Avid Reader

At a time when online bookstores pose a threat to brick and mortar bookstores, Avid Reader stands strong and unchallenged. Not just that, they have the audacity to recently launch their sister store, Where The Wild Things Are, specialising in children’s books, defying the status quo.
Perhaps it is the choice of books on offer or the consistent range of events that appeal to book lovers that contribute to its success. Either way, Avid Reader knows its audience well. Regular book clubs are available for those who wish to embark on passionate discussions. The fine cuppa and delectable cupcakes are the perfect company to a good book.
Regardless, I’m a massive fan of Avid Reader.

Friendly staff, great books and stationary, lovely coffee, what else can you ask for? Perfect place to pick up a unique gift.

Avid Reader is a book shop so good that it’s worth putting your kindle down.
The staff are supremely knowledgeable, helpful and approachable.
I’m always impressed by their sincerity and the excellence of their recommendations.
The books are well priced and the range is awesome.
I’ve never tried their coffee, but even without it, Avid Reader is a must visit for any West End trip.

That smell when you walk in to AVID is adventure, poetry, travel, thrillers, real life, arguments, romance and classics. This is everything a book store should be. Filled with classics for school and alternative reading material. The coffee shop at the rear has a great range of treats to tempt you and the coffee isn’t to bad either. They have regular speaking, reading engagements and are a hub for West End locals.

Avid Reader fits right into the West End scene. With a coffee shop set out the back, it’s a great place to hold on to the love of books, support local writers and possibly even meet them at one of Avid Reader’s meet and greets/​talks.
The books I can find at Avid Reader never cease to amaze me. Whether it be a heavy read or an amusing book of anecdotes. My most recent find was a book of Brisbane’s hidden secrets. Made sure to go through some that following weekend.
Friendly, quiet, you can get lost by yourself amongst the books or head in with a friend for a coffee. Avid Reader has something for every book lover.
My only complaint would be the prices — but, I know, I know… Book shops can’t compete with online prices. I know. So I do make sure I keep coming back. Help local businesses and local bookshops!

Avid Reader is one of my «Must Visit!» places every time I’m in West End. The staff are friendly, always willing to offer a recommendation, and they have a wide selection of genres to choose from.
The café inside Avid Reader has excellent coffee and also caters to those of us who avoid gluten when it comes to delicious tea cakes and other yummy treats.
Avid Reader also stocks local writers, has readings and book signings on a regular basis, and if you pop down on National Bookshop Day you can find some of your favourite authors behind the counter. Last year I met Marieke Hardy. What a doll!

The vibe in Avid Reader is one that I keep going back for. People shuffle through the store quietly, pulling books off shelves or picking them up from display tables, flipping through pages or reading blurbs, then gently replacing them — or tucking them under their arms and continuing to browse before heading to the counter.
Many a time I’ve found myself commenting on a book that someone is holding, or replying to questions or comments that are uttered to nobody in particular. Other times others have done the same to me. My latest conversation in Avid stemmed from my comment, «I wish that incredible cover design denoted an incredible read, too». (I’m sorry to say that it’s not always the case, and often the other way around — far too many amazing books with boring covers on my shelves.)
I’ll usually drop into Avid if I need to purchase a present for someone, too — if I can’t find an appropriate book, there are also CDs, DVDs, and stationery bits and bobs to choose from. I’m a stationery addict, so it’s not uncommon for me to buy myself a present while I’m there, too.
Avid’s use of social media is commendable — coming from the girl who once won a copy of Tina Fey’s memoir by tweeting her favourite 30 Rock quote. I’m also claiming the tweet power of getting Stephen Fry to drop by Avid last time he was in town, and Avid Reader is the place I proposed to Marieke Hardy, so it’s always going to hold a special place in my heart. And hers, I’m sure. I can show you the book dedication.

The best book shop in Queensland. Maybe Australia. I’m a total, sad Avid fanboy. The staff are always friendly and so helpful. I’ve emailed them or (DM’d via Twitter) with some pretty obscure book requests (Do you have this book I heard someone talking about in a podcast one time? Do you have any children’s books about aspergers?) and what they didn’t have in stock, they’ve ordered in within the week.
Avid often hold some fantastic (and many free) book events. Check the website for upcoming readings/​discussions. I believe they still hold a few different book clubs too, depending on your interests.
You’ll never have a more pleasant time in a shop than you’ll have at Avid.

