The Reading Room (2pm in the Library for a start @ 10.30am – 12noon)

This volunteer run reading and discussion group meets monthly. It is anticipated that members will read the selected book prior to attendance.
If you would like to be a part of this group (free to BMI members) please complete the Expression of Interest. We welcome your feedback through this form as we progress this great new initiative. 
 
Expression of Interest to participate >

 

For more information go to

Books That Saved My Life | Michael McGirr

More about the Author.

JUNE SESSION

Here are forty texts to read at some stage in your life- forty texts that can enrich you in all manner of ways. Some are recent, like Harry Potter; some ancient, like Homer and Lao Tzu. There are memoirs (Nelson Mandela), poetry (Les Murray) and many of the world’s great novels, from George Eliot’s Middlemarch to Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Our guide, in entertaining short essays about personal encounters with each of these works, is Michael McGirr- schoolteacher and former priest, reviewer of hundreds of novels and lifelong lover of literature.

His humour and insight shine through in stories that connect the texts he has selected with each other, and connect us to them. Never prescriptive, and often very funny, this book is an invitation to reflect on-and share with others-the extraordinary gift of reading. ‘It is a gift that is taking me a lifetime to unwrap,? McGirr writes. ‘The excitement has never worn off.?

About the Author

Michael McGirr is the bestselling author of Snooze- The Lost Art of Sleep, Things You Get for Free and Bypass. He has reviewed almost one thousand books for various newspapers; his short fiction has appeared in Australian and overseas publications; and he has been a publisher of Eureka Street and fiction editor at Meanjin. 

Review a title

Why not review a book for the benefit of our members. We will publish these reviews in our social media and website from time to time.

My Book Review >

This event is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution

Rosemary’s Book of the Week

12/01/2026 No Comments

The First Law of the Bush Geoff Parkes Don’t miss Goeff & Susi Fox at the BMI on Wednesday 28 December at 6pm From the author of When the Deep, Dark Bush Swallows You Whole Reserve > The First Law of the Bush | Geoff Parkes Library Membership > Coming soon… find out more Get Tickets y: Our library stands on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians

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Ballarat Craft and Design Week: Bound

09/01/2026 No Comments

1 – 10 May 2026 Ballarat is set to launch a bold new chapter in its creative journey with the inaugural Ballarat Craft and Design Week, taking place 1-10 May 2026 at the historic Mining Exchange. Building on the success of the much-loved Craft Lab program, this new event responds to the growing needs of Ballarat’s creative ecosystem. The theme for 2026 is Bound, celebrating meaningful collaboration between craft and design practitioners, communities, and cultural industries with an emphasis on

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Newsletter – January 2026

09/01/2026 No Comments

Rosemary’s New Releases and Recommendations | Author Talks – Live Music – Public Talk – Art Workshop | The digital version of the newsletter will be available here after 5.15pm today. The interactive PDF is available here.

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Rosemary’s Book of the Week

05/01/2026 No Comments

The House of Doors Tan Twan Eng Willie Somerset Maugham is one of the greatest writers of the early twentieth century. But in 1921 he is beleaguered by an unhappy marriage, ill-health and business interests that have gone badly awry. He is also struggling to write. His friend Robert Hamlyn offers an escape in the Straits Settlements of Penang, where Robert’s steely wife Lesley learns to see Willie as he is – a man who has no choice but to

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Rosemary’s Book of the Week

29/12/2025 No Comments

Lost and Found Liz Byrski Rose Walters has never taken a leap of faith quite like this one.She is flying home to England for the first time in decades to search for her first love. But what she finds there is far from what she expected.When Rose turns up at her door, Dora Stutchbury is not sure she’s willing to take over the coals of the past – especially those she has taken care to let lie for so long.

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