Book Swaps Sydney

Expansion Book Club - Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

**Expansion Book Club** **One book. Different minds.Endless expansion.** Finished an amazing book and had no one to talk about it with? This is exactly what this club is for. Expansion Book Club is a monthly catch-up in Sydney for curious minds who love books about business, personal growth, psychology, spirituality and success. What to expect: 📚 One book read before each catch-up 💬 Different perspectives, big ideas and conversations you probably wouldn’t have on your own 🍷 Good food, your favourite drink and a relaxed afternoon ✨ New people, new ideas and plenty of inspiration **Our first book is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill: Almost 100 years old and still making people think about ambition, success and what's possible. It's the perfect first book because it bring together everything this club is about: mindset, personal growth, spirituality, ambition and the way our beliefs shape what we create.** Next book? We choose it together. Event details: 📍 The Shop & Wine Bar, Bondi Beach 📅 Saturday, 26 September — 4:30 pm 🎟️ $25 per person, including food to share READY TO EXPAND? JOIN THE TABLE HERE: https://events.humanitix.com/expansion-book-club Drinks aren’t included, so order whatever you feel like having — cocktails, wine, coffee, water… whatever you’re into. An espresso martini will definitely be my choice! We can all read the same book and take something completely different from it. Someone might notice what you missed, challenge the way you saw an idea or say exactly what you needed to hear. That’s the fun part. That’s the expansion!! Come with your mates, come by yourself or with your doggy. Everyone is welcome! **🤍**

OCTOBER BOOK –'A Waiter in Paris' by Edward Chisholm

October Book Club: "Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy"

Welcome to Meet the Moment Book Club, where we read books that meet the moment and make sense of it all together. Please see our [group page](https://www.meetup.com/meet-the-moment-book-club/) for a list of upcoming books. In discussing the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we spoke about who the real powers that be are that have molded Palestine and the Middle East into the quagmire it is today. Now we turn our eyes to the urgent now: who the powers that be are today that are consolidating power as never before. Silicon Valley and Big Tech are top of mind. Gil Durán's book "Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War On Democracy" has become an instant bestseller for good reason -- we see AI dominating and tech billionaires (now even trillionaires) amassing wealth and power in frightening proportions, even as they are not solving but exacerbating the crises we face today. It seems critical that we understand what they really have in mind and what we can do about it. Here is an ABC article about the book: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-02/the-nerd-reich-silicon-valley-fascism-war-on-democracy-abc-2026/107091034 \*\*\* "When Silicon Valley says it is ‘‘moving fast and breaking things,’’ the world interprets the chaos as a necessary cost of innovation. Gil Durán reveals something far more sinister: a decades-long campaign to replace elected governments with corporate rule. Drawing on insider political experience and new investigations, Durán traces this ideology from its philosophical roots in *The Sovereign Individual* by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg. He introduces its modern apostles—Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Balaji Srinivasan, and Elon Musk—and shows how the promise of technological liberation has transformed into a global movement for digital feudalism, powered by cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, and the algorithmic propaganda of social media. *The Nerd Reich* explains the origins, strategies, and ambitions of Silicon Valley’s war on democracy for the first time. From San Francisco’s weaponized elections and secret billionaire projects to the White House, Durán exposes how the world’s richest men are building a new political order. *The Nerd Reich* is more than a hidden history, it’s an urgent warning: democracy is being dismantled not by coups or tanks, but by code, capital, and the illusion of innovation. Durán insists there is still time to fight back—if we act now." https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-nerd-reich-silicon-valley-fascism-and-the-war-on-democracy-gil-dur-n/a6f6f0dce1150339 \*\*\* We will be meeting at The Erko Hotel. If it's sunny, we'll be outside in the back; if rainy, we'll be at the big square raised table next to the bar. We will start and end on time. There's no fee, but please purchase your own food/drinks from the venue. \*\*\* If you have trouble getting the book, message me. On reading the book: I encourage people to read the book over just interviews or summaries, because nothing beats the slow digesting of the beauty and nuances in a book. Especially for the books in this book club that challenge our worldviews and help us see the world as it truly is, these books need to be really grappled with, to be fully engaged with, to receive the full benefits. For reference, I use book clubs to motivate me to finish the books I want to read, so the date of the book club becomes a deadline to finish the book by. I calculate the number of pages in a book and the number of days I can realistically read, and work out how many pages on average I need to read each day. That's how I've finished many books. Invariably, they're worth reading to the end. Of course, life happens and we're all busy. If you really can't finish a book or can only watch videos this time, that's okay. Come by with an attitude of listening, open to being inspired, and take in what others have to say; perhaps you'll want to read/finish the book afterwards. Just know that books are like most things in life: what you put in is what you get out of it. A podcast or ChatGPT can give you the high-level points, sure, perhaps to BS your way to a decent grade in class; but we're not in school anymore, and we read these books because they better our lives and help us see more clearly. But they can only do so if we read them, because reading is what makes all the new concepts come to life enough to maybe change us. For the full magic, you just gotta read. Alright, thanks for reading my ode to reading. \*\*\* If the RSVP list is full, please join the waitlist as there will likely be fluctuations closer to the date. If you RSVP'ed and can't make it, please edit your RSVP so that others can attend. No-shows will be noted and barred from the book club. Look forward to seeing you there!

