The Paperback Bookshop is an independent, general bookshop established in the mid 1960s here at the top, quiet end of Bourke street. With the idea of making paperback editions of books that weren't generally for sale readily available to Melbourne readers, the original owner set about sourcing stock from trips overseas, chiefly the US, and from local publishers. Paperback editions of exciting contemporary writers of the time such as the Beats, Australian contemporary literature and titles otherwise banned under Australia's strict censorship laws, soon found their way onto the newly built shelves. These very same shelves still hold current editions of some of these staples, alongside decades of classics – and the constant arrival of new publications and new favourites. The Paperback, then and now, is about showcasing good writing that is vital to the times and to readers.
A good bookshop naturally lends itself to time spent browsing and to conversations between readers. The small scale, long opening hours and nooks of the Paperback are especially conducive to such a sharing of enthusiasms. Over the years our stock has become the result, in part, of an accumulation of recommendations and conversations between many wonderful staff members, browsers and customers. The heart of the bookshop, the selection of books, has been handled and honed by many minds.
As booksellers we are always keenly interested in what's new. The monthly influx of new releases includes new local and international fiction -and non fiction - from major publishers and from the swelling ranks of overseas and homegrown small press publishers
Throughout the decades the bookshop has maintained a distinct character which has survived upheavals and changes in publishing, ownership, staffing, reading patterns (and methods) - and shifts of all sorts in the world surrounding the shop. The appetite for good books has prevailed! We're extremely glad and grateful to have come through the challenges of the last few years with a renewed sense of how important books and a reading community are in the lives of our customers and fellow readers.
Our neighbourhood is changing as well, but we still love being here; in the heart of the city, yet removed from the maelstrom. Being next to Pelligrini's meant we never had to think about following the bookshop/cafe trend. The now departed Job Warehouse always drew conversation and reminiscences. The neighbouring theatres bring life and colour and welcome window shoppers. Our long term fellow tenants and companions, the tailors, dressmakers and restaurateurs still hold a link to a disappearing and always reappearing city. The city dwellers and workers over all the years have been and remain our much appreciated mainstay.
The Paperback stocks an extensive selection of new release and backlist titles covering a wide range of genres including; Fiction, Australian Non-fiction, History, Biography and memoir, Natural History, Children's books, Poetry, Classics and writing on music, film, theatre, philosophy, politics, current affairs, Art and Gardening. We're always happy to source and order books for our customers that we don't generally keep in stock .
Our Salon Series, featuring readings and conversations with some of our favourite authors showcases the breadth and talent in local writing at monthly events.
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You're welcome, always.