You know when you stumble across one of those quaint indy bookshops, where the ambience is serene,…read morethe floor slightly uneven in places, classic music is playing quietly in the background, with shelves from floor to ceiling all neatly stacked with what seems like a zillion different titles covering all genres - essentially, a place you could easily lose yourself in all day? Well that's Cogito Books in Hexham to a tee. Situated on one of the back streets just off the Market Place, Cogito is a fabulous bookshop where you feel like you've been transported to yesteryear and you always receive a friendly welcome. The shop is laid out with a cracking selection of kids books at the front (oh to be eight years old again) as well as local histories, map and guides, DVDs and cards. You then head through into the back and another room opens up in front of you, with some comfy settees at the back should you fancy a browse beforehand. It's a little cosy on the space front, but that's what makes these places special. The staff are so knowledgeable, a couple of times I've been looking for a gift for an avid reader but as a someone who doesn't really do fiction (travelogues are more my thing), I'm never sure of the next big title or up-and-coming author. However, not a problem, before you know it you have a great selection to try and choose from. If you know what you want but it's not in stock, they will have it on order and ready to collect in double quick time. As someone into travelogues, I always head to the particular section and each time there are a couple of new titles to tempt me. I just need to get through the current backlog before succumbing to yet another one! Be warned, this is one of those places you pop into for a quick five minute browse, and reappear an hour later with at least one new purchase in hand, with no hard selling whatsoever. Guilty as charged... In summary, one of those bookshops that is a real pleasure to have, offering something different and that personal touch in this day of mega-chain stores.

This little local bookshop is chock full of good reads, and staffed with friendly and…read more knowledgeable people who are always happy to advise. They will also order any book in for you and have been known to hand deliver books to your door if you live in central Hexham. It's quiet and well stocked with a nice seating area for younger customers.

What a lovely book shop, it is full of a wide range of books available for young children to…read moreprofessional people. Alot of offers are currently available, with money off books, half price and buy one get one half price. The store is on two levels and has got the best range of books that we currently have in Sunderland.

This branch of Waterstones is a fairly nice branch and one of the more modern branches of…read moreWaterstones I have visited across multiple cities including my home-town of Manchester, Liverpool and even the branch in Newcastle city centre, which as far as I'm aware (the latter) is located in a really old, listed building. This branch follows the new Waterstones approach, the store overall feels modern and new, which is nice for a bookshop, the headings are clearly labelled to show what they are such as Education, Crime, Action and Non-Fiction etc as I recall, which I found pretty cool as it made the store easy to navigate. This store, of course, is located in the intu Metrocentre, it is in a fairly central location, close to one of the few lifts in the mall, for navigation purposes I am aware it is classed as being part of Platinum Mall in the Metrocentre, which are categories I don't seem to understand, they basically just confuse me. The staff around the store didn't seem too stand out, which was a shame, and the product range was okay, albeit selling a slightly better range would be better as well as making sure the book prices were clearly labelled, to avoid having to scroll through the front and back pages to look for the RRP which I presume they are selling the book at, even though in some cases the RRP is outdated as it is the old book, and sometimes there isn't even one printed, making it annoying as I like to know prices before I buy, rather than asking a member of staff at the checkout perhaps. Overall, how the prices of the books are displayed need to change, perhaps extending the product range too to make this store not just a modern store, but a product with great selection would also be good, improving the helpfulness and welcome from the staff would always be good, but my shopping experience here was reasonable / good and for that I feel this is one of my preferred book shops, and perhaps favourite Waterstones branch I have visited, despite it not being the largest, in size it doesn't compare to the branch in London over multiple floors and the branch in Liverpool over two floors, yet I still think this store deserves a three star rating I'm pleased to report.

This branch of WHSmith is the most reviewed branch in Newcastle city centre of WHSmith with an…read moreimpressive 12 reviews on Yelp, including those merged across from Qype. It is probably the largest store I saw on my recent trip to the Tyne and Wear Region of WHSmith, which included branches in Newcastle Central Railway Station, Durham and the Gateshead Metrocentre. This branch was my favourite out of the ones mentioned mainly down to the size, it had a good product range for items such as lever arch folders, drinks and snacks etc. The drink selection was good however I found the 2 for £2.50 promotion to be a tad expensive, considering Superdrug nearby runs a promotion to have 2 for £2, which works out £1.80 with my Unidays Discount however sadly the range they have is much poorer than the WHSmith branch, when comparing the branch nearby to this one. There also is a huge staircase in the store, with the upper floor having some more WHSmith floor space as I recall and a post office. The staff member working seemed friendly enough, although I did have to take longer checking out my items as for some reason the self-service tills wouldn't recognise the 2 for £2.50 offer on my drinks, meaning it would take longer as I had to go to the manned checkout, then I had to go through the slightly longer process of finding my card after being told they don't accept Apple Pay by an employee, only to go on to find out they did accept it and the member of staff who served me didn't know about it. This is a large, decent branch of WHSmith, staff training on payment methods, machines recognising offers and pricing needs to be worked off at paramount importance, but until then this is still a decent store and a nice branch of the chain to warrant a three-star rating.

