Pittwater Life October 2017 Issue

Local chapter
for ‘Blokes
Book Club’
Here’s a ‘novel’ idea – a
men-only book club where
members can meet, share their
thoughts on crime literature
and broaden their friendship
bases.
And before anyone cries “discrimination!”,
consider it comes
with the blessing of partners
who are only too happy for their
gents to participate.
The all-new ‘Blokes Book
Club’, which meets for 90
minutes at Beachside Bookshop
at Avalon the first Monday of
every month, is chaired by store
co-owner Michael Armstrong.
Michael said the idea for the
club, which numbers up to
eight participants per session,
came after a few male customers
commented that their wives
were in a book club “… and
wouldn’t it be good to have a
club where blokes could chat
about books”.
“The advantage of a club is
that it forces the members to
read authors and topics they
may not normally choose to
themselves,” said Michael.
“Given the shop’s focus on
promoting Australian authors,
we are introducing members to
their favourite crime genre.”
Michael said proceedings
were very relaxed and that the
group discussion was stimulating.
“We start with a beer and
chat about overall impressions,”
he said. “Although discussion
is informal, we do follow an
overall framework to make sure
we cover off all aspects of the
book including structure, plot,
characters etc. We typically end
with whether we would recommend
this book, and to who.
“Now we are three books
along, we also compare the stories,
their plots, and characters
from the earlier authors.”
To date the group have chewed
over ‘Crimson Lake’ by Candice
Fox; ‘The Girl on Kellers Way’ by
Megan Goldin; and ‘The Twentieth
Man’ by Tony Jones. Their
current book, which will be
dissected in early October, is
‘The Rules of Backyard Cricket’
by Jock Serong.
Michael said members came
with their own experiences and
perspectives on life and this
fostered a good discussion and
the chance to learn.
“For example, Tony Jones’
book covered events in the early
1970s and it was great to have
some members describing their
own experiences of the era and
Not secret men’s business: Michael Armstrong (rear) with Blokes Book Club
members Andrew Blake, Ian Hallett, Geoff Payne, Ray Drury and Peter Peine.
how accurately the author captured
the feeling of the time.
“Personally I have found the
benefit of being involved in the
club is the discipline of having
to read a specific book a month,
widening my horizons and generally
being a more interesting
person to talk to!”
Local Geoff Payne said he
joined because it was just for
‘blokes’.
“My wife goes to two groups
in the area and there are no
males in either group,” he said.
“A male group with a narrow
focus on crime thrillers seemed
a good way of getting involved.”
He said he is enjoying the
informal catch-ups which involve
a general introduction by
Michael followed by overview
comments by most members.
“It is good to meet with
a male group of locals. It’s
not high-brow… it’s a pretty
spontaneous discussion of
impressions and summary of
the book’s strengths and weaknesses,”
Geoff added.
“The group session offers
some social contact and
the discussion is reasonably
lively – the group has a wide age
range… mid-40s to mid-70s.
“I’ve found people are serious
about the responsibility to read
the book, form a personal view
and be active in contributing.
“I find the differing views
stimulating and it has forced
me to look closer at how I am
influenced to form an opinion.”
Fellow member Peter Peine
said he looked forward to the
meetings of “like-minded men
with common interests”.
“It’s easy to make acquaintances,
an entertaining evening
and a great way to widen your
social network and meet people
from your neighbourhood.”
Want to know more? Call
Beachside Bookshop on 9918
9918.
– Nigel Wall
News
The Local Voice Since 1991
OCTOBER 2017 13