Expand your collection and rifle through some page turners at Melbourne's best bookshops.
After lockdown caused a decline in foot traffic and sales, eight Melbourne book shops came together to create the Melbourne City Reads program. This initiative hopes to reverse that trend and get people reading again by offering a discounted new book each month from Melbourne-based authors. You’ll also have the opportunity to attend a monthly ‘In Conversation’ event with each author at the Wheeler Centre.
The program will kick off with Small Joys of Real Life, the debut novel by writer Allee Richards. The book, which is already being described as a contemporary Monkey Grip, will be available for $25 instead of $33. The following months will offer books by Miles Allinson, Emily Bitto and Maxine Beneba Clarke.
“Bookstores are just as much a part of our culture as our laneways and restaurants,” says lord mayor Sally Capp. Melbourne is the first and only Unesco City of Literature in Australia and we’re lucky to have many amazing bookstores scattered throughout our city.
The participating bookstores are Dymocks Collins Street, Hill of Content Bookshop, Mary Martin Queen Victoria Market, Mary Martin Southbank, North Melbourne Books, Paperback Bookshop, Readings Carlton and Readings State Library. You can find more information on the program on the Melbourne City Reads Facebook page.