Book clubs evolve with pubs, live jazz or silent companionship

Book clubs evolve to include beers at the pub or live jazz as background ambience If you enjoy a beer with a bestseller or music with a murder mystery, you might not have considered joining a book club. However, traditional book clubs are evolving and there is likely one for every personality or reading preference. Just ask Leonie Barber. Being blind has not stopped her enjoying books or even joining a book club. While she might not have a well-worn collection of paperbacks on her shelf, she still enjoys a good story and a clever plot twist. She is one of many avid readers with disability who use Vision Australia's vast collection of audiobooks and enjoy their monthly book clubs. "A lot of people who are older or with disabilities can feel isolated, so I highly recommend joining the book club," Leonie said. Sanity and connection Being vision-impaired and living in Cairns, Leonie said being part of a book club helped her feel more connected. "I rely very much on it for my sanity,"she said. "And we get to read some really interesting books." She explained that Vision Australia was used by people with dyslexia, paraplegics, amputees unable to hold a book and people with Parkinson's disease who could struggle with shaky hands. She said some members accessed the books using braille, while others downloaded audiobooks to their phone or to other devices like Envoy audio players or Victor Reader Streams, handheld digital devices made for people who were blind or had low vision. "Unfortunately, I've already reached my 20-book limit this month from the Vision Australia library catalogue," Leonie said. Solitary reading together While reading is often a solitary activity, many people are now choosing to read beside strangers to feel less alone. Fifteen years ago, Grant Krupp was reading at a friend's party and thought how great it would be to get together a bunch of friends to read while enjoying curated ambient background music. A year ago, he decided to start Book Doof book club, where strangers could bring their own book and read, without the pressure of group discussions. He originally called it Read the Room but, after discovering someone else was using that name, he chose Book Doof, a nod to outdoor raves known as bush doofs, which he used to attend. Music to read to "We get a lot of introverts and people who are neurodivergent because there is no pressure to actually have conversations," Grant said. "And I've got a soundtrack of about 1,000+ songs that's the undercurrent to the actual experience of Book Doof." The ambient music is a big part of the book club. Grant plays a lot of jazz and music with a low beat and no lyrics while people read. He sometimes hires live musicians to play ambient music, and the group generally meets at a central bar or cafe. So far, there are Book Doof book clubs in Melbourne, Perth, Canberra and Hobart, but Grant would love to see it expand to regional areas and right around Australia. He said Book Doof events could attract anywhere from 10 to 300 people and an entry fee was only charged when there was a live musician, to help cover the cost. "People are definitely forming connections through their love of books and shared interest in specific books they've read," Grant said. Finding common ground Shay Leighton founded the Tough Guys Book Club 14 years ago to give his mates something to talk about at the pub. He wanted to create opportunities for men to read more, talk more and create new friendships without the pressure. "We decided to hold it at the local pub because it's not a location or venue where people feel out of their league," Shay said. And men have been turning up each month in droves, with the book club now hosting 120 chapters around Australia and 60 chapters throughout the world, in the United States, Canada, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Myanmar and Hong Kong. "But we're not 180 clubs, we're one big club so we all read the same book every month," he said. Mateship over books Shay said he was not shocked by the number of blokes wanting to chat about books over a beer or just to connect. "We live in a remarkably lonely time and men often tell me they would like to make more friends and have more interesting conversations," he said. Members read the same fiction novel each month and are encouraged to come even if they have not finished the book. The club also hosts an annual camping trip, fundraising events, an end-of-year book swap and a short story competition, culminating in a published short story collection. "We didn't make book clubs and put them in pubs", Shay said. 'We're the guys who were already in pubs and started a book club."