Bookshops in Canberra report a switch to longer reads, often those worthier books we've all got on the list but never got round to taking off the shelf.

It seems we're turning to books to escape from the current reality.

"People are after fiction, that's for sure," Laura Canty of Canty's Bookshop in Fyshwick said.

The store has been closed to browsers - its shelves are so close to each other that searchers for its second-hand treasures couldn't avoid bumping up against each other.

But it's taking orders over the phone and people are sending lists of what they want.

Ms Canty said Dostoevsky and "Wuthering Heights" were prominent, neither of them light reads in normal times.

The Paperchain Bookstore in Manuka was also seeing increased zeal for long reads, particularly books in a series so one follows the other.

New hardback releases are flying off the shelves - Malcolm Turnbull's mighty tome (698 pages of wisdom laced with revenge) might have killed a lot of trees but it's also keeping a lot of people engrossed now the pubs and restaurants have shut.

Book blogger Claire Leyton who works at the store said there was a demand for "big books which might have been daunting before.

"They're more likely to read them now they've got the time to sink into them."

Booktopia which describes itself as "Australia's Fastest Growing Online Bookstore" told The Canberra Times that Australians were turning to books for both entertainment and comfort.

"Many people seem to be looking for an escape, so we've seen a big spike in people reading fiction," the company's Brand and Content Manager, Mark Harding, said.

"Historical fiction and crime/thriller novels are doing particularly well.

"We're also seeing a big jump in children's books and 'young adult' novels.

If the young are turning to words and text, adults seem to be turning to pictures.

"Adult colouring books, a trend from a few years ago that seemed to have faded, are strongly resurgent at the moment."

Often taste is for old-fashioned books you can feel in your hand rather than those on screens - Malcolm Turnbull's tome weighs about the same as a brick but it is selling well with Booktopia as well as in local stores.

But online books are also up, according to the company.

"Digital reading options are also doing well at the current time," Mr Harding said, particularly with the instant delivery denied to hard-back postal sales. Prices are also lower than hard-backs.

"We've seen eBook reading almost double through our platforms compared to the same time last year."

With author tours, book festivals and publicity events cancelled, release dates have shifted.

So has the industry's form of publicity. "Publishers and booksellers are looking to digital channels to keep the book buzz happening," Booktopia's Mark Ward said.

They were issuing videos, streaming online events and putting up podcasts to keep authors in the public eye "with the vast majority of this content available for free".