Grab your early access tickets below my wonderful paid subscribers who I’m eternally grateful for!!

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I’m not sure what could top this. Dream Sunday.

Questions below for those of you who are hosting your own Blurb Club at home!

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As always, Cass tried to make some of the food relate to the novel in some way. For Fruit Fly, this meant home-made marshmallows with lemon curd on top, sprinkled with sesame seeds (because the seeds look like little fruit flies, obviously).

I watched the video below and it made me smile ear-to-ear seeing this community of ours do their thing.

Anyway, words are coming to me right now because I’m tired as hell and I, therefore. have nothing to say. So here are the discussion prompts! Discuss with your colleagues and friends and your own Blurb Club’s at home!

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As always, Sunday was my favourite day of the month and I’m ready to do it all over again in August.

Ticket link is HERE!! See you all there <3

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You can grab your ticket HERE. Can’t wait to see you there xx

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But seriously, I have been wanting to do this for so long. It has been one of those things I get swept up in for a day — creating mood boards and jotting down rough itineraries for the day — before being pulled back to something more demanding and time-pressing, before completely neglecting the idea altogether for weeks.

And now here we are! The day of ticket release! I’ve finally pulled it all together and we’re up to the exciting part — seeing who of you will come along for the day!

I was torn between sharing the full itinerary and trying to keep things a surprise but, hell, I’m too excited to keep it to myself and you all probably want to know what’s involved before you fork-out any money on it.

So, here’s your itinerary (subject to change, since I’m highly excitable and might get carried away with some more ideas between now and June 21).

Hopefully you’re all as excited for this day as I am. Now, for all you paid subscribers, you can find your early access below:

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Cass served some really fucked up good Guinness cake covered in raspberries, the discussions were buzzing, nearly everyone who attended was a Blurb Club veteran and we all got to bond over how much we hate James. It couldn’t have been better.

Now it’s time to share all the discussion prompts with you guys. Gather your friends, colleagues and family, get your already established book club together and sit next to a cheese board while you read through the below. These questions should have you yapping for, I’d say, minimum three hours.

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From the reviews I’ve been reading and watching it sounds like it could be an incredibly polarising read. I’m not super familiar with Miss Dunham, so I’m going into this memoir pretty blind and unbiased. Fr…

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May’s session will be the Blurb Club you know and love, but the first hosted at our new home, Soft Focus House. You guys are going to love it here — it’s spacious, stylish, cosy and hopefu…

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Recently, I’ve been outrageously obsessed with the idea of community — its importance, how we can cultivate it, how Blurb’s community can grow, whether it’s possible for an online community to offer the same value an in-person one can. It’s become my fixation since hosting the first Blurb Club of the year and, after taking a break over Summer, being reminded of what this community offers me (hope, joy, passion, motivation, low-key all the good things in life ect.).

But, most of all, what stood out to me was how hopeful it made me feel. At a time when hope and optimism about the future (and in general) is increasingly difficult (impossible?) to hold onto, I found myself feeling these two things in abundance as we spent those three hours together discussing Rejection. It was a reminder of how good people are. It would be so easy to assume, given online culture, that a group of 40 strangers could not possibly gather to discuss ideas and opinions without it getting, at best, tense or, at worst, aggressive. So it feels downright revolutionary that it is, instead, the most seamless and uplifting event possible.

Everyone yaps passionately, dissects and challenges one another’s takes, and unpacks some pretty big topics. Books can bring up some heavy and complex ideas, especially when you apply themes and plot devices to the real-world and end up discussing personal experiences, society, culture, relationships and politics. There’s always differences in interpretations and opinions, yet somehow it’s all riddled with laughter and a desire to understand and relate to each other. There’s space for everyone to contribute and be heard. It’s a utopia!

As my friend John likes to remind me, ‘community is IN’, which has been clear to me for a while given the amount of brands trying to capitalise off community events for the past few years, piggy-backing off already established communities such as Blurb to sell their products (if any brands are reading this, no shade, you can. You can literally profit as much as you want off of it. In fact, I’ll sell my soul for a little bit of monetary compensation at this point).

But there’s a reason it’s in. It just feels so god damn good. It breeds hope and joy!

You may have seen my IG stories recently where I proposed the idea of starting an online community that gathers over a virtual coffee to consume media mindfully (if you didn’t, the stories are below). And so many of you voted in approval of this concept that hell yeah, let’s make it happen!

