This is a fab original little bookshop fighting against the likes of Waterstones and Blackwells. I…read moremean, it's not actually fighting those giants, but you know what I mean. If you've seen You've Got Mail you know what I mean. This is a proper bookshop. Books are crammed onto rickety-looking shelves and span all kinds of categories. They buy as well as sell books, so you can get yourself a good swop-shop thing going on if you're savvy enough. Obviously, you've got to have some spare time on your hands to browse through everything, but it's well worth it as this is one of the few remaining old fashioned book stores in the city centre, and you can find some real gems. Also worth a look from an academic point of view - being near the university campuses means you can get some bargains as far as uni reading goes.

It's good because it sells a lot of books cheaply but my enthusiasm for little quaint second hand…read morebookshops has worn a little thin mainly because the owners al seem to be sociopaths or misanthropes. Too harsh? Maybe, it could just be the case that put end to end and the hours sat alone with only books for company probably add up to years, either that or books give off some sort of toxic fumes that effect the central nervous system. Still there are lots of books here so if books are what you're after then why not take a few minutes to see if there's anything amongst the second hand stock - and therefore tick your little green eco box for the day to boot - and you may just come across some thing you'd never thought of picking up .

As you would expect from a city that boasts about its musical heritage and contribution to pop…read moreculture as much as Liverpool, there a few independent music shops that can be found around the city centre. Music Notes is one of the smaller music stores that I have come across and placed in an odd area of town, in my opinion, to find it. Being small seems to encourage this place to stock mainly small musical instruments. I'm not entirely sure if they offer more online but you wont find any pianos or drum kits although there are plenty of half size guitars, eukeles, bongos and harmonicas. However they do stock a wide range of sheet music and song books. Good for those looking to take up a new hobby or dwarves in folk bands.

A nice and friendly music shop on North John Street. Very helpful staff which meant I didn't have…read moreto hunt through all the books in their well stocked music shop. The shop has been open for over eight years and really know what they are doing. The stock includes music for all abilities and tastes from the beginner to the professional musician. If you want to find the right music to learn to sing or play your chosen instrument be it piano, guitar, saxophone, drums, trumpet, violin, recorder, penny whistle, banjo etc. then you have come to the right place. There is a noticeboard in the entrance of the shop where you advertise concerts and gigs.

There are two World's Apart shops in Liverpool and contrary to the name they are actually quite…read moreclose together. This building in Lime street is a mess and needs a sympathetic refurb and clean. I was surprised to discover that actually this shop is part of a small chain. I visited the shop for the first time this week. It's full of comics and toys you simply can't get elsewhere - not that I have tried. So many of the toy figures I could not recognise although I did spot some of the original Dr Who figures and some from Final Fantasy. Forget Toys R Us, this place is a wealth of badges, stickers, games and oddness for kids, adults and fans of things I've never even heard of.

Like its geeky counterpart, Forbidden Planet on Bold, World's Apart deals in all things cult. Cult…read moreis often a term used to describe things that have a strong, devoted core audience - or for studio executives something with low viewing figures. But no more, the popularity if this store can be seen on Saturday afternoons as children and adults alike fill the store and rummage through the amazing collections of limited edition, imported and new toys, comics, books, graphic novels, DVDs, posters and clothing for every genre and range of sci-fi, horror and anime franchise.

Though only a small sectioned off area at the rear of the FACT building this shop is one of the…read morebest places in Liverpool to get hold of movie related books and gifts. Their selection of postcards featuring abstract versions of the city centre (the perfect small keepsake for the homesick art student) and old posters of B-Movies and James Bond films (the perfect present label for the cinema obsessive) are fantastic, as is their collection of classic book cover posters (the one for "Slaughterhouse 5" currently adorns my wall and I plan on picking up several more). The shop also carries a great selection of BFI guides to genre and directors (the "100 Best American Independent Films", which I picked up here, has been a book that I go back to again and again when I need something a little different to watch). The staff here (it's usually just the one guy) is happy to recommend suitable gifts or purchases and is happy to just have a bit of a movie fanboy jawing session.

