Rabble Books & Games

Is there a better book to feature to celebrate day? We don’t think so! For those who haven’t read this beautiful anthology, it’s a complete joy to have it in the world. Thanks to and for bringing this one into the world and to all the amazing contributors!

As we are seeing in Albany and around the country, the premise of Wear it Purple Day is still so relevant. LGBTIQA+ youth are still under attack and it’s up to us to stand with them 💜
Much love to .pride who are doing the hard work on the ground against confused but dangerous bigots.

[Image is a copy of An Unexpected Party on a weathered wooden table with some purple pansies in a pot.]

Please join us for an evening with Thomas Mayo, friends and fellow campaigners in Boorloo to celebrate the release of Always Was, Always Will Be! The book explores “what’s next?” after the Voice to Parliament referendum last year.

🖤 Friday 13 September
💛 6pm for a 6:30pm start
❤️ At Rabble Books in Maylands

Tickets (including refreshments) are $15, or $30 for a book and discounted ticket, but as always if you need assistance with a ticket just reach out to us. Ticket link in comments.

[Image is a tile with a brown background, and two inset images, one of Thomas with his arms folded and one of the beautiful blue and light orange cover of the book. Text reads “Thomas Mayo in conversation with friends 6pm Friday 13 September at Rabble. Tickets on the Rabble website.”]

In my pink era!

Big recommends for Love Unleashed (hot off the press) and I Hope This Finds You Well, two reads that completely delighted me! Love Unleashed follows Bigamul woman Brynn Wallace in New York with the most beautiful threads connecting her to her family, to Country, to q***r culture and the best bloody friend gang around. Also - good dogs!

I Hope This Finds You Well was a really satisfying read with some Eleanor Oliphant vibes. A cracking premise and a wholesome redemption arc!

The others are on our to be read lists or getting asked for a lot in store. Perfume & Pain is my next read - yes please sapphic pulp fiction.

In the pink stack:

Free Therapy by Rebecca Ivory
How to Leave the House by Nathan Newman
Perfume & Pain by Anna Dorn
Love Unleashed by Melanie Saward
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue
Tehrangeles by Porochista Khakpour
Don’t Take Your Love to Town by Ruby Langford Ginibi

[Image is Nat smiling, wearing a pink jumper with strawberries on it, and holding the above stack of books with their pink spines facing the camera.]

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It's been a long time since I've done a games post, so I wanted to do a little catch up on some of the big titles that you might have missed over the past year. Buckle up!

Wyrmspan is a new riff on the amazing Wingspan, this time featuring dragons and cave systems. Elizabeth Hargrave's original was reimplemented by Connie Vogelmann who also recently published Apiary, a game about bees in space. Vogelmann looks like one to watch!

Ticket to Ride is a beloved series of games that I think are suitable for just about anyone. This new legacy version "Legends of the West" lets you race to build rail networks over a long series of games with more territory and new abilities and complications being revealed each time you play. It was nominated for this year's Spiel Des Jahres (Game of the Year) which is a great indicator of the breadth of its appeal.

French Quarter is a roll-and-write game from the folks who made one of our favs: Three Sisters. This family of games from Motor City Gameworks start as satisfying little projects that build into an explosion of interesting choices and actions. In this case you plan out a whirlwind 8 hour visit to New Orleans. Who can have the loveliest time?

Speaking of a lovely time, Dorf Romantik is the modern successor to another of our favs, Carcassonne. Look, Carcassonne is amazing and nothing is ever -really- going to replace it in my heart, but if you tell me that your new game is Carcassonne with extra loveliness, then I'm going to make time in my schedule.

Lastly, there's an expansion out for Cascadia! Cascadia is another game that I think of as "a nice time" and another descendant of Carcassonne in many respects. Landmarks builds upon this clever puzzle with a bunch of interesting modules that will keep Cascadia fresh for years to come.

Okay, that's enough catching up! I'll try to do one of these for role playing games soon!

--Sam

Image: The games mentioned above are displayed nicely on wooden floorboards.

A delightful evening with last week, discussing his new book at Rabble. It is a brilliant expose of the very personal toll of community work. Detachable P***s is full of so many insights for all you burnt out advocates working within your own lived experience, navigating the systems for yourself and others. Its told with a delightful humour fused with a sharpness that really brings it to life. And how good is that cover?? Big recommend - pick up a copy!

[Image 1 is Sam and Nat, smiling at the camera with a copy of the book. 2 is a closer view of Sam and Nat in conversation with the backs of the crowd in the foreground. 3 is a view from further back.]

Some exceptional new non-fiction on the front tables!

