[3] Aqua Books consisted of a bookstore, a restaurant called Eat Bistro, writers' studios and an events theatre.

Writers who have launched books or read at Aqua Books include Paul Quarrington, Susie Moloney, Shane Koyczan, Sarah Klassen, George Murray, Miriam Toews, David Bergen, Joan Thomas, Andrew Davidson, Catherine Hunter, and Margaret Christakos.

Lecturers have included politician Tim Sale, musician Steve Bell and activist David Northcott.

The store was visited by journalist Noah Richler in 2009, who called it "one of the craziest, most amusing and well-ordered second-hand bookstores I have ever frequented".

The Aqua Books Lansdowne Prize for Poetry Reading Series, hosted in conjunction with The Writers' Collective, is based around this award.