Owned by the lovely Mike and Robert, Castor + Pollux is a cool design emporium that sells unique…read moreand distinctive textiles, lampshades, pottery, jewellery and homeware. It also stocks a fantastic array of art, design, travel, food and photography books by the best international publishers from Thames & Hudson to Chronicle Books. The shop also doubles as a gallery exhibiting and selling limited edition prints and canvases by talented artists and illustrators, like Johnny Hannah and Paul Davis. If you're interested in finding about forthcoming exhibitions, drop into the shop or log onto Castor + Pollux website and sign up for their newsletter. Right now, I'm pining for the white horse lamp they sell. Sadly, the piggy bank is empty.

Castor and Pollux is a cute, artsy shop on the seafront. It's quite large, but cluttered and a bit…read moredifficult to manoeuvre through, but who can be in a grouchy mood when the ocean is RIGHT THERE?? Not me, recovering prairie girl. One half of the shop is more like an art gallery - drawings and paintings displayed on the wall, with unframed copies available for lower prices. Some of the artwork looked strangely familiar to me - and I recognised the name Quentin Blake as the illustrator for Roald Dahl's books. Neat! The rest of the shop is an arts and crafts-y gift shop: magnetic poetry, art supplies, jewellery ranging from kitschy to elegant, day planners, journals, posters and some large, colourful art books. A selection of greeting cards is also available, and Christmas items have been discounted - decorations and holiday knick knacks. The shop has a nice, laid back atmosphere and a wide variety of items if you don't mind getting close to strangers while you work your way around.

Colin Page's is a very cool bookshop in the Lanes, selling antiques as well as a couple of second…read morehand classics and the like. It's not that great for fiction, theatre or modern art books (9/10ths of my bookshelf), so I don't come here very often, but it's the sort of place I can imagine liking more as I age and the books I like start to grace its shelves. It's not young, it's certainly not hip or cool, but it is impressive to behold, and a great place to find hidden gems. What I have looked for, and enjoyed the selection of, is non-fiction here. There are a huge variety of old classics here, especially in the psychology section: all of the classics are here, and in ample quantities. I suppose this is the kind of shop to look for strange old books over looking for modern and exciting pieces, but since that really isn't me... I'd recommend it if it's you though.

This ia a bookshop above bookshops and certainly the kind of place you don't see so often these…read moredays. Don't expect trendy music, a in store coffee bar or the latest fiction or Jordan biography. What you can expect are shelves well stocked with leather bound tomes and grimoires covering most fiction and non fiction genres. I am a bit of a collector of random metaphysical texts and such like and can spend hours in here searching through the shelves for something out of the ordinary. Usually, anything I come across is in my price range also, which is always nice. The gentlemen running the store are also very nice and always patient to indulge a heavy browser like myself. Sadly, I rarely walk in here with a clear title I am hunting for, but I get the impression that if this was the case they would be very helpful in sourcing a copy for me. If you are more into your contemporary paperback, they also have a selection of reasonably priced title out the front of the store and I have picked up a few bargains here by sorting through the fruit boxes. If you are in the city and after a title, you would do well to keep this place in mind.

For a small shop, Best Sellers has a good selection of books on every subject imaginable but is a…read moreparticularly good source of local information and knowledge, and I'm not just talking about the books here! When I first moved to the area the staff were particularly patient and attentive in helping me select the right map for my needs, but were even better at helping me translate what I saw on paper into practice by telling me things to watch out for, the best places to visit, and what they personally liked about the area - in effect, I had the services of a local guide for the price of a map! Can't be bad! Even when I haven't got time to call in and have a good browse, I always enjoy the ever-changing window displays - the Halloween one was particularly good! All in all, a great place.

I love the laid back nature of this shop. Whether you want to hire a DVD, buy a second-hand vinyl…read morerecord, or cd, or browse their interesting selection of books you are in good hands with the owners. They are most helpful with ordering books and recommendations. They usefully have a bargain bucket of books outside. Top marks for their window displays too. You are never hassled here. The shop is not far from Brockenhurst Sixth Form College so anyone studying there could easily order books in their breaks. Tourists will find a good selection of maps and guides to the New Forest.

Adorable local bookshop with a delicious little cafe inside. The staff are absolutely lovely and I…read morereally enjoy their selection of books by local authors.

Being an avid reader of everything from American literature and short stories to crime noir, I'm…read morealways on the lookout for good book stores. Sadly, Brighton is so small it doesn't have anything on the scale of Foyles in London or The Strand in New York. It does however, have quite a lot of quirky new and secondhand bookshops dotted around including Kemp Town Bookshop. A firm favourite with locals, it's an independent bookstore spread over three small floors. There's sections devoted to everything from art and travel to sci-fi, crime and childrens books. I can see they clearly put time and energy into the stock but alas, there weren't any books in the contemporary fiction section that I loved the look of and hadn't already read. Other book lovers should note, there's a cafe on the top floor selling coffee, juices, smoothies and snacks and they run creative writing workshops and events throughout the year. Just a shame there was no new Walter Mosley or Lorrie Moore books for me!