The Man Who Fell In Love With The Moon by Tom Spanbaurer

Meeting at the usual place at The Shakespeare Hotel, Surry Hills, central Sydney, we will be discussing The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon (1991). This is a coming-of-age novel. Written in a poetic, unconventional style, the novel is a celebration of queer identity and a dark meditation on survival, desire, and the need to find one’s own place in the world. Available in hard copy from amazon (about $20), or local libraries. A pdf can be downloaded from https://files.catbox.moe/hxq5dv.pdf There will be about 10 of us and we meet upstairs at the Shakespeare. Ask at the bar or look for the sign. We are a friendly lot and newcomers are welcome. Contact dalemilles@cantab.net for further details!

Books and Bevvies

Welcome to **Books & Bevvies** — a casual book swap and drinks social in the Sydney CBD. This is not a book club with homework. It’s a simple, low-key way to meet people, chat about what you’ve been reading, and walk out with something new. **HOW IT WORKS** Bring a book you’re happy to part with. Pop it on the swap table when you arrive. Mingle, chat, and swap recommendations. When the swap opens, take a book that catches your eye. Stay for a drink and a conversation after. **WHAT TO BRING** One book, any genre and any reading level. **GOOD TO KNOW** The venue relies on accurate numbers for staffing, so if you can’t make it, please change your RSVP to “not going”. Repeated no-shows may result in removal from the group. The venue is kindly not enforcing a minimum spend, but please support them by buying a drink, soft drink, or some lunch during the swap if you can. There is no mandatory entry fee, but voluntary contributions are **very much** appreciated. The group costs around **$65 a month to keep running**, so if you enjoy the swap and are in a position to chip in, even $5 or $10 makes a real difference. Please feel free to contribute with cash or via PayID at any stage through the swap. **WHERE WE’LL BE** We’ll be in the Market Street Garden Bar, with a table full of books and bevvies.

Ignorance by Milan Kundera

Our next book club will be on the late great Milan Kundera’s (1929-2023) ‘Ignorance’ (2000). Kundera was an exiled Czech writer who lived in France from 1975 until his death. He also wrote his later works in French and thought they should be considered French literature. Kundera’s work often considers similar themes, such as exile, identity, and transgressing different borders. Ignorance was his second-last novel and considered his last serious one. It deals with the suffering of emigration and myths of nostalgia through the tale of two Czech emigrants returning to their homeland, drawing heavily from the myth of Odysseys. We will be meeting at Shakespeare Hotel on 26 September at 2pm :)

Manipulation: What It Is, Why It's Bad, What to Do About It

How often are your decisions really your own? Every day we are surrounded by advertising, social media, political campaigns, news headlines, influencers, sales techniques and well-meaning advice — all competing for our attention and trying to shape what we think, feel and do. But where is the line between persuasion and manipulation? Can manipulation ever be ethical, or is it always something to resist? And in an age of personalised algorithms and increasingly sophisticated AI, are we becoming easier to manipulate than ever before? Come and join us as we explore these fascinating and relevant questions of modern life. **Book: *Manipulation: What It Is, Why It's Bad, What to Do About It* (2025) by Cass R. Sunstein** **Companion Reading: *[A Guide to Understanding Manipulation](https://1drv.ms/b/c/adb4f7488b2eef0a/IQDHXT_8qUk6SaS0K3l8wqrwAQGmTmBNSjEbvmGyDm5emUM?e=A1kJfd)*** (prepared for this meetup) Cass Sunstein is almost uniquely placed to write this book. He is the co-creator of nudge theory (with Richard Thaler), a former senior adviser in the Obama White House, and one of the most cited legal scholars in the world. He has spent decades studying how human psychology shapes decisions, and has seen from the inside how governments and corporations exploit that knowledge. The result is a book that is simultaneously rigorous and readable: part philosophy, part law, part behavioural science, and part catalogue of the tricks being played on us every day. Sunstein moves from abstract definitions — what exactly separates manipulation from persuasion, and why does it matter? — through case studies of dark patterns, deepfakes, deliberate bureaucratic friction, and the social pressure traps of platforms like TikTok, before arriving at what may be the book's most important question: as AI makes manipulation more precise and more powerful than at any previous point in history, do we need a new legal and moral right — a right not to be manipulated — in the same way that a previous era recognised, for the first time, a right to privacy? This is one of those discussions where prior reading is not just encouraged but genuinely necessary — the conversation will move quickly into territory that only makes sense if you already understand Sunstein's conceptual framework. The companion reading guide is designed to make that framework accessible quickly, so even if time is short, a read-through of it will set you up well. But if you can get hold of the book itself, we think you'll find it genuinely easy to read or listen to — and it comes with a notable endorsement: Tim Wu, whose book we discussed just a couple of months ago, has named it as one of his top book recommendations. So join us for a drink (and optional meal) at 6:30pm on Monday, 5th October, on the 2nd floor of the Keg & Brew Hotel in Surrey Hills (i.e. up two flights of stairs). The venue is conveniently located near Central Station and the Light Rail. We look forward to seeing you there! P.S. Please adjust your RSVP if you have indicated that you will come but are no longer able to do so. This is courteous to others if there is a waitlist. \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- These are just optional links to consider to supplement the reading of the book and document. Feel free to pass on other useful links in the discussion section. **Videos** * Cass Sunstein in an overview, seminar and podcast: [Overview of the book (3 mins)](https://www.cambridge.org/news-and-insights/talking-manipulation-with-cass-sunstein) [Online Seminar - Fifty Shades of Manipulation (43 mins)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9sopDkcLYM) [Sunstein on Manipulation vs Influence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aPzxitrWCE&t=2s) * 5 Insights on the book (The Next Big Idea Club) by Sunstein. Note that the audio version is more detailed than the written summary below it: [These Are the Silent Manipulations Most People Don’t Notice](https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/silent-manipulations-people-dont-notice-bookbite/56807/) **Written** * A Cass Sunstein article in The Guardian: [Why we need a right not to be manipulated](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jul/27/why-we-need-a-right-not-to-be-manipulated) * Cass Sunstein in an interview: [Cass Sunstein on Manipulation and AI](https://apablog.substack.com/p/cass-sunstein-on-manipulation-and)