The Shop at Fact is a little glass walled area at the back of the ground floor. It doesn't look up…read moreto much until you step inside. The items on sale here are wonderful, from the cuddly lambanana's to the arty books, there is so much on offer here you wont find anywhere else. The items are cheap, but they are of a very high quality and being so rare, you don't mind paying a little extra. The staff are very friendly throughout FACT and they are happy to suggest a gift and they will wrap your item for you if you wish.

A Liverpool institution, Probe was immortalised in Kevin Sampson's Awaydays as the shop everyone…read morevisited in the late 70s to buy the latest punk and no wave singles. Three decades on, they still have a small selection of Joy Division and Magazine albums but their stock is much more eclectic. Alongside classic funk, soul, dub and electro, there are racks devoted to krautrock, psyche, garage, indie, freakbeat and classic rock. Endearingly, vinyl is the dominating medium rather than CDs with lots of lovingly sourced re-issues as well as new and original releases. The staff are friendly and knowledgable and more than happy to play records if you want to try before you buy. If only all record shops were like this! The magnificent Magazine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nImOq_eWHEM&feature=related

Not much to add here on Probe Records, as everyone affirms it's a real-life genuine piece of…read moremusical heritage in a city where a lot relies on the idea of the ghost of the myth of the beat-era. Offering a broad selection of punk, post-punk, indie, funk, soul and reggae on CD and Vinyl, Probe is really the one-stop shop for music you might not find in HMV. It feels like a real record shop too; blasting a selection of funk and punk cult classics through the speakers, with wooden rack upon wooden rack of records, some with little well-thought out recommendation cards. The staff are friendly and surprisingly un-high fidelity-y in that a misstepped request won't be answered with a volley of insults in the direction of your musical knowledge. Regulars are treated well and newcomers are treated like regulars. A few years ago I asked for the new Iron and Wine album (the fantastic, laid-back "Our Endless Numbered Days") and although it wasn't out until Monday they let me have it anyway. Brilliant.

I have been a fan of this bookshop since I was little when the well thumbed children's books were…read morestrewn about the worn carpet, surrounded by tumbling stacks of other genres piled throughout the dishevelled store .That, of course, was then. Having moved to premises just around the corner, Pritchard's is now housed in a shiny new store which remains relatively tidy. The staff are familiar with their large stock and can pinpoint your required text in seconds- or not as the case may be; texts that are out of stock can be ordered in as I learned recently having reserved a substantial tome of Victorian poetry: fun times. With the competition of internet based stores and the numerous faceless chain stores, I think it's fantastic to see an independently owned locsl bookshop succeeding.

Elliot I couldn't agree more - I love the smell of new books! I didn't know the old store so I…read morecannot comment. I do however, like the Crosby store although the Formby seems to have more going on, more book signings etc. Whenever I have used Pritchards I have always found them really good for getting books in, that they don't have on the shelf. If you order before 4pm they pretty much guarantee it in for the next day. Pritchards have a good range of books - arts, medicine, law, sport etc. I have mainly bought language books from them and have ordered a few in, which arrived just on time for my course.

I came across The Olive Tree one day by accident and when I stepped into the shop, it took me by…read moresurprise in terms of the spiritual format it was decorated in; this gave it a calm, peaceful and relaxing atmosphere which it suited as it is a shop focussed on spiritual beliefs, worship and crafts. They sell a wide range of products such as incense, books, massage oils and small gifts. There are even opportunities to try out a free massage session upon appointment and trying you hands at origami at their workshop. Flyers and information leaflets can be found which details these events at the front desk where the friendly owner will assist you.

