KEY POINTS:
Much as I love summer, it brings with it a certain pressure to be out there, energetically enjoying all the country has to offer: the oceans, the forests, the beaches... With winter comes vile weather but also the chance to slow the pace, to mosey for a little while. And what could be a more perfect way to enjoy a wintry Sunday than to drift around Auckland discovering its boutique bookshops?
I tend to start at Dear Reader in Grey Lynn's Richmond Rd partly as it's the bookshop nearest my home but also because it's my fantasy living room. There are squishy sofas, big lanterns and walls lined with books I itch to read. The latest releases are thoughtfully chosen, there are a couple of shelves of interesting books on New Zealand, a selection on art, architecture and design, plus a children's section. Once I'm done browsing, I take a stroll round the corner to the Richmond Road Cafe for poached eggs and broad bean mash on toast.
For second-hand treasures, try the closely packed shelves at Dominion Books in Herne Bay's Jervois Rd. It's a tiny shop but they've squeezed in heaps of reading, with books on everything from history and religion to social sciences as well as light reads, classics and out-of-print fiction. It's easy to lose track of time in here but, since there's nowhere to take the weight off your feet, afterwards you'll need to head down the road to Fives Loaves and Two Fish for a flat white and a restorative plate of savoury mince on toast. From there the table of bargain books outside nearby Novel is bound to catch your eye. Chances are you'll be drawn inside by something offbeat such as a coffee-table book on shoes or a photography volume on retro swimming pools.
At The Women's Bookshop in Ponsonby Rd choosing a good read has been made simpler by owner Carole Beu who attaches her own short reviews to books she's enjoyed. There's also a wall dedicated to the top 50 women writers of the last 50 years as voted by readers. Margaret Atwood's at number one with The Handmaid's Tale and The Blind Assassin and Marge Piercy has scraped in at number 50 with Woman On The Edge of Time. In between you'll find Kiwi favourites such as Janet Frame, Patricia Grace, Elizabeth Knox, Fiona Kidman and Shonagh Koea. Once you've checked out the other shelves stocked with books on stuff such as spirituality, health and motherhood, cross the road to SPQR and see if you can bags the table next to the fire for a glass of pinot noir and a bowl of pasta (I recommend the creamy fettucine with chicken).
Alternatively head to Newmarket where, opposite the Rialto cinema, there's the Baci Lounge, a "new concept" bookstore-cum-cafe. You can buy a wrap, salad or cake and settle down at a table to peruse literary and popular fiction, books for the armchair traveller, biographies, self-help and gift books. On the wall there's a selection of "media picks" - books everyone is talking about - and you get a free coffee with every book purchased.
The most seductive bookstore has to be Parsons at the top of Lorne St in the city. Its multiplicity of volumes on art, fashion, design, typography and photography are just gorgeous. The back room is dedicated to one of the best selections of New Zealand books with poetry, fiction, art books and much more.
After that the only sensible thing to do is head down to Unity Books in High St. What's so nice about browsing here is that there are lots of tables in the middle of the shop and, although the stock ranges widely from biographies and business, to theatre, music and movies, the shelves don't feel cluttered and you're bound to find that book you've been meaning to read.
There are plenty more places to bury yourself in books: Mt Eden has Time Out Bookstore and Cook The Books just over the road, The Children's Bookshop in Ponsonby, or Hard To Find in Ponsonby and Onehunga, until you're satisfyingly weighed down with packages. Then it's time for the best bit of all - the moment you sit down, somewhere comfortable and warm, open up a new book and begin to read.
- Detours, HoS