🖤 Black Witness: The Power of Indigenous Media by Amy McQuire - from one of our most important journalists, an exploration of the power of resistance and the resilience of Black Witnesses in the face of erasure and misinformation from mainstream media. A force!

🖤 Tolerance is a Wasteland by Saree Makdisi - a searing indictment of the hypocrisy of Western liberal values of sustainability, democracy, diversity and tolerance in the face of atrocities against the Palestinians

🖤 When Cops Are Criminals edited by Veronica Gorrie - a damning exploration of criminal behaviour by the police with a call for institutional reform

🖤 Slick: Australia’s Toxic Relationship with Big Oil by Royce Kurmelovs - how oil and gas sold us out here over decades, and those engaged in the fight for our future

🖤 Do The Work by Megan Pillow and Roxane Gay - accessible discussion of understanding power and how it shapes our lives

🖤 The Lasting Harm: Witnessing the Trial of Ghislaine Maxwell by Lucia Osborne-Crowley - brings to life the trial, centred around the stories of four women and the impact of sexual trauma on their lives

🖤 Bina: First Nations Languages, Old and New by Gari Tudor-Smith, Paul Williams and Felicity Meakins - linguistics and language history across the continent, from the way knowledge is stored in language, language structures and revival.

🖤 Like Love by Maggie Nelson - beautiful essays from the author of The Argonauts, spanning the last 20 years on feminism, q***r love and friendship, spending a life as a maker, subversion and transgression

🖤 Here Comes the Sun by Andy McCarthy - driving the change to renewable energy in the heart of our coal country

🖤 The Autist’s Guide to the Galaxy by Clara Törnvall - flips the script with this fun guide to neurotypical behaviour

🖤 New Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy for a Common World by Marina Garcés - A radical philosophy of dissent for contemporary times

🖤 Countless Sleepless Nights by Carina Maggar - a collection of coming out stories from around the world running the full gamut of emotions

🖤 Night of Power by Robert Fisk - published posthumously, it follows on from where The Great War for Civilisation left off, with the aftermath of the Iraq invasion in 2005 from Fisk’s perspective as a foreign correspondent unafraid to criticise authority and engage directly with those experiencing colonial oppression and violence

[Image 1 is a stack of the above book spines in the bookshop with shelves in the background, 2 and 3 are the covers laid out on floorboards.]

We're really happy to get this big restock from . They showcase so many great poets and it's always great to see locals rally around local poetry!
Image: Books laid out on a shop counter that's starting to look a bit worn. Under the Paving Stones the Beach includes contributions by many authors, We Need to Talk by Manveen Kohli, Serenity Wargada by Megan Ugle, Flow by Luoyang Chen, Burnt Tongue by Daley Rangi, Lakesong by Megan Ugle.

You have a few week’s left to complete this survey! It just takes a few minutes (but there’s space for your long form thoughts if you have time). It’s a really simple thing to do that will help with advocacy for LGBTIQA+ rights in WA. (See link in comments).

From Rainbow Futures WA:
We have extended the deadline for our LGBTIQA+ Priorities Survey to 17 August! 🎉🏳️‍🌈

If you are an LGBTIQA+ person, ally, family member or friend residing in WA, please fill out the survey.

Image description: A square image that says ‘WA LGBTIQA+ Priorities survey extended!” followed by an illustration of a rainbow with two hands holding an iPad filling out a survey. At the bottom is Rainbow Futures WA’s logo.

Here’s a little taster of some of the books we’ve curated for at ECU Mt Lawley next Saturday the 27th July! So excited for it! We’ve got this little selection out the front of Rabble this weekend but you’ll find heaps more in store and at the festival!

[Image is a picture of a table out the front of Rabble. The table is full of fiction and non-fiction books on disability, with a handwritten sign on some coral wrapping paper saying Disability Pride Month 2024, Disability Pride at ECU]

Would love to see your faces at this event with the awesome Sam Elkin. His new book Detachable Pen*s recounts Sam’s experience of social and medical transition, whilst running Victoria’s first q***r legal service. Sam has so many thoughtful, funny and engaging insights q***r politics, culture and the realities of discrimination and lateral violence, it will be a memorable conversation.

🌱 6pm on Wednesday 31st July at Rabble

Tickets are $10, or $5 if you purchase the book also.
Of course if that’s beyond your means for any reason just reach out and we’ll comp you a ticket and/or provide a pay it forward voucher to cover the book. Tickets include drinks and snacks, and the pleasure of our company ❤️

This is our first event in a long time so don’t miss it! (register via link in comments) 🏳️‍🌈

Now We Are Six!! It’s been a wild six years and this last year has been the hardest yet in some ways. But we’re still here and still love what we do (and all of you), so it’s time to celebrate with a birthday sale!