If the above isn’t enough, let me talk you through it.

There’s a designated morning of each week (I’m thinking Thursday? My gut’s telling me Thursday) where a link is sent out, via Substack, that takes you to a Zoom call. You click it and BOOM, you’re in a call with 567 other people (that’s realistic, right?) all sitting down to enjoy their morning coffee as they consume some media intentionally.

There’s a Substack chat where everyone can send through a link to whatever their recommendation may be — think pieces, articles, podcasts, youtube videos, you name it. Just something inspiring, creative, positive, transportive. You spend the next 45 minutes consuming different things — things that you may not come across in your own feed — and comment your thoughts into the chat. You take your time, you grab a second coffee, you don’t look at your phone (unless that’s what you’re consuming the content on) and you’ve just adopted a new, intentional weekly ritual.

In my dream this community grows until there’s a designated cafe in each suburb for people to gather. You’re still on the Zoom call, but you’re sitting in a cafe with other people who are doing the same thing, who are part of the same community. Maybe you sit at the same table, maybe you just exchange a nod, or maybe it’s enough to know that someone else is there enjoying the same ritual as you.

Doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

At the moment, I’m thinking of organising this through Substack’s subscription base, with the first one on Friday April 10 at 7:30am (too early? too late? This is a trial! It may flop!).

Okay, new let’s get to the in-person events.

Blurb Swap

• Event date: Sunday, April 19, 10am - 12pm

• Ticket release: March 29 via IG stories @ 6:30pm

Blurb Club

• Event date: Sunday, May 10, 2:30pm - 5:30pm

• Book: Pending!!! Keep an eye on IG stories

• Ticket release to Substack subscribers: April 1 @ 6:30pm

• Ticket release to public: April 2 @ 6:30pm via stories

And WHERE is Blurb Club going to be hosted from now on, you ask? Oh, just at none other than the heavenly Soft Focus House in Fitzroy. And it’s quite the miracle that this is the case, because Soft Focus House was the only venue I was considering. If it wasn’t hosted here, I was ready to say goodbye to Blurb.

But here we are! It’s happening, and your’e all about to experience Blurb Club reimagined at the most perfect venue.

Can’t wait to see you guys there! xxxxx

If you’ve read Rejection, I’m sure you were thinking this by the mid-way point and continued to think it well after finishing.

That was not only the best thing I’ve read in a while, but the most unhinged, confronting, sometimes confusing, rewarding and thought-provoking. And I’m sure I say this more often than not, but the most ideal book to discuss.

As you can see below, I always write notes in the margins as I read, mostly to come up Blurb Club questions on the spot as they occur to me. Never before have I crammed so many notes inside said margins. Every paragraph left me with a question, something I wanted to discuss, or an idea I wanted to come back to.

If you want to read my thoughts (condensed into the highly restrictive IG character count limit), then you can do so HERE.

It’s a book that demands to be discussed — there’s absolutely no way you can consume something so unique, disturbing, challenging, and keep all of the thoughts and feelings it elicits inside your head.

People arrived absolutely BURSTING to discuss and within seconds of 35 strangers entering Collingwood House, it was so loud I could hardly hear the person next to me. While there was a great divide between those who loved and loathed it (lots of 2 stars, lots of 4.7 stars), we could all agree on a lot; The Feminist was, in fact, a misogynist, Ahegao was not a short story to be read in public, the group chat in Pics was a much needed comedic relief, we’d checked out by the time we reached Sixteen Metaphors.

You could tell from looking at each group what they were discussing;

1. Group One: General questions — lots of passion, speed-talking through their quick-fire round, lots of laughter

2. Group Two: The Feminist — outrage, minimal laughter, mostly filled with faces of frustration and exasperation

3. Group Three: Pics & Our Dope Future — relatively calm and in control comparative to other groups, a group who could be just getting to know each other, very civil discussion

4. Group Four — lots of laughter, disbelief, a dozen wide-eyed slightly uncomfortable strangers tip-toeing around the details that this short story includes

You know what time it is! Time to get your book club together and discuss the prompts below!! GO GO GO!!

