We cruise into town on a sunny Saturday morning and the first place we notice is Our Book Shop & Café Berry.

It’s got a shady courtyard and a family atmosphere. Grandmothers, prams, couples, kids and dogs create a laid-back ambience, surprisingly peaceful.

We’re just passing through and needing a pit stop. I’ve got five minutes, max, to browse the shelves.

There’s a book room in the courtyard that holds a mishmash of fiction (old and new).

There are also reference books and other titles.

A full set of Waverley Pictorial Dictionary displays the most beautiful navy and silver spines. I wish I had time to explore its tempting volumes. Just imagine!

After fresh Portuguese tarts accompanied by breakfast tea with lemon, I scoot along to the front of this quaint shop. A room for the café adjoins a room for the bookshop. Both rooms face Berry’s bustling and eclectic main street.

There’s a pleasing array of children’s books in the book room plus a good selection of memoirs, cookbooks, books on religion and spirituality, and probably other categories I’ve got no time to explore.

I find a book on the significance of silence and take it swiftly to the register.

Are you a meditator? the bookseller asks.

I pause briefly. (How to answer this question?)

That would be overstating it, I say (but wonder, where should I go with this next?).

I’m a bit of a yogi, I add (then wonder does the word yogi truly tolerate the word bit?)

I’m also interested in silence, I say (but wonder, cringingly, just how preposterously pretentious this must sound).

It’s a noisy world, I add quickly.

The bookseller nods. She’s enthusiastic. Seems to fervently agree.

I relax.

This could easily go deeper.

However, the bookseller’s paperwork towers. And my holiday buddies are anxious.

Time to hit the road.

Still, it’s one of those lovely bookshop moments; the sort that means I’ll be back.

In the meantime, you should visit.

My top three finds were:

A Woman of the Future by David Ireland. First published in 1979, this was Ireland’s best-selling sixth novel and his third to win the Miles Franklin Award.

The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal. The story of the 264 netsuke (palm-sized wood and ivory carvings of animals, plants and people) opens a window onto the story of the Ephrussi family, whose home was invaded by the Nazis.The netsuke survive to help reconstruct their story.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I haven’t read this trilogy but many of my younger friends speak highly of its gripping narrative and strong, female heroine, so I’m trusting that their instinct is right and it will appeal to certain readers.

PS: Seeking Silence in a Noisy World: The Art of Mindful Solitude is by Adam Ford (Allen and Unwin, 2011) and its introduction says:

“The pleasure of silence has to be one of the most democratic of experiences — available to everyone in a noisy world; young or old, rich or poor, religious or secular.”

I’m looking forward to reading it!

Our Book Shop and Cafe is at 103a Queen Street, Berry, New South Wales.