What London lacks in bookshops, Sydney seems to have in abundance; the kind of neighborhood bookstore that one can pop into for a browse, to be greeted by a friendly face and shelves upon shelves of undiscovered books waiting to be read.

Oscar & Friends is the perfect example of this kind of place. With a store in both Double Bay and Surry Hills, I visited the Surry Hills branch when en route into the city one very dismal Friday morning.

Nestled amongst the hustle and bustle of vintage shops and pubs that line Crown Street, Oscar & Friends is a peaceful haven perfect for bookworms all over Sydney. From the decorated book bike at its entrance to the wide selection of books on offer and the booksellers’ clearly excellent taste in literature (I spotted the 2015 Baileys Prize shortlist in its entirety) this small but perfectly formed bookshop is the perfect place to find your next best book buy. They stock a fantastic range of creative non-fiction including travel books and guides, biographies and autobiographies, a top choice of beautiful cook books and shelves of coffee table art books including a few fantastic graffiti and tattoo lookbooks.

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