies on accurate numbers for staffing, so if you can’t make it, please change your RSVP to “not going”. Repeated no-shows may result in removal from the group. The venue is kindly not enforcing a minimum spend, but please support them by buying a drink, soft drink, or some lunch during the swap if you can. There is no mandatory entry fee, but voluntary contributions are **very much** appreciated. The group costs around **$65 a month to keep running**, so if you enjoy the swap and are in a position to chip in, even $5 or $10 makes a real difference. I’ll have a jar near the sign-in list on the day. Please feel free to contribute at any stage through the swap. **WHERE WE’LL BE** We’ll be in the Market Street Garden Bar, with a table full of books and bevvies.

Western Classics Book Club Social

A social for those who come along to meetings of the Western Classics Book Club. 7.00pm to late in the Two Table Rooms, and just outside, and in the stairwell, etc. See you there! Dale

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: We Are Never Meeting In Real Life by Samantha Irby * Nov: Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar * Dec: Carol by Patricia Highsmith

Cloud of Unknowing (14th century)

*'For when I sey derknes, I mene a lackyng of knowyng; as alle that thing that thou knowest not, or elles that thou hast forgetyn, it is derk to thee, for thou seest it not with thi goostly ighe. And for this skile it is not clepid a cloude of the eire, bot a cloude of unknowyng, that is bitwix thee and thi God.'* Otherwise known as *The Cloude of Unknowyng* in the original Middle English, back in our salad days when you could spell words however you wanted and nobody would be upset if you didn't bathe much. The 14th century had a lot going for it - for example, ignorance! This is pre-Enlightenment, pre-Renaissance, a classic Dark Age if there ever was one, and this text is all about the value and virtue of Forgetting and Unknowing. To know without thinking, to enter a higher state of Being through love and without understanding. It all sounds very abstract, but mysticism is all about personal experience and requires essentially no prior knowledge other than your lived experience. An exploration of the Christian mystic tradition, we will not be reading this book as theology - whether you follow Christ, the Buddha, Krishna, Ricky Gervais or Haile Selassie as your god, all are welcome - we will not be attempting to preach or convert anyone to a particular way of thinking. What does an obscure text intended for medieval monks have to say for the contemporary troubled soul? You might be surprised how much these ideas resemble what is so frequently packaged and commercialised in mindfulness apps. What does it mean to be a 'mystic' in the age of AI? To have a private, intimate relationship with God - how can I show this off on Instagram? Lots of free translations, as well as the Olde Middle Englyishe texte, are available free online, but you might fare best with the accessible translation by AC Spearing, with regular spelling and without all the Thees and Thous - message me for a copy.

Girl Like You (2021)

July's documentary film is Girl Like You In this intimate documentary, filmed over six years, we watch a couple desperate to stay together, as they navigate the effects of new body parts, changing gender roles as well as battling their own evolving sexual identities. GIRL LIKE YOU uses the dramatic reality of changing genders while in a relationship to explore the larger thematic questions of the fluidity of gender and sexual identity, and the self sacrifice required to nurture a lover through life. [M] CC 57m 2021 *You need to be a library member to attend this event but if you aren't, we value your membership and would love you to join. Discover everything the library has to offer including free e-books, audiobooks, e-magazines, movie streaming and so much more. Access our e-library 24/7. Join our library [here](https://library.waverley.nsw.gov.au/libero/WebOpac.cls?VERSION=2&ACTION=SIGNUPAGREE&RSN=&DATA=DWL&TOKEN=75KA1hXWhx6590&Z=1&NewBreadCrumb=1)*

Inner West Writers Group - Write Club

Sat 18 July is an in-person event at the Library, starting at 10am. This group started in January 2020 in a beautiful private room granted by Marrickville Library. We have continued to meet in person fortnightly at the Library, with alternate weeks via Zoom. To keep up to date - sign up and receive our messages! The group is flourishing! You will need to RSVP each week for the following Saturday so we can organise the right number of Zoom rooms and Library space to ensure good quality feedback. RSVP's will receive the link. The intention is to give a supportive environment to get traction on your writing project, gain useful feedback, and exchange writing and publishing information with each other. Please note that if you are attending for the first time - you are welcome to observe and listen to how we work. Your turn to read and be critiqued will be invited in the second session. So come along, bring up to 1500 words of your latest writing - fiction writers of all types, memoirists, biographers, graphic novelists, bloggists, poets - all writers welcome. You will have up to eight minutes to read out your work, an equal time of constructive critique and feedback from the rest of the group. If you want a tribe of fellow writers to be with you as you finish your writing project, build your author profile, want to get inspired by other writers, or want to just listen and give constructive feedback (we all need beta readers), you are very welcome. This is a free event, but membership is essential in wider to attend. Many thanks to Marrickville Library! For more information, contact Maria, mariaissaris@icloud.com, or Jamie Ramjan (jamie.ramjan@gmail.com) or Sunnie Mosphilis via DM.

Book discussion: Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

First published in 1999, ***Disgrace*** is J. M. Coetzee’s stark and uncompromising novel set in post-apartheid South Africa. It follows David Lurie, a university professor whose personal and professional collapse forces him into an uneasy confrontation with power, guilt, and moral responsibility. As Lurie retreats to the countryside, the novel broadens into a bleak and searching examination of violence, justice, and the limits of empathy in a society marked by historical trauma. Coetzee offers no easy resolutions, instead insisting on moral ambiguity and discomfort. Winner of the Booker Prize, *Disgrace* is a tightly controlled, unsettling work that probes questions of authority, shame, and what it means to live ethically in a world where old certainties no longer hold.

National Populism: The Revolt Against Liberal Democray by Goodwin and Eatwell

Meeting at the usual place, the Shakespeare Hotel, 200 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills, at 7.00pm, we will be discussing National Populism: The Revolt Against Liberal Democracy (2018) by Roger Eatwell and Matthew Goodwin. The authors argue that national populism has become more popular because of four things (1) the weakening of a national culture by multiculturalism and large-scale immigration (2) fewer opportunities because of slow economic growth and globalisation (3) a growing distrust by the bulk of the population towards liberal, cosmopolitan and urban-inhabiting media and political elites (4) and greater voter volatility. The discussion has greater importance now compared to when the book was first published, given the rising popularity of Pauline Hanson's One Nation in Australia, the AdF in Germany, Le Pen's RN in France, Trump in the USA and Nigel Farage in the UK. The format of the meeting is that we talk about the book in a fairly focused way for 50 mins, and then the meeting ends. Almost everyone stays back to talk more about the book or other things bookish in smaller groups. Dissenting opinions are welcome and everyone gets to have a say. The facilitator will play Devil's Advocate when there is consensus. We will be in a semi-private room upstairs, conducive to discussion. Look for the sign or ask at the bar.

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

State Library-200th Anniversary collection viewing

Advanced Writers' Group

Our in person session at Marrickville Library, following the IWWG session.