Books We Love

One Day I’ll Remember This: Helen Garner’s Diaries

New and Noteworthy in Photography

Book Week 2020: Our Top Recommendations

Two new middle-grade novels to foster a love of reading

Monogamy

Hamnet

Actress

The Mirror & The Light

The Long Distance Playlist

Dear Girls

Sand Talk

The Dutch House

This Is How We Change the Ending

Three Women

The Girls

The Nickel Boys

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🖊 AND THE WINNERS ARE… 🖊 Thanks everyone

🖊 AND THE WINNERS ARE… 🖊

Thanks everyone for your patience as we worked our way through over 150 submissions to our haiku poetry competition! What an incredible response we had to our call-out for haikus on books, birds, reading, or writing: whole primary school classes sent in their writing, entire families put pen to paper, and some writers made it part of their morning ritual to send us a haiku for the weeks the competition was open. We were so delighted by the enthusiasm for our prize, which made choosing only one winner a difficult task!

After much deliberation, we have chosen an overall winner, three joint kids’ category winners, five highly commended entries and five shortlisted entries.

The winning haiku is by Karen Slade. Karen’s haiku combined the themes of the competition in such a clever way, and works on multiple levels, which impressed us deeply. We love this piece by Karen and were thrilled to select it as our winner:

characters in black
traverse snow-covered pages
like sparrows’ footprints

To read all the winning entries visit the page on our website (link in bio). These haikus will form part of our complementary haiku service in store, which will now be launched in early 2022.

🖊☺️📚

(Swipe for a sparrow-like bird spotted recently by one of our Book Birds by Daylesford lake. ➡️)

#thebookbird #thebookbirdhaiku #thebookbirdgeelong #smallbusinessgeelong #geelongsmallbusiness #haikucompetition #haikupoetry

And we are BACK open, with a stylish (not) tempora

And we are BACK open, with a stylish (not) temporary green door until we get a proper new one made.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who commented and sent their well-wishes following our ordeal (“doordeal”?) yesterday. It was the last thing we needed after such a horrendous year and Christmas trade in full swing, BUT we were once again lifted up by our wonderful community of readers. So thank you. We’ve said it a million times and we’ll say it again: you’re the wind beneath our wings!

Stop by and giggle at the teal green door and maybe buy a book or two. Here today until 5:30pm.

🚪 + 📚 + 😊

Unfortunately we've had a visit from some nocturna

Unfortunately we've had a visit from some nocturnal and very eager bookworms.
We'll be up and running once it's safe to welcome you into our nest but it could be a few hours.

Christmas cards are here! We have nine beautifully

Christmas cards are here! We have nine beautifully designed charity Christmas card packs, with each pack containing ten cards and matching envelopes. Proceeds from sales of the packs go to the RSPCA, the Children’s Medical Research Institute (Jeans for Genes), and the Breast Cancer Network. Stop by to check them out while stocks last!

🎄 CHRISTMAS AT THE BOOK BIRD 🎄 Have you see

🎄 CHRISTMAS AT THE BOOK BIRD 🎄

Have you seen our Christmas display at the front of the shop? We have plenty of picture, board, and music books to get the family into the festive spirit. There’s elves and Santas and reindeer aplenty —— oh, and Bluey, of course.

You can also browse our Christmas selection from home via the homepage on our online shop.

🎅 🎄 🤶 🎄

#thebookbird #thebookbirdgeelong #supportsmallbusiness #smallbusinessgeelong #geelongsmallbusiness #geelongbookshop #indiebookshop #loveyourbookshop #christmas #christmasbooks

New, hot, and in stock! A few excellent Christmas

New, hot, and in stock!

A few excellent Christmas gift ideas in adult fiction and non-fiction that are in stock and ready to go!

• ‘How To End a Story,’ Helen Garner’s third volume of diaries.
• ‘Love Stories,’ by Trent Dalton.
• ‘The Promise,’ by Damon Galgut.
• ‘Seven and a Half,’ by Christos Tsiolkas.
• ‘Funkytown,’ by Peter Kennedy.

There’s plenty more where that came from too, so pop down and pay us a visit. Don’t forget you can also check all our inventory live on our website. 🙂🛒✅

In ‘Curate’, two creatives with a passion for

In ‘Curate’, two creatives with a passion for interiors and styling come together to make something beautiful. Ali Heath, a journalist and interior stylist in the UK, and Lynda Gardener, a stylist and hotelier in Australia, developed the ideas for this book over many conversations about narrative, decoration, tastemaking, and personality within the home. Both stylists have a passion for monochrome aesthetics, which comes through strongly in ‘Curate’. The book begins with definitions of ‘home’ and ‘stylist’ (curator; compulsive seeker; prop finder; obsessionist; forager), and then moves into ‘elements of space’, such as colour palette, textiles, lighting, art, nature and plants, etcetera. This gorgeous coffee table book is full of unique ideas for creating a personal sanctuary which does not depend on expensive furniture, but rather collecting objects and scraps and cuttings from the garden and displaying them in the best way possible. Featuring the sensual, tender photography of Marnie Hawson.

First we had ‘ugly animals’, then ‘dangerous

First we had ‘ugly animals’, then ‘dangerous animals’, now we have the encyclopaedia of peculiar pairs! Award-winning author-illustrator Sami Bayly takes us into the world of unusual relationships between animals, plants, and elements (there is a chapter, for instance, on how the scarlet banksia depends on fire to release its seeds - very cool). In Sami’s introduction, the reader learns the scientific names for different kinds of relationships that occur in nature (‘mutualism’, ‘commensalism’, and ‘parasitism’), before delving into the weird and wonderful examples that follow. What, for instance, could a Spotted Handfish want from a Sea Squirt? What do the Grey Wolf and the Common Raven have to talk about? You’ll just have to pick up a copy of ‘Peculiar Pairs’ to find out. We have copies of all three encyclopaedias in store at the moment, so pop by to take a look at the set.

🙂✅ Show us your tick! ✅🙂 Hey Readers,

🙂✅ Show us your tick! ✅🙂

Hey Readers,

A quick update to let you know that we are now required to check your vaccination status before entering our bookshop. We can do this by citing either your Service Victoria app (with the linked certificate displayed - that green tick!), or a valid printed version of this certificate or immunisation record. These are the new rules and we must abide by them!

We also still require facemasks to be worn in the shop for the time being.

If you are unable to come into our store at present, you can still purchase books online at www.thebookbird.com.au (link in bio!) and collect at the door or have them posted. Please also keep in mind that postage is taking much longer than usual.

Thanks for your understanding readers as we navigate this new world!

CHRISTMAS ORDERS: PLEASE READ The supply chain o

CHRISTMAS ORDERS: PLEASE READ

The supply chain of the book industry is under enormous pressure. We have just been advised by our distributors that orders placed from today will be highly unlikely to arrive before Christmas as the freight carrier works tirelessly to work through the enormous backlog of existing deliveries around the country.
This is a completely unprecedented and terribly timed situation and even made the news this morning on ABC Breakfast – it’s that serious!

Ordinarily we would be able to order books right up until the last week of Christmas, but unfortunately this year we are unable to extend this service to you, which breaks our heart.

If books are on the Christmas list, the best thing we can offer is to get in early to avoid disappointment, and, if you can, give some thought to a plan B if plan A is proving to be a little elusive. Our Book Birds are nifty at thinking outside of the box and will do our very best to help you select from the limited stock we will have on our shelves from now until Christmas.

Additionally, because of all the above we can only hold unpaid orders for 24 hours. Payment secures your order. If you’re unable to make it into the store, we can happily assist with this over the phone – 5224 1438.

Thanks Book worms.

Now that we can enjoy a bit more freedom to roam a

Now that we can enjoy a bit more freedom to roam around, it's the perfect time to go exploring in the forests along our beautiful coastline. If you also happen to have a soft spot for waterfalls, we have the ideal book for you! ‘Waterfalls of the Otway Ranges’ by Anthony Car profiles over 226 waterfalls in the area, complete with detailed maps, GPS locations, modern and historic photographs, and plenty of articles on the significance of these sites. This big, comprehensive hardback is not intended as a guidebook as such, but rather as a resource for planning trips and becoming informed about the Otway ranges.

🖊 Psst - our haiku competition closes Monday! 🖊

We have been flooded with haikus over the past few weeks, which have been a total joy to read. So many inspiring poets of all ages are now in the running to be part of our cute forthcoming “complementary haiku service” 😆 and to win vouchers to the shop.

But before all that, we wanted to remind you that there’s a few more days for you to pen us 3 lines on books, birds, reading and/or writing. Either tag us in your Insta posts or email your entries to info@thebookbird.com.au. If you or your young scribe is under 18, let us know that too.

Here’s a haiku from Lolly, aged 11:

Snuggled in my bed,
“Just one more page mum,” I lie,
Getting lost in words.

😍

Entries close 5pm Monday 15 November. Winners announced Monday 29 November.

#thebookbird #thebookbirdgeelong #thebookbirdhaiku #haiku #geelongbookshop #bookshopgeelong #geelongsmallbusiness #smallbusinessgeelong #writingcompetition #australianbookshop #independentbookshop #loveyourbookshopday

Bridget Farmer is pretty hard to miss in our littl

Bridget Farmer is pretty hard to miss in our little corner of the world: we have her bird mobiles hanging from the ceiling, her greeting cards propped on the counter, and her ‘Kookaburra Kookaburra’ books and playing cards stocked in our kids section. Well, now we can add Bridget’s latest book and matching card set ‘The Bush Birds’ to our collection! ‘The Bush Birds’ is the most exquisitely produced lift-the-flap book about local bird species in this area. On each page you read the rhyme, look at the illustration, and then lift the flap to find out which bush bird you’re identifying. Discover the red-browed finch, the white-winged chough, the diamond firetail, and HEAPS more Aussie bush birds, with Bridget Farmer as your guide. At the back of the book is a guide to birding: how to spot birds, when to go walking, and what to look for.

And don’t forget to match the book with the playing cards! Great for snap, memory, or even using while you’re out birding to keep track of what you’ve seen.

*** READ ME*** Morning Folks, our hunt for a new B

*** READ ME*** Morning Folks, our hunt for a new Book Bird continues.

Just a quick note to let you know that we will be opening at 11am tomorrow, Tuesday 9th November after we conduct a round of interviews.

We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

Get organised for 2022 with our new art calendars

Get organised for 2022 with our new art calendars and Cath Kidston diaries!

We’re stocking a new range of calendars this year from Hello Sunday, which feature solo artists and themed collections (like, for instance, portraits of women reading or fun illustrations of artists with their cats). The calendars are printed in Australia on beautifully textured, acid-free, eco-friendly paper. The images are also printed full page, which means you can cut the prints out once that month has past and frame them!

The Cath Kidston diaries are also a little bit special. Not only do these diaries cover the essentials (one week per double-page spread, as well as a monthly calendar at the start of each section), but they also have pages for monthly budgeting, goal-setting, notes, and to-do list. If you need a diary that will keep you organised, this could be it! Choose from three different cover designs: sweet doggos, little bees, or florals.

#hellosunday #hellosundaystore #2022calendar #calendars #artcalendars #cathkidston #2022diaries #2022diary #thebookbird #thebookbirdgeelong #indiebookshop #australianbookshop #smallbusinessgeelong #geelongsmallbusiness