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While I kept Blurb running in the background — squeezing it in between multiple jobs and a never-satisfied social life — a lot was happening in my personal life. Some of the most notable being:

• Quitting my job at a PR agency on a whim (when I say on a whim, I decided to quit mid-morning-shower, typed up a three-sentence email resigning with shampoo still in my hair under the shower stream and hit send)

• Setting off to Japan two days after aforementioned resignation

• A trip to Bali with a group of 12 legends (11 of whom I did not know) that I booked a week in advance (one of these trips is compulsory when having a quarter-life-crisis)

• Moved to Torquay for a few months. Absolutely loved the slow pace and morning swims but found myself itching for my hyper-social Melbourne life, leading to weekly visits back home to get my social fix until I was drained and needed to get back to the coast. This cycle repeated every 4-5 days for three months.

And, thanks to you guys, a lot of the highlights from the year came from Blurb and the opportunities it offered me and the experiences it allowed — things that never featured on my 2025 mood-board or even entered my head during the occasional manifestation session because they seemed way too far-fetched:

• Penguin sponsoring a Blurb Club to feature one of their upcoming releases (Rytual by Chloe Elisabeth Wilson, which happened to be one of the best book clubs of the year)

• Flying to Europe to host a Blurb Flow event in Southern France at my dream surf retreat, Bonanza Collective (literally wtf)

• Releasing a limited range of Fressko Reuseable Cups, featuring Blurb’s brand new icon that is oh-so-perfect

I’m sure I’ve missed a few things, but I’m sure you can gather that it was a pretty surreal year.

At the moment, I’m constantly pivoting between excitement for what’s ahead and dread at the realisation I may not have the time or resources to make everything I want to happen, happen. Blurb is more time-consuming than I ever give it credit for and I’m finding that between the time it takes to maintain the socials, organise events, promote events and ideate fresh concepts, there’s one thing getting lost — reading.

I’m reading less than ever and, consequently, feeling more like a fraud than ever. So this year I have a goal of reading AT LEAST two books a month (which I already failed in Jan).

Irrespective of how demanding Blurb can be, I’m super excited for 2026 and all of the things I have planned, along with all the random, overly-ambitious ideas that pop into my head. 2025 turned out NOTHING like I thought it would and all of the best moments were things I didn’t plan, anticipate or even actively work towards. So maybe that’s how I need to look at 2026.

In saying that, there are TWO events planned for March that I’m beyond excited about;

• March Blurb Club - March 15, 2:30pm - 5:30pm (tickets released via IG stories TONIGHT at 6:30pm)

• March Blurb Swap - March 1, 10am - 12pm (this one is yet to be announced, so keep an eye on IG stories for ticket release(hint: it will be within the week!))

Of course, our monthly Blurb Clubs are starting back up again with a book I'm SUPER excited to read — Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte (I’ve heard on great authority that this novel is ‘crazy in the best way’ and that all of the characters are ‘kinda unhinged and pathetic and deviant’ (when I saw ‘good authority’ I mean Josephine Ainscough, my reading idol)).

And we are OFFICIALLY BRINGING BACK BLURB SWAP! If you don’t remember what this event involved after the one time we hosted it over a year ago, let me give you a refresh.

Hosted at Little Company’s Collingwood studio, everyone brings their favourite book to exchange with a new friend. While we wrap each book, you guys sit down and write out a really brief summary of the plot, focusing on why you loved it and why you recommend it. As everyone enjoys coffee, tea and baked goods, the wrapped books are brought out for you to browse through and choose whichever one speaks to you. From there you unwrap it, get the surprise of whatever book you’ve scored, and hunt down the person who unwrapped your book to chew their ear off about how brilliant it is!

It’s super fun, relaxed, and such a nice way to talk about your favourite books while getting a guaranteed good read to take home.

Other things to look forward to for 2026 you ask? Let’s keep the mystery alive (and not share anything else in the fear that things will fall through before they’re fully finalised) and just say that there may be some day retreats, along with an initiative in the works to help reading become more accessible in some selective third-spaces….

That’s all for now! I cannot wait to see you all at events super soon! <3

Maybe you remember that I launched this Substack with the idea of beginning a Virtual Blurb Club. And maybe you even clocked that I never did this, and maybe you’ve questioned whether I completely forgot this intention or whether there’s a bunch of drafted posts sitting in my Substack, completely useless, waiting for me to get over myself and hit publish (yes, it’s the latter).

