Latest News

June 18, 2025

Every month, the Tough Guy Book Club issues a challenge to its members. Something to push them, to challenge them, and to give them something interesting to add to their story. Challenges take all different forms…getting your cholesterol checked, designing a T-shirt, writing a...

June 11, 2025

Name:  Neil Grant  Chapter:  Diamond Creek  What is your story?  I was born in Glasgow in the Year of the Fire Horse and came to Australia at age 13 to escape the rain and deep-fried Mars Bars. I’m a dad of 3 and a...

June 09, 2025

Welcome to Redcliffe, QLD. It’s a beautiful seaside town just over the bridge from the hustle and bustle of big city Brisbane. They have a team in the National Rugby League now. You can go down to Scarborough and sit in the brewery and...

May 27, 2025

Name:  Peter Machell (rhymes with Rachel) Chapter:  Fortitude Valley  What’s your story?  I've been on this planet for just over half a century. But I still learn stuff every day. I've been called an over-opinionated geek but I generally prefer analogue to digital. I'm...

May 16, 2025

At Tough Guy Book Club we are into our merch. You will be hard pressed to find a group photo of one of our meets without someone in the trademark black t-shirt, proudly displaying our logo. We also love to issue our members a...

May 05, 2025

Name:  Amal Amarsi  Chapter:  Ringwood (I originally started at the Warrandyte chapter)  What is your story?  So many chapters, and stories within them - but ultimately I’m just a guy who is fortunate to be where I am in life, (alive) living in a...

April 23, 2025

If you’ve ever spent any time in Canberra, you will know that the north/south rivalry runs deep, those North of the lake don’t like to venture South and vice versa. When the two existing chapters in town, both on the North side, started getting...

April 10, 2025

There’s a certain sound to a bunch of goons arriving at Licola Wilderness Village. It’s not quiet. Cars pulling up, boots hitting gravel, backs cracking from the long journey, shouts across the way when you spot someone you haven’t seen since the last time...

April 07, 2025

Austin, deep in the heart of Texas, bills itself as the “Live Music Capital of the World”.  It hosts internationally-recognised events like South by Southwest (SXSW) and Austin City Limits, and has been home to some fucking legendary musicians including Willie Nelson, Janis Joplin,...

April 04, 2025

Every month Tough Guy Book Club sets a challenge to all members. These challenges are to add a page to your story, because at TGBC we are obsessed with stories. For March 2025 the goons were asked to go get their cholesterol checked and...

March 25, 2025

Name:  Ben Scotcher  Chapter:  Townsville (and Surf Coast before that)  What’s your story?  I think, at 42 years old, that I'm starting to figure this out. I'm a good father, partner, son, friend and Goon, despite the annoying part of my mind that loves...

February 28, 2025

Things break. It’s one of the worst things about things. We live in an age where broken things are usually get replaced or thrown out. Which sucks, because it’s wasteful and makes us feel hopeless, like we can’t fix anything. But this is Tough...

February 05, 2025

It's February 2025. Tonight, as we do every month on the first Wednesday of each month, our Chapters of Tough Guy Book Club will get together in the pub, to discuss the latest book, as part of our 13 year long mission to get more...

December 23, 2024

Chapter:  Brunswick East  What’s your story?  I’m a book loving, avidly reading, humbly writing, VHS collecting, metalhead from Tassie, who's called Melbourne second home for the last decade.   How long have you been with TGBC? First Book?  Just coming up on two years, my...

December 10, 2024

At Tough Guy Book Club each month, we issue a challenge to all members. When one of our recent book’s characters had some seriously questionable habits, it made sense that our goons should be challenged to ask the question, “What, hard as it might...

December 01, 2024

The Tough Guy Book club are honoured to announce Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC, Governor of Victoria as the club’s patron.   Tough Guy Book Club (TGBC) is a network of men’s book clubs that meet in local pubs with the aim...

November 30, 2024

Chapter:  Surf Coast  What’s your story?  I’m a husband and a father of two young boys who’s lucky enough to live on the Surf Coast of Victoria. I’ve always loved reading and talking about books, as well as movies. This year I’ve also taken...

November 22, 2024

This week, Officers from Tough Guy Book Club put down this month’s book and pick up something just as crucial - a deeper understanding of family and gender-based violence.   Safe and Equal is Victoria’s peak body for organisations specialising in family and gender-based violence....

October 31, 2024

Name:  Graeme Salt  Chapter:  Sydney City (but like turning up at other Chapters!)  What is your story?  Bloody good question! I am not 100 per cent sure and desperate to avoid a mid-life a crisis. A divorced dad with two adult children and an...

October 24, 2024

Hey, what did you do last month? Well, if you are a member of Tough Guy Book Club (TGBC) the answer may well have been, “I climbed a damn mountain and read a book on top of it!”   Each month TGBC issues a challenge...

October 17, 2024

Name  Kane Casson  Chapter:  Gladstone  What’s your story?  I'm Kane, grew up in CQ, but back when I was 17 and finished school, I could not wait the GTFO. I went to Brissie for uni and got drunk and hurt myself more often than...

September 19, 2024

The usual habitat for the goons of Tough Guy Book Club (TGBC) is in pubs and bars around the world, while engaged in heated debate, putting robust discussions back into these venues one book at a time. So how does the club respond to...

September 17, 2024

Every month Tough Guy Book Club invites all members to complete a monthly challenge. They are meant to challenge you, shake up your month, and add a page to your story. September's challenge was to go on a journey, a bar crawl with fellow...

July 31, 2024

Something we do each month at Tough Guy Book Club (TGBC) is set a challenge, daring all members to complete a task and post a photo as proof on our Pool Hall Facebook page. Some challenges are fun, some are difficult, many can push...

July 15, 2024

Name:  Desmond Doyle  Chapter:  Mayfield  What is your story?  I reckon I have lived a few different lives so far and have enjoyed them all. I moved around a lot as a kid (Defence Brat) and continued to move around throughout my life. Not...