News.
Surf Coast Chapter Opens
With the continuous growth of the club’s Geelong Chapter, we saw a great opportunity to expand geographically while also accommodating more Goons. And although Geelong is a great place, we wanted a bit of a sea change and looked a little further for this new chapter: Torquay. And…
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TGBC Monthly Challenge – #OtherHobby
March brought one of the favourite monthly challenges, #otherhobby, and it’s been damn good seeing what Goons get up to when they’re not reading. We’re a book club for men, so it’s pretty obvious we all like sitting down with a book now and then. But we all know people are into…
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Notes from Underground - Fyodor Dostoevsky (1864)
I tend to read the books at club from an entirely ignorant standpoint. I don't read the blurb, I don't research the author, and I try to avoid any running commentary in the pool hall. Every now and then, though, I've previously read the book or have some inkling of what it's…
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TGBC Monthly Challenge – #bpcheck21
Seems a bit silly to say out loud but I’ve never been keen on going to see the doctor. I’m an Australian male and therefore tough, resilient and a “good ol’ common sense” mostly sees me right. I feel ok today so that must mean everything's great - right? As has been said…
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Breath - Tim Winton (2008)
‘When you make it, when you’re still alive and standin at the end. You get this tingly-electric rush. You feel alive, completely awake and in your body. Man, it’s like you’ve felt the hand of God. The rest is just sport’n recreation, mate. Give me the hand of God any day’. The…
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January challenge, book swap 2020 – #doomyearbookswap
Ever had a favourite thing and wanted everyone to love it too? Yeah, we all have. A song, a film, a...book. TGBC isn't just a book club. It helps men connect. To be more social - to socialise, be part of a community. And be better humans. Building the relationships among a group…
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The Starless Sea - Erin Morgenstern (2019)
"Stories are a communal currency of humanity." --Tahir Shah, In Arabian Nights This is a story of doors and those who dare to seek those doors which open to things not understood or that embark the traveler upon journeys not anticipated . A door has so many potentials. We open…
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War & Peace - Leo Tolstoy (long read)
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Thornbury Chapter On Board
Here we go again with yet another new Tough Guy Book Club chapter! The club has continued to expand far and wide, but this time we’ve expanded a little closer to home with a new chapter in Thornbury, in Melbourne’s inner north. It was a bit of a surprise that we didn’t already…
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Frankenstein in Baghdad - Ahmed Saadawi (2013)
Frankenstein in Baghdad (FIB) is at its core a commentary on sin. How do we countenance our actions as moral, when the longer we live, the more these values are contradicted by our own moral compromises? FIB explores this in the world of post-invasion Baghdad, where society has…
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Mornington Chapter Opens
With the gradual opening back up of Victoria it was time to get back into the pub. And with that, a new pub with a new chapter. The Royal Hotel in Mornington to be specific. In the lead up to the first meeting there was a small but enthusiastic group of new and old goons…
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Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury (1953)
“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” Fahrenheit 451 is a passionate book about the importance of books. It is about knowledge, including knowledge’s power and importance, but also the vulnerability of knowledge in the face of…
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