The second stop on my «Indulge the inner hipster Sunday» was the Avid Reader. Coffee in hand from Blackstar, the Avid Reader is the perfect place to browse away the afternoon. It offers a more curated book store experience than the former Borders or Angus and Robinson, which I like.
It tends to lean towards the left with a fair dose of intellectual pretentiousness. And I’m fine with that (it was Indulge your inner hipster Sunday after all). More Murakami, Palahanik and Cormac McCarthy than you can poke a stick at.
The staff recommendations are helpful, and free gift wrapping! I can’t speak highly enough of this service. If you saw the shoddily wrapped presents I usually deal out you’d understand.
A good book shop that makes the dealing with the cognitive dissonance from owning a kindle just a little bit harder to deal with.

While I love finding new eating places, Avid is my default. Almost every weekend is started here. Great coffee and simple tasty food on turkish bread, good price, great food, great service that is sincerely friendly and always consistent. While this bookshop is very busy and social, it is also a great place to sit on your own if that is what you prefer.

As a time poor generation of course it is easier to open your preferred internet browser and be instantly transported to Book Depository/​Amazon/​Fishpond and have your literary desires satiated at the click of the button and a week long patient wait for the mail man to deliver your goods. And we’re all guilty of this indulgence.
It is this guilt that overwhelms me when I walk into Avid Reader. Guilty because nothing beats being able to flip through a book before you buy it. Smell the collection of books around you. The friendly smile of a fellow bibliophile able to give you their thoughts on the book your about to buy.
Avid Reader is a breath of fresh air and an independent bookstore I hope will rise above our devotion to the click of the mouse. I actually have faith they will because what they offer is over and above any online bookstore. You can’t enjoy in-​store author events, witty banter or a cup of freshly brewed coffee at an online store. That and Avid Reader has a huge community behind it that is devoted to its cause.

I think you could definitely call Avid Brisbane’s favourite book shop. The fact that you can follow them on Twitter and like them on Facebook kind of backs me up there. West End is a very community-​minded neighbourhood and you often walk down the street and see locals greeting each other. Avid Reader has done a wonderful job of bringing this village atmosphere from the street and into its book-​lined store. At Christmas, some customers even bake homemade treats for the staff at Avid or give them cards.
The welcoming, helpful staff and amazing range of all things bookish guarantees Avid’s success and status as much-​loved haven, but the fact that you can also get a coffee and a snack while you sit and chat with friends or locals at one of the little tables inside only cements it. They hold lots of events, book clubs, and book signings and many of these are free or very cheap.
One of my favourite things about Avid is its level of kid-​friendliness. So many book shops don’t cater well to kids. Even if they have a good kids books section, some places can be pretty wary of kids actually coming into the store and browsing, but at Avid kids are encouraged in their love of reading and staff are very tolerant of little book-​lovers as well as fully-​grown.
Obviously Avid has an excellent, varied range of books, but they also have lots of great counter knick-​knacks (notepads, bookmarks, calendars, paper weights etc.) and are a sure-​fire place to find some of the harder to find magazines and zines.
If you feel like some book-​love and a coffee, or a chat with fellow book-​lovers, Avid is the place to be.

This is the bookshop of my dreams. One of those community «hubs» that attracts locals, visitors and anyone in the mood for a browse or a chat with the super-​knowledgeable staff.
The day I visited, there was a lady sitting at a trestle table outside with gift wrap and ribbon, ready to wrap Xmas purchases for free. Nice touch.
Then inside — amongst the shelves heaving with tomes on everything from interior design to travel memoirs (including autographed copies of Brisbane by Mattthew Condon); to Etymology (nope, me either, had to google it); and spiritual fiction — I
saw an unintentionally funny book «Don’ts for Mothers — 1878». Which had this great tip: «don’t add ginger or oil of peppermint to the babe’s food. It is a murderous practice». You’ve been warned, people.
I also loved the cool café hidden at the back of the store. I sat there cackling at my Don’ts for Mothers book while eating a lunch of Japanese rice with tuna, avocado and ginger ($ 9.50). Not a bad way to spend an hour…

