Best bookstores in Melbourne?

Dymocks on Collins street is a great store I quite often visit and time seems to get away from me. I really love the Readings stores located in Carlton, Hawthorn, St Kilda, Malvern and the State Library. Readings are smaller but have a superior selection and are closely connected to the literary scene hosting many book launches and other events.

My favourite old school bookshop in Melbourne would have to be The Paperback Bookshop on Bourke Street. They have a wide range of fiction and non-fiction new release and backlist titles http://www.paperbackbooks.com.au/.

I also always find Readings book shops great, it just won an award at the London book fair for being the best bookstore in the world so you can't argue with that! http://www.readings.com.au/

Embiggen books on Little Lonsdale Street (at QV) is a really cool newer book store worth a look http://www.embiggenbooks.com/. It carries mostly science titles, but also has a good selection of literature, poetry, art and design books.

If you live in the south eastern suburbs you can't go wrong with Camberwell Dymocks and Dymocks at The Glen https://www.dymocks.com.au/.

There is a fabulous independent book shop called The New Leaf on High Street in Ashburton. There are two floors filled with books and everyone who works there is extraordinarily well read and is happy to talk about books and authors.

Andrew's bookstore in Ivanhoe is fabulous, heaps of titles and genres.
The Kilmore bookstore is also excellent. They will order anything in for you and they have a magnificent store cat.

A great bookstore is more than just an eclectic selection of available books. It is about the overall retail experience and one of the worst l have encountered is Dymocks on Collins street. The customer service is appalling and they do not have an efficient complaint handling process. In response to the original post, l say, you can't judge a book by its cover. Delve deeper.