This weekend we will have sale stock at 50% off outside the shop, with lots of good treasure to find! And everything else is 10% off inside! The sale is in-store only. Come stack up your cold weather reads, help us clear some space and get us through to busier times. Tag your friends, share this post and book in your Maylands outing!

Saturday 15th 10-6
Sunday 16th 10-5

Thanks to Anne Barnetson for her sweet take on EH Shepherd’s cover for AA Milne’s Winnie the Pooh book ‘Now We Are Six’ featuring a joyous Pippin (who is also six!) reading a book and dancing with her beloved animal friends Minty the calico kitty and Dora our sweet goofy doggo.

Rabble Books & Games Rabble Books & Games. Independent book shop in Maylands, Perth WA. Specialising in rad books and gam

Have your say about advocacy priorities for the LGBTQIA+ community in WA! Please share with your networks so Rainbow Futures WA can use these results to push for change.

In honour of International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersex discrimination and Transphobia, we are releasing our LGBTIQA+ priorities survey!

This survey is our second ever priorities survey. Our first survey (2020) captured over 300 LGBTIQA+ and ally perspectives about the issues they think are important to the community. We used this information to create a WA LGBTIQA+ Priorities document and have been using it to lobby for LGBTIQA+ law reform for over three years.

We are seeing some change which is really exciting, but not enough.

If you are an LGBTIQA+ person, ally, family member or friend in WA - please take some time to let us know what is important to the LGBTIQA+ community in Western Australia. We want to make sure our advocacy continues to reflect what is important to you. Your voice matters in shaping the future of LGBTIQA+ rights and protections in WA.

This survey is open from 17 May 2024 (IDAHOBIT) to 11:59pm 17 July 2024.

https://forms.office.com/r/Weu2aaQHnv

Image description: A square tile that says "Exciting news!" in big letters. Underneath it says "In honour of IDAHOBIT, RFWA has just launched our second ever WA LGBTIQA+ priorities survey." There is an illustration underneath the writing of two hands completing a survey on an iPad device, with a rainbow in the background and the RFWA logo.

Happy IDAHOBIT!! It sometimes feels like we are fighting the same battles continuously, but the line does move and change does happen. But of course, the more mainstream attitudes change, the more we see the fear and pushback from those who have always been very comfortable in their bigotry.

Here’s a little change I noticed this week - 5 new release books by trans and gender diverse authors (likely not the only ones, just what I spotted on the new release table). It would have been unheard of 5 years ago, and it’s becoming common. Finding books by q***r and trans authors is becoming much easier.

There is still a lot of work needed to make the book industry safe, to nurture careers, unpack tokenism, and push aside bigotry, but it made me happy to see more stories and experiences shared, and to see these books rising in their prominence on publisher sell-in catalogues.

I’m currently reading the new Judith Butler and 🤯 - big recommend for anyone who is interested in understanding why right-wing narratives are so obsessed with gender. I’m also part-way through Sam Elkin’s book, which is so incredibly relatable as someone working within law reform advocacy. I’ll share the blurbs in the stories for you all!
— Nat

[Image is 5 books laid out on floorboards: A Short History of Trans-Misogyny by Jules Gill-Peterson; X: A Novel by Davey Davis; The Pyramid of Needs by Ernest Price; Who’s Afraid of Gender by Judith Butler; Detachable P***s by Sam Elkin.]

✨ 🏳️‍⚧️ Rabble presents Trans Day of Having a Little Snack! 🏳️‍⚧️ ✨

Trans Day of Visibility can be a difficult day for many reasons. Wherever you’re at in your trans journey, you always deserve a little snack.

The proceeds of this bake sale will be going to who do fantastic work compiling resources for trans folk and providing peer support services! We’ll have a donation box going as well.

So, pick up a treat for the trans person you love in your life! Grab a book and a baked good Saturday the 30th! (The only day we’re open on Easter weekend. We’re closed on the actual Trans Day of Visibility, Sunday the 31st)

Don’t forget if you need assistance with getting yourself a great book, we have $35 pay it forward vouchers available for you!

This bake sale is lovingly inspired by podcast’s yearly mutual aid project, Trans Day of Having a Nice Snack! Check them out!

Come celebrate the launch of Julie Janson’s latest novel, Compassion. We have hosted Julie before for an insightful, funny and moving in-conversation and we are delighted to launch her latest book with .

✨ 6:30pm, Thurs 7 March
🎤 In conversation with Arlie Alizzi
📖 At Rabble Books in Maylands

Link in comments for FREE tickets.

