Riverbend Books

Lazy afternoons are what Riverbend Books was made for. The shop’s leafy deck, cosy nooks and floor-to-ceiling shelves all beg you to take your time. Suzy Wilson opened its doors way back in 1998, bringing to reality her life-long dream of owning a bookshop.

Its light wood shelves have a Scandinavian feel and are stocked with a huge range, focussing on Australian titles, literature and children’s books. Wilson worked hard to secure early book launches with Nick Earls and Tim Winton, cementing Riverbend as a premier Brisbane location for literary events.

It also hosts a huge number of book clubs, workshops and ‘meet the author’ sessions. The cafe on the front deck is now separately run, as Double Shot at Riverbend. It’s a quiet haven from bustling Oxford Street, offering all-day breakfasts, Merlo coffee and pastries made fresh every day.

Wilson is also the founder of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, a project started at Riverbend. Its aim is to draw from the expertise of the Australian book industry to address literacy levels in remote Indigenous communities – ask at the shop to find out how you can get involved.