Bookshops are my weakness in general. I should just put that out there…read more So when the newest owners took over the Wahroonga bookstore (there's been one in this location since 1917) and added all sorts of gorgeous gift items to grace the shelves alongside my beloved books, I redoubled my love. Novella (I adore the name!) is the perfect one-stop-shop for pretty much every occasion. If you can't find the right book to gift (yes, I still give books as gifts - is that old-fashioned yet?), then you'll be sure to find a cute piece of jewellery, some lovely crockery or even some particularly gorgeous leather-goods. And of course you can buy a cards to cap things off. So much for attempting to spend less time in bookstores!

Novella stocks a variety of quality books. The store has charm and ambiance unlike chain stores…read moresuch as Borders (now closed) and Dymocks. The customer service is more personable and the shopping experience more enjoyable. The staff are very knowledgeable about their products (books and gifts) and are very efficient. Evidently the stock has been carefully selected with a great amount of consideration. The store is conveniently located in among Wahroonga shops and is easily accessible in comparison to supercentres.

There are always interesting books displayed in the window of Books on King. Interesting cover work…read moreand obscure titles; books about science, music, fiction; books that bring back nostalgic memories from days spent on busses, in parks, beneath trees. Books endorsed by celebrities and books that strive to teach us something. Record sleeves are stuck to the wall and familiar faces etched on vinyl welcome me into the small second hand book shop, Books on King. The narrow aisles make browsing difficult when there are too many people walking back and forth, scanning titles and reading blurbs. I wander up and down the aisle, I'm looking for a small book, one that could be read in a summers afternoon, one that I could flick through while the storm clouds rumble in the distance but the sun still shines down from above. Books for when the last remaining heat before the storm breaks and soft gentle rain shadowed by their father's, the clouds, comes down and refreshes us all and washes the sticky humidity from off our skins. I wanted that kind of book. I find a H.G. Wells book on the shelf, it's thin and has a tacky painting drawn on the cover, this small yellow paperback beckons for me to pick it up and read. It's the Island of Dr Moreau. I know little about the saga, but I know it holds a place in Science Fiction history, a thought provoking story, well imagined and shot to death by the silver screen as Val Kilmer just stood there and watched and never even said a thing.

Books on King is a reasonably priced second hand bookshop in Newtown, Their range within the shop…read moreis not as extensive or interesting as you may find in other second hands book shops, but it is worth a look as you might find that difficult to locate treasure for your collection. The best books in Books on King tend to be on display in the shop window and they always have some interesting choices, I often saw J.G Ballard, William S Burroughs and Peter Carey titles there, the prices are reasonable too, with most titles being around the $8 mark. Worth a look.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I had just come out of the "other" Westfield centre at Bondi Junction and was walking along the…read morefootpath back to the station when I spotted a sign plastered on a curved window a few floors above the "opposite" Westfield centre declaring "Harry Hartog Bookseller". I was intrigued - the font it was written in was that of the fonts used by old antique shops but with a modern slant. I couldn't resist - damn it if I miss that train but damn it if I don't find out what was behind that window. I glad I missed my train (and the next one and the one after that). If you like fresh, airy and light-filled bookshops with room to move and to wander from aisle to aisle and stack to stack I highly recommend popping into Harry Hartog's. It's a beautiful (and slightly quirky) store that not only has a wonderful collection of books - including a terrific children's book and puzzle collection but gifts, bags, cards and stationery. The store also proudly promotes in-store events for all ages (there was a kid's event happening that weekend), and there are lounges and seats scattered around so you can sit quietly and thumb through that potential purchase. There are well dressed displays in the store windows and throughout the store that entice the visitor to inquire. Staff are friendly, helpful yet unobtrusive. If you like that famous Japanese bookstore in the city -you'll like find Harry Hartog with similar style but with more sophistication and relaxed.