Such brilliant news for some critically important LGBTQIA+ orgs in WA, which have never before received core operational funding. The enduring strength and importance of those orgs is a testament to the work of many people who volunteered their time, skills, passion and commitment over the years.

A lot of work remains to get equal protections for LGBTQIA+ individuals in this state, and we hope to see the government follow this up with the substantive law reform that has previously been promised.

📣 GREAT NEWS! 📣 The WA government has just announced $900,000 in funding for the first ever WA LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Strategy.

The funding will go in part to community controlled organisations — TransFolk of WA, Living Proud WA & GRAI - GLBTI Rights in Ageing Inc — where it will have a big impact in helping them to grow. The rest will go to developing an LGBTQIA+ peak advocacy body to develop and implement the new inclusion strategy (which means a body that consults and represents our communities at all levels of government decision making).

It’s a great moment for our communities and one that deserves celebrating. Thank you to the many advocates who worked hard to get us here.

But while we’ll take a moment to stop and celebrate, we know that there’s still lots more work to be done. Our calls for the government to urgently implement LGBTIQA+ law reforms remain as loud as ever.

[Image is a picture of representatives from RFWA, GRAI, Living Proud and Transfolk with Minister Hannah Beazley in front of the Pride Progress flag]

This is really special! Congratulations!!

With our full respect to First Nations people living across this stolen land, this year we will close on January 26 and attend the rally in Boorloo.

We have opened for the last five years and donated all profits from Jan 26th in the past. We did this as an act of resistance to a celebratory public holiday, and it was always a beautiful space to be in with our community. But we have also struggled with bounding our resistance up with people buying things, with it not feeling adequately respectful to the history of colonial violence that this day represents, and with the desire of us all to be amongst the community at the Invasion Day / Survival Day rally. On top of that, the call for a global strike out of Gaza gave us the push we needed to try to do things differently this year. I’m not sure if we will always do this, but it feels right this year. Big love to .yoga for shining a light here.

We will still donate an equivalent amount and really encourage you to find a First Nations organisation to support too. We’ll share suggestions in our Instagram stories. This year we want to support , a group of q***r First Nations people creating something nourishing and important for each other close to home.

I hope you can all keep having conversations in the spaces you have access to, keep helping to turn the dial and the tone of the conversation around Jan 26. Seek out truth telling and deepen your understanding of the deep hurt this day perpetuates. If you’re an ally, consider diving into those comment sections and leave your mark rather than shying away from them. And of course, show up to the rally at Forest Chase Friday 26 Jan at 12:30pm. That act of community solidarity is so important.

Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.

Tonight!!

Next Wednesday, Jan 17, from 6pm at Rabble Books & Games is the launch of Kerry Greer’s highly anticipated debut poetry collection, THE SEA CHEST, published by Recent Work Press.

The book will be launched by Scott-Patrick Mitchell. The night will also include a poetry reading from Lisa Collyer Poet with music by Sarah Tout.

Tickets are available via the link below and include standard admission, standard admission + a copy of THE SEA CHEST or a pay if forward option:

https://www.rabblebooksandgames.com.au/c/events__40

One year ago, RFWA’s Misty Farquhar wrote an op-ed for The West talking about delays in LGBTIQA+ reform in WA. Today, they have written another op-ed, exposing how little the government has done for LGBTIQA+ rights in WA in the last 12 months.

As the article states, the State Government has a moral imperative to protect members of the LGBTIQA+ community from harm. Inertia as a policy setting has consequences and our community feels those consequences every day.

https://thewest.com.au/opinion/misty-farquhar-wa-labor-all-talk-little-action-on-protecting-lgbtiqa-people-c-12980240

Lovely to get an Xmas Eve visit from and little Djarloo! One of our bestselling books this year, perfect for all kids to learn more about Noongar country through language.

Signed copies of Noongar Boodja Waangkan in store now!

[Image is Jayden and his son Djarloo holding up the book Noongar Boodja Waangkan with the bookshop in the background]

We're open until 5pm today!
Ellie has been powering away these last few weeks to make sure that everyone gets their weborders and subscriptions, but she still had time to make a pile of recommendations.
(Not pictured - Ellie's comic collection that is as tall as she is).