If you want a bit of chill out and to get away from the busy rush that we seem to live in, then the…read moreOlive Tree is the place for you. I always come out feeling a sense of relief and really relaxed. It often has really relaxing music playing and incense burning. The shop has a good selection of books on topics such as spirituality, aromatherapy, yoga, herbcraft and healing, ancient wisdom and more. They also have a cool little prayer book, where people write in something that is bothering them, for instance a relative who isn't well and ask people who come into the shop to then prayer for their relative. Really nice. At the very back of the shop they have the Moroccan Room which as you would imagine has all things Moroccan in it. Again, totally relaxing with Moroccan recipe books, cushion's galour and more. I also liked their selection of CD's, candles and cards.

Oh right, so that's its name. To be honest despite years of this being my local newsagents I've…read morenever had a reason, nay the downright tenacity to glance up and get to know this place as anything other than that shop by mine that has everything. An outsider venturing here would fail to be impressed as it bears little difference to a billion little newsagents up and down the high streets of Britain but, for the most part, they're all equally brilliant. Where else can you burst in five minutes to closing time on a Christmas Eve demanding medium-slice bread and be answered with what you asked for, as opposed to a smack in the mouth? I'm just gutted I wasn't alive in 1905, when the building was used as a 'chronometer manufactory'. What the hell do either of those two words mean? Answers on a postcard.

One of the last remaining secondhand record shops in Liverpool is Hairy Records. Situated at the…read moretop of Bold Street, it's a gloriously ramshackle shop that has literally dozens of racks of old vinyl. The window is a great indicator of what you'll find inside with well thumbed copies of early Dylan, Neil Young and Van Morrison records alongside old classics by The Cure, The Smiths and The Specials. It's not all rock and pop however, as inside there are literally hundreds of brilliant soul, funk, disco, motown, northern soul, girl groups, reggae and krautrock albums. If you can't find what you're looking for, ask the friendly owner and there's a chance he might have a copy somewhere. I only chatted to him for five minutes and it was clear his passion and enthusiasm for music was infectious. In the week, Hairy Records is quite quiet so you'll have time to look through everything without being disturbed. At weekends however, expect to be elbowed by local musicans like The Zutons and The Coral. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJrGKqYYfdY

Liverpool's selection of independent record shops is so bad, considering the city's monumental…read moremusical heritage, it's almost laughable. Hairy is one of the few left and is probably the biggest and best known. Its collection of vinyl is tremendous with stacks and stacks from all genres and eras that you can happily spend days rooting through them all. But like all specialist shops - particularly record shops - there is always a catch. Remember High Fidelity? Remember the father innocently asking Jack Black if he had a copy of 'I Just Called To Say I Love You'? Yep, just be careful.

For its size the Blucoat Books and Arts store crams a hell of a lot into its small store which is…read morebasically a space under the stairs leading to the rest of the stores in the Gostins Building. Their selection of books is really very good especially in the arts, films and music sections. Taking an interest in the cinema section I was pleased to see many titles that you would struggle to find even in the new Waterstones - which for all its size isn't as extensive as you would expect, maybe they should concentrate on the books instead of the coffee to go with them. Added to this they only have an arts and crafts space that would give Rennie's a run for their money. It is not a one stop kind of place for all your artistic needs - that would be a bit too much to ask considering the lack of floor space - but with an extensive range of paints, cards and paper the enthusiast will find enough to keep them busy.

When I think of the bookshops in Liverpool, this one never seems to spring to mind first, but it…read morereally should. Tucked away in a little cluster of shops off Hanover Street, Bluecoat Books is a good little store for the budding artist, crammed with Art and Design books on specific artists and architecture as well as the usual A-Z of fiction. They have an art materials workshop with a rainbow of paints, brushes and canvases on sale and also a surprising amount of childrens books which took me back to the days when I was much happier reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar than Austen! I also noticed there was a whole section on travel guide to...'s and they had some out-of-date ones out at 50p each! Also it was £5 for 3 of the second-hand hardback books so I'm stock up for a while now! I won't be forgetting this place in a hurry!