Riverbend Books | She Quit her Day Job to Pursue her Dream

Author // Shannon Edwards, Place Bulimba

Fancy a glass of red or a hot cup of tea while you curl up and read your favourite book?

Riverbend Books and Café on Bulimba’s Oxford Street is a beautiful destination that offers both.

Owner, Suzy Wilson, opened the shop in 1998, after quitting her day job and following her dream and love for books.

“It’s just really special to be able to share our love for books with people around the community, it’s a special bond that we share with our customers,” says Suzy.

Suzy shares with us the Riverbend journey, what she loves about Bulimba, and of course, her favourite book that is a must read for us all!

**How did Riverbend Books begin?**

As a young girl I was a huge reader and as I grew up some would even say I was addicted to books.

After school I was a teacher for nine years then ended up teaching Early Childhood at QUT with a strong focus on literacy studies.

You know how some people say “I’m going to chuck it all in and travel”, well I always had this throwaway line “one day I’ll have a book shop”.

It was always a nice thought but I never thought it would really happen.

There was a time in my career where I felt something was missing.

I remember coming home one night and said, “that’s it, maybe I’ll open that bookshop!”

And from there Riverbend Books was born in Bulimba.

I lived nearby and the area had such a strong community feel so I thought the customers would really appreciate the sort of atmosphere we were wanting to create.

What have you loved about owning a business in Bulimba over the years?

I have so many regular customers which is really special, many who have been visiting since the very start.

I had two lovely customers come in the other day who shared a story – Back when they arrived in Australia from England they were driving around looking for an area to live.

They told me “we got to Bulimba and one of the things we noticed was your beautiful bookshop, we stopped and had lunch and my wife said, I’d really love to live near this bookshop.”

That was a really special thing to hear, that my little bookshop contributed to someone’s decision to move the area.

**How do you believe Riverbend Café has contributed to the community?**

We’ve created a welcoming place where people feel comfortable and relaxed.

The store itself was originally a little house which I could have developed, but it was really important for me to maintain the comfortable, homey style.

It was my dream to create a space where people could get together, share their love of reading and feel as if they’re at a home away from home.

We now have 18 book clubs that we facilitate and on top of that there’s about 20 additional book clubs who also meet here regularly.

It’s really nice knowing that all those groups of people will be returning each month for their get-togethers.

What have you loved about being a part of the community?

I have watched little children grow up, and from their first book, grown into fabulous readers.

Recently I had a father whose son has been struggling with reading, so I gave them a book and for the first time he’s become really engaged with reading – that’s one of the most satisfying things I do.

Another thing I love to do is support authors, and not only well-known authors, but ones who are just starting off and finding their way.

Now, if you could pick one book, what would be your favourite?

That’s almost an impossible question! But I’ll tell you about a recent book that I really love.

‘Wonder’ by RJ Palacio is an all-time favourite for us at Riverbend.

It’s a great book that is enjoyed by everyone from grandmothers to eight year olds just getting into reading.

It’s a fantastic story and a must read.

**What’s coming up for Riverbend books?**

Back in 2004 Riverbend started the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

We discovered that there were very high rates of ill-literacy in remote indigenous communities.

We went to a remote school to find that there was a tiny selection of books hidden away in the school, that they didn’t want to give to the children in case they ruined them!

The Indigenous Literacy Foundation raises money to buy books to send to these remote communities.

Not only do we send books, but we have stories written in both English and Indigenous first language.

So far we have published over 63 books, and will soon be travelling to Gunbalanya, a very remote land, to launch our latest book.