WHSmith is one of those shops that makes you feel really depressed as soon as you walk through the…read moredoors. This store in particular is very grotty and every visit to it so far has left me feeling deflated. The blue fluorescent lighting makes the shop horrible and dingy and the staff look like they are working in a prison. The store is far too big for what it is (a newsagent) and they never seem to have enough stock to justify the space. Especially upstairs. All that is up there is the post office and stationery, with a huge empty gap in the middle. I only really come here to buy snacks on the go as they have a good selection of confectionery, including American chocolates. I would have left a 1 star review but the confectionery lifts it up to 2. But as a whole, WHSmith works better in the travel industry, like in train stations and airports because their main high street stores are always eerily quiet and depressing, with the only noises being your footsteps and the occasional beeping of the self checkout.

WH Smith is located on King St in South Shields, it has been around for what seems an eternity. It…read moreis a smallish branch that has a range of books and stationery as well as some gifts as well. This outlet is well priced and has quite a large range in despite its size. The staff are very helpful and chatty and will try there best to help you out, The range of books is not the best but they can order anything from a larger store for you and have it delivered within a couple of days which is always handy.

There are two branches of W H Smith in the Metrocentre complex; this review refers to that in the…read moreGreen Mall. It's quite a big store, occupying space on two floors. A customer lift is available for access between levels. There's a fine selection of books, cards, stationery, DVDs, games and music to browse through. A Costa Coffee concession located in the story is a pleasant place to get a hot or cold drink and sit down for a chat. I don't have the stamina for shopping that some people have so I enjoy that! As with most W H Smith stories the choice is good and they are excellent for new releases and books that have been in the news, discussed on TV or radio or popular autobiographies. It's a great place for gifts (I've bought some fun jiigsaws here for people) as well as being a good place to come for stationery. The range is wider than in other places, I could get A3 laminating pouches here when I was on a hunt for them that didn't involve buying online. The special offers are usually good as in most of the stores.

My favourite shop in Newcastle! Packed with comics, graphic…read morenovels, manga books, figurines, Studio Ghibli plushies, board games and loads more. Staff are knowledgeable and friendly and you can easily pre-order anything that's not in stock which has been really useful at times! Some of the chunkier graphic novels are occasionally on the expensive side (sometimes I have found cheaper elsewhere), but with a Travelling Man members card, discounts on certain titles or 3 for 2 (for example) offers are available sometimes so it's worth keeping an eye out for those. The shop can be a little awkward to sidle round when there's a lot of people in, but it's well laid out and organised and easy to spot on the outside with it's bright orange/blue storefront. Found many a Birthday/Christmas gift from there for like-minded geeky friends and family. They have a great small press section which is regularly replenished and aspiring comic artists can potentially sell their self published comics/zines in that section too. They also have a small Nobrow/Flying Eye book section which I love, as they are rarer to find in other places like Forbidden Planet. Monthly 'Paper Jam Comics Collective' meetings are held there on Thursdays as a get-together of comic artists/writers/fans to chat, make comics (and head to the pub after!) and the basement area is also host to a few gigs now and then. Heading there for Free Comic Book Day (1st Saturday in May) is a must! I went with my partner last year and unlike Forbidden Planet down the road who gave us a ready made bag of a few of the free comics on offer, at Travelling Man we could walk round the shop and choose any (or all) of the free comics available. Worth knowing if you're into that sort of thing :) Overall an awesome place!

Great selection of manga and comics in this store, I found a few I'd been unable to find elsewhere…read more Store is well laid out and up-to-date, and staff are friendly and knowledgable. The prices are good for the area. Overall very good, better than the other similar stores in the area.

This store is located inside the Keel Row shopping centre at Blyth. It is located near to the…read moreentrance beside the bus station. There is a carpark beside the centre with free parking available. This is a large store which sells a variety of products. There are newspapers and magazines on the immediate left. Towards the back left of the store there is stationary and cards. To the right front of the store is the main till and a confectionary stand. To the back right is books and DVDs. The store has a huge collection of items in each section with lots of specialist items available. Children's books, including shool books, are available to buy. There is often a large display of biographies and celebrity endorsed books. The Richard and Judy Book Club often is promoted. There are often sales items near the front of the store which will include all sort of stock. The shop have a large proporation of WH Smith branded products which tend to be more expensive than brands from other stores. I find the staff to be very helpful here, offering advice in all departments. This is a busy store and there is usually a queue but customers are served quickly. The store accepts cash, cards, giftcards and Keel Row vouchers for payment.