Latest news with #JuliaLees
Sydney Morning Herald
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
The bold bookworms staying a step ahead
With a cold breeze that went straight through you in Melbourne on Sunday, it was the perfect day to sit inside beside the fire with a good book. Instead, a brave bevy of bookworms rugged up and headed to the CBD to explore a novel idea – a walking book club. As joggers in the Run Melbourne 2025 event streamed past, these intrepid souls were exercising their brains as well as their bodies, by walking beside the Yarra River and chatting about books. Members don't actually bury their noses in the pages as they walk, because you'd trip, says Julia Lees, who organises the Walking Bookclub through the Meetup app. She might ask another club member what they thought of the chosen book as they stroll from Federation Square to the Royal Botanic Gardens and back, but otherwise discussion is free-range. After a 90-minute stroll, members gather over coffee or food at Riverland Bar below Federation Square. Four years ago, Lees, a librarian, was running separate book and walking groups, when she had a brainwave – why not combine the two? The Walking Bookclub has been a hit. It has more than 100 members and has covered books from The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro, to Here One Moment, by Liane Moriarty.
The Age
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
The bold bookworms staying a step ahead
With a cold breeze that went straight through you in Melbourne on Sunday, it was the perfect day to sit inside beside the fire with a good book. Instead, a brave bevy of bookworms rugged up and headed to the CBD to explore a novel idea – a walking book club. As joggers in the Run Melbourne 2025 event streamed past, these intrepid souls were exercising their brains as well as their bodies, by walking beside the Yarra River and chatting about books. Members don't actually bury their noses in the pages as they walk, because you'd trip, says Julia Lees, who organises the Walking Bookclub through the Meetup app. She might ask another club member what they thought of the chosen book as they stroll from Federation Square to the Royal Botanic Gardens and back, but otherwise discussion is free-range. After a 90-minute stroll, members gather over coffee or food at Riverland Bar below Federation Square. Four years ago, Lees, a librarian, was running separate book and walking groups, when she had a brainwave – why not combine the two? The Walking Bookclub has been a hit. It has more than 100 members and has covered books from The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro, to Here One Moment, by Liane Moriarty.
