Book Drives 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.*

AUGUST BOOK –'The Land In Winter' by Andrew Miller

July Bookclub ✨

Hi everyone! It’s been a little while, but Sarah and I are super excited to restart bookclub :) Please join us at Oliver Brown in Hornsby at 10:30am on Sunday, 26 July for a cosy catch‑up over brunch. We can’t wait to hear what you’ve been reading and have a good chat There is free 3‑hour parking available in the Westfield car park, which is just a short walk from Oliver Brown. If you’re unable to attend, please update your RSVP. We've created a Whatsapp group so we can all chat beforehand and get to know each other :) [Whatsapp Link](https://chat.whatsapp.com/BvuPhakCJ1V2UAN9luPBtm?s=cl&p=a&ilr=4&amv=0) See you soon! Yalda and Sarah x

'Closely Watched Trains' by Bohumil Hrabal

Please join us for an afternoon of wild discussion about a dark but short modern Czech classic!

August Book Club on Degrowth: Less Is More

Welcome to Meet the Moment Book Club, where we read books that meet the moment and make sense of it all together. Please see our [group page](https://www.meetup.com/meet-the-moment-book-club/) for a list of upcoming books. After discussing the true origins of illness and health, and seeing how much the current system affects our health, as well as the power we now have, armed with this new knowledge from *The Myth of Normal*, to get healthy -- we now take a look at the system itself. How did things become the way they are? Why is the world we live in so antithetical to life and health? And armed with this knowledge, what can we do about it? *Less Is More* was a game changer for me. After experiencing some health crises, I slowed down my life, and was transformed; because in this very fast-paced world, even slowing down is somehow revolutionary and transformative. So when I read *Less Is More*, it clicked immediately -- ah, this very fast-paced system itself needs to slow down, too. That alone would transform our world, our lives. Degrowth may be an off-putting word for some. Don't let it faze you. You'll understand it once you see it in context. *Less Is More* is also just beautifully written and an excellent read. You'll see. \*\*\* A Financial Times Book of the Year "'A powerfully disruptive book for disrupted times ... If you're looking for transformative ideas, this book is for you.' KATE RAWORTH, economist and author of Doughnut Economics ______________________________________ Our planet is in trouble. But how can we reverse the current crisis and create a sustainable future? The answer is: DEGROWTH. Less is More is the wake-up call we need. By shining a light on ecological breakdown and the system that's causing it, Hickel shows how we can bring our economy back into balance with the living world and build a thriving society for all. This is our chance to change course, but we must act now." https://www.amazon.com.au/Less-More-Degrowth-Will-World/dp/1786091216/ \*\*\* We will be meeting at The Erko Hotel, in the outside area in the back. We will start and end on time. There's no fee, but please purchase your own food/drinks from the venue. \*\*\* If you have trouble getting the book, message me. On reading a book: I encourage people to read books over just interviews or summaries, because nothing beats the slow digesting of the beauty and nuances in a book. Especially for the books in this book club that challenge our worldviews and help us see the world as it truly is, these books need to be really grappled with, to be fully engaged with, to receive the full benefits. For reference, I use book clubs to motivate me to finish the books I want to read, so the date of the book club becomes a deadline to finish the book by. I calculate the number of pages in a book and the number of days I can realistically read, and work out how many pages on average I need to read each day. That's how I've finished many books. Invariably, they're worth reading to the end. Of course, life happens and we're all busy. If you really can't finish a book or can only watch videos this time, that's okay. Come by with an attitude of listening, open to being inspired, and take in what others have to say; perhaps you'll want to read/finish the book afterwards. Just know that books are like most things in life: what you put in is what you get out of it. A podcast or ChatGPT can give you the high-level points, sure, perhaps to BS your way to a decent grade in class; but we're not in school anymore, and we read these books because they better our lives and help us see more clearly. But they can only do so if we read them, because reading is what makes all the new concepts come to life enough to maybe change yours. For the full magic, you just gotta read. Alright, thanks for reading my ode to reading. \*\*\* If the RSVP list is full, please join the waiting list as there will likely be fluctuations closer to the date. If you RSVP'ed and can't make it, please edit your RSVP so that others can attend. No-shows will be noted and barred from the book club. Look forward to seeing you there!

The Complete Works of Jane Austen (play at the Genesian)

A comedy of errors leads to two actors needing to perform the complete works of Jane Austen in one play. Can it be done? I (Dale) will be going along to the Genesian Theatre on Sunday 9 August 2026 to see this play. Come along and enjoy the fun! We can talk about the play at a local pub afterwards. Tickets are about $35 and need to be bought from the website at https://genesiantheatre.com.au/

Book Club: Cormac McCarthy's The Road

Cormac McCarthy's The Road is a haunting post-apocalyptic novel that follows a father and son through a devastated world stripped of civilization. Beneath its sparse prose lies a profound philosophical and religious meditation, drawing on themes associated with Gnosticism: a fallen and broken world, the struggle to preserve an inner spark of goodness, and the search for meaning amid overwhelming darkness. Join us as we discuss McCarthy's vision of humanity, hope, evil, and redemption, exploring whether The Road offers a fundamentally bleak outlook or points toward the possibility of transcendence. This meeting will take place on Wednesday, August 12, at 6:30 PM at the UTS Sydney Library.

The Language of Food - Annabel Abbs

Inner West Writers Group - Write Club

Sat 1 August 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.

FIRST SUNDAY BOOKCLUB Author- Julia Armfield

Emma by Jane Austen

Meeting at the usual place, upstairs at The Shakespeare Hotel, 200 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills, at 7.00pm on Thursday 6 August 2026, we will be discussing *Emma* by Jane Austen. *Emma* is compared to *1984* for being a book that many people think they have read but haven't. It tells the story of Emma Woodhouse, a headstrong woman in Regency England, who fills up her time with meddling in the romantic lives of her neighbors. Meanwhile, she is oblivious to her own needs, her social blunders and her misunderstandings. *Emma* is frequently cited by scholars as Austen's most technically perfect novel. It is the gold standard for 'free indirect discourse,' a style where the narrator’s voice blends seamlessly with the protagonist’s thoughts. This allows the reader to experience Emma’s delusions and biases in real-time, creating a sophisticated psychological portrait. Being a well-read lot, I suspect that the group as a whole will have read all six of Austen's novels. This will be a great discussion to honour the 250th anniversary of Austen's birth. The format of the meeting is that we will discuss the novel in a fairly focused way for an hour, and then the meeting formally ends. Most people stay back and speak more about the novel or anything else.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke | Sun 2 Aug 2026