New Edition

I’m gonna have to side with the previous reviewers. This place is called New Edition, but has this certain old charm to it.
As you enter (watch the dip in the floor, I think I have successfully tripped there every time) there is just something about books being stacked up to the ceiling and creaky floorboards that give the place it’s glow. You know what this place reminds me of? Hogwarts Library, or at least the way I always imagined it. I almost expect to see Hermione furiously researching for a way to beat the second Triwizard task when I enter this store. But I digress.
My beef with this place is that while it prides itself on selling hard to find books, they never seem to have hard to find book I’m after. Apart from that little annoyance, you can spend hours in here, slowly browsing all the books on display or wasting hours just sitting around reading bits of this or bits of that book.
If you are after a certain book or just have few hours in Freo by yourself, you can’t make a mistake visiting this place.

During long and tedious lectures at uni I would dream of the point when the lecturer would say «Okay let’s take a five minute break», I’d then quickly pack up my stuff and run. Run away to New Edition Book Store. It was my refuge, I’d select a book of short stories, nestle into one of their large and comfy armchairs and hide away for a couple of hours. I’d then realise that I’d have to head home and catch up on the notes that I’d missed taking in class, but not before buying some book I’d been eying for awhile, which would then generally distract me once I was home.
New Edition covers every area of reference from Architecture to Zoology. Not only are they covered wall to wall in beautifully bound books, they also house Fi & Co, the beautiful vintage clothing and accessories store, its pricey but you can see why, and it’s great to just grab a cup of tea and wander through the vintage fields and then back into the realm of books. It is also a great place to come for gifts as they have a whole wall of hilariously witty cards and originally designed notebooks and handmade gift wrap. As well as quirky book related knick knacks to surprise friends with.
I’d recommend coming here, but I’m afraid you’ll invade my hiding place, so unless you’re willing to appreciate this land of books as much as us regulars, I suggest you try Dymocks.

This is my favourite bookstore in WA and not just because it has the added benefit of stocking vintage clothing! The range of genres and books stocked here will truly light a fire in your heart and probably on your credit card, fact: it is impossible to come into this store and not buy something.
Sitting at the opposite end of the bookshop spectrum than Dymocks, New Edition stocks hard to find books about many creative fields including photography, fashion, and music. They have very comprehensive cooking and travel sections too. You probably won’t find all the current best selling fiction titles here, as New Edition is targeting a different reader. A fantastic place to buy gifts for loved ones and yourself.
Fi & Co (of William Street, Northbridge fame) have been keeping vintage clothing lovers in Freo happy in the back section of the New Edition store since 2008. Specialising in vintage clothing, accessories and shoes for women, as well as a splattering of new garnets, there are certainly some treasures to be found here. I usually end up walking out of New Edition with a whole new outfit and a whole new perspective to be found in the book I have just bought.

This is one of those shops that you pop into thinking it looks cool from the outside, then end up wandering around for hours because it’s cool on the inside too. Flanked by enormous pillars, New Edition Bookshop is just glorious in every way. They’ve got oodles of books, from fiction to drama to poetry to travel writing to… well, everything really. They have some really beautiful editions of classic fiction — so beautiful that I’m tempted to get beautiful shiny new versions of a load of books I already have, just because they’re so nice. If you ever get tired of wandering the shelves, you can grab a coffee and a cake at their tiny little café, have a chat with the friendly café guy or read a newspaper on the balcony.

Hands up who loves new book smell? As freaky a fetish as it may sound, I’m not the only one. This shop offers hundreds upon hundreds of great titles for you to indulge your inner book junkie, and serves as a paradise for those of us who adore their high brow literature. Not only do they sell regular best sellers, popular fiction and the entire Penguin Classic collection, New Edition also stocks heaps of hard to find titles — from modern ingenious types such as David Foster Wallace, to fringe art titles, fashion tomes, recipes galore for the DIY chefs. If you’re a book snob like me, consider New Edition your newest dealer.
What’s more, Fremantle’s store even reserves the back of their store to serve as a miniature vintage boutique. The girl who works there is lovely, and only too happy to help you find a new outfit. The prices are decent, with most items under $ 100.
If you’re going to pay a visit, make sure you have at least an hour free. New Edition is the type of store you’ll want to while away your hours in amongst shelves of printed candy for the brain and equally as tempting clothing.