Overview
For a while there, 222 St Georges Road was one of North Fitzroy village's small mysteries: the empty shopfront across from Piedimonte's that people peered into mostly for its floor: a patchwork of original tiles in forest green, teal, cobalt and terracotta, with broken pieces fitted in between and the odd hand-painted surprise (keep an eye out for the blue-and-white pagoda). Its last life was as an old-school barbershop, but since Saturday 20 June, it's been Fino Books — the first bookshop this little stretch has had in quite some time.
Owner Tessa Dwyer has kept the bones and lightened everything around them. The brick walls are whitewashed, the shelving is pale timber, and the centrepiece is a peach-painted arch of new releases faced out and grouped by cover colour, so the wall reads all blue one visit and all green the next.
Because the space is small, every title has been chosen by hand. Most are new, with vintage and secondhand finds slipped in, across fiction, poetry, small press, art and design, cookbooks, house and garden, history and politics. The kids' corner leans hard into vintage Richard Scarry and Ladybird classics. A few crates of vinyl from neighbours Northside Records sit among the books. The name does double duty: Fino is shorthand for FItzroy NOrth, and an acronym for the shop's guiding idea, "Finding Inspiration New and Old".
Fino has a bigger idea of what a bookshop is for than just selling books. It opened with a DJ and poetry readings from Lisa Gorton, Jaye Kranz and Luke Beesley, and the calendar has stayed busy since. Local novelist Antoni Jach has dropped in to sign A Midsummer Party (look out for its North Fitzroy cameos). Little ones get story time every Tuesday at 11am. Sunbathing author Isobel Beech has run a writers' workshop on the merits of imperfect writing. It sold out, with a waiting list. Follow Fino's Instagram to catch the next one before it books out.
It's also very well placed for a slow afternoon. Market Lane has just moved in next door, and Fino's own advice is to grab a coffee and browse. With the rest of the village's cafes a short walk away, it makes an easy case for staying a while rather than ducking in and out. If you're planning a longer literary crawl, plan out your itinerary with our guide to the best bookshops in Melbourne.
Fino Books is open at 222 St Georges Road, Fitzroy North, 10am–5pm Monday–Tuesday and Sunday, and 10am–6pm Wednesday–Saturday. For upcoming events, head to the Fino Books website.
Top image: supplied. Interior images: Andrew Wong.