University Bookshop

There is a certain kind of feeling you get when you enter a good bookshop, it’s warm and inviting, and a sense of cosiness and calm takes over. The scent of hundreds and thousands of pages waiting to be discovered and devoured is nostalgic, and it is easy to lose an hour or two browsing the aisles deliberating over your next read. In Ōtautahi Christchurch, we are blessed with a stellar number of bookstores, from a specialist children’s shop, booksellers that have been in the city for generations and second-hand shops that ensure literary gems reach the hands of new readers. So whether you are on the hunt for the latest bestseller, looking to build up your child’s library collection or happiest when spending an afternoon amongst stacks and rows of books, here’s your guide (in no particular order) to enjoying the best bookshops around the city.

There are people in this world who have a knack for turning one person’s trash into their own wardrobe treasure. After years of working in retail, schooling up on fast fashion, and selling her own threads at markets, Rosie Carroll is undeniably blessed with this gift.