How a bookstore makes a community
by Alexandra Browning
After reading Ann Patchett’s latest collection of short stories entitled These Precious Days I could not help but compare the way Patchett described her beloved Nashville bookstore to our very own Riverbend Books.
Behind the busy cafes and leafy parks along Oxford Street lies a little store by the name of Riverbend Books.
For over twenty years Suzy Wilson has gifted Bulimba the love of literature, learning and a rich sense of community.
Like Ann Patchett, Suzy has created a space for people, young and old; for writers to connect with readers and readers to connect with books.
In an old postwar timber home filled from top to toe with books, Riverbend has a charm to it that makes one’s heart all warm and fuzzy.
This space is more than just a bookstore, it has fostered a neighbourhood and a community; something so rare in these disconnected times.
As discussed in Patchett’s latest book, a bookstore provides a place where everyone feels welcomed and understood.
When I think of Riverbend, I picture the warm summer evenings on the timber deck when friends gather to support a local author, or gush to hear a hilarious conversation between Suzy and Trent Dalton, or Laura Sweeny and Quentin Bryce.
Or early Saturday mornings when the toddlers in their lilac leotards cross the street from ballet class at the church and skip hand in hand straight for the children’s section. They plop themselves in a row on the tiny timber bench buried in tulle and are taken to the world of Fancy Nancy or Alison Lester.
Or hysterical laughter from the book clubs where women (and men) gather at the back table between the classics and crime to sometimes discuss all things books and sometimes nothing to do with books at all.
Or on an October afternoon when the jacarandas are in full bloom and a thunderstorm is brewing and the children from Bulimba primary school come in in their blue check uniforms to buy the latest Anh Do or David Walliams with their very own pocket money.
Or when adults who once upon a time were those little children come and visit the store and reminisce on ‘these precious days.’
There is nothing quite like an independent bookshop.
How lucky we are… to be a part of this wonderful community.
If you are reading this, I am going to assume you too share a love of the written word and I therefore highly recommend purchasing a copy of These Precious Days, which is in stock now.
Not only does Ann discuss her love of writing and of her community, but she shares stories about her marriage and her relationships with her family. Perhaps most notably, she shares her life changing friendship with Tom Hanks’ assistant Sooki, and the long days they spend together in Ann’s home during the height of the lockdown.
It is heartwarming, profound and altogether wonderful. Well worth a read, and of course, a visit to Riverbend Books!