I always love a good second hand bookshop, and this place I have to say was huge. In fact it was…read moremore like a second-hand book warehouse than a simply bookshop, probably because it happened to be located in an old warehouse. Honestly, you could spend ages digging through here for little gems (though of course a lot of the hard to find books tend to disappear pretty quickly). Oh, and they also have a large selection of DVDs and CDs, so that is also a huge bonus.

Gould's Book Arcade is a mainstay of King St. Has there ever been a time when this imperious,…read moredusty, crusty old gent has not propped up Newtown's poor, her tired, her huddled masses...? Not since the 80's and quite possibly long before that. If you are after anything I mean ANYTHING that has gone out of print, is hard to find, or just so random that you have no idea where to start looking for it, head straight to Gould's. Do not pass go. Granted, you will have no idea where to start looking for it once you're inside either but I can guarantee you it's there... somewhere... Here you will find the best collection of Australian political and history books on the planet, as well as old vinyls, a priceless magazine collection, and videos. Yes, videos! I struggled not to put "old" in front of each of those items. Gould's bookstore is old, yes, and extremely beloved.

Not four blocks up the road from Gleebooks is another little shop called Gleebooks. This Gleebooks,…read morehowever, differs from the original Gleebooks as it sells primarily second hand books and children's literature. Gleebooks. I was walking down the road on sunny Sunday morning and I happened to glance to the left of my vision, a small hard covered book placed in the window, part of the display. It was 'Dr. Seuss Goes to War' a collection of his and other cartoonists political cartoons from the World War II period. I goose-stepped inside and asked the shop keep about the act of acquiring it. He instructed me that I was welcome to grab it, and grab it I did. As I've probably mentioned before, I buy most books online, so it's these second hand book shops that I love going to, because chances are you'll find something interesting, written a long time ago, that you just couldn't find online. And for $30 for a hardcover book by my man, Theodore Seuss Giselle, that's just what the doctor ordered.

The hours I've spent in here…read more.. I used to live a couple of streets away, and was revisiting my old haunts and gladly traipsed back in to the little secondhand Gleebooks here, at the far end of Glebe Point Road. It was a bit of a time warp, the same wooden shelves in the window stocking an eclectic array of readerly delights. There were fewer of the plastic bins full of bargains on the streetfront and fewer groundlevel piles of new stock inside which I fondly remember trawling through to get the best picks before anyone else. They've still a fantastic selection of literary fiction, classics, and non-fiction of all types and persuasions - a great deal of my undergrad degree was researched with books gleaned from here, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. The books are really well organised, cheaper than some other secondhand stores around and the staff polite and seriously knowledgeable. A Sydney institution.

Berkelouw is a beautiful book shop, worthy of extended browsing and buying. The second hand…read moresection upstairs is easy to loose yourself in and the ground level of the shop pleases with crisp fresh pages of coffee-table books, paperbacks, kids books and an exciting range of stationary and tid-bits. The wine bar upstairs is also quite nice and is a fantastic place to relax with friends or alone, with a good book and a glass of red. Sadly, the downstairs roadside cafe is not as great as Berkelouw's other elements. Despite the perfect location, directly opposite the Norton Plaza and in the heart of Leichhardt, Berkelouw's cafe prices are quite expensive and, what's more, the prices are not indicative of the standard of the meals, with the food and coffee being of poor quality. If you're after a good location in Leichhardt then you've got it here. If you're after a good book or a great gift, then you've got it here too. If you're after a great breakfast with value for money then there are plenty of good options in your surrounding suburbs.

I enjoy going to bookshops and often buy many books to support the business rather than shop…read moreonline. However, I will no longer be supporting Berlalouw books at Leichardt. The staff are rude and unfriendly and make you feel unwelcome. Bad service, service with an ATTITUDE.

This place is really cute! It's a bit tough to find parking but we got lucky and found a spot right…read morein front of the shop! I came here for the Blind Date With a Book. The books are just over $16 AUD, I can't remember the exact price. I had a lot of fun picking my novel and am excited to unwrap and read it. If you open it to find you've already read it you can bring it back with original packaging and receipt to exchange it. I don't read many books so I wasn't worried and took it home with me to the states. The shop was busy and full of people and the prices seamed reasonable as far as I could tell. I enjoyed seeing a bookshop thriving for once!

Imagine my surprise, after visiting one awesome bookshop as I was wandering along King Street that…read moreI suddenly came across a second one. Well, it didn't take me much persuasion to step inside and have a look around, and I certainly was impressed. As mentioned, if I can find something of interest within a few minutes of browsing the shelves then it is a good bookshop, and sure enough, after a few minutes, I found a book (in fact I believe it was two), so sure enough this place gets the thumbs up. Actually, this could be the same shop that I visited previously, though the previous one happened to be in the city.

I was a fan up until I learned about the wage dispute with the employees that dragged on for years…read more The workers did finally "win," and good for them, but I haven't been back and just don't feel comfortable patronizing this business given how this was handled. https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/better-read-dead-workers-win-landmark-agreement-after-dedicated-industrial-action https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/jul/28/unprecedented-the-fight-for-sydney-independent-bookstore-better-read-than-dead

This is one of the reasons that I love Newtown, it is just so retro, and you can find some pretty…read morecool shops along the strip, such as this one. In fact there wasn't one, but two, decent bookshops within a short distance from each other. This one was pretty cool, and that usually comes down to me being able to find a book within a couple of minutes browsing the shelves, and this place certainly hit the mark. The staff are pretty awesome as well, and there is a really good selection of secondhand books.

Another second-hand bookshop with a huge collection of books to browse through. Like many of these…read moreshops I actually stumbled across it quite by accident, and honestly, I could literally spend hours browsing the collection, if it wasn't for the fact that when I ended up loading up with books my luggage ends up weighing way too much. Still, the owner is really friendly, and as I mentioned, there is also a huge collection here as well.

If you are a book lover like me, then this place is heaven. From Potter to Proust, this second hand…read morebookstore has got you covered. There are piles of books everywhere. There are piles outside the front door, piles on shelves, piles in corners, piles on the service counter, piles on top of piles.... There are so many books that I wouldn't be surprised if the whole place exploded under the pressure, sending millions of white pages, and sweet words spewing out onto Belmore Rd. There's barley enough room to move, and if another game punter dares peruse the same aisle as you, one of you will need to vacate in order to move around comfortably. The owner is so funny, and always helpful (even though he continually tries to steer me towards the Twilight pile). Every time I visit he has tips to offer, and new books to show. Prices are reasonable, but in my opinion, a little too expensive at times. When you finish reading your latest purchase, you can either keep it, or return it for half the price you paid. A great, inexpensive way to encourage reading, and one of my favourite hidden gems in Sydney.

There is nothing better than a good second-hand bookshop, other than a second-hand bookshop where…read morethe owner will talk to you for ages about second-hand books, and this is certainly one of those places. If there is one thing I love to talk about and that is books, expecially old books, and she certainly has a decent collection of them. There are some pretty good titles in here, but the best part about this place, as with most shops of a similar nature, is the ability to simply pour through the volumes looking for something that catches your attention, and also getting a nice, dusty old hardcover book.