About CAE Book Groups

CAE Book Groups was established in Melbourne in 1947 with a vision of bringing books to readers throughout Victoria. 42 groups joined in that first year. 75 years later we have over 500 book groups, with thousands of members across mainland Australia.

We despatch hundreds of books daily from our warehouse in Melbourne to book groups as far away as Darwin in the north and Perth in the west.

Groups choose their books from available titles in our catalogue, Dialogue. This is updated regularly and contains over 2,000 titles, from international award-winners to debuts by Australian writers. The list has been carefully curated over the years; it reflects some of the very best in world literature and is an interesting piece of social history in itself.

CAE Book Groups also provides specially commissioned Discussion Notes to accompany each book. These reading guides help illuminate each book’s themes, with author information and discussion questions to stimulate any group meeting. Our note-writers have included award-winning authors Carmel Bird, Laurie Clancy, Gwen Harwood, Garry Disher, Brenda Niall, Linda Jaivin and Aviva Tuffield; and Melbourne-based writers including Melanie Joosten, Bec Kavanagh, Vicky Booth, Jessica Zibung and Veronica Sullivan.