Welcome to Roaring Stories
Roaring Stories Bookshop (formerly Brays Books) is Balmain’s only independent bookstore.
One of Sydney’s longest trading bookstores, Brays Books opened in 1969 under the ownership of Philip and Margaret Bray. Brays Books celebrated its 50th year of independent bookselling in 2019, proudly serving multiple generations of the Balmain reading community.
Following Philip Bray’s retirement from bookselling, Dan Jordon and Claire Gorman purchased Brays Books and undertook a complete store redesign and refurbishment and reopened for trading in October 2019 under the new brand, Roaring Stories Bookshop.
Jordon and Gorman set about maintaining the independent spirit of the bookshop and retained the bulk of the bookselling team from Brays Books, including Bronwyn, Tim, Sylvia and Nell.
Roaring Stories Bookshop remains an independent bookshop that is set on providing an even broader range of new release and backlist titles.
Alongside our extensive handpicked range and our team of passionate and experienced booksellers, we are also looking forward to bringing you exciting and engaging reader events, in store, and in some of the great venues that the local area has to offer.
Books are the heart of what we do. As an independent bookshop, our largest sections are devoted to children’s books, fiction, current affairs, biography, food and wine, history and Australian non-fiction. If we don’t have the book you are looking for, we’d be more than happy to order it for you.
Otherwise, if you require the expertise from our expert team of booksellers to help you find that perfect book for yourself or a gift, pop in and say hello.
What our readers are saying…
From the blog
What We’re Reading in June
From a novel about serial killer on the prowl in Sydney, to quintessential Anne Tyler, to a work translated from the French about a strange event that takes place on a flight from Paris to New York: here’s what our Roaring Stories staff are reading this month.
What We’re Reading in May
Two translated novels from Japanese authors – one new, one first published over two decades ago. Here’s what our Balmain bookshop staff are reading this month.
‘I am drawn to writers who see things differently’: Q&A with Jemma Birrell on Tablo’s new literary imprint
‘We’re passionate about publishing books of beauty and substance, and it’s been thrilling (and challenging!) imagining how to bring new titles into the world.’