Well, a mere nine months later and I’ve finally gotten over myself enough to get this first virtual Blurb Club out into the ether. While the first in-person Blurb Club of 2026 hasn’t yet kicked off (keep an eye on socials for an announcement soon!!), I thought I would share the first Virtual Blurb Club format unpaid so you can have a little insight into what these will look like.

If you need a refresher of how these virtual Blurb Clubs are intended to work, let me paint the picture nice and clear — read the book, make a date with your friend/s to get together for a few bottles of wine, some snacks, and discuss the prompts that are provided below. Now you have yourself a Blurb Club replica, minus me running around taking photos and videos of you the entire time!

For our February virtual Blurb Club, we are going to throw it back to a book that we read last year - Pain and Perfume by Anna Dorn (if you came to this Blurb Club and you’re confused why I’ve chosen a book you already read — THE VIRTUAL BLURB CLUB IS FOR THOSE WHO COULDN’T ATTEND, OKAY! LET THEM HAVE THIS!

This was a special Blurb Club for many reasons;

1. My dear friend John, pictured above, came along to help me out with content (and obviously nailed it like he always does — example A).

2. It was our first sponsored Blurb Club! The legends at Bondi Boost provided goodie bags for absolutely everyone to take home filled with their products. They also supplied this very #official sign that I put out the front of the event, which made me feel very important and professional and established.

So let’s begin. What an interesting book.

If you follow Blurb on IG, you may have read my review at the time and understood my complex, but mostly critical, feelings towards this novel. I truly wish I had loved it more.

But, to keep it interesting and try prevent you all from tiring of my voice, I asked two Blurb Club regulars to write reviews for Pain and Perfume by Anna Dorn this time.

The first is Kimball, who articulates himself like no other and can read into a stories plot-line deeper than you would assume possible. One thing I’m learning about Kimball is he likes darker themes and complex, messy characters — you will find him defending the most objectively unlikeable character in a book passionately, as though they’re a close friend, every-time.

So, maybe it’s no surprise that he is the only person in attendance who rated this book above 3 stars. Below is Kimball’s attempt to defend that rating and provide the only purely positive take I heard all of Blurb Club.

Kimball, 4 stars:

Jess inadvertently gave me a mission statement with her kind invitation to share a review and though she certainly didn’t mean it this way, my brain interpreted her invitation in two words: “Explain yourself!” (jk Jess)

Perfume and Pain by Anna Dorn wasn’t the most popular book in the club and as one of the few people to give it more than a passing grade, let alone a recommendation, I find myself in front of the tribunal. It’s hard to argue that Astrid, the book’s protagonist, isn’t a tough hang. She’s selfish, self-interested and self-destructive. A bad friend, a bad sister and a bad work partner. She’s mean and deliberately, sometimes gleefully, offensive. She’s addicted to booze, drugs, drama and love bombs. But she’s also funny (in an acerbic way) and to me at least, charmingly self-deprecating (in the unhealthy way that borders on self-sabotage). Dorn nails the character, has a great handle for her idiosyncratic voice and doesn’t bore you, though your attention may be powered by frustration. Whether you find Dorn and Astrid charming, as I did, is the magic trick and rorschach test of writing.

So Difficult Female Protagonist aside, what can I recommend about Perfume and Pain? Well, I’ve never read a book with so many references to the Kardashians and the L Word that demanded to be taken so seriously, and though the book traffics in cultural junk food like all that pulp fiction Astrid consumes, I think Dorn has a lot on her mind (when I presume she isn’t looking at her phone). Astrid’s world is our world, which is to say it’s the world of bad reality TV, social media stalking, frivolous Twitter feuds and character assassination via Tumblr. She doesn’t fall in love under the Tuscan sun; she gets crushes in Zoom meetings then blows everything up over text. I rarely read books so terminally online and it made me think of Robert Eggers recently saying he’d rather die than make a movie with a cell phone in it - is the first Great American Novel about a socially anxious podcaster a few years away or just a pipe dream?

Not that Perfume and Pain is great - Dorn doesn’t sell Astrid’s rock bottom and the healing power of Penelope’s affection remains a mystery. But I laughed when I should have cringed and by the time K-Stew became a plot point I found it endearing instead of empty. And yes, I think Dorn sneakily has a lot to say amidst all those pop culture references and social media controversies. Astrid’s inclination for provocation was called ‘punk’ before the internet - now we just call it trolling. Astrid’s too old to make a living as a Reddit provocateur and too young to use “not selling out” as an excuse to be a d*ck - by the end she knows it. I don’t think it’s a coincidence she’s caught between two lovers from different generations, one who treats ghosting on text as a necessary requirement for a good night out and the other who treats it like life and death. Astrid and, I think, Dorn are trapped between the two worlds - an impish desire to thumb their nose at expectation, to find the high in Kim Kardashian and the low in Patricia Highsmith, meeting the harsh sobriety of how we communicate today.

