Latest News

April 02, 2022

To tell the story of the Camp of the Sun Burnt River, the 2022 Summer Camp, we have to travel all the way back to the before times of 2020, when things were innocent and you wouldn’t think twice about cramming a bunch of...

March 29, 2022

February-March 2022 brought some of the worst flooding in Australia's history. Massive areas of NSW and Queensland vanished underwater. Some of them haven't emerged yet, and there's more rain coming. It's shit, and it hurts, and it's going to hurt for a while. We'll...

March 23, 2022

You know what's tough? Finding time to read. We get that. It's one of the reasons we exist. Life is complicated, responsibilities are many, and work is sometimes the only time you get to yourself. That's pretty shit and we're trying to do something...

March 23, 2022

Do you have trouble explaining to other dudes what Tough Guy Book Club is about? Is it weird telling them you're in a book club in the first place? It shouldn't be, right? One day maybe. In the meantime if your mates look at...

March 08, 2022

Tough Guy Book Club is everywhere. You can find us in big cities and small towns, on the coast and in the hills. You can find us in pubs and breweries and RSLs, by the highway or the railroad tracks, anywhere men want something...

February 20, 2022

The year was I can’t remember, but my girlfriend (now wife) and I had started a new yearly tradition of driving our campervan from Sydney to Melbourne (and back again) for Christmas, stopping in Beechworth for a few days each way. In those days...

February 09, 2022

Years ago, when he was travelling in Canada, Daniel Westall went to a mate's house to see his new big screen TV. It was mostly for watching hockey (because Canada) and the mate told a story about his playing days. After a couple of...

January 12, 2022

There are eight million stories in the Naked City, and Tough Guy Book Club has an opinion on every single one of them. Naked City, the Big Apple, the City That Never Sleeps. Call it what you want, it's big and loud and famous...

December 23, 2021

One of the best things about books is pushing your favourite ones on other people. Actually, that's not just true of books. Films, music, food, cars, sports, gadgets, places to travel - we do it with fucking everything. If you love something it's only...

November 24, 2021

As 2021 came to a close, we had our last TGBC meeting, and our last challenge of the year. It’s no secret that December and January are big recruiting drives for us. These are the months where a lot of guys who aren’t yet...

November 14, 2021

Hey, remember when we got a writeup in Tradie magazine? Remember print magazines? Neither did we! But not only do they still exist, there's apparently more than one of them because we're in the news again. This time it's an article in Skippers, the...

October 20, 2021

Every month at Tough Guy Book Club, we set ourselves a challenge. Not just the challenge of getting a bunch of men to read a piece of fiction, which is hard enough. We're talking about meaningful, worthwhile shit you can do with your free...

October 13, 2021

Another month, another new Tough Guy Book Club chapter. That’s not to say we’re only opening one new chapter a month (it seems like it’s been at least new one every month), it’s just that between reading books, hitting the pub, and generally just...

September 15, 2021

We reckon we’ve got a pretty bloody good thing going at Tough Guy Book Club. A bunch of goons getting together every month at the pub to catch up with some rowdy conversation and discuss the month’s book, what could be better? Do you...

September 15, 2021

TGBC is a book club. Each month the club sets a challenge. Beyond reading, the benefits of being part of this book club are legion; a sense of belonging, the friendships, interaction both with those of like mind and those who aren't. Another benefit...

August 04, 2021

Dubbo is famous for lots of things. It has an observatory, a cool old gaol, some limestone caves, a whopping great zoo, and now most importantly, a chapter of Tough Guy Book Club. "I've been part of this club for two years," says Dan...

July 21, 2021

Another month, another monthly challenge, and for July we leaned into the whole “book club thing” and made the challenge about getting more books, and supporting local libraries at the same time. That’s right, July’s challenge was to get a book from the library...

July 04, 2021

Welcome to Diamond Creek, about twenty clicks northeast of Melbourne, where they have parks and trees and wildlife, mud brick houses, more coffee and fish and chip shops than you can poke a stick at, a local barber who serves Laphraoig, and a bullock...

July 01, 2021

Dry July 2021 It’s been said by some that we’re actually a drinking club with a reading problem. Although this is usually said in a tongue in cheek fashion, it’s often a good idea to assess one’s drinking habits, and perhaps even take a...

June 23, 2021

On Finishing The Book by A. Goon I'm not in Tough Guy Book Club because I don't read enough. If anything I read too much. On the train, in bed, while brushing my teeth. I used to listen to audiobooks every night to fall...

May 15, 2021

#checkit Those who are familiar with TGBC, know we have a challenge every month; something other than reading that helps us lift our eyes and make sure we’re taking note of our surroundings; our loved ones, our hobbies and our health. June 2021. Winter....

April 30, 2021

The Age By Carolyn Webb April 30, 2021 It’s 7pm on a weeknight and 13 blokes are talking raucously over beers at a Collingwood pub once frequented by standover man Mark Brandon “Chopper” Read. Some wear black hoodies and scarves emblazoned with their logo...

April 15, 2021

As April rolled in it was time for a new monthly challenge, and this month it was #beerwithastranger (or “beer with a stranger” for those who don’t speak hashtag). Those who have been around awhile would know two things. One: we have a challenge...

March 31, 2021

Furphy Anthology 2020 Book Launch – March 2021 The Furphy Analogy 2020. Selected short stories from the Furphy Literary award. Existing and emerging writers, drawing on Australian experiences, events and tones. Tough Guy Book Club (TGBC) can take you places. Not just in the...

March 17, 2021

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...