I admit it, I’m a bibliophile. Yes, I’m a book lover. And by that I mean I love the “paper-hold-in-your-hand-and-turn-pages” type book, not the ebooks … I’ve never really got into those.

Anyway being a book lover, when I went on a holiday to the Gold Coast recently, I decided to suss out all the secondhand bookstores that were nearby, as you do, right? And boy did I find the best secondhand bookshop ever!!

It was seriously jaw-dropping.

“Antique and Collectors Books” is the name of the place, and it’s at Southport, just north of Surfers Paradise.

The spiel about the store says …

“Situated in Australia’s premier tourist area – the Gold Coast – our shop stocks over 100,000 books ranging from antiquarian to modern day literature. We specialise in “out of print” and antiquarian books and have 24 years experience in bookselling.”

I don’t really need to say much about it as the photos below tell the story. [Click on each for a larger picture.]

the entrance

one of the many lower floor aisles

another aisle downstairs

books, books and more books

as you can see, there’s a LOT to look at

and they have chairs for you to sit on while you browse, and stools to get to the high ones

here’s me with a few of the books I bought

But I was than I was truly in heaven, and could have spent a whole day there. I think they must have every topic imaginable, including a section on genealogy (I was impressed).

I should also mention that Antique and Collectors Books is a two storey place … I know, it just got better, eh? Anyway despite the size of the place, everything was very well labelled, so finding various categories/topics was quite easy, and that’s truly a credit to the store managing the vast number of books that they do.

And for those that are wondering, yes Mr Lonetester and I did find a heap of books, and so as to not exceed our luggage allowance on the plane, we actually got them posted back.

So if you love books, and you’re anywhere near the Gold Coast, do yourself a favour and go and visit the lovely people at Antique and Collectors Books. I guarantee you’ll love it as much as I did.

However if visiting the Gold Coast just isn’t going to happen for you, I suggest checking out their website – although remember they only list a fraction of their titles on there, so feel free to send them a query if you’re looking for something specific. And if they have what you’re after, they can post it out to you … wherever you live in this big wide world.

Antique and Collectors Books
Website: http://www.antiquecollectorsbooks.com
Email: antiquebooks@bigpond.com
Address: 162 Scarborough Street, Southport, Queensland, 4215
Phone: (07) 5591 2066

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And while we’re on the topic of awesome secondhand books stores in Australia, here’s a bunch more that you may wish to add to your bucket list:
17 Spectacular Bookshops in Australia to See Before You Die