One day, maybe, Eggers’ sentiment will be proven wrong and we’ll open and close the book on high art, low culture, paperback fiction and phone screens. In the meantime, Dorn made a valiant effort, while barely trying at all.

Plus I thought it was really, really funny.

See what I mean? Intimidatingly articulate.

Now, let’s get back to the comfort of the negatives. Another amazingly-articulate-and-insightful-regular, Caitlin, gave Pain and Perfume 2 stars (a little bit closer to my heart) and justified it completely.

Caitlin, 2 stars:

If you’ve ever wondered whether a case can be made for the existence of people who are both self-deprecating and yet completely devoid of self awareness, Astrid Dahl is Exhibit A.

Protagonist of Perfume and Pain: A Novel, 30-something-year-old Astrid is a burnt-out and egotistical writer who has recently pulled herself out of a blurry few years self-medicating to avoid dealing with her feelings of failure.

Daughter to a pair of workaholic and emotionally detached lawyers, Astrid can’t help but tread water in the glory of her minuscule attempts at self-actualisation: her role as the feared head of an exclusive lesbian writing group, and a published author of some semi-successful books that shallowly explore American pop culture.

The novel follows Astrid as the fragile foundations of her life fall apart when – in a series of unfortunate events – Astrid is kicked out of her home, moves into her landlord’s only other vacant property next to the evasive and sensual artist Penelope, begins a love affair with the alluring yet unhinged Ivy (a new member of her writing group), and negotiates the sale of her book for movie rights to A-list celebrity Kat Gold. All of this unfolds against the backdrop of the heat and superficiality of Los Angeles, California, where the novel is set.

Astrid – barely holding on by a thread – is unhinged by these situational changes, and falls back into her favourite cocktail of sarcasm, cynicism and substance abuse. The latter named in honour of lesbian writing royalty – The Patricia Highsmith (adderall, alcohol and cigarettes).

The novel continues in an almost Grecian mythical style; with Ivy, Penelope and Kat apparating into Astrid’s life while she swings in and out of sobriety. Each woman their own alluring mirage of temptation and consolation that the hedonistic and damaged Astrid craves and chases. Of course it’s only natural, these women are her hubris.

Backdropped by Astrid’s inquisitive obsession with scent and perfume, the plot spirals as she loses her grip on reality, positing the lesbian pulp genre the novel initially subverts to the front and centre of the story.

The novel peaks in a crescendo of reputational damage, deranged lovers, conceited outbursts and selfish disdain before Astrid has to face a choice. Be the writer she always wanted to be, or let her substance abuse and penchant for pretty but insane blondes control her.

The reading experience of Perfume and Pain: A Novel is something I am not 100% privy to, I admittedly listened to it as an audiobook while I worked. While the audio element certainly helped to create suspense and drama (I’m a self confessed skim reader when a book gets too suspenseful), the voice actor made some questionable creative choices which – in turn – made the listening experience largely frustrating.

The best way I can describe this novel is if it were a degree it would be majoring in A Lack of Self Awareness, and minoring in Scent. For a book that markets itself as a story where the main character’s obsession with perfume pedals the plot, I want to warn future readers – the scents are barely detectable.

For the moments that included Astrid’s reflections of and sensual observations on scent, I felt a final edit of what the novel could have been. Because for a book that is supposed to be about perfume… it’s surprisingly lacking.

If you go into this ready for an introspective novel about a challenged observational writer consumed by scent, you won’t find it. Instead anticipate self-obsession, vanity, and a classically financially depression Millennial in the creative industry.

With too many characters to keep track (Zev and Otto iykyk) and multiple plot lines that served little purpose (I’m looking at you intricately detailed ominous landlord with two scenes that amounted to nothing) I felt myself getting increasingly frustrated as the novel tore on.

Not to mention, the California setting is somewhat isolating in that if you don’t know Los Angeles geography… good luck. Neighbourhoods may require googling, and so too niche cultural references to Hollywood actors. But, if you can put that aside and you are someone that simply enjoys an immersion in aesthetic (albeit underdeveloped) characterisation, this would probably be your cup of tea.

