Birnam Wood — Eleanor Catton
New paperback — 2026A guerrilla gardening collective meets a billionaire prepper. Sharp, political, and genuinely thrilling — Sarah's pick of the season.
FictionPaperbackOpen daily · 10am – 9pm
Books, the way you remember them.
A general independent with a serious literary fiction wall, a children's room, and two cats with strong opinions. Online orders ship in 24 hours.
Ships in 24 hours
Order by 3pm, out the same day
Wrapping is free
Hand-written card if you dictate it
Anything in print
Special orders, usually here in three days
Click and collect
Held at the desk for two weeks
01Staff picksRotates every Monday
The shelf, this week
The Bee Sting — Paul Murray
Book club pickFictionBook club2026The Eye That Never Sleeps
Children's roomChildren'sAges 5–92025
Order online
On the front table
This week's picks and new arrivals — orders ship within 24 hours.
The rooms
Where to start
Twelve thousand titles is an unhelpful number. These are the four doors most people walk through.
The children's room
Board books to young adult, storytime every Saturday at 11
Browse children's
Second-hand + trade-in
Small collections bought by appointment — cash, or double in credit
What we buy
Signed + first editions
Signed stock after every event, kept behind the desk
See what's signed
The reading room
Free for book clubs, open to anyone with a coffee and an afternoon
Book the room
The shop
Twelve thousand books. Two cats. One rule.
The rule: every book on the front tables got there because a bookseller read it and pressed it into someone's hands. No paid placement, no bestseller autopilot. The cats are Dewey and Decimal; Decimal bites.
Literary fictionChildren's roomPoetryLocal authors
12k
Titles in the room
3
Events a week
24h
Online orders ship
“I came in for one paperback and left with four books, a tote bag, and a book-club membership. This shop is a public menace and I love it.”
Google review, five stars
02Beyond the shelvesAsk at the desk
What we do
01
Special orders
Anything in print, usually in the shop within three days. Out-of-print hunts are a specialty — we love a lost cause.
- No deposit under $50
- Text alerts when it lands
02
Book clubs
Three house clubs — literary, crime, and translated — plus discounts and reserved stacks for clubs that adopt us.
- 10% off club titles
- Meeting room free for clubs
03
Events + readings
Author readings most Thursdays, storytime every Saturday at 11, and a launch party whenever a local finishes a book.
- Free, ticketed for big names
- Signed stock after every event
04
Schools + gifting
Classroom sets at educator discount, wrapped-and-posted gifting, and a subscription: one staff-picked book a month.
- Gift subs 3, 6, or 12 months
03Special ordersAnything in print
The three-day promise.
Ask
At the desk, by phone, or through the form. Half a title and "the cover was blue" is honestly enough to start.
We hunt
In print: ordered same day, usually here in three. Out of print: we work the used networks and quote you before buying.
It lands
Text or email when it arrives. Held at the desk for two weeks, or posted the day it lands.
The room
Around the shop
04And the cats, yes
Sensible questions
- Do you buy used books?
- Small collections, by appointment, cash or double in credit. We're honest when a box is better donated — and we'll point you to who wants it.
- Can you gift-wrap and post?
- Yes and yes. Wrapping is free, we hand-write the card if you dictate it, and orders placed by 3pm ship the same day.
- How do the book clubs work?
- Show up having read the book — that's the entire constitution. Titles are 10% off in the shop all month.
- Are the cats friendly?
- Dewey, unreasonably. Decimal is a professional with boundaries. Neither is for sale, and yes, they have a shelf of fan art.
Thursday: reading + signing, 7pm.
Local author launch this week — free, chairs limited, signed copies at the desk after.
Events free unless ticketed · storytime every Saturday, 11am
The weekly shelf
Our picks of the week, upcoming events, and a short essay from whoever's on the till. Sundays, once.
Visiting
Open every day
Eleven hours a day, every day but one. The cats keep longer hours than we do.
HoursChecking
- Monday – Thursday
- 10:00 – 21:00Author readings most Thursdays, 7pm
- Friday
- 10:00 – 22:00Late night — the poetry shelf gets busy
- Saturday
- 09:00 – 21:00Storytime at 11 in the children's room
- Sunday
- 11:00 – 19:00Quietest morning of the week
Closed Christmas Day only — the one day of the year the door is locked. Online orders keep taking themselves the whole time and ship the moment we're back.
Visit · order · ask
- Address128 Lafayette St
- HoursDaily 10am–9pm · closed Christmas only
- Phone
- Email