Yesterday, I was walking around Garden City at their 1-Day Sale. It was insane! Every man and his dog was there, teenagers, families with strollers, old people... anyone and everyone was there to get out of the heat and rushing around to do their Christmas shopping before anyone else!
Well, okay, we all had the same idea.
I had most of the gifts for everyone and thought to drop into my favourite second-hand bookstore at Westfield Garden City: 'The Book Cafe'. Now, this place started out a kind of hole-in-the-wall kinda place where nobody really liked. It was a very original type of shop; and these types of stores normally attract me like a moth to a flame... this one was no different.
But it is! This store stocks all kinds of books. It has brand new books at the front of the store and second hand books throughout the rest of the store, lining the walls. The tables are small and intimate and lovely light-coloured wood with chairs that have metal name-plates on the backs where they've had author's names attached to them. How beautifully quaint is that? I love it! I've always looked for some of my favourite authors - such at JRR Tolkien or Stephen King on those chairs - in the past. But now, I just pick any chair and take my chances and love whoever I get... but sometimes the chair backs are blank; and I think of them as wildcards and make up a name of an author I'm reading now to put there while I'm sitting at the table.
I love this little store. With its aroma of coffee urging you to come inside and to have a look around, you are immediately taken away from the hustle and bustle of the busy shopping mall and into the almost-silent, library-like existance of this store. The books are well-shelved, all in alphabetical order around the edges of the store and in the middle - where there's some tables - you'll find True Crime, Horror and Biography on separate double-sided bookcases. I was told yesterday that Estelle Pinney - a wonderful Brisbane author - is a frequent customer to the cafe; and when she comes for lunch, she searches for her books, picks them up and signs them. And I've bought a few of her books - all signed - and found them to be quite lovely to send to my friends (as they love to receive signed copies of these books).
So, if you do visit Brisbane and are on the southside of the city, do go into this wonderful Westfield Shopping Centre and search out 'The Book Cafe'... and stay, read and enjoy this little bit of book heaven; be it for a little while or for a few hours, it's well worth it. To find this wonderful little book corner of the world and photos of it too, here's a link:
The Book Cafe Garden City
Well, okay, we all had the same idea.
I had most of the gifts for everyone and thought to drop into my favourite second-hand bookstore at Westfield Garden City: 'The Book Cafe'. Now, this place started out a kind of hole-in-the-wall kinda place where nobody really liked. It was a very original type of shop; and these types of stores normally attract me like a moth to a flame... this one was no different.
But it is! This store stocks all kinds of books. It has brand new books at the front of the store and second hand books throughout the rest of the store, lining the walls. The tables are small and intimate and lovely light-coloured wood with chairs that have metal name-plates on the backs where they've had author's names attached to them. How beautifully quaint is that? I love it! I've always looked for some of my favourite authors - such at JRR Tolkien or Stephen King on those chairs - in the past. But now, I just pick any chair and take my chances and love whoever I get... but sometimes the chair backs are blank; and I think of them as wildcards and make up a name of an author I'm reading now to put there while I'm sitting at the table.
I love this little store. With its aroma of coffee urging you to come inside and to have a look around, you are immediately taken away from the hustle and bustle of the busy shopping mall and into the almost-silent, library-like existance of this store. The books are well-shelved, all in alphabetical order around the edges of the store and in the middle - where there's some tables - you'll find True Crime, Horror and Biography on separate double-sided bookcases. I was told yesterday that Estelle Pinney - a wonderful Brisbane author - is a frequent customer to the cafe; and when she comes for lunch, she searches for her books, picks them up and signs them. And I've bought a few of her books - all signed - and found them to be quite lovely to send to my friends (as they love to receive signed copies of these books).
So, if you do visit Brisbane and are on the southside of the city, do go into this wonderful Westfield Shopping Centre and search out 'The Book Cafe'... and stay, read and enjoy this little bit of book heaven; be it for a little while or for a few hours, it's well worth it. To find this wonderful little book corner of the world and photos of it too, here's a link:
The Book Cafe Garden City
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