What I will say is, for a novel that sold intense and aesthetic eroticism — it delivers spectacularly. Undulating and gradual, starting in small glances, sensual touches and building to days of sexual exploration; Anna Dorn delivered. This is not for your fairy-smut ACOTAR fans, but certainly does serve an ace to anyone interested in sapphic love. It felt properly dosed to the ratio of plot, and didn’t take away from the storyline, but enhanced it. Without it, I might have DNF’d this book. Props to Anna Dorn for that.

However, on an authorial level, Dorn seemed to have wavering ideas as to where the story would finally end, and that could be felt in the listening experience. Would Astrid sober up to commit to one single woman? Would she realise her sensual pleasures don’t serve her higher desire to be a more successful writer? Or would she see the way her brother – my favourite character, Felix – was just trying to help her, not shame her.

These questions don’t arise from a carefully constructed open ended storyline, but rather a certain lack in Astrid’s characterisation. This lack can be seen best in the final chapters of the novel, where —despite resolving to get sober, treat people kindly, and stop chasing wild women —Astrid just wakes up one day and starts anew. No self reflection, no thoughtful apologies, no real conversations to her loved ones. No. Astrid simply decides ‘I’m a good person now’ and things are assumed to fall into place.

Now in Anna Dorn’s defence, this could be a creative choice — only further highlighting how selfish Astrid is.

However, it doesn’t land that way. Astrid is still objectively a bad person even after she decides to be a good one, and it doesn’t make for a satisfying reading experience.

That’s not to say my own dissatisfaction at the way a novel ends is the determining factor in whether I think a book is well written, but it is a marker for if I think a book is entertaining.

Because, frankly, if a fiction book selling itself as provocative, mysterious and and complex simply isn’t… then I feel safe in my conviction to say I don’t like it.

As the Read My Blurb book for April, to an extent I enjoyed the parts of the book that I felt were lacking — simply because it’s fun to chat about in a room full of fellow readers. But, would I pick this book up again? Highly unlikely.

In saying that, in a meta move by Anna Dorn, Astrid’s latest novel The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey has been published. Like, for real.

I may have to pick that one up, if only to see if Astrid is a better writer than Anna.

So I assume you fully get now that Blurb regulars are geniuses and all that.

Now that you’ve had their insight, discussed what points you agree with and challenged some of the others, it’s time to dive into the questions below with your At-Home Blurb Club!

Discussion prompts

Star rating.

Did you find Ivy and/or Astrid’s characters believable? Do you think they had continuity?

‘I make a mental note to cyberbully whoever cancelled “girl”. It’s not infantilising, it’s cute.” How do you feel about the cultural shift towards calling women ‘girls’ and ‘girlies’ more commonly and without question? If any, what implications does this have?

Did you find yourself empathising with Astrid despite her flaws? What aspects of her journey resonated with you, and why?

Astrid gets semi-cancelled due to an interview where she references herself as a ‘faggot’. Do you think there would be similar public outrage today if a lesbian author referred to herself as this?

Astrid has a desire for her friends to instinctively hate the people she hates — do you think this is a form of loyalty? Is it something you look for in your own friendships?

What did you think of the ending?

‘...I’m trying to say that lesbian pulp has been unfairly overlooked. That it has merit. That while it’s been dismissed as homophobic, maybe our dismissal is even more homophobic, because it lacks an understanding that lesbian relationships are not straight relationships. That they have their own specific set of rules and expectations, and that melodrama is part of their special power, not something to be avoided.’

Do you think ‘lesbian pulp’ is harmful and homophobic, or in what ways is it empowering? Note: "Lesbian pulp" refers to sensationalised, often tragic novels from the mid-20th century that depicted lesbian relationships, primarily aimed at a heterosexual male audience. These books, published on cheap paper, portrayed lesbianism as deviant or taboo, yet became a crucial, if flawed, form of representation for LGBTQ+ people at a time when visibility was limited.

Astrid explores how non-binary representation is now ‘corporate’, rather than subversive or progressive. What do you think? What has had an impact on this?

Astrid's fascination with fragrances is a recurring motif. What does perfume symbolise in the context of her life and choices?

How did you feel about this novels depiction of addiction? Was it glorified?

