Melbourne

Take the long way to a book.

PLACES TO WANDER · CITY 14

Three independent bookshops worth finding in person. If you're looking for the best independent bookshops in Melbourne, Places to Wander's edited guide includes Readings Carlton in Carlton, The Paperback Bookshop in Bourke Street and Metropolis Bookshop in Curtin House. Explore the selected shops below, with neighborhood context, drawings and links to each shop's own website. The guide is edited, not numerically ranked.

Melbourne · The bookshop mapChoose a number

Map: Esri, TomTom, Garmin, FAO, NOAA, USGS, © OpenStreetMap contributors and GIS User Community. Selected streets and water; numbered points use the existing address matches. Use directions for your visit.

The illustrated issue

Browse the drawings. Open a shop for visiting details.

01 · Carlton

Readings Carlton

Australian writing · Literature · Music

Opened in 1969 by Dot and Ross Reading, in a former Commonwealth Bank since 1998, with ten per cent of profits going to the Readings Foundation. The London Book Fair named it Bookstore of the Year in 2016.

Start on Lygon Street. Readings’ Carlton shop has long been part of Melbourne’s literary conversation, with books, music and staff who know their subjects. A useful place to let an Australian writer rearrange your reading list.

Ask a bookseller which book changed how they read. Then let an Australian writer rearrange the pile.

309 Lygon Street, Carlton VIC 3053, Australia

02 · Bourke Street

The Paperback Bookshop

Paperbacks · Literature · Browsing

On Bourke Street since the early 1960s, open until eleven on Friday and Saturday nights, with Pellegrini’s next door.

The window does a lot with a little space. At the Paperback Bookshop on Bourke Street, the invitation is right there in the name. Take a chance on a paperback you can carry into the rest of the day.

The name is the whole promise. Take a chance on one you can carry into the rest of the day.

60 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia

03 · Curtin House · THE DETOUR · THE DETOUR

Metropolis Bookshop

Art · Architecture · Photography · Design

Since 2001 inside Curtin House, a 1922 building by Harry Norris now run as a vertical laneway, a few floors below the Rooftop Cinema.

Go up to level three. Metropolis gathers art, architecture, photography, design and critical theory in Curtin House. This is our detour for the working eye: find a book that changes how you frame a question, a room or a page.

252 Swanston Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia

Questions about Melbourne’s bookshops

What are some of the best independent bookshops in Melbourne?

Places to Wander's edited selection includes Readings Carlton, The Paperback Bookshop and Metropolis Bookshop. The guide is not numerically ranked. Each entry explains why the shop is included and links to the shop's own website.

What is The Detour in the Melbourne issue?

Metropolis Bookshop in Curtin House. Since 2001 inside Curtin House, a 1922 building by Harry Norris now run as a vertical laneway, a few floors below the Rooftop Cinema. The Detour is an editorial designation, not a ranking.

Which featured bookshops specialize in art and design books?

Metropolis Bookshop in Curtin House. Follow each shop's official link for its current selection.

Is there a map of the featured bookshops?

Yes. The Melbourne issue includes a map and shop index. Select a shop to open its entry, then use the shop's official link for visiting details. The illustrated map is an orientation aid, not a turn-by-turn route.

The Corporate Artist: The Art of Working Beautifully by Morgan Sage Norman

Bring your creative self
back to work.

The Corporate Artist: The Art of Working Beautifully is Morgan Sage Norman’s book about bringing your creative self to everyday work. It explores how the roles we play, the conversations we have and the decisions we make can become creative practice.

Find your copy ↗

The book on Bookshop.org ↗

Have the book with you?

Try Every Role Has a Medium (Your Craft) for a different way to look at what you do.

Or turn to Nothing Is Wasted and Rightsizing Importance. Begin with the title that catches you.

Looking for books about creativity at work? Visit the Reading Room.