One of the best shops for secondhand books in the city, Books for Amnesty is housed in an…read moreeye-catching, bright pink building at the heart of the North Laines. Spread over two floors and three rooms, it offers a brilliant selection of contemporary fiction, classic books, biographies, academic textbooks and a smaller selection of art, film, music, travel, food and history books. All of them are reasonably priced - I picked up two books by fiction writers I'd wanted to read for the bargain price of £4 - and there's also a small selection of old records and CDs. The icing on the cake is the friendliness of the staff. Everytime I've been in they have been helpful and welcoming and seem genuinely enthusiastic about both books and the causes Amnesty International draw attention to. I haven't been to any but apparently, they run occasional poetry slams and readings in the shop. They also encourage local artists to exhibit installations in the main window. My only problem is if I keep shopping there, I'll end up needing another bookshelf!

Really well organized and user friendly for a second hand book shop, Books for Amnesty is a…read morerelaxing and informative bookstore. Whether your looking for obscure books in the LGBT or the 'Old and Interesting' section, or you want to talk about Amnesties work, and get yourself involved, it's all here, and all with an inviting and inclusive vibe. The main ground floor rooms has a large selection of fiction and non-fiction books arranged A-Z by author, and unlike a classically chaotic and ramshackle second hand bookstore, there is a good and up to date selection, which is accessible as well as in good condition. The two rooms adjoining this contain, in one, an interesting selection of vinyl (The Who, Queen) and CD's, which of course contains your untouched classics (Cliff Richard) and some modern hits such as Franz Ferdinand. There is also a chance for local talent to sell their music here, and I saw a CD made by a student at Sussex called Dan Sartain, which is nice to see. In the other room, the books are split into genres such as Gender, History, Psychology, and include some interesting reads for the the hobbyist and if your lucky some invaluable literature for students and academics. Upstairs provides a more old fashioned and eclectic/crazy mix of old sporting biographies and the vague but enticingly named 'Old and Interesting', which houses books that look like they might contain some sort of medieval potion by the looks of it's cover and binding. Though as they say 'you cant judge a book...blah blah', which is so very true. The best way to judge a book is to come to this store, and whilst your at it, maybe find out about Amnesty.

I ordered twice book at different time and I received them on time on my mail box. I was really…read moreimpressed by the price and also delivery time. They are not brand new but they are in decent, and excellent shape. I would definitely order books again. They got me for the life time client. "Thanks World Of Books"

While I ultimately received the book that I had ordered, the tracking info had been showing an…read moreincorrect address. When I contacted these folks, they told me to contact USPS. Are you kidding? I purchase two or three books a month, the latest one costing $161.00, but I'll never deal with these guys again.

WHSmith in Bath is one of the most unusual outlets, as far as the exterior of the building is…read moreconcerned. It is not a traditional blue - it's green. And for this reason it is easy to miss it the first time round. It is also easy to mistake for the trendy black Waterstones. At the same time it is one of the best placed outlets. You can do everything in one go: get the latest fashion mag from the Smith and cross the road to buy the new dress and a few bangles at Monsoon and Accessorize, respectively. Or you can buy your dress and bangles first, nip into Carphone Warehouse for a quick glance, and then go to Smith to buy a novel, a crossword book, or the latest fashion mag. The main disadvantage of this store is the cashier area. At a glance it appears to be a brilliant idea: four tills planted on a half-spheric counter. The doors that are used both as exit and entrance (as it happens in most shops) are located at both ends of the counter. The disadvantage is that the whole area gets terribly crowded, and people have to wriggle around the stands and each other. Not the most pleasant preoccupation for one of Britain's holiday hotspots. And the stock apparently causes occasional grievance to customers. Most of the time they cannot find a leading local newspaper. However, when I was there a guy with American accent was desperately searching for a copy of The Economist. He didn't find it, and it leaves one to wonder if he posted on his blog about this peculiar fact...

Not a place to ever pay full price for anything, they do have frequent offers. Good bookshop…read moreupstairs with a Costa Coffee, not always easy to find a member of staff to order books athat aren't on the shelf. Good selection of chart DVDs and other popular box sets, I like the art and craft sections (both children's and adults) upstairs and get lots of presents throughout the year. Downstairs is more of a jumble sale, no space to look at the cards or stationery, so I tend to avoid getting anything. The newspapers are right by the door, so you can buy these without having to go into the scrum of the rest of the downstairs. Always take the escalator to the first floor for the same reason!