For the first half of the book Astrid is barely likeable and very self-destructive. Did you find anything likeable or redeemable about her character in the beginning?

Do you think the unlikeable narrator can ever verge on too unlikeable? Where is the line, and at what point is it crossed? Does it prevent you from reading?

Happy reading guys! Look out for March’s Blurb Club deets to be announced on socials soon xxx

Along with starting a Substack, another item sitting on the rapidly-accumulating-yet-always-neglected to-do list has been to figure out a way to offer Blurb Club virtually. I’ve done some research, looked at what other accounts offer, had some extensive brain-storm sessions, and nothing has felt quite right. I guess that’s because nothing can replicate the experience of in-person Blurb Club, and I’m always left wondering ‘what am I actually offering?’

I mean, what’s a book club if there’s no wine, no new people to meet, no stunning venue to explore and no home-baked sourdough?

But, finally, I feel as though I’ve settled on a virtual Blurb Club experience that feels right.

I’m hoping that this platform can be a way to extend Blurb Club beyond the physical—a way to not be restricted by 30-odd capacity limits and the capacity of one over-committed full-time working gal. I’m hoping it means anyone who wants to make it but can’t, for whatever reason, can follow along, read the chosen book and dissect the same thematic-based discussion prompts—whether that be in their journal or with a group of friends.

And, if we’re feeling ambitious, I’m hoping it means groups of friends hosting their own Blurb Clubs at home—planning a night once a month to come together with easy-to-drink wine and good cheese, as they pull up this Substack to fully unpack the discussion prompts provided. Essentially, the goal will be for Virtual Blurb Club to replicate In-Person Blurb Club, so that you can create mini Blurb Clubs of your own (yes, I’m sitting here writing this feeling like I’m on some Reese Witherspoon type shit).

Okay so, here’s the plan. Every month, for those who can’t attend in person, Virtual Blurb Club will be delivered straight into your inbox (PSA: this will be the paid subscription option because, well, Blurb is laborious, and sometimes the labour needs to be compensated for to be sustainable).

There will be the same discussion prompts we discuss at Blurb Club, guest reviews, author interviews (can I guarantee this if I am yet to reach out to a single author and gauge interest? Probably not), summaries of what was discussed in-person, and book-related journal prompts.

I know it’s ambitious and I really do be acting like Blurb is some book EMPIRE, but if there’s a way for dozens of mini-Blurb Club’s to be happening across Melbourne at once (I initially typed ‘across the globe’ and had to reign it in….chronically over-excited over here) then that’s what I’m gunning for.

So message those group chats and lock in a date to get together at a wine bar, or to gather at a house with plates of food and skull-able wine, to spend a couple hours dissecting the book of the month. Ask your work-mates if they’re part of a book club and, if not, tell them you’ve got the perfect one for you all to join. Or lock in a night once a month to sit in your bedroom with some candles lit and your journal at the ready to answer all of the discussion prompts.

The first Virtual Blurb Club will drop later this month for April’s book — Pain and Perfume by Anna Dorn. This first one will be free, which I would love to say is out of the generosity of my heart, but actually has more to do with me not understanding how to set-up a paid subscription option and still being very unfamiliar with this platform.

Let’s see how this goes! I cannot wait to extend Blurb Club beyond the physical! LET’S GOOOOO!

All photo cred: Molly Salmon

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The hardest part about maintaining Blurb is undoubtedly writing the book reviews, along with agonising over IG captions because, to be completely honest, I don’t love writing.

Maybe that’s because, as a byproduct of being an avid reader and regularly consuming writing that is simultaneously effortless and profound (think Diana Reid and Meg Mason), I have developed an unattainable benchmark for comparison. Writing is, therefore, an activity that’s riddled with over-thinking, self-doubt, dissatisfaction and frustration.

Or, maybe, it’s a consequence of not writing enough. A fear of failure? A fear of how vulnerable writing makes me feel?

For whatever reason, the one thing that Blurb relies on—writing—is the one thing I put off relentlessly.

Alas, here we are! Blurb’s own Substack. A platform where you can do nothing but write. So, let’s see how this goes (see: over-thinking, self-doubt, dissatisfaction and frustration.)

What is Blurb?

For those of you who are new here, let’s do a proper introduction.

Although it feels like a few months ago, Blurb began back in September 2022. What started as an Instagram account to share book reviews (and hopefully score a few ARCs) quickly grew into in-person book clubs, author interviews and lots of film photo dumps.

