Hill Of Content

This place has a nice cozy feel you usually find in used book stores not new. This is a compliment to me. Was able to browse and meander without being bothered — another compliment. Nice selection — plenty of books to peruse.

This three story bookstore is gorgeous. Floor-​to-​ceiling book range without the pokey crammed feeling that a lot of Melbourne’s better independent bookstores have. Hill of Content is a place where you feel like you can take your time and have a quiet browse of their range while looking for something to take home.
On a Saturday afternoon this place was quite busy (hooray, long live books!), but didn’t feel crowded. Everything is really easy to find and their range is excellent.
The service was very awkward/​unfriendly and unlike some of the other bookstores around, act simply as cashiers than passionate and helpful literary fiends… but as I didn’t need assistance it wasn’t a big drawback. Stops it from being a local favourite, but it’s still right up there for a lovely space to browse for books.

With possibly three levels of books (one was closed off when I went, so I may never know) Hill of Content left me pretty content. Yes, I just did that.
It was so ideal, there were so many books, the range was not limited at all. It had a lovely layout, I liked the floor to ceiling shelving, and the tables here and there, and the one off random chair. I even liked creeping up the stairs, to find even more sections with different books. They have a humongous travel section, plus all of the basics.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think there was something romantic and small town feel about it. Oh and don’t forget to look at the bottom display –you may miss out on some good finds!

LA librairie où il est bon d’aller flâner dans cette ville du bout du monde. Un personnel disponible, des ouvrages des 4 coins du globe, un petit air d’Europe à des milliers de kilomètres.

Sometimes amazon doesn’t cut it. Sow what to do without Borders?
I’d say that you should’ve known about Hill of Content long before Borders…
Super personal service is key here, because of the large amount of books, it helps that someone there can always find what you’re looking for. And it’s just better to see the books in person and buy them, without having to hope what you found online is what comes in the mail.

Why would anyone ever go to Borders or Angus & Robertson when the Hill of Content sits proudly atop Bourke Street like a shining beacon of authentic literature and good taste?
First of all, this bookshop is beautiful to look at. Spending hours inside it surrounded by floor to ceiling book-​filled shelves is a delight, and as if to entice you to stay a while longer, the leather sofas are unconscionably comfortable.
The staff are always helpful and genuine book lovers who must each perch upon their very own hill of content just by being in here day after day. What peace one must feel from working in a place like this, I can only imagine.

Hill of Content proved to me that just because you have a beautiful shiny bookstore does not mean that you’re going to get your average Top 10 book range with a box full of last years stuff for half price (A&R etc).
There’s every genre you could tink of, like everything. I actually get lost in here for hours on end. Their titles can be new or old, normal or strange, it’s all in here under one roof.
The store glistens to those outside, it’s inviting and once you go in you will understand why. The wood floors and old rustic vibe of the shop just adds to my love for it.
Most book stores staff squish their face when i ask them for design books, architecture, or fashion but Hill of Content is happy to help.

My first Content experience wasn’t actually in the bookshop itself. I had been writing scores for film students and went along to their screening. One film had a particularly memorable scene in a bookshop. Not memorable for the plot point or the acting, but because even from my uncomfortable audience chair I could feel how special being inside that bookshop would be and how much I needed to go there.
So now when I shop there, I feel like I am living out a scene from a film. I feel like my life is staged and directed and made exquisitely beautiful. There are good books, too, it’s not all fantasy.

Hill of Content is Melbourne’s most respected independent bookstore, and for good reason. It has an enormous range of titles on pretty much every topic, with passionate book-​loving staff.
The store itself can seem a bit intimidating from the outside — it has got a bit of an austere vibe, like it’s the grand old matron of upper Bourke Street. But once you’re inside you’ll forget all about it and get lost among the shelves. At my last visit I was looking for a hard cover edition of Allen Gingsberg’s Howl (for a gift, I’m not a poetry nerd myself). I didn’t find one (because, I’ve since discovered, there isn’t one currently in print), but they had three different versions including a graphic novel adaptation. Pretty impressive stuff.
Despite my failed Gingsberg search, I didn’t leave the store empty handed. For reasons I don’t entirely understand, I came out with a book about hand-​binding your own books, which had been hand-​binded itself using the very technique in the book. While I’ll never use the book as anything more than a pretty thing to flick through from time to time, it says something about the shop — the titles they stock are so interesting it’s more like museum than a shop!

Literary lovers will swear they have died and gone to heaven upon entering this bookstore.
Stoically it stands upon Bourke Street and its two levels are home to one of the best and largest collections of books in the city.
Many authors have launched their books at Hill of Content and it’s not hard to see why.
Beautifully furnished with leather couches and mahogany the atmosphere is one of indulgence and comfort — the perfect reading combination.
The store doesn’t just boast a large collection of fiction and classics (the second floor poetry section is enormous). Hill of Content also caters to other interests and sections include gardening, architecture, art, war and history.
The staff are welcoming and very helpful when it comes to locating a particular book or edition.
However the fun comes from browsing the shelves, and flipping pages of books while reclining in a ridiculously comfortable leather couch.
The store is so large and the collection so vast that you will loose track of time when you step in.
Wasting time has never been so good.