The Curious Mum: Baby-Friendly Books & Ideas Circle (Book via Humanitix)

Have you ever wished there was a space where you could reconnect with the part of yourself that existed before motherhood? I created The Curious Mum after searching for a community where I could discuss books, explore new ideas and connect with like-minded mums—all while bringing my baby along. When I couldn’t find it, I decided to create it. This is a relaxed, baby-friendly gathering for mums with babies and young toddlers (approximately 0–3 years) who enjoy meaningful conversation and lifelong learning. 📖 Our September book: An Immense World by Ed Yong No pressure to finish the book—come along even if you’ve only read a chapter or listened to part of the audiobook. Expect thoughtful conversation, curious minds, and a welcoming space where babies are part of the experience. 🎟️ Places are limited, so registration is essential. Please register via Humanitix using the link in this event. https://events.humanitix.com/the-curious-mum-a-baby-friendly-books-and-ideas-circle-p6bfmsmh

First Sunday Bookclub- Author Arundhati Roy

The Odyssey by Homer

Join us upstairs at **The Shakespeare Hotel, 200 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills,** on **Thursday 1 October 2026**, at 7.00pm (sharp) as we discuss ***The Odyssey***, one of the foundational works of Western literature. We will have special guests and will be warmly welcoming two members of the Greek diplomatic mission to Australia: Mr. Georgios Skemperis, the Consul General, as well as Mrs. Paraskevi Tsintzou, First Secretary for Public Diplomacy. Originating in an oral tradition about 3,000 years ago, *The Odyssey* tells the story of the 10-year journey of King Odysseus after the Trojan War. King Odysseus is a soldier, at a time when Kings had to prove their authority by their bravery and skill in fighting the enemy. Along the way back to his homeland, he outwits the **Cyclops -** the one-eyed giants who were so uncivilised that they ate their meals alone. He resists the goddess **Calypso**: despite her skill at sexual pleasure (hey, she is a goddess), Odysseus enjoys her sexual delights, but really just wants to re-unite with his (ageing, but real) wife back in Ithaca. And he passes by the **Sirens**, whose irresistible song lures sailors to their deaths. He wants to listen to their songs, but gets his men to tie him to a mast, and to get his own sailors to fill their ears with wax, so that only he can hear them sing. That way, the sailors will not hear his orders that they should sail ever closer to their seductive voices (and to certain death). Meanwhile, his wife Penelope cleverly delays the suitors trying to seize his kingdom in his absence. There are multiple translations. For newcomers, I (Dale) recommend the 2017 translation by **Emily Wilson**, available in print, audiobook (about 13 hours), and as a free PDF from me on request ([dalemills@cantab.net](mailto:dalemills@cantab.net)). There are lots of criticisms of the recent Nolan film and the Wilson translation, but one has to start somewhere. If you're short on time, I recommend reading: * Books 1–5 (Telemachus and Calypso) * Book 9 (Cyclops) * Book 12 (The Underworld and the Sirens) * Books 13–16 (Return to Ithaca) * Books 21–24 (The Bow Contest and Reunion) Also, perhaps, see several podcasts on this at [https://www.secretlifeofbooks.org/podcast-1/episode/975654db/the-odyssey-1-mary-beard-on-homers-masterpiece](https://www.secretlifeofbooks.org/podcast-1/episode/975654db/the-odyssey-1-mary-beard-on-homers-masterpiece) Fortunately, the most famous painting of Odysseus and the Sirens is by John William Waterhouse, at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. There will be about 30 of us speaking in a big group for about 30 mins. After that, people break up into groups of 4 or 5 to speak more about the book or anything else. We are a friendly lot, and newcomers are welcome. Contact Dale on dalemills@cantab.net for more info.

Dracula by Bram Stoker | Sun 4 Oct 2026

Secrets - by Judi Morrison