Where else can you find a place that sells scrabble-​inspired mugs, a photographic book about trees, and a book of Shakespearean love sonnets in one place? Well, maybe a few places, but none blend them so well as Avid Reader. I get over stimulated going in here because there are so many books calling out to me. Books on philosophy, non-​fictions, Shakespeare, history, even books that make fun of hipsters; it’s all offered at Avid Reader.
It’s a bit of a squeeze to get around, especially on a weekend, but that’s because everyone has figured out what I already know: that Avid Reader is a diamond in the rough; a truly modern celebration of literature right in the heart of West End. Here you’ll find everything a bookworm’s heart could desire, and some funny cards, notebooks, and stationary to balance it out. I almost died when I saw a notebook with a typewriter on the front — so simple, but such a gorgeous thing to adorn a notebook. Then there’s also the cute little trinkets they show at the counter, of which I saw a typewriter necklace. Everyone here is so helpful, and I take great joy reading what they recommend in their little notes scattered around the bookshelves.
You can spend hours in Avid Reader poring over the options on the shelves but if you get tired, you can take a break and have a coffee and a seat near the back. Avid Reader is both a landmark and a precious asset of West End.

Avid Reader doesn’t just stock an impressive range of literary fiction and visually spectacular coffee table books and enlightening non-​fiction, it also has a cool and kooky collection of giftwares and light-​hearted joke books that make great presents.
You’ll find these near the counter, quirky curiosities in the vein of ‘A Pictorial History of Mullets’ and pop-​art diaries. Last Christmas I bought a coffee mug decorated to look like a penguin paperback cover (it was ‘Wuthering Heights’ btw). At $ 20, you could find a cheaper mug, but it put a smile on the face of my bookish friend.
Speaking of coffee, they have a nice little café in store, which makes the perfect place to get started on that new novel over a mug of flat white.

I don’t know if I am an avid reader, but I certainly do like hanging out in Avid Reader. If you don’t know, Avid Reader is a nifty little bookstore located in the heart of West End.
It kind of amuses me the lengths some bookstores will go to receive your patronage. Obviously larger chains have incorporate DVDs, coffee, music and so much more. What I find really special about Avid Reader is that it organizes events in which readers can meet local and famous authors. A friend of mine actually found out through a trip to Avid Reader that Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Cunningham was coming to Brisbane to connect with his fan base and discuss his work. In case you don’t know, Michael Cunningham has written such books as ‘The Hours’ and ‘Home at the End of the World’. In addition, Avid Reader has a range of book clubs to join that meet monthly. One such book club that caught my eye was the ‘Adaptation Book Club’ that exclusively discusses books that have been adapted for the screen. All these little extras I find are a perfect way the ensure that customers keep coming to bookstores and resist the temptation to order all our books online, having them delivered to our doors in large, lifeless crates.
I do need to have a whine about this about this though. So I’m a huge Frida Kahlo fan and I saw a 2012 calendar of her paintings in Avid Reader for $ 70; as the calendar was quite large and of a high quality I almost considered this a reasonable price to pay, but pulled out at the last minute. Later that day I saw the same calendar in another bookstore for almost half the price. I can’t justify that kind of markup in my mind. I wonder if they can?
All in all, Avid Reader is definitely a great starting point if someone wants to connect with local bookworms. One of these days I know I’m going to join a book club as a reaction to some type of crisis and Avid Reader will definitely be my first port of call.
P. s. I didn’t get the chance to grab a cup of coffee there. Let me know how it is?

Avid reader is one of the great Brisbane bookstores that I’m so glad to see still exists. Much more than just a bookshop, Avid has supported community and arts groups since its opening in 1997 and there is always a poetry reading or a book discussion group coming up.
They also sell books through their website, however their quirkiest buys are often only found in store.
If you want the proper bookshop experience, where you can talk to a staff member about an obscure poet for 20 minutes then wander off with a coffee to peruse the stacks Avid is for you. Hopefully their business model of great, knowledgeable staff teamed with an amazing editorial eye for book stocking will mean they’ll be around for many years to come.

This charming book store in West End is a testament to why purchasing books should not strictly be an online venture. Jam-​packed full of books, haphazardly stacked at a variety of creative angles, the shop sells every shape and size, every topic and genre. It really is astounding how many of them are crammed into this relatively small space, with somehow still enough room for the many happily browsing customers to negotiate their way through the maze.
Towards the back there is a small internal coffee shop full of those people you see in movies writing on their laptops in Starbucks. I guess these ones are the hipster version.
If you’re an avid reader you will definitely get lost exploring this cosy store.

This is a great bookstore — it’s pretty much in the centre of brisbane and it’s always got great give aways and great events — everyone should visit this great book store and enjoy a good read with a good cup of coffee. Or just check out the great selection of DVDs and CDs.