The Colombo Bookstore managers Charlotte Cohen and Belinda Archibald are bibliophiles with a passion for finding that extra-special read, whether it’s a thrilling new memoir or an elusive childhood classic. Belinda tells Cityscape the story of the store and the regulars’ reading habits.

The Colombo Bookstore doesn’t look like other bookshops. The design idea is that we want to make sure people feel comfortable. We have as many books as space allows displayed face up on our antique tables to make selection easier. Customers can sit on the antique chairs and take their time to find a book they really love. The store is a bit antique, and a bit Willy Wonka. We actually have some antiques for sale too. And we’ve got bright, quirky lights and eclectic decorations. We’re a small bookstore, so we choose books that we really like, and that our customer community are indicating their interest in. We went into lockdown doing our research and came out with a great selection. Now we’re embracing customer feedback combined with our intuition and multiple reference sources.

For the magazine rack, we are adding new titles weekly based on requests and suggestions. We’ve got The Spectator, Flow, Guardian Weekly, The New Yorker, NZ House & Garden, FlyLife fishing magazine, Marie Claire, Country Life, and many more. People are asking for poetry, local writing, gardening, cooking, mindfulness and children’s books. Children’s books are a focus for us – the good ones come and go out fast. We’ve got some old books that we loved as children and they’re still gorgeous, and still beautiful stories. Flying off the shelves right now are good cooking books and also gardening books. People are being more grounded this year, doing their own gardening, and appreciating their own space more, so they’re reading a lot of gardening books and cookbooks.

I prefer real books to digital ones – for me it’s about seeing and feeling what you’re reading. There’s a little bit of excitement in a new book. There’s nothing wrong with e-readers, but I don’t use one. I love the tactile nature of a book. Right now I’m reading Solitary, the powerful memoir of Albert Woodfox, an African American who spends 40 years in solitary confinement for a crime he did not commit. The story shows a man with compassion who turned his anger into activism and resistance. He inspired others in prison to believe in themselves, and their rights, to be resilient, learn, grow and survive. The book is about human spirit and it calls for reform on the inhumanity of solitary confinement in the USA and around the world. My favourite genre is non-fiction. I love reading memoirs.

If I had to pick three books to read for the rest of my life… That’s a really, really tricky question. I don’t know if I mean it, but I would say The Old Man and the Sea, The Elephant Whisperer, and The BFG. People might judge me on that! I’m thinking and trying to remember books I’ve loved in the past but these are the ones that come to mind. Having a bookstore was a childhood dream, so this really is a dream come true. Requests are something we love to do either for new titles or for books people have read years ago.

New in the store we’ve got Hiakai: Modern Māori Cuisine by the super-talented Monique Fiso who has a revered, award winning restaurant in Wellington, and the beautiful Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright! which contains an animal poem for every day with fabulous illustrations.

What’s great about being in The Colombo is the people who visit us here. People are indicating they are really appreciative of there being an independent bookstore in the mall. We’re now getting our regular customers who enjoy not only our books but the current lively spring feel of The Colombo – there are daffodils on every table. It’s not too hurly hectic, it’s got a nice feel.

thecolombo.co.nz