OMG! I accidentally found this bookstore today! How long I haven't noticed such a lovely bookstore…read more I fall in love with this bookstore and I think this is the best bookstore I have ever visited. It's not the huge store but size is good enough in the shopping centre. I have been to this shopping centre millions of times but until today I have never noticed this. It's amazing! Let me explain, well, it is really organised display and looking very attractive, and not only books but also some good qualities of gift items such as wallets, bags, briefcases, mug cups, coffee beans and tea bags, some gift items for children, all sorts of cards and so on. On top of those, there is lounge area outside of this bookstore. Please take a look at my photos. There are more bookshelves and comfortable couches there. Some people are reading books there, some are just having a chat and I just sit and feeling the happiness to find out this oasis. Nowadays, we tend to not reading a book and instead of reading books we watch internet items. However, I realised we still have nice bookstores out there and we really should go and feel how fantastic feeling and how we can relax being just there. So cool. Gold! 本日とてもうれしい発見を致しました。とても素敵な素晴らしい書店をたまたま見つけた事です。このショッピングセンターは今まで何年も通い続けていた建物なのですが、なぜかこのフロアーのこの角地には行った事がありませんでした。なぜだか、このフロアのはずれにあるエスカレーターを使う事となりブラブラ歩いてフロアの最後のテナントまで来たのですが、そこに見つけたのは通路にディスプレイされた書棚のいくつかと古いレザーでできた４セットのソファでした。うわー、くつろげる場所があるし、本も読める！と思ったら目の前に新しい本屋さんがあったのでした。 今年の初めにこのビル内でなぜか水浸しになってしまった本屋さんに遭遇した友人がいたり、その模様をニュースやネットでもチラッと見た事はあったのですがあれがこの本屋さんであった事が本日判明しました。多分そのためにこんなに新しい内装なのだなと思いました。書籍の内容はもう全て揃っています！赤ちゃん用から大人用まで。多種用のカード、おもちゃ、素晴らしい素材のお財布、バッグ、ブリーフケース。ギフト用のカップ類、お料理本がディスプレイされている書棚の上方には何とお料理用のお鍋とかまで。ホント、録画で世界中の皆さんに紹介したいほどです。 でも、日本とかイギリスロンドンにはこの手の素敵な本屋さんがありそうですが、私が今まで出会ったなかでは一番素敵な感動した本屋さんでした！

Abbey's is a great bookshop with a culty edge, they used to own Galaxy Bookshop on the same street…read morewhich is now closed and some of the sci-fi stock has been incorporated into Abbey's, check the window display for the very cute Star Wars soft toys (I want a Yoda, he is so cute). Being one of Sydney's larger bookshops Abbey's has a very large range, but the reason I like it is not so much for their books but the DVDs. Abbey's offers possibly the most extensive foreign film DVD selection in Sydney, they have many deleted titles and many imports. If you are looking for films by the greats of foreign cinema such as Bergman, Ozon, Haneke, Fellini, Antonioni, Abbey's is the place to find them. Oh and grab me a Yoda on the way out.

I was, for a time, what can only be described as a Frankophile. That's someone who is obsessed with…read morethings a la Francois. I got heavily into the music of Raphael, Camille, Serge Gainsbourg and even Vanessa Paradis. I was watching French Films like a maniac, and I even endeavoured to take up the ancient art of speaking the language. I decided the best way to do this (Well, not the best way, but the most accessible, the cheapest and the most likely that I would follow it through.) would be to purchase some French Speaking CD's and utilise the lessons therein. With a reputation for language books and media, I journeyed to Abbey Books just behind the QVB. Which has now taken into its premises the science fiction bookshop, Galaxy. I had no idea which one would be the ideal course for me so I got some advice from the staff there, he asked me questions about outcomes and reasons to learn and such and then pointed me in the right direction. I purchased my audio lessons and thanked the man. And after many a jog around the bay with my headphones in, repeating french phrases as I jogged. Probably looking like a looney from Paris talking to himself, I learnt the ancient art of Conversational French. Though I still can't have a conversation in it, unless that conversation is asking how you are, you say fine and then I buy something from you.