We all love a good book, and a good bookstore makes that good book that much better. So let's have a look at Sydney's top 5 bookstores, and where to pick that good book up from...or that one...or that one...

Number Five is an obvious contender but it wouldn’t be Sydney’s top 5 bookstores without it; Gleebooks (Glebe, Sydney Theatre, Blackheath, Dulwich Hill)

Like living in the TV show Cheers, everyone knows its name. Gleebooks, the independent Antiquarian & Secondhand bookseller is the front-runner in Sydney’s second-hand bookstores and is the undisputed motherland of books. On Glebe Pt Road, there is the Gleebooks books and DVD store, then further up there’s the Gleebooks children store, whose collection is just as prolific. As well as their book-trade, Gleebooks also plays host to talks by authors, international and national figures, including the Chaser boys. To further deepen its veins, Gleebooks has recently opened a Dulwich Hill branch, which is a very welcome addition to an often neglected portion of the Inner West.

Number Four is another favourite, Berkelouw Books

Berkelouw Books, a familiar face, a surprising inside story in each store. Either in its Paddington, Newtown, Rose Bay or Leichhardt counterpart, Berkelouw Books and its second-hand sections always offer an enjoyable perusal. To tempt the booklover even more so, its Leichhardt location also has Berkelouw Wine Bar, the ‘let’s stay for one more’ wine and bookshelf combination is a winner, especially given the armchairs and cheese platters...oh, and that chocolate menu.

The middle man, Number Three, is the iconic Gould's Book Arcade, Newtown.

Bob Gould, the silver stalwart of Sydney's sixties counter-culture who was once arrested for his anti-Vietnam and anti-establishment activities, runs Goulds, King St's quietly amazing second-hand bookstore. Bob Gould has been a Sydney bookseller and collector since 1967 and has been on King St, Newtown since 1988. Walking past its gaping garage-sized door, just a glance sums up Gould's functionality; towers of records, books, posters, magazines and cassettes leaning on eachother, stacked in crates, on unmarked bookshelves and looked after by staff who have just as much idea of what's on each shelf as the customer themselves. The shop is the size of two single tennis courts, and with large fluorescent lights, it's like a warehouse solely dedicated to soul food. With a room full of 5ft leaning piles of records, pyramids of books to edge around and a wall of cassettes, there's always something exciting to discover here.

Number Two is Sappho Books, Cafe & Wine Bar, Glebe.

We return to Glebe to enjoy Sappho's Books, one of my favourite second-hand bookstores, and to appeal to that late-night new-book itch you can sometimes get, Sappho offers food, wine and now cocktails. Enjoying a book under a jasmine tree with a friend or two, and wine, cocktail or sangria in hand, is just the best of so many worlds.

And finally, our Number One is the lovely Gertrude & Alice Café Bookstore, Bondi.

I do love cafe booksores, and Gertrude & Alice's is a great spot. Named after Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, the famous expat American couple who encouraged the careers of Hemingway and Henry Miller, amongst others, there's a lot of heart to this place. Combining two great loves to share with the public, owner Jane Turner offers good books and good food to create the simplest yet most enjoyable duo. Falling in love with voices singing from the pages, you’ll never want to stop consuming the soul-food served up by this sensorium of a bookstore.