There is not too much that can be said about this place as it is a small wee shop snuggled…read moreinbetween shops on the Main Highway in Ellerslie except WOW there are a huge amount of magaziens sold here! If you are after a trashy weekend magazine, or something along the fishing lines for your father's birthday, head over here. While you are grabbing a few magazines, you can also get your lotto ticket and, as you may have guessed by the creative ( cough cough) shop name, a few cards as well.

As a College Librarian I am delighted to find such a huge and varied collection of magazines to…read morepurchase for the library. So many it can be a little overwhelming.

Let me preface this review by saying I used to edit Express Magazine. Used to! Don't any more…read more Promise. With that out of the way, I can talk about the present state of New Zealand's only gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender-focused magazine, and its sister site www.gayexpress.co.nz. For more than 20 years, Express has chronicled the GLBT community and all its ups and downs - from the human rights reform of the early 1990s to the current fight for marriage equality in New Zealand, Express has been there recording in print (and now on the web) the stories that want and need to be told; this is true community press by and for the community. Current editor Leif Wauters is doing a stellar job of bringing together a range of different contributors to talk about a vast array of different topics - food, motoring, travel, politics, arts and entertainment; you name it, Express is covering it. If you're new to New Zealand, freshly 'out' (Hi! Welcome!) or just interested in what's going on in this colourful community, pick up a copy of Express from around town or read them on the web.

This is Auckland's best (and probably biggest) second hand bookstore. It's musty in a good "old…read morebooks" kind of way, and sprawling and welcoming at the same time. Set over two floors of one of Onehunga's old buildings, it's like a house full of books. Most rooms have a comfy old chair or two for reading, and visitors are encouraged to sit and do just that. The subject range is huge and varied, and the prices are of course, excellent. The staff are knowledgeable and will point you in the right direction if you are after something in particular. Which is helpful because if you haven't been here before you could get lost and never come back out. Sadly Onehunga has been on the decline in the last few years despite there being a number of really great businesses here. I would recommend coming for lunch at Luscious, followed by a fossick at the Hard to Find and then checking out Look Sharp Discount Store. This historic Auckland suburb has suffered from mismanagement for too long now but as while these unique places cling on, it's still worth a visit - there is so much character and potential.

What do you buy for the person who has everything? Something fun, interesting or ridiculous;…read moresomething they've never seen before. Hard To Find Bookstore is the place to go for the person who has everything - spend enough time in amongst the weird little nooks and crannies and you're bound to find something for that awkward person who requires a gift. Ohe of my most lovely memories of Hard To Find Bookstore was a Christmas morning, when the small family of academics I was sharing breakfast with handed out presents. All three of them had bought each other gifts from Hard To Find, and all were so appreciative of their gifts. Some of the books still had their HTF price tags pencilled inside but nobody cared - gift-giving isn't always about how much it costs, but how much it means. And to these bookworms, the gifts were priceless.

My lucky lotto shop - I have won over a hundred dollars on two separate occasions. I do the lotto…read morehere every week and the Indian man behind the counter always smiles at me and wishes me good luck. Apart from the lotto, they have a big selection of magazines from around the world. I always browse at the music magazines and occasionally buy a copy of 'Rolling Stone'. Another handy thing they have is an ice cream fridge - it means you don't have to queue up at the tills in Countdown if you want an ice cream at night. I had heard rumours that they are widening the road here at Te Atatu South and that some of the shops were to be demolished - I hope that doesn't happen as this shop is very handy for me and many people in the community.

I'm of the opinion that you can never have too many good second hand bookstores in your repertoire…read more This one is so spacious and well designed you would be hard pressed to deduce that you were actually in a secondhand store, there are no dusty crammed shelves, that look like their about to collapse in on themselves in sight. It makes finding certain genres of books super easy as well, having everything so well set up. They also have nice little prints available for sale in the store as well, one which I bought for my office at home. Lastly I would just like to apologise to the cute sales assistant who I may have flashed, while going for a sneaky rearrange of my underwear behind a row of shelves that seemed to be private, UNTIL I saw the camera perched right above me. I hope I didn't scar you for life.

Evergreen has a great reputation in Auckland as a solid destination for second hand books…read more I always have a slight tinge of sadness that quite a lot of space seems to be taken up with popular fiction, and I really think the New Zealand fiction range needs work, but overall, it's a excellent place to spend more than you intended. The sci-fi range is particularly good and all the books are in really good condition, which makes a welcome change from finding a long-sought-after favourite only to discover that it's falling to pieces in your hands. Mucho disappointo. I've also had the welcome surprise at the till of having my order rounded down a couple of dollars, which is a really lovely way to reward customers who are buying a bundle. Overall, I would always come here for a browse when I'm in Devonport, but it's not really a go-to place if you have something specific in mind - in that case, I would head to Hard to Find books first.

Before I developed my love for independant bookstores, Whitcoulls was my go-to for Christmas…read morepresents. A book (or board game, if I was feeling generous) for each family member and I was done. Despite being a chain, they've got a relatively good selection and the staff that i've interacted with seem to like and read a number of them, which is always a plus. Whitcoulls of course, also have stationery, magazines and a small selection of puzzles too. If you desperate for a gift, they're a one stop shop that's often open late but personally, now that we've got our own independent bookstore in Milford, The Booklover, I'd much rather support them and get a recommendation that's sure to wow!

I love bookstores: the smell, the colors, and the possibilities for adventure and escape. Where I…read morelive there aren't many left, so it's exciting to visit as wonderful as Unity Books. In Auckland there are quite a few places to go, but this one is independent and probably the best. Unity Books has its main store and children's book separate on the same street; both are fun to browse through. I came here both to browse and with a mission. I wanted to purchase the complete Lord of the Rings and Hobbit filming locations books. They're printed in New Zealand and cover places we visited, and others we'd love to return to. Their prices were what I expected; with the exchange rate, I was happy. The store was organized and they were easy to find, but one of the books' spine was broken. I asked a friendly clerk and they quickly went to the back and got another copy. It made buying them there easy. They had so many happy customers, it's easy to see they're doing well. I will definitely stop here on our next visit.

Service was fast and friendly, called to put a book on hold and showed up about 35 minutes later…read more They had it ready to go and were very nice.