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Find Your Next Read at one of Sydney’s Best Bookstores
Lose yourself in Sydney's best bookstores that have everything that literature lovers crave – including coffee and wine.
Few things in life hit like a good old-fashioned wander in a bookstore, flipping pages and judging books by their covers. The only thing that trumps said mosey is taking your stash of books home in a brown paper bag and settling in for a cosy afternoon of reading. Now, that’s a pretty picture!
So, next time you’re stuck for weekend plans, consider popping into your local bookshop or exploring a nearby suburban gem for your nest page turner. Make a morning of it and hit up a market or cafe, too. Not sure where to start? We’ve rounded up Sydney’s best bookstores to set you on your way.
Editor’s Pick:
Ampersand Cafe & Bookstore
No one is disappointed when brunch turns into a novel adventure and Ampersand is the place where this evolution regularly occurs. Housed inside a two-story cafe that sprawls onto an open terrace, Ampersand serves exceptional coffee and breakfast dishes with a side of books.
78 Oxford Street, Paddington
Sydney’s Best Bookstores
Bookshop By Uro
One of Melbourne’s chicest bookstores has officially arrived in Sydney, opening a new outpost in Chippendale where all your favourite coffee table books are housed under one roof.
Swing by on weekends and browse Bookshop By Uro‘s thoughtfully curate selection of art, design, culture and architecture books, including some titles you can’t find anywhere else in Sydney.
Thursday to Saturday, 10am–5pm
3 Blackfriars Street, Chippendale
Ariel Booksellers
For killer coffee table books, international magazines, and gorgeous gifts for the bookworm in your life, make a beeline for Ariel Booksellers. Poetry, fashion, film history, and cooking genres line the back shelves, while a huge new release section filled with the best in fiction and non-fiction greet you on the way in.
However, there’s one corner of this bookstore we linger in the most and it’s the two shelves on the bottom of a rack reserved for staff picks. Here, you’ll find a curated selection of interesting biographies, legendary classics, and stories that you might not pick up had you not had the recommendation of a trusted source. There’s also a bunch of cute knickknacks and stationery items scattered throughout.
326 Oxford Street, Paddington
Better Read Than Dead
It is too easy to linger way longer than you should in this bookstore. Better Read Than Dead is a Newtown institution with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined with a curated collection.
The staff are well-versed and encourage a good chat about your latest read which almost always ends in a list of recommendations to follow. Plus, they even host regular author talks throughout the year. The best part is, they are open late every night of the week – so browse to your heart’s content.
265 King Street, Newtown
Woollahra Bookshop
On top of handing out thoughtful recommendations, Woollahra Bookshop is dog-friendly so you can bring your pooch for a browse, too. Keen to share their love of books far and wide, these guys also offer free local home delivery if you can’t make it in-store.
Spicer Street, Woollahra
The Best Little Bookshop in Town
It’s all right there in the name. An unpretentious, local favourite bookstore with a solid range of fiction, non-fiction and children’s books, The Best Little Bookshop in Town has something for everyone. Be sure to visit their Instagram page to check out what the crew are currently loving before picking up a read and heading to the beach. Their recommendations never miss!
97 Cronulla Street, Cronulla
Romancing The Novel
Romance novels are having a resurgence and to be frank, we’re 100% on board with it. Aside from stocking the sauciest reads in Sydney, Romancing The Novel also boasts a schmick reading lounge where lovers of steamy literature are welcome to spend a few hours as well as pretty pink interiors to set the scene.
2 Heeley Street, Paddington
The Burns Bay Bookery
If you happen to find yourself cruising around the leafy streets of Lane Cove anytime soon, be sure to pop by this gem of a store. You’ll be greeted by the always friendly staff who are more than happy to swing a few recommendations your way or let you browse. The Burns Bay Bookery packs a whole lot onto the shelves with artisan and Australian-made homewares and gifts dotted throughout.
4/50-54 Burns Bay Road, Lane Cove
Title
Title is more than a bookstore, it’s a bona fide arts destination. Taking pride of place inside a sleek, glass-walled building in The Streets of Barangaroo, its encyclopaedic collection of classic, obscure, out-of-print and hard-to-find titles in the art space is all but unmatched. However, books are just the beginning with independent films and music in equal abundance.
400 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo
Bookoccino
Brews and best sellers are the order of the day at Avalon’s beloved, Bookoccino. With a bustling café corner, friendly service, and an all-around literary atmosphere, it offers the ideal spot for a coffee date, either with your paperback or fellow bookworm.
66 Old Barrenjoey Road, Avalon Beach
Potts Point Bookshop
This award-winning independent bookstore is owned and staffed by book lovers (with over fifty years of experience between them), so when you pop in to find your next read you know you’ll be in the right hands.
14 Macleay Street, Elizabeth Bay
Sydney’s Best Bookstores: New and Second-Hand Books
Elizabeth’s Bookshop
Behind the iconic forest green awning of Elizabeth’s awaits thousands of titles squeezed onto shelves and stacked high on top of tables. Don’t know what you’re looking for? Try a ‘blind date with a book’ and receive a hand-wrapped mystery title tagged with clues as to what’s inside.
257 King Street, Newtown
Sappho Books, Café and Wine Bar
Fans of literature can’t get enough of this inner-city gem. Sappho Books has mastered the book/coffee and book/wine combo. A general second-hand bookstore on Glebe’s busy strip, you can pick up an out-of-print or hard-to-find book before heading through to the courtyard café that transforms into a bar come nightfall.
51 Glebe Point Road, Glebe
Berkelouw Books
Sitting beside the Verona Cinemas, Berkelouw Books’ flagship store in Paddington is the perfect Sunday afternoon stop off before catching an evening movie. The three-storey building showcases a wide selection of fiction and non-fiction literature as well as trinkets and an array of coffee table books.
19 Oxford Street, Paddington
Gertrude & Alice
Moments from Bondi Beach, this gem is just a quick stroll from the water and a post-swim trip never grows old. Gertrude & Alice sells both second-hand and brand-new books. The store, which doubles as a café, lends itself to a relaxed peruse that can end with a coffee or wine (and a long read). They regularly host book launches, author events and other bookish events so keep an eye on their socials to keep in the loop.
1/46 Hall Street, Bondi Beach
Loved this edit of Sydney’s best bookstores and looking for a quiet corner to read? The city is filled with great spots to bury your head in a good book. From picnics in the park, cafes, and cosy bars – you name it, we’ve got it.
