Love Your Bookshop – Brunswick Bound
Love Your Bookshop – Brunswick Bound
Justina Ashman
361 Sydney Road, Brunswick
Every booklover understands the close bond you develop with your local bookshop. Whether you’ve spent hours poring through overstuffed shelves or had a friendly staff member recommend to you the perfect read as soon as you walked through the door, if you’re a reader you probably have a special place in your heart for bookshops.
Some of my most vivid memories from growing up are of bookshops – saving up my pocket money to buy the latest Emily Rodda or Isobelle Carmody, sitting cross-legged on the floor and starting to read right then and there.
When I first moved to Melbourne I was delighted and overwhelmed by the number of beautiful bookstores scattered throughout the city. I quickly set about visiting as many as I could as often as I could, but it took me nearly six months to wander into my local. When I finally did find myself stepping into this welcoming little shop, I was not disappointed in the slightest.
Brunswick Bound has been tucked comfortably among the lively cafes and vintage shops of Sydney Road for the past ten years. It’s an absolute gem of a bookstore nestled in the beating heart of Melbourne’s inner north.
Walking through the door, the first thing you see is a wall of beautiful art and design books—gorgeous hardbacks that’ll make you itch for an equally beautiful coffee table to display them on. Brunswick Bound has an eclectic collection of all kinds of titles in all sorts of genres, from the latest fiction releases to that quirky title you could only find in an independent bookshop like this. And if there’s anything they don’t have in stock, just ask and they’ll happily order it in for you.
But books aren’t the only things the store stocks. They have all kinds of unique and beautiful gifts, from calendars and cards illustrated with native flora and fauna, to diaries and delicately patterned wrapping paper. It took all of my self-restraint to stop myself from leaving with an armful of notebooks, but I’m sure on my next visit I’ll finally satisfy the wishes of my stationary-loving heart.
There are huge leather armchairs for you to settle in with a book – or for your long-suffering friend to collapse into after thirty minutes so they can sigh passive-aggressively at you whenever your elated bookish wanderings pass them by. Little do they know – there’s also an upstairs that sometimes houses book sales with some staggeringly good bargains.
Brunswick Bound is definitely worth poking your head into. Let the magic of this warm and bright little shop transport you back to your childhood days as you curl up in one of their lush armchairs and dive into your latest literary treasure.