Good newsagent. Have bought gifts here when I didn't have a chance to get them anywhere else and…read morethere's a good range of novels and art supplies as well as the usual suspects.

Quest Newspapers are a Fairfax owned network of local suburban weekly papers which have a…read moresurprisingly strong readership around Brisbane. No world stopping news of global significance here, but the Quest papers are a good place to start if you want to get a quick look at the local news for the week, get the council notices effecting your area, see local sports news or check the classifieds. Always worth a quick look.

Style Magazine is one of the many free mags that you can pick up in various Brisbane stores and…read morecafes. Unlike most of the other mags though, which offer something unique and different, Style tries to be a bit more prestigious. It attempts to model itself after Vogue rather than Fankie but falls a little short of the mark. It's still worth picking up every month, after all it's free, and usually reviews nice cafes, bars and restaurants as well as events and local businesses.

Every shopping centre needs a newsagent. Where else do you pick up the weekend paper, test your…read moreluck with a lotto ticket or scratchie, or grab that last minute birthday card? News on Newmarket is a nice little newsagent in the Reading Newmarket Shopping Centre. It does not have the biggest range of greeting cards, magazines and stationary but it does have all the basics. It is the place I go to pick up the Weekend Australian and the staff are always happy and chipper. The store is fairly small and when there are a lot of people checking their lotto tickets there can be a little bit of a line but this only rarely happens. On a whole, News on Newmarket is your fairly average newsagent but definitely a necessary addition to the shopping centre.

This newsagency is secretly also a gift shop. It's bailed me out a few times when I've remembered…read moresomeone's birthday party on the day of the event. The gift shop section is viewable from the store front and occupies its own little room. The range of gifts here aren't extensive but they seem to nicely cover all bases. I recently had to buy a gift for my mother at the last minute, and picked up two modern-art-esque wire cat statues for around $30. (The best thing is look like they might be expensive, a big bonus for all Scrooges.) On the other hand, there's kids toys, board games, and presents for yobbo mates (yard glasses included, of course) and - causing me to raise my eyebrows - Golliwog dolls, on occasion. The card range is decent, and even though around 90% of humorous cards in general are anything but, there's a few funny ones here. There is also the rest of the newsagent with the standard stuff common to larger newsagents. It's really the gift shop part I like, and the earring selection at the front counter. Local designers sell their wares here and there's some very cool and unique stuff at cheap prices (around $10 for a pair of earrings). I find the staff to generally be on the frosty side, but then again I much prefer this to someone jumping all over me.