Overview
With the government encouraging social distancing, and enforcing mandatory 14-day self-isolation periods for everyone arriving from overseas, in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19, plenty of us are staring down the barrel of a whole lot of time spent at home. By now, you're probably all stocked up on toilet paper, are armed with a banging Netflix queue and have sussed out all the best delivery options for decent food and booze.
But, alongside the streaming services and board games, you're also going to need a pretty solid collection of reading material to keep you entertained. And luckily, some local bookstores are more than happy to help. If you're keen to support the little, local guys, there's a bunch of indie book retailers that are now offering free delivery services, to hook isolated readers up with some much-needed literature.
In Melbourne, long-running North Carlton spot The Little Bookroom has kicked off free same-day delivery for its online orders, servicing Carlton, Fitzroy and a heap of surrounding suburbs. Sibling store Neighbourhood Books in Northcote is following suit, though with an even bigger delivery area. And if you're cooped up at home over on the westside, Yarraville's Sun Bookshop has you covered. It's offering free same-day book delivery (for online orders placed before 2pm) to readers in Kingsville, Seddon and Yarraville, and next-day delivery for those in Spotswood and Newport. They'll drop your book order in the letter box or at your front door, and shoot a text message to let you know it's arrived.
Meanwhile, Sydneysiders can get books delivered for free by the likes of Avalon Beach's Bookoccino (if you live between Narrabeen and Palm Beach) and Glebe's Gleebooks, which has launched free book delivery across the inner west and City of Sydney council areas, and Australia-wide for orders over $50. Newtown favourite Better Read Than Dead has cast the net even wider, offering free shipping across the whole of Australia for the foreseeable future.
And up in Brisbane, Wynnum cafe-bookstore Little Gnome is doing daily delivery runs of books, brownies and even coffee, from 8–10am this week (check its Instagram for updates and details on how to order), while Avid Reader Bookshop is swinging free delivery for select inner-city suburbs, and Australia-wide if your order's over $50.