A little bohemian bookstore that just oozes “get in here & read me & grab a coffee whilst you’re at it” is a winner in my book (haha..couldn’t help it!), and it probably is in yours too right?  Here’d be my top pick for stores I love – fashion + coffee, homewares + coffee, books + coffee… zip… done… beautiful, thank you very much.

Well, a few weeks back whilst wandering around Northbridge, precisely after leaving the Go Go Retro fair, we were all in need of some sustenance & right around the corner we literally fell over the New Edition Bookshop, which just so happens to also be home to the very chic & cheap Urbanistar (as in barista) coffee shop..oh sweet Jesus, a match made in heaven! We promptly plonked our butts down street side & ordered up 2 x coffees, 2 x kiddy chinos, 1 x big slab of banana bread & handed over $10.  At first I figured a huge error had been made on the part of the lovely hostess, but seems it was all legit – just $10 thanks!  Bargain.  Where would you get all that in Perth for a tenner?  I tell you no where.

As it turns out, Urbanistar serves up $3 coffees all day everyday when you have it in & as for the baby chino, they were free!  As they should be, though some places will slog you in excess of $2 for the privilege which is just plain rude.

Lookie – the coffee grinder has a coffee cosy!

New Edition is far from new.  This Northbridge store is in fact the younger sibling to its much older and dare I say it, wiser (by birth rights) Fremantle sister. The Fremantle store has been boheming it up in Freo for what seems like forever, and this one for the past 18 months, with Urbanistar a recent addition.  Little sis on William Street Northbridge is tiny, rustic & full of charm & was lots of fun to photograph!  I loved that it was all a little messy with books stacked almost haphazardly in some places.  The pigeonholed wall display to the left as you enter is an eye-catching colour hit to go right alongside your coffee hit.

I need to work out how to get my hands on this floor lamp & the framed print behind it for that matter!

Moleskine anyone?

I could definitely think of worse places to spend a little time.  No better way to grab a coffee & a book & well, at those prices… probably another coffee!

New Edition Bookshop & Urbanistar at 212 William Street, Northbridge  www.facebook.com/neweditionbookshop