Photos: Supplied.
BY JAN NARY
Shay Leighton set up the Tough Guy Book Club when he realised that he – and blokes like him – were spending time in the pub. Following the mantra, “If you want to catch fish, go where the fish are”, he started the men’s reading group where the men already were – in the pub.
“I was a guy who didn’t read enough – hadn’t read a book since leaving high school; somehow life gets in the way. I thought the only way to solve that problem was to get some men together and read books with them. I started inviting guys who don’t look like ‘book club’ types; most of our members are tradies, but we get all sorts. One of the club rules is we don’t talk about work; that knocks down a lot of social barriers.”
Shay says that just offering an invitation to someone who’s never been asked to join a book club can be all it takes.
“We didn’t start book clubs and bring them into pubs – we were already in pubs, and we just started book clubs there. Not everyone’s going to enjoy every book, but the ones you do like might introduce you to a new genre or a new author, and your reading’s going to increase. People talk about books in the way they understand.
“We read all kinds of books but only fiction,” he says. “Last year, we covered eight genres and six countries. We’re currently reading about paranormal investigators in a town invaded by drug-dealing demons, so it doesn’t have to be high-brow stuff.”
Shay says that men join for a variety of reasons: to read more, to talk more or to make more local friends – and that having differing tastes and opinions about books gives an added element.
“There’s nothing as good on a hot day as having an argument about a book over a cold beer!”
The volunteer organisation started 14 years ago in a Collingwood pub by Shay and his mate Tom Scott, and now has an international membership (in eight countries) of 5000 in 180 chapters.
Chapter meetings are held on the first Wednesday of the month. For more information about your local Redlands chapter, visit www.toughguybookclub.com/redlands_qld
Happy reading!
