Who We Are

We are family owned independent bookshops which aim to offer excellent customer service. Our knowledgeable staff are here to help you.

Tim's Bookshops offer a wide range of books to suit all interests. We are happy to special order titles, offer free gift wrapping and sell gift vouchers. Children's books are a specialty and we have a story time session in our Canterbury shop on the first Thursday of every month. Our staff are happy to make recommendations to suit a wide variety of reading tastes.  
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Meet the Staff!

TIM
Book Buyer and Co-owner at Tim’s Bookshops in Kew and Canterbury. I am a huge book enthusiast, mainly of crime fiction at present. I am also the singer and guitarist for the pop/rock band The Hard Covers.
Favourite Childhood Book: 
This would be either Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson or Green Smoke by Rosemary Manning.
Favourite Book of the Past Year: 
The Defender by GX Todd was a smart dystopian thriller I couldn't put down. I'm really looking forward to the sequel. Boy, it was a great read!! 
Must Buy Author: 
Still Donna Leon for her Venetian crime stories and Fred Vargas for her bizarre French police procedurals.
Favourite Character: 
Ove from ‘A Man Called Ove’, Kate Shugak from Dana Stabenowski’s Alaskan crime books, Commissaire Adamsberg from Fred Vargas or Guido Brunetti from Donna Leon. Some of these people have been with me for over twenty years.

LYNN
I am a Co-owner of Tim's Bookshops and Tim's better half. I'm a literary fiction reader, eco-warrior and lover of nature photography. When I'm not working I prefer to be at the beach or kayaking.
Favourite Childhood Book: ​
It's a toss up between The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf and Prince Bertram the Bad by Arnold Lobel.
Favourite Book of the Past Year: 
Silent Invasion by Clive Hamilton
Must Buy Author:
Sebastian Faulks - Engleby
Robert Dessaix- What days are for
Sebastian Barry - A long long way
Vikram Seth - A suitable boy
Kate Richards -Madness a Memoir
Malcolm Gladwell - Outliers
Favourite Character:​
​It has to be Harry Potter. I got so much pleasure from reading the Harry Potter books to my children.

KATE
I love books, sparkling wine, my cats, more books, wombats, gardens and gardening, footy, sleep... and books.
Favourite Childhood Book: 
The Horse and His Boy by C.S Lewis (and The Secret Garden and Black Beauty because there was never going to be just one!)
Favourite Book of the Past Year: 
Anything by Fredrik Backman as I have read both of his latest books in the last few months and his wonderful characters and quirky, heartwarming Swedishness really appeal.
Must Buy Author: 
Terry Pratchett. Always. Even though he died. There might still be new ones...maybe. In a drawer somewhere. Possibly.
Favourite Character: 
Jack Reacher.

DAN
I'm a book lover, dog lover and Kylie Minogue lover. My favourite thing to do is sit around reading with my dog, Dolly, on my lap, a red wine in hand and Kylie playing in the background.
Favourite Childhood Book:
I LOVED my collection of Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books, Garfield comics and Enid Blyton's Magic Faraway Tree series.
Favourite Book of the Past Year:
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. Devastatingly sad, but beautiful. I haven't been moved by a book like I was by this one for a very long time.
Must Buy Author:
Christopher Moore
Favourite Character:
Michael "Mouse" Tolliver from Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City series (along with every other main character from that series!!)

DEB
My favourite things in life are of course reading, spending time with my family and cats, and also cooking up a feast for friends. After many years working for book publishers I am now on the other side of the fence working 2 days a week in Canterbury.
Favourite Childhood Book:
Enid Blyton filled my shelves with The Famous Five, Secret Seven, and I still have my complete set of the original Noddy books.
Favourite Book of the Past Year:
A toss up between The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Portrait of Molly Dean. They're both fiction based on fact and set locally.
Must Buy Author: 
Sonya Hartnett and Helen Garner have always been my favourites, although their styles of writing are poles apart.
Favourite Character: 
Mma Ramotswe from No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. I love her warmth, humour and solid advice usually accompanied by a cup of tea. 

CATHERINE
​Tim's was my local bookshop as a kid. I was very lucky to get a Christmas job here 12 years ago, and I never really left!
Favourite Childhood Book:
The Journey Home by Alison Lester (and Greetings from Sandy Beach by Bob Graham, and the Floramunde books by Pamela Freeman)
Favourite Book of the Past Year:
I loved the first book in the Nevermoor series, The Trials of Morrigan Crow. It's going to be a great new series for Harry Potter fans! 
Must Buy Author:
John Flanagan, definitely. Also Melina Marchetta, Melissa Keil, Ellie Marney, Rainbow Rowell, Kiera Cass, Tamora Pierce, Cynthia Hand, Sarah J. Maas, Maria V. Snyder, Fiona Wood... (yes, my bookshelves are overflowing)
Favourite Character:
George Cooper, the King of Thieves in Tamora Pierce's books. Or possibly Magnus Bane.

MEGAN
​I love books, music, the beach, and winter!
​Favourite Childhood Book: 
Kojuro and the Bears by Junko Morimoto. Such a mournful and beautiful story!
Favourite Book of the Past Year:
The Choke by Sofie Laguna. Laguna's follow up from the award winning author of The Eye of The Sheep is hearbreaking, strong, and, ultimately, hopeful.
Must Buy Author:
I highly recommend you buy everything by Jodi Picoult. She tackles tricky social issues with poise and sensitivity.
Favourite Character: 
My all time favourite character has to be Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series. She is a strong, intelligent, fierce young woman.

MILLI
During the week I study Creative Writing at RMIT and spend Fridays and Saturdays with the Kew Crew at Tim's Bookshop. When I'm not reading or writing I love going to the footy, camping and cooking.
Favourite Childhood Book: 
Parvana by Deborah Ellis or Dizzy by Cathy Cassidy. I still think about the powerful young women in these stories often.
Favourite Book of the Past Year: 
'The First Bad Man' by Miranda July was a joyous and confronting read. And you can never go wrong with Helen Garner. Her newest collection of essays 'Everywhere I Look' reminds us why she is the best writer working in Australia today.
Must Buy Author: 
Ali Smith. Dip into any of her award-winning novels and you will be rewarded with gorgeous, playful language and characters that are magically alive.
Favourite Character: 
Amy Harper Bellafonte, the girl who saves the world in Justin Cronin's 'The Passage Trilogy'. ​

ALEX
While not working at Tim's I am a Science undergrad at Monash as well as an avid musical theatre memoriser, mediocre volleyball player, light camping enthusiast and tabletop gaming lover.
Favourite Childhood Book: 
My favourite book when I was a child was The Giving Tree (no thanks to Silverstein's portrait on the rear cover...), but I've also always had a great love for John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series once I was old enough to read it.
Favourite Book of the Past Year:
The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks, the fourth book in the Lightbringer series. An excellent and much-awaited continuation of the story, it did great justice to the series while opening up whole new and unexpected plot threads for the rest of the series.
Must Buy Author:  
Garth Nix is my favourite author for kids (mostly for the Abhorsen series, though the Keys series is also good), but Matthew Reilly has to be my #1 all time author!
Favourite Character:
​My favourite male character would have to be Terry Pratchett's Moist von Lipwig, while my favourite female character is a closer contest with Garth Nix's Lirael taking the title.