10 Things That Never Happened - Alexis Hall
I Wish you All the Best - Mason Deaver
Imogen Obviously - Becky Albertalli
Gwen & Art are Not in Love - Lex Croucher
My Life in Sea Creatures - Sabrina Imbler
Cosmoknights Book 2 - Steven Templer
They Hate Each Other - Amanda Woody
The Dos and Donuts of Love - Adiba Jaigirdar
A Trans Man Walks into a Gay Bar - Harry Nicholas
Lumberjanes Vol 1 - Stevenson, Ellis, Watters
Our Wives Under The Sea - Julia Armfield
Hell Followed with Us - Andrew Joseph White

Image is Ellie holding her stack of recommendations

It's the newest member of the Rabble team, Shaan! If you've been to the shop in the last few weeks you've probably seen Shaan doing a great job of holding down the fort while the rest of us take turns at being away.
Here are some of the books she loved this year and a few that are jumping to the top of the to-be-read list.

Our Strangers - Lydia Davis
The Thick and The Lean -
Content Warning: Everything - Awake Emezi
American Fever -
I Will Great the Sun Again - Khashayar J. Khabushani
Happy -
Firelight - John Morrissey

We're open 10-5 tomorrow (Sunday) and we still have a few different Christmas wrapping papers left!

Image: Shaan is smiling and holding the stack of books listed above. You can't see Shaan's smile because I forgot to invite her to take her mask off, but you know it's there!

First up, I know it’s been a hard year for many people. Don’t forget we have $35 vouchers for anyone who needs them - our community has contributed them across the year and we have plenty still available. Ask at the counter or send us an email if you want one.

It’s been a wild year for me and I couldn’t share as many of my favourite releases with you on socials as I would have liked (though I have loved being able to share them through our subscriptions!). So here’s a little round up of some faves from this year - fiction and poetry!

🌻 FICTION 🌻
He Who Drowned the World
Squire
Ruined
Enter Ghost
Victory City
Edenglassie
The In Between
Songs for the Dead and the Living
Yellowface

🌻 POETRY 🌻
Dress Rehearsals
Non-Essential Work
Reliefs
The Flirtation of Girls
Flow
Lakesong
Returning
How to Order Eggs Sunny Side Up
If There is a Butterfly

[Image 1 is Nat smiling and holding the stack of fiction, and Image 2 is Nat smiling and holding the above stack of poetry]

Delightful Anne with a stack she’s hoping appears under her Xmas tree. One of the most voracious readers we know, she’ll be through these by the end of January for sure!

🎄 Legends and Lattes by
📚 Dead Collections by
🎄 The Last Yazuka by
📚 Personal Score by Ellen van Neerven
🎄 Really Good, Actually by
📚 Weirdo by .pascoe
🎄 Danger and Other Unknown Risks by and Ryan North

[Image is Anne smiling in the bookshop holding a stack of the above books.]

Today is the day!!!!!
Heartstopper #5 is out now, and we have absolutely truckloads.
Image is two stacks of books with Heartstopper Volume 5 written on them. One copy is standing face forward on which we can see Nick and Charlie holding each other.

It’s International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and the start of . I love this initiative from which grew out of an open letter from publishers. Have a look at their list of free books (at the link in their bio) and read one this week. also has some free ebooks on their website. We stand in solidarity with Palestine and Palestinians, in the struggle against apartheid and genocide that we are witnessing, and in a vision of a free Palestine to come.

For local solidarity actions, follow .

[The first image is a detail from a tatreez rainbow keffiyeh from and the second is a Read Palestine tile from Publishers for Palestine]

Maylands Street Festival is today! Eighth Ave is buzzing with activity as the stall holders set up and everyone gets ready for a big day.
The festival will run 12pm to 8pm and we'll be open that whole time. Hope to see you there!
--Sam


Image is a long view down Eighth Avenue showing trees, marquees and people moving about. It is beautiful weather for a festival.

Can’t wait to see perform at Pride Poetry Night this Saturday! Still a few tickets left for you to join us, or grab an online ticket to watch from home!

They’ll also be performing at the on the 11th.

Hengequeens is a feminist choir for people marginalised by the patriarchy. They sing songs by, for and about women and non-binary people, in bespoke 3-6 part arrangements. A pox on setlists full of white dudes!

Pride Poetry Night this Saturday night - in person and ONLINE thanks to Rohit Kanchi!

And the info you’ve been hanging for! Here’s our wonderful line-up of feature poets, clockwise from the top left:

⚡️ Fable Goldsmith
⚡️ Rosie Caveny-Shute
⚡️ Aisyah Sumito aka Aaqila
⚡️ Joni Boyd AKA Checkout Chick
⚡️ Kaya Ortiz
⚡️ plus a special guest!

And of course, Scott-Patrick Mitchell as our MC and open mic sign ups on the night. We cannot wait! Ticket link in our bio/comments for anyone who hasn’t snapped one up yet! Online tickets are $20, in person $25 and ticket price goes to pay the feature poets and cover some event costs.

📣📣📣