Amplify Book Club
A monthly bookish meet up at Amplify 💚
Join us for a cosy and reflective evening in our reading room! Come ready to chat about our latest read and make new bookish friends.
Book club is held from 6-8pm on the last Thursday of each month, with the book of the month alternating between fiction and non-fiction. As always, we aim to read widely across genres and topics, so there will be a range of options for every reader as the months go on.
What we're reading:
June: The Right To Sex by Amia Srinivasan (A landmark in feminist writing)
July: Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shaung Zi (Winner of the 2026 International Booker Prize)
August: Light and Thread by Han Kang (A small book of reflections by a Nobel Prize Winner)
~
Book club is for everyone, equally, to share and contribute their ideas — facilitators are just present to help guide the night and break the ice (and participate!). The fiction book club will be facilitated by Kanika Chopra. Non-fiction will be facilitated by Marina Sano and Nishtha B.
All participants will get 10% off any in-store purchases on book club nights. There will also be nibbles and a welcome drink (non-alcoholic) to get you settled in!
Book club will be held in our reading room at 55 Peel St, West Melbourne. The reading room is accessed via a spiral staircase. If this is an accessibility issue for you, please be in touch after making your booking so we can accommodate your needs.
Our reading room has a limited capacity so tickets are capped to reflect this. If you can no longer make it, please let us know up to a week prior and we will try to facilitate a ticket transfer. Please note tickets are non-refundable but they can be transferred if we have someone on the waitlist who wants your seat.
Book club is a safe space for everyone to have thought-provoking, insightful conversations about books. Please come with an open mind and be open respectful to our hosts and participants. We have safe spaces for you to step aside and take a moment for yourself if/when necessary. Disruptive behaviour will not be tolerated. Amplify Bookstore reserves the right to revoke tickets.
-
Free Shipping for orders $150+
The book club will be held in our reading room at 55 Peel St, West Melbourne. The reading room is accessed via a spiral staircase. If this is an accessibility issue for you, please be in touch after making your booking so we can accommodate your needs.
Publishing has a diversity problem. There are less 'diverse' books being published which limits the discoverability and reach of those authors.
Representation is important. Read more about why we exist here.
Can't wait to attend more Bookclubs!
I'm grateful for how this bookclub pushed me to finally read a book by Octavia Butler. Butler has long been on my must-read but It's taken me years to get around to actually reading her works. In classic Amplify style, I found myself questioning my taste and assumptions about books. So even if you don't get a ticket in time, maybe consider reading the fiction or non-fiction picks anyway!
Kanika and Marina created a very welcoming space which helps if you're feeling a little nervy. Our group had some interesting reflections and different observations which helped deepen my reading experience. After the bookclub, we were welcome to stay back or browse the store, which helped meant we could talk to each other more! Such a positive experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
The book club is for all ticket holders, equally, to share and contribute their ideas. Facilitators are present to help guide the night and break the ice (and participate!). It is a safe space for everyone to have thought-provoking, insightful conversations about books. Please come with an open mind and be open respectful to our hosts and participants. We have safe spaces for you to step aside and take a moment for yourself if/when necessary.
All book club participants will get 10% off any in-store purchases on book club nights. There will also be nibbles and a welcome drink (non-alcoholic) to get you settled in!
The book itself is not included with your ticket.
Event tickets are non-refundable. However, we can issue you a store credit refund or you can pay it forward and pass the ticket along to someone on the waitlist.
If you can no longer make it to an event you’ve booked in for, please let us know so that we can give your spot to someone else!
Events are announced on our Instagram page and in our newsletter. You can find tickets here for our upcoming events.
We run a monthly book club, hold book launches and author salons, and general community events. Our reading room is also available for hire for private events.
Check our FAQs or ask us on our contact form.
The Venue
Find us at
55 Peel St, West Melbourne
VIC 3003
Opening hours
Thu & Fri 11am–6pm
Sat & Sun 10am–5pm
Public transport access
Located just behind the Queen Victoria Market, Amplify is easily accessible by public transport. Your best options are:
- The 58 tram,
- A 7 minute walk from the 19, 57 and 59 trams on Elizabeth St,
- A 10 minute walk from Flagstaff train station.
Parking
Available at the QVM or on Capel Street.
An anti-racist social enterprise bookstore specialising in BIPOC books.
Only about 11% of books published are by BIPOC authors — so unless you specifically seek out books by BIPOC authors, you aren't likely to find very many of them organically. At Amplify, BIPOC authors are highlighted and celebrated. Here, they don't have to fight to be seen, and you don't have to fight to find them.
We hope that in our shop, you can discover a new favourite read, find stories that speak uniquely to you, learn about a culture outside your own (or more about your own histories), and gain a better understanding of the systems that connect us all.
Looking for something super specific?
Have a scroll through our tag directory to help direct your search and bring you to curated collections, as grouped by subgenres, identity markers, and more!