Today, it is mostly a platform to facilitate Blurb Clubs — monthly (if I’m organised enough) book clubs hosted at venues across Melbourne’s inner north, where 36 strangers come together to discuss that month’s chosen book.

How does it work?

Roughly six weeks prior to every event there will be an IG story poll with two book options—whichever book wins the poll is next month’s blurb club book!

Event details are then shared to stories, along with the date and time of when tickets will be released.

Tickets are sold via a link shared to (again) IG stories, and the first 36 to score a ticket are the lucky few who get to arrive at Blurb Club six weeks later to enjoy wine, delicious nibbles and engage in passionate book discussion (or, just as likely, completely unrelated shit).

So, basically, keep an eye on IG stories and you’ll be sweet.

What does Blurb Club look like?

Okay, let’s walk through this step-by-step.

You arrive. You marvel at the beauty that is Collingwood House. I (Jess) ask(s) you whether you want red, white or non-alc, and hand you a little card with numbers on it. You take a seat on the big white couch and start eating some cheese and home-made sourdough. You start talking to the people trickling in who, like you, have all arrived alone and know no-one. You see a few people greeting eachother with familiarity and realise they’re the regulars who come every month and you think, ‘it is now my life’s greatest goal to be one of them’. You start nodding to yourself, ‘wow, this already fucking rocks. And this may be the best jazz playlist I’ve ever heard’.

After about an hour of mingling, eating and easy conversation, Jess asks for everyone’s attention and gives a mini-speech that’s part-awkward, part-endearing (hopefully….if it goes to plan). She goes through some boring shit—some housekeeping, some stumbling expressions of gratitude—and then announces that it is time for the group discussions to begin. She explains that the little card with numbers on it serves the purpose of informing you the order in which you visit each group.

Over the next hour everyone is split into four groups and spends 20 minutes in each, using the discussion-prompts provided to talk through everything—from the writing style, to characters, to themes. Each time you move to the next group you’re with a new collection of people, and you’re having the profound realisation that every person here has interpreted the same book completely differently. You’re challenged and validated. You’re suddenly seeing the book from all different perspectives. You’re realising a book you hated has far more depth and nuance than you originally thought, or a book you loved is now being put under the microscope to uncover some shocking flaws.

An hour passes quickly and you realise you stopped talking about the book a while ago and have, instead, transitioned into deeply personal conversation with these people you didn’t know two hours prior.

Another hour passes over laughter and some final bites of that fluffy sourdough, and then Jess is standing up to announce that she has, yet again, lost track of time and you all need to be O U T in three minutes.

You say your goodbyes, add your new friends on IG and go home. You wait for the next Blurb Club.

If that isn’t a good pitch, I don’t know what is.

Do you ever host any other events?

Yes! Last year there was a book swap hosted at Little Company in Collingwood which was a lot of fun. I’ll hopefully organise a few of these throughout 2025 and make them a regular event offering.

There also was, once, a Blurb Flow—a morning of yoga, coffee and croissants. I loved this event a lot and have absolutely no idea why there hasn’t been a second rendition. Let me get onto that.

Recently, I’ve been trying to think of new ideas for events that Blurb offer. My favourite part of this platform is the community it has built, so I’m keen to capitalise on that as much as possible.

The idea of a book retreat has been floating around in my subconscious for a while, so we’ll see if that ever actualises (or whether I decide it’s ultimately too culty?). Otherwise, I’d love to hear any ideas that you guys have! Please don’t ever hesitate to send me an aggressively direct DM with some feedback or event suggestions.

Okay, that's enough from me! Hopefully all things Blurb have been covered and it’s clear to at least some of you how Blurb runs.

It’s just as likely there will be another Substack in a weeks time as it is likely to be in six months. Please continue to hold me to the chaotically-disorganised-until-Blurb-becomes-my-entire-personality-for-two-weeks-until-I-inevitably-drop-the-ball-and-fall-behind-again standard you have all held me to up until this point.

It goes without saying, but I am constantly overwhelmed with the support, love, open-mindedness and encouragement this community offers me. I just hope it gives you all the same feel good shit it gives to me.

Suddenly I feel this unbearable pressure to have thought of some really witty, clever sign-off but I’m coming up blank.

Cya next time book lovers,

Jess xx