July 5, 2026
After the July lockdown lifted, the shop doors swung open again. Those first days of August felt like a second beginning. The shelves were still full, the green chair was still waiting, and people were hungry for books.
I could not resist having a peek through Steam Trains Today. It turned out to have a good rundown of the politics and personalities of the Beeching cuts. The kind of book you pick up for the trains and stay for the history. The books feature table had an indoor plant keeping it company, and the shop felt alive again.
In the green chair that week: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. Klara is an artificial intelligence android tasked with befriending and caring for her young charge Josie. A bestseller from an award-winning author, and the kind of quiet, devastating novel that stays with you. We had it leaning on a vintage Light set on a table outside too, catching the afternoon sun.
Oscar's Tower of Flowers arrived and I called it the book for exhausted parents. Beautifully illustrated with no text at all, it lets your kids make up the story. $27.99 hardcover, and worth every cent for the half hour of peace it buys you.
The picture book section was growing. I set up new shelves against the bare brick wall, and they looked exactly right. Room for all the new picture books that had come in that week. A collection of graphic novels and manga found a home on the store counter. Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins sat alongside The Shut Ins a mesmerising book set in Nagoya, Japan, green and gold in the green chair. Things Are Against Us seemed to sum up the mood of the week.
Some classic children's books joined the shelves too. An illustrated Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlotte's Web, a beautiful board book edition of Madeline. Ikigai found its way in as well a great little book of wisdom. And Man's Search for Meaning, in hardcover for $24.99 a book that belongs in every shop.
On August 5, Melbourne went into another lockdown. I posted a photo of the shop with the caption: “Seems like one of those days… Lockdown trading details will be up tomorrow.” Four likes, but they felt heavy. The shop had been open for barely a week.
The next day I put up the details: open by appointment for collecting orders at the door, free local delivery for postcodes 3195, 3196, and 3197. The bookmark with the bookishchelsea logo found its place on a brown paper packaged book, ready to go